RI co-hosts forestry meeting

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia is cosponsoring a four-day international forestry meeting, which opened in Ort/Gmunden, Austria, on Monday.

The Bogor-based Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) said on Wednesday that Indonesia was represented by the head of the Ministry of Forestry's research and development agency, Toga Silitonga, and the head of multilateral bureau, in the talks, which are being jointly sponsored by the forestry ministries of Austria and Indonesia.

The meeting is expected to produce practical ideas about what can be done to improve the national and regional overview of the world's rapidly shrinking forests.

Topics being discussed at the meeting include how to give local communities a greater role in forest management, what measures might be adopted to assess sustainability and the value of biodiversity in forests, and ways of mobilizing funding and resources to support these efforts. (gis)