SEARCA will participate in the 7th AWG-SF Conference on 12-14 June 2017 and the 11th AWG-SF Annual Meeting on 15-16 June 2017 in Chiang Mai, Thailand
CHIANG MAI – The Philippine government-hosted Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) will host a planning meeting of the ASEAN Working Group on Social Forestry (AWG-SF) Strategic Response Fund (ASRF) here on June 13 to coincide with the 7th AWG-SF Conference on June 12-14. ASEAN stands for Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
SEARCA implements the small grants facility that is ASRF, which is a flexible funding mechanism for the government sector of ASEAN Member States (AMS). It is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
Dr. Gil C. Saguiguit Jr., SEARCA Director, will attend the ASRF Program Steering Committee meeting along with key officials from SDC, ASEAN Secretariat, and AWG-SF. They will have opportunity to interact with potential recipients of ASRF grants from the 10 AMS at a dinner fellowship to be hosted also by SEARCA on June 13.
The AWG-SF annual conference and meeting attracts more than 200 participants from government, civil society, development partners, the private sector, and academic institutions in AMS. This year's theme is "Social Forestry in Forest Landscape Restoration: Enabling Partnership and Investments for Sustainable Development Goals."
SEARCA will present the proposed "ASEAN Multi-sectoral Framework for Climate Change: Agriculture and Forestry Contributing to Food and Nutrition Security and SDGs" at the 7th AWG-SF Conference. The presentation to be delivered by Dr. Juan Pulhin is expected to elicit inputs into the framework from the conference participants.
Results of recent studies on biofuel as an approach to forest landscape restoration, including a SEARCA study, will be presented by U-Prime Rodriguez of the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB).
Now in its 50th year, SEARCA focuses on promoting inclusive and sustainable agricultural and rural development through its core programs on graduate education, research and development, and knowledge management.