SEANAFE convened a roundtable meeting among 10 representatives from government, nongovernment, and academic institutions aimed at exploring ways where agroforestry (AF) and payments for ecosystems services (PES) can provide enhancement to support the preparation and implementation of Cambodia’s National Action Plan to Combat Land Degradation (NAP) as well as address other key environmental concerns.

The Philippine Agroforestry Education and Research Network (PAFERN) elected its new set of Board members for 2010-2011 during its 5th General Assembly held on November 18, 2009 in Cagayan de Oro City. The Board consists of two representatives each from the three PAFERN zones representing the 3 major islands of the Philippines (i.e., Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao).

The 4th Philippine Agroforestry Congress was held on November 18-20, 2009 at the Chali Beach Resort and Conference Center in Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental, Philippines with the theme “agroforestry promotion for climate change mitigation and adaptation: building lessons from the field”.

The absorbed CO2 in the Litsea-Cassava agroforestry model varies from 25 to 84 tons per hectare and provides a profit to small farmers ranging from VND 9 to 30 million per hectare, representing 20% of the total product value of Litsea and cassava. This was the major finding of the recently completed research project of the Vietnam Network for Agroforestry Education (VNAFE) on “CO2 Sequestration Estimation for the Litsea-Cassava Agroforestry Model in Mang Yang District, Gia Lai Province in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. “

Three SEANAFE MS Research Fellowship Batch 2 grantees successfully defended their thesis recently. They are Ms. Penny Pujowati from Institut Pertanian Bogor, Indonesia; Ms. Shierel Vallesteros from the University of the Philippines Los Banos; and Ms. Truong Thi Pinh from Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry, Vietnam.

The Indonesian Network for Agroforestry Education (INAFE) recently published a compendium of agroforestry researches conducted during 2006-2009 by its member institutions and partners.

SEANAFE’s Teacher’s Guide on Markets for Agroforestry Tree Products (MAFTP) is now available in Lao version.

Sixteen lecturers and extension personnel from Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam compose the core group of trainees attending the pilot offering of SEANAFE’s Regional Training Course on Sustainable Upland Development currently being held at Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines from 28 September to 8 October 2009.

SEANAFE is now officially registered as a non-stock, non-profit nongovernmental organization in the Philippines as confirmed through a certificate issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Philippines on 22 September 2009.

SEANAFE braces itself for a challenging transition year in 2010 as it becomes an international nongovernmental organization (INGO) after the Sida grant period ends in December 2009. This was the pervading spirit emanated from the recently concluded 18th SEANAFE Board Meeting held on 7-9 September 2009 at Centre Point Langsuan Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand.

SEANAFE, together with the African Network for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Education (ANAFE), sponsored a technical session on “Integrating Disciplines through Agroforestry Education” on 25 August 2009 as part of the Second World Congress of Agroforestry held in Nairobi, Kenya.

SEANAFE welcomes Dr. Anoulom Vilayphone as new chair of Lao Network for Agroforestry Education (LaoNAFE) and member of SEANAFE Board. He replaced Dr. Latsamy Boupha as a result of the election held during LaoNAFE’s General Meeting on 30 July 2009 at National University of Laos (NUoL) in Vientiane.

The PAFERN’s project proposal entitled “Scaling-Up Agroforestry Promotion Towards Climate Change Mitigation in Southeast Asia” was approved for funding by the APN under its CaPABLE Program.

Twenty-eight papers were presented during a National Seminar on “Agroforestry as the Future Sustainable Land Use” organized by the Indonesian Network for Agroforestry Education (INAFE) on 7 May 2009 in Lampung University, Bandar Lampung.

Representatives of member institutions of the Indonesian Network for Agroforestry Education (INAFE) signed a Memorandum of Agreement formalizing their institutional commitments to the network during the 3rd INAFE General Meeting on 5-6 May 2009 in Lampung University, Bandar Lampung. The commitment signing is part of SEANAFE’s orientation program for head representatives of member institutions to help sustain country network operations.