SEANAFE

16th SEANAFE Board Meeting Highlights

The SEANAFE Board came up with major decisions and matters for action during its 16^th meeting on 19-21 August 2008 in Jakarta, Indonesia as regards sustaining the operation of the the network.

SEANAFE-IUFRO GFIS training

A 3-day training on Global Forestry Information Service (GFIS) will be conducted for web administrators of SEANAFE country networks and ICRAF-SEA on 21-23 August 2008 at Aston Rasuna Tower in Jakarta, Indonesia.

SEANAFE recently approved and signed contracts with its country networks to implement their respective special projects for 2008. The special projects are part of SEANAFE’s budget reallocation which was approved by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) in June 2008.

The Philippine Agroforestry Education and Research Network (PAFERN) was recently tapped by the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) to assess its Forest Program nationwide.

The Philippine Agroforestry Act (or Senate Bill 2201), which aims to enhance the practice of agroforestry, is now being pushed for enactment at the Philipine Senate as featured in the 6 July 2008 issue of The Philippine Star. The Bill was drafted by a Task Force on Agroforestry Education in which the Philippine Agroforestry Education and Research Network (PAFERN) played a key role.

SEANAFE undertakes its third theme project on Enhacing Forestry Policy Education in collaboration with the Regional Community Forestry Training Center (RECOFTC) starting 23 June to October 2008. The project aims to strengthen capacities of faculty members from SEANAFE member institutions in teaching forest policy analysis and effective communication, and produce teaching materials in national languages in support of the first objective.

SEANAFE is now accepting applicants for the second batch of its MS Research Fellowship. Applicants must be nationals of its member countries i.e., Indonesia, Laos, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. A total of 10 fellowships shall be awarded at US$1,500/grantee. Deadline for application is 1 August 2008. For further details, please read related announcement.

Sida extends SEANAFE Phase 2 grant operation

The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) approved the no-cost extension and budget reallocation of SEANAFE’s Phase 2 grant operation through a letter issued to ICRAF dated 3 June 2008.

The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and the African Network for Agriculture, Agroforestry and Natural Resources Education (ANAFE) recently published this policy brief which consolidates the recommendations of the First Global Workshop on Forestry Education held in September 2007 at ICRAF in Nairobi, Kenya. The workshop, held under the auspices of the International Partnership for Forestry Education (IPFE), called for changes in forestry education, research and practice.

The Isabela State University (ISU) and Visayas State University (VSU) in the Philippines recently conducted curricular review workshops to mainstream the outputs of SEANAFE’s Markets for Agroforestry Tree Products (MAFTP) project.

SEANAFE AFLA Coordinators’ Meeting

Country Coordinators of SEANAFE’s Agroforestry Landscape Analysis (AFLA) project met on 28-30 April 2008 in La Thanh Hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam in preparation for the Phase 2 implementation of the project starting May to October 2008.

SEANAFE in Asia-Pacific Forestry Week

SEANAFE participated in the recently concluded Asia Pacific Forestry Week held at the Hanoi National Convention Center on 21-25 April 2008.

The Vietnam Network for Agroforestry Education (VNAFE) has completed the documentation of seven major agroforestry models commonly practiced in three ecological zones in Vietnam. The document is available in Vietnamese language for use in teaching among member institutions of VNAFE. It is accessible at VNAFE’s website (http://www.socialforestry.org.vn).

SEANAFE sponsors INAFE lecturers

SEANAFE supported the participation of three lecturers from selected member institutions of the Indonesian Network for Agroforestry Education (INAFE) during the national training course on “Negotiation Support System toward Integrated Natural Resource Management” for Indonesia held on 24-29 March 2008 at University of Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia. The SEANAFE fellows were Mr. Tatag Muttaqin from Universitas Muhammadiyah, Mr. Regan Leonardus Kaswanto from Institut Pertanian Bogor, and Mr. Duryat from University of Lampung.

SEANAFE culminated the phase 1 implementation of its Agroforestry Landscape Analysis (AFLA) Project during the second country team workshop on 25-29 February 2008 held at the Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asia and Pacific (RECOFTC) headquarter in Bangkok, Thailand.