Forest Carbon Asia Articles
Forest Carbon Asia (FCA) becomes an NGO
Articles - By Unna Chokkalingam on Apr 24, 2012
Forest Carbon Asia was registered as an NGO in the Philippines in December 2011. Our first Board of Trustees brings with it a diversity of knowledge, expertise and experience to guide and support the development of FCA to its envisioned potential.
It is now one year since the launch of Forest Carbon Asia (www.forestcarbonasia.org) – a regional Knowledge Management Platform dedicated to bringing you up-to-date and objective information and analysis on forest carbon policies, players and developments from and for the Asian region.
In this last year, REDD+ discussions have continued at the UNFCCC on issues such as reference emission levels, safeguards and financing. Large and small donor-supported REDD-Readiness Programs and activities are ongoing across Asia with new commitments and funds pouring in. National level processes have been initiated to decide on and establish monitoring systems, address deforestation drivers and set up institutional and legal frameworks for REDD+ implementation. Donor, private sector and NGO-initiated REDD+ field projects are in various stages of planning and piloting across the region. There have been many challenges, experiences are mixed and lessons are emerging.
Our activities & your responses over the year
Over the year, Forest Carbon Asia has striven to bring you updates on the developments across the region and on issues of relevance to the region. Our news, events, vacancies and resources sections are continuously updated on a daily/weekly basis. We have had a few feature articles such as on CDM AR and private sector experiences, provided some country reviews and updates, launched thematic pages such as on Global policies, Standards and Biodiversity and REDD+, and published information briefs on subjects of interest. Details of our history and platform features can be found here.
Your response to each and every one of our efforts so far has been wonderful. FCA’s readership numbers are high with 50% originating from the Asian region and 50% from developed countries across North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. While FCA has had a constant flow of readers using its regularly-updated news and resource sections; release of new FCA articles, publications or theme pages has created large spikes in readership indicating the demand for and relevance of such information. Your personal feedback and opinions via email and word-of mouth − on site content, design, functionality and usefulness − have been very important to us and have motivated us to keep going.
Our plans
We now aim to develop the platform to its full potential as envisioned to effectively serve the needs of the region including full-fledged country portals, perceptive feature articles and thematic pages. We plan to deliver the required information in the required format to help national stakeholders make informed choices and use the evolving REDD+ mechanism to effectively meet national forestry sector goals, biodiversity and local community needs.
Registered as an NGO
To be able to do so, we have been working behind the scenes to establish a legal identity for Forest Carbon Asia. ForestCarbon Asia Inc. was registered as a non-stock, non-profit, non-governmental organisation with
the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Philippines in December 2011. Our first Board of Trustees brings with it a diversity of knowledge, expertise and experience to guide and support the development of FCA to its full potential as envisioned.
Marlea Muñez, a forester by training, has worked with private, government and non- government institutions in the Philippines. She is one of the leading experts on and contributors to the Philippines’ community-based forest management and gender-sensitive policies. Marlea is now a key member of CoDe REDD that has been working towards pro-community and pro-conservation REDD+ policies and implementation in the Philippines.
Juan Pulhin, a social scientist and Dean of the College of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of the Philippines Los Baños, is a contributor to the Nobel prize winning IPCC Fourth Assessment Report and to the upcoming Fifth Assessment Report. He has worked on a range of natural resource topics over the last 30 years including community-based forest management, governance, rehabilitation, tenure reform, forestry education and climate change.
Colin Moore, REDD technical advisor to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Laos, has had the opportunity to work with the private sector, civil society and government actors on forest carbon/REDD+ issues. Colin believes that there is much scope for using market-based mechanisms to achieve conservation objectives.
Ernesto Guiang, also a forester by training, has led and worked with numerous donor-funded projects on a diversity of natural resource management issues across Asia over the last 30 years. “Climate change mitigation efforts should be in sync with climate change adaptation, biodiversity conservation and natural disaster risk management to serve the long-term needs of the region,” says Ernie.
David Ganz is the Chief of Party for Winrock International’s Lowering Emissions in Asia’s Forests (LEAF) Program that works across six countries in Southeast Asia to identify the most economical and effective ways to manage their land and forests. He believes that regional partnerships and programs such as LEAF and FCA are useful to replicate successful approaches, encourage better forest management and thus contribute to global climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Our Goals
FCA will serve as a platform supporting and guiding REDD+ readiness efforts and will follow the REDD+ mechanism as it evolves, bringing you updates and insights from the region. With its headquarters in Manila Philippines, FCA will work through a network of local and regional experts and partners to assess and report on developments in the region. FCA is committed to ensuring that the forest and land resources of Asia are managed sustainably for the benefit of the climate, biodiversity, indigenous peoples and local communities of Asia. Please click here for details on Forest Carbon Asia’s vision, mission, goals and guiding principles.
Keywords: Asia, Forest, forest carbon, KMP, Knowledge management platform, NGO, REDD
It is heartening to know that FCA has become an NGO. It is hoped that it will not restrict its activities to the Philippines alone, rather it will strive for supporting REDD+ readiness in the entire region. I would love to explore possibilities of collaboration in the context of Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan.
Thanks for your comments. Yes, we definitely look to operating across the entire region working with and through national partners and experts. Registration as an NGO now allows us to apply for funding as an entity in collaboration with partners like yourself. We look forward to discussing further with you.
Unna & Anuradha