In an effort to accelerate the implementation of the social forestry programme, the Southwest Papua Pro-vincial Government formed the Social Forestry Acceleration Working Group (Pokja PPS) last June. This was followed up with the organisation of a coordination meeting by the Environment, Forestry and Agrarian Service (Dinas LHKP) that was held to draw up action plans and strategic plans. Moreover, Dinas LHKP also held a meeting on 11 October 2023 in Sorong, Southwest Papua to prepare a work plan which will serve as a guide for Pokja PPS during the determination of activity priorities in accordance with Provincial Govern-ment support for the implementation of the national programme on Social Forestry. This meeting was opened by the Head of Dinas LHKP for Southwest Papua Province, Mr. Julian Kelly Kambu ST., M.Sc., and was attended by members of Pokja PPS and development partners from Southwest Papua Province, includ-ing FORCLIME.

Topics discussed at the meeting included:
- The preparation of a one-year work plan.
- The focus of activities for four work units in accordance with Decree of the Governor of South-west Papua regarding Pokja PPS, specifically: Accelerated access to social forestry; Business de-velopment and partnerships; Assistance; and Advocacy, communication, monitoring and reporting.

The draft work plan that has now been prepared will be presented during a forthcoming Coordination Meeting of the Working Group for the Acceleration of Social Forestry in Southwest Papua Province, which is planned to be held on 25 October 2023.

For more information, please contact:
Nita Yohana, Advisor for Sustainable Forest Management and Coordinator for West Papua Province
Mohammad Sidiq, Strategic Area Manager for Sustainable Forest Management and Coordinator for Tanah Papua