The East Kalimantan Provincial Forestry Service held a meeting on 29 September 2015 in Samarinda to disseminate the content of the new regulation of the governor (No.15/2014). This new regulation stipulates conscientious and goal oriented development of the village forest, taking into account objectives and technical principles of village forest development. The activity is supported by FORCLIME, The Nature Conservancy and WWF Indonesia East Kalimantan, and attended by 60 representatives of the local and provincial governments, the Technical Implementing Unit of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF) and local and international NGOs active in Samarinda.

In his speech, Wiratno, Director of the Preparation Area for Social Forestry at the General Directorate of Social Forestry and Partnership at the MoEF, emphasized that well managed village forests are vital for the community's economy: "One of the growth of the community's economy is economic activities of the people living in the surrounding forests. And well-managed village forests is a tremendous opportunity for development of the available local products to improve the community’s welfare".

Other issues shared during the meeting included experiences and lessons learned from previous activities in village forest development. In addition, also discussed the implications of the implementation of the new Law No. 23/2014 on local government towards forest management at local level.

For further information, please contact:
Ali Mustofa, Adviser for Community-Based Forest Management