From 2nd- 4th of April 2014, Thomas Silberhorn, State Secretary of the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), visited Berau to get firsthand information about FORCLIME’s activities at the local level. The regent of Berau received Mr. Silberhorn and his delegation at the airport with a special welcome ceremony based on traditional Dayak customs and for an official dinner at his house in Tanjung Redeb.

During the following two days, the State Secretary visited the village Batu Rajang and the timber concession Inhutani I. The villagers of Batu Rajang welcomed Mr. Silberhorn with a traditional ceremony. Discussions with local stakeholders focused on the relationship between the timber concession and the villagers. Part of the programme was also the presentation of FORCLIME’s activities in Berau which support forest administration reforms as well as REDD+ Demonstration Activities (DA) and livelihood improvement in selected locations of the Forest Management Unit.
 
A visit to the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOS) in Samboja, including tree planting by the State Minister and members of his delegation, was the highlight of the last day of the official visit in East Kalimantan. The State Secretary expressed his gratitude to the team of FORCLIME for the excellent work, in particular to the dedicated achievements of FORCLIME’s Development Advisors at the district level.

Created: 16 April 2014

FORCLIME together with Ministry of Forestry staff from the Centre for Forestry Standardization (Pustanling) participated in a two-day conference on REDD+ Safeguards in Subic, Philippines from 11 to 12 of March 2014. The conference was organised by the REDD+ Working Group of the GIZ knowledge exchange forum, the Sector Network Natural Resources and Rural Development (SNRD) Asia of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), in collaboration with Philippine partners.

The following objectives were discussed and elaborated during the conference:
•    Lead an in-depths discussion on REDD+ safeguards implementation, in light of the REDD+ decisions at COP 19 in Warsaw in 2013
•    Build and enhance capacities among government agencies and develop cooperation organisations, in relation to REDD+ safeguards and safeguards information systems
•    Learn how safeguards are being implemented during a field trip to a forest conservation area in an ancestral domain of indigenous peoples

The participants in the conference represented GIZ staff as well as national partner institutions from several REDD+ countries in Asia such as India, Indonesia, Lao DPR, Mongolia, Philippines, The Pacific Islands, and Vietnam.

For more information please contact:
Mathias Bertram, Strategic Area Manager for Forest Policy

Created: 08 April 2014

The Center for Forestry Education and Training (CVET) in collaboration with GIZ FORCLIME organized a workshop on enhancing competences of Forestry Vocational Schools (SMK Kehutanan) which took place in Bogor in March 2014. The topic of the workshop was the implementation of the SMKK curriculum 2013 to support the development of Forest Management Units (FMUs) in Indonesia. In detail the purpose was to: (1) Improve knowledge and create a common perception about the implementation of the SMKK 2013 curriculum; (2) Increase the knowledge of teachers in developing material for the Capacity Competency Test (Uji Kompetensi Keahlian - UKK) for the students; (3) Promote SMKK to improve their teaching quality and learning activities through detailed discussion of the SMKK curriculum for 2013 in order to maintain the quality standards of SMKK.

The 90 participants in the workshop come from state SMKK (5 schools), private SMKK (11 schools), and the District Education Service. Resource persons at the workshop are from the Ministry of Forestry (Agency for Forestry Extension and Development of Human Resources - BP2SDM, senior lecturers of CVET), from GIZ FORCLIME, the Ministry of Education, the state-owned forestry company Perum Perhutani, the National Professional Certification Agency (BNSP), and the Professional Certification Institute (LSP).

In the opening ceremony Dr. Helmut Dotzauer (GIZ FORCLIME) underlined that FMU development, as one of the main pillars for forestry development in Indonesia, will only be successful when supported by professional personnel. Therefore, institutions such as SMKK have a strategic role to support FMU development in the future.At the end of the workshop participants formulated an action plan for preparing measures for the SMKK 2013 curriculum implementation. Recommendations include the need for strengthening the capacity of teachers, and the necessity to adopt the National Competencies Standard for FMU Human Resources (Standar Kompetensi Kerja Nasional Sumber Daya Manusia Kesatuan Pengelolaan Hutan - SKKNI SDM KPH) as a reference in formulating SMKK curricula in the future.

For further information please contact:
Edy Marbyanto, Strategic Area Manager for Human Capacity Development

Created: 03 April 2014