Finland Commits â¬2 Million to Improving Livelihood Opportunities for Forest Dwellers in the Mekong Region | RECOFTC
News Release
Media Contact:
Alison Rohrs
+66 (0)2 940 5700 ext. 1308
[email protected]
For Immediate Release
Finland Commits €2 Million to Improving
Livelihood Opportunities for Forest Dwellers in the Mekong Region
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland partners with RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests to
launch “ForInfo: Livelihood Improvement through Generation and Ownership of Forest Information by
Local People in Products and Services Markets”
Bangkok — 16 March 2011 — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland has committed to help improve
livelihood opportunities for local forest communities in Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic,
Thailand, and Vietnam. Over the next three years, the Ministry will provide approximately €2 million to
RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests in support of the new project “ForInfo: Livelihood
Improvement through Generation and Ownership of Forest Information by Local People in
Products and Services Markets.”
Today in Bangkok, Her Excellency Ms. Sirpa Mäenpää, Finnish Ambassador to Thailand, is signing the
project agreement with Dr. Yam Malla, Executive Director of RECOFTC.
Throughout the Mekong region, local communities need clearer and more accurate information in order to
access markets for forest products and services and to gain more value for their products. Payments for
environmental services, including carbon mitigation, are increasingly available, but as yet, most forest
communities are unable to capture these markets or even to comprehend them. When local people know
how to generate quality information about their forest resources, they are better equipped to access
markets for their products and services. Ownership of this information allows them to play a more active
role in improving the benefits they receive.
Ultimately, improving rural people’s ability to generate and use information about forest resources can
contribute to poverty reduction, the sustainability of forests, global efforts to mitigate climate change, and
better abilities of communities to adapt to climate change.
“Poverty alleviation is the main objective of Development Cooperation of Finland. It is our strong belief
that poverty, particularly in rural areas, can be reduced only by sustainably managing natural resources,
both for the income they generate and for the environmental services they provide. Together, we must
find more sustainable ways of fostering development, based on low carbon dioxide emissions and
ecological as well as environmental sustainability,” said Ambassador Mäenpää at the signing ceremony,
noting Finnish development policy guidelines for the forest sector.
“The support to ForInfo is highly relevant to the Finnish Development Policy in the forestry sector in the
ways that ForInfo aims to contribute to poverty reduction and is essentially about the empowerment of
local people to take their place in the global knowledge marketplace. Generating, managing, and owning
News Release
data at the village level will ensure that local people understand the share and magnitude of rewards that
they receive and can determine whether they are treated fairly,” she continued. “ForInfo also compliments
very well the Finnish forestry-related activities in the Mekong region, which have been successfully
implemented at Ministry level for years under the Sustainable Forestry and Rural Development project in
Lao PDR as well as the Forestry Support Programme and Partnership and the Forestry Trust Fund in
Vietnam.”
The ForInfo project will establish best practices for generating information about forest resources and will
test these practices at pilot sites. It will also develop mechanisms to share information and data
throughout the region, assess the role of information management in local people’s access to benefits,
and share field-tested methodologies throughout the Mekong region and beyond.
The project will receive support from the governments of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam.
To execute the project, RECOFTC will partner with the European Union’s Enhancing the Economics for
Ecosystem Services in Southeast Asia (ENTREP) project, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the
Groupe Energies Renouvelables, Environnement et Solidarités (GERES) in Cambodia, Maeying Huamjai
Phattana (MHP) in Lao PDR, the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV), The Forest Trust (TFT),
and the World Conservation Society (WCS).
About RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests
RECOFTC’s mission is to see more communities actively managing more forests in the Asia-Pacific
region to ensure optimal social, economic, and environmental benefits. Since its founding in 1987,
RECOFTC has trained more than 10,000 people from over 20 countries in devolved forest management:
from national policy makers, researchers, and practitioners, right through to local forest users. Training
services and learning events are complemented by on-the-ground projects, critical issue analysis, and
strategic communications.
RECOFTC is headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand, and works throughout the Asia-Pacific region. In
2010, the organization established official country program offices in Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, and
Vietnam. Learn more at www.recoftc.org.
Media Contact:
Alison Rohrs
+66 (0)2 940 5700 ext. 1308
[email protected]
For Immediate Release
Finland Commits €2 Million to Improving
Livelihood Opportunities for Forest Dwellers in the Mekong Region
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland partners with RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests to
launch “ForInfo: Livelihood Improvement through Generation and Ownership of Forest Information by
Local People in Products and Services Markets”
Bangkok — 16 March 2011 — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland has committed to help improve
livelihood opportunities for local forest communities in Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic,
Thailand, and Vietnam. Over the next three years, the Ministry will provide approximately €2 million to
RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests in support of the new project “ForInfo: Livelihood
Improvement through Generation and Ownership of Forest Information by Local People in
Products and Services Markets.”
Today in Bangkok, Her Excellency Ms. Sirpa Mäenpää, Finnish Ambassador to Thailand, is signing the
project agreement with Dr. Yam Malla, Executive Director of RECOFTC.
Throughout the Mekong region, local communities need clearer and more accurate information in order to
access markets for forest products and services and to gain more value for their products. Payments for
environmental services, including carbon mitigation, are increasingly available, but as yet, most forest
communities are unable to capture these markets or even to comprehend them. When local people know
how to generate quality information about their forest resources, they are better equipped to access
markets for their products and services. Ownership of this information allows them to play a more active
role in improving the benefits they receive.
Ultimately, improving rural people’s ability to generate and use information about forest resources can
contribute to poverty reduction, the sustainability of forests, global efforts to mitigate climate change, and
better abilities of communities to adapt to climate change.
“Poverty alleviation is the main objective of Development Cooperation of Finland. It is our strong belief
that poverty, particularly in rural areas, can be reduced only by sustainably managing natural resources,
both for the income they generate and for the environmental services they provide. Together, we must
find more sustainable ways of fostering development, based on low carbon dioxide emissions and
ecological as well as environmental sustainability,” said Ambassador Mäenpää at the signing ceremony,
noting Finnish development policy guidelines for the forest sector.
“The support to ForInfo is highly relevant to the Finnish Development Policy in the forestry sector in the
ways that ForInfo aims to contribute to poverty reduction and is essentially about the empowerment of
local people to take their place in the global knowledge marketplace. Generating, managing, and owning
News Release
data at the village level will ensure that local people understand the share and magnitude of rewards that
they receive and can determine whether they are treated fairly,” she continued. “ForInfo also compliments
very well the Finnish forestry-related activities in the Mekong region, which have been successfully
implemented at Ministry level for years under the Sustainable Forestry and Rural Development project in
Lao PDR as well as the Forestry Support Programme and Partnership and the Forestry Trust Fund in
Vietnam.”
The ForInfo project will establish best practices for generating information about forest resources and will
test these practices at pilot sites. It will also develop mechanisms to share information and data
throughout the region, assess the role of information management in local people’s access to benefits,
and share field-tested methodologies throughout the Mekong region and beyond.
The project will receive support from the governments of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam.
To execute the project, RECOFTC will partner with the European Union’s Enhancing the Economics for
Ecosystem Services in Southeast Asia (ENTREP) project, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the
Groupe Energies Renouvelables, Environnement et Solidarités (GERES) in Cambodia, Maeying Huamjai
Phattana (MHP) in Lao PDR, the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV), The Forest Trust (TFT),
and the World Conservation Society (WCS).
About RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests
RECOFTC’s mission is to see more communities actively managing more forests in the Asia-Pacific
region to ensure optimal social, economic, and environmental benefits. Since its founding in 1987,
RECOFTC has trained more than 10,000 people from over 20 countries in devolved forest management:
from national policy makers, researchers, and practitioners, right through to local forest users. Training
services and learning events are complemented by on-the-ground projects, critical issue analysis, and
strategic communications.
RECOFTC is headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand, and works throughout the Asia-Pacific region. In
2010, the organization established official country program offices in Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, and
Vietnam. Learn more at www.recoftc.org.