Forests provide natural solutions to the global climate, health, biodiversity and food crises. Consequently, countries around the world are implementing programs and actions to halt deforestation and conserveand restore forests resources.  

Member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have widely recognized social forestry as an appropriate way to enhance local livelihoods and achieve the sustainable management of forests. Over the past decade, ASEAN, with support from Switzerland and various partners, dedicated important efforts to strengthening knowledge of social forestry and promoting the adoption of these approaches.  

Following the idea that indigenous peoples and forest-dependent communities are the best suited to sustainably manage and protect forests and forest resources, social forestry is believed to have positive, environmental, social, and economic benefits.  

Yet, close linkages to climate change mitigation, carbon accounting, climate finance and the achievement of Nationally Determined Contributions(NDCs) still need to be enhanced. COP26, held last year in Glasgow, strongly recognized the role Indigenous Peoples and local communities play in preventing biodiversity loss, deforestation and related emission reductions, and called for local action that would support these efforts.  

Echoing this strong call for action and building on the commitments of world leaders, last week the UN-REDD Programmeand ASEAN launched the new initiative, “Climate change mitigation through social forestry actions in ASEAN countries”. Complementingpast efforts, the initiative will provide concrete support to strengthenthe evidence base for climate mitigation contributions, facilitate the integration ofsocial forestry in NDCs and enhance climate financeopportunities. The initiative will also strengthen technical capacities to assess and monitor social forestry results and contributions to national efforts, as well as accelerate responsible private investments.  

The UN-REDD Programme, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, and ASEAN, co-hosted a virtual launch event for the new initiative, with direct support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Personnel from various international and regional organizations participated in the event, as well as representatives from civil society and ASEAN member states, including Cambodia, Indonesia and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic.  

Beyond introducing this new UN-REDD initiative, the event also reflected on past experiences and lessons learned from the implementation of social forestry approaches to forest management and identified future opportunities for action. As Mario Boccucci, Head of the UN-REDD Programme Secretariat, noted during the event, “We are moving from an era of good will, pilots and readiness…into a decade of massively scaled up actions and massively scaled up finance.” 

To learn more about social forestry and the new initiative, view the launch event recording here and visit the initiative webpage.