Photo by flickr / Curt Carnemark / World Bank

Resources and contacts

Asia Focal Point

• Robert Oberndorf
  robert@recoftc.org

Case studies

• Cambodia
• Indonesia
• Malaysia
• Nepal
• The Philippines

See also

• Bibliography - Cambodia
• Bibliography - Indonesia
• Bibliography - The Philippines
• ODI Natural Resource Perspective 75- From supervising 'subjects' to supporting 'citizens': Recent developments in community forestry in Asia and Africa, February 2002

The Asia-Pacific Region is currently dealing with issues related to illegal logging and transport of timber. The forests in the region have been decimated by unconstrained logging, much of it illegal, over the last two decades. Current patterns of forest exploitation in the region threaten ecological security, biodiversity, and the livelihoods of millions of people who live in the remaining forest areas. In the Philippines, for example, 16 million hectares of natural forest have been reduced to just 700,000 hectares, with illegal logging causing much of the destruction (Source: Illegal-logging.info, 2006).

A recent ITTO report indicates that 70% of all internationally traded tropical wood products originate within this region. Characterised by porous borders, a high level of uncontrolled smuggling, relative ease of fabricating customs and shipping documents, combined with high demand for products from international markets including the likes of China, Korea, Japan, United States, and the European Union, the region faces serious issues related to controlling illegal timber trade.

VERIFOR activities in Asia 2007/2008:

• VERIFOR’s Asia Focal Point, Robert Oberndorf, has been working with the ASEAN Secretariat, in partnership with GTZ and SmartWood, to develop a three day training workshop on Timber Legality Verification Systems for senior forestry officials and other targeted stakeholders from ASEAN member countries.  A series of training proposal conceptualization and development meetings have been held over the past year in the Philippines, Indonesia, Japan and China.  The training workshop is in its final phase of development, with a formal proposal recently approved at the 7^th meeting of the ASEAN Ad-Hoc Working Group on a Pan-ASEAN Timber Certification Initiative held in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  The workshop is currently scheduled to be conducted in early October 2008, with the Government of Brunei graciously agreeing to host this event.
• The VERIFOR project, throught Robert Oberndorf, was invited to attend the 7th Asia Forest Partnership Meeting in November 2007 in Yokohama, Japan. A presentation was made on 'Governance mechanisms to verify legality: the what, why and how of verification system design' .
• The VERIFOR Project, through Robert Oberndorf, submitted a paper abstract to FAO on the future of verification in the forest sector for the upcoming International Conference on The Future of Forests in Asia and the Pacific: Outlook for 2020 (Chiang Mai, October 16-18 2007).
• Robert Oberndorf, VERIFOR Asia focal point, gave as presentation at the EU-China Conference on Forest Law Enforcement and Governance in Beijing, September 19-20 2007.
• Robert Oberndorf helped to organize the FAO-ITTO Regional Workshop on Improving Forest Law Compliance and Governance in SEA in the Philippines during the second week of September 2007. VERIFOR providied a presentation on verification mechanisms in the forest sector for this workshop. Contact Rob Oberndorf (robert@recoftc.org) to request the presentation.
• The VERIFOR Project participated in the design of the Forest Governance Side Session at the RRI International Conference on Managing Forests for Poverty Reduction, during the first week of September 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand . Robert Oberndorf, VERIFOR Asia focal point, also gave a presentation on timber verification systems, their impacts on the poor and lessons learned from the VERIFOR project.
• The VERIFOR Project participated to the Transparency International workshop on corruption in the forest sector (Bangkok 26-27 July 2007), where Verification was one of the main discussion points.
• VERIFOR participated in the Transparency International Forestry and Corruption Workshop, 25-27 July 2007 in Bangkok, Thailand.
• VERIFOR gave a presentation on the use of independent monitoring in the forest sector at the East Asia FLEG technical workshop in Manila on 26 June 2007.  As a result of this workshop, VERIFOR Project is exploring opportunities to provide technical support to the ASEAN Secretariat and the Senior Officials on Forestry (ASOF) through GTZ's ASEAN Forestry Programme.
• The VERIFOR Project was represented by Robert Oberndorf at the UNESCAP 3rd Green Growth Policy Dialogue on the Greening of Business and Environment as a Business Opportunity in Bangkok during week commencing June 5 2007.
• On April 3 2007 Robert Oberndorf, Daru Asycarya of the Indonesian Ekolabel Institute and Ngadiono, Yayasan Adi SangorroDaru in Jakarta gave a presentation to EU Delegation working on the FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreement Process in Indonesia. The purpose of the meeting was to analyse the findings of the VERIFOR Indonesia case study. Contact Rob Oberndorf (robert@recoftc.org) to request the presentation.
• VERIFOR's Asia focal point, Robert Oberndorf, provided a presentation on Linking Communities to Forest Governance Verification Mechanisms at a CF Forum Workshop held in Bangkok on the 23 March 2007.
• In January 2007, the co-authors of the Indonesia case study gave a presentation on harmonisation of verification standards to the Ministry of Forests Secretary General and Environmental Standards Centre in Indonesia, also in January 2007.

VERIFOR activities in Asia 2006:

• A presentation on VERIFOR, and links between timber verification and the Millennium Development Goals, was given at the 11th annual Asia Forest Network meetin, held in Bangkok between 28 and 30 November 2006. The presentation, by Rob Oberndorf, aimed to give participants an overview of the broader issues surrounding forest law enforcement and governance. Read the full meeting report.
• Between 18-22 September 2006, Robert Oberndorf attended two workshops in China – ‘China and the Global Forest Products Trade: Strengthening Production and Policy', and ‘Improving Production and Livelihoods in China through Tenure and Regulatory Reform' – where he introduced the VERIFOR project.
• Robert Oberndorf visited Sarawak, Malaysia in July 2006, with ODI team member Adrian Wells, in order to gather additional information for the Malaysia case study and to meet with a variety of stakeholders from the timber industry, government and civil society. Prior to this meeting he visited Peninsular Malaysia with Adrian Wells in relation to gathering information for the case study.
• In June 2006, the VERIFOR Asia Focal Point, Robert Oberndoft, joined the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil's (RSPO) Verification Working Group, submitted written comments on the RSPO's verification guidelines in August, and actively participated at a Working Group meeting held in Kuala Lumpur (18-19 October 2006).
• VERIFOR attended the Asia/Pacific Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade meeting (2nd Working Meeting of the Task Force and Advisory Group) in Manilla, Philippines, from 6-11 March 2006. info... presentations.
• In February 2006, the Asia-Pacific Programme recruited an environmental lawyer, Robert Oberndorf J.D., as the new VERIFOR Focal Point for Asia.