24 January 2024, Victoria, Malaysia
On the International Day of Education 2024: Learning for Lasting Peace, the Alliance for Responsible Forest Management (ARFM) reaffirms the need for continuous education in the best practice of tropical forestry at all levels of governance to address global, regional and local challenges linked to forest and environmental degradation, conservation, rehabilitation and restoration.
Global trends indicate natural tropical forests are decreasing, with deforestation, degradation and land-use change amongst the leading causes. Unplanned or uncontrolled timber extraction and logging causes most global forest degradation, followed by fuelwood collection and charcoal production, uncontrolled fire, and livestock grazing. Global market pressures, dietary preferences, and inefficiencies along agricultural value chains drive demand for agricultural and forest products, which drive deforestation and degradation. New approaches to address deforestation and degradation are needed, including improving education in the forest industry, at pace and scale. The creation of a coordinated and integrated educational approach with modular training components addressing the entire forest management cycle can render a long-term contribution to resolve gaps in awareness, best management practices, implementation, improved knowledge and capacity across the tropical world, including at the community level and addressing gender and racial/ethnic balance in forest education and the workforce.
The ARFM is an international, non-profit non-governmental organisation, whose purpose is to accelerate the implementation of responsible forest management throughout the tropical world through the application of more than 30 years of peer-reviewed research and applied knowledge to create an effective knowledge management system, integrating best practice materials appropriate for each region, face-to-face training (virtual and/or face-to-face) and on-site practical training in regional training centres in Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.
ARFM Call to Action
- Promote the implementation of regional-specific best practice material utilising over 30 years of peer-reviewed research and applied knowledge in tropical forest management.
- Foster holistic, continuous, and responsible forest management on the ground by capturing proven, localised best practice approaches for all types and scales of commercial forestry.
- Provide forestry education to the private, civil, and public sectors, which includes multidisciplinary topics and holistic management of forests, including sustainable yield, silviculture, forest restoration and conservation, community forestry and rights-based approaches, and forest management at the landscape level.
- Support continuing education and extension training to practitioners, certification bodies, auditors, government agencies and private sector forest organisations, including upper management and Directorship.
- Nurture stakeholder engagement and partnerships through the dissemination of information, facilitating networking and fostering collaborative action amongst stakeholders and communities.
- Support international Conventions, Agreements, and commitments through education and training, including the recent decisions at COP 26 to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030 and safeguard biological diversity in tropical forests, including the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework agreed in late 2022 under the Convention for Biodiversity.
ARFM Strengthening through Continuous Education
- Strengthening knowledge, education and awareness programmes to promote a better understanding of the relationships between forests, environmental sustainability, governance, and human needs.
- Partnerships and collaborations between education and research centres, governments, NGOs, private sector, international organisations and communities to promote and implement responsible forestry practices effectively.
- Development and implementation of innovative technologies can help improve the efficiency and responsibility of forest management practices.
- Effective policies and regulations to promote responsible practices, corporate governance, environmental services, legality and certification programmes and deforestation-free commodities.
- Collaboration with local and indigenous forest communities to regulate property rights, implement responsible practices and ensure benefits are shared equitably.
Get involved
The ARFM delivers a significant contribution to remove the current barriers of practicing responsible forest management across the tropical world, including to raise awareness and seek the active support of all communities and stakeholders and meet the requirements of environmental Agreements, Conventions and commitments. The ARFM encourages all interested individuals, companies, governments, civil society and communities to join our Call to Action and support the improvement of tropical forest practices, globally.
For information, please contact us at: info@arfm.org.
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