Vientianne News Agency-Mar 21
Laos has signed an agreement on the Establishment of the Asian Forest Cooperation Organisation, becoming the 10th country to sign this document, the English-language newspaper Vientiane Times reported.
Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Lien Thikeo signed the agreement on behalf of the government, according to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Asian Forest Cooperation Organisation is a regional forest cooperation focusing on action-oriented field activities while ensuring synergies and complementation of existing cooperation, regional and international organisations, and aims to broaden the regional scope to wider Asia.
Under the agreement, Laos will contribute to achieving forest strategy until 2020, as part of sustainable development goals.
The forestry strategy provides guidance on the sustainable management and development of the forestry sector in line with national policies, strategies and priority programmes for national socio-economic development and environmental conservation.
The Asian Forest Cooperation Organisation aims to strengthen regional forest cooperation, undertake projects, and translate sound forest policies and proven technologies into action with a mission to rehabilitate degraded forest land.
One major goal is to prevent deforestation and forest degradation in the context of sustainable forest management as well as under the broader scope of addressing the impact of climate change.
