On December 20th, the “Integrated Replanting Nitrogen-Fixing Precious Tree Species and Thinning for Reforestation and Sustainable Management of Degraded Forests” hosted by the Experimental Center of Tropical Forestry of the CAF was launched in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The project is funded by the Asia-Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management and Rehabilitation (APFNet). The Experimental Center of Tropical Forestry is the project executing agency, and the Forest and Wildlife Development Institute of the Forestry Administration of Cambodia is the implementing agency. Sie Ra, deputy director of the Forestry Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Cambodia, Tea Kimsoth, director of the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Bureau of the Siem Reap Province, and Zhang Zhongtian, deputy director of the APFNet attended and spoke at the project initiating meeting.
At the meeting, Zhang Zhongtian, deputy director of the APFNet, Cai Daoxiong, director of the Experimental Center of Tropical Forestry of the CAF, and Sokh Heng, director of the Cambodian Forest and Wildlife Development Institute, signed the project agreement on behalf of the project funding agency, executing agency and implementing agency, respectively.
The project leader Cai Daoxiong provided a briefing on the project at the meeting, introduced in detail the purpose, significance, and main activities of the project. Dr. KAO Dan, Deputy Director of the Community Forestry Management Office of the Forestry Administration of Cambodia gave a report titled “Policies for Cambodia Forest Management and Support”; Professor Guo Wenfu from the Experimental Center of Tropical Forestry of the CAF presented an academic report titled “Degraded Forest Restoration and Sustainable Management Strategy, A Case Study on the Experimental Center of Tropical Forestry”; and Heng Da from the Center for People and Forests (RECOFTC) gave an academic report on "The Support and Promotion of Sustainable Forest Management in Community Forestry and Reforestation". APFNet project officials made a report titled "Promoting Sustainable Forest Management and Restoration in Cambodia through APFNet Projects" and discussed the status of APFNet’s projects in Cambodia and their achievements. The participants discussed the project at the meeting.
After the meeting, APFNet and the China-Cambodia project team went to the community forest of Baota Village in Siem Reap Province to conduct field surveys and interviewed farmers and villagers in the village.
A total of 50 people from the APFNet, the Forestry Administration of Cambodia, the Siem Reap Forestry Administration, Khnar Pou Community, Baota Village, and the Experimental Center of Tropical Forestry of the CAF attended the initiating meeting.
The “Integrated Replanting Nitrogen-Fixing Precious Tree Species and Thinning for Reforestation and Sustainable Management of Degraded Forests” project was funded by APFNet. A demonstration forest was set up in a degraded community forest in Khnar Pou Community, Soutr Nikom District, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia as a pilot study site for carrying out technical training and improve Cambodian forest resource restoration and sustainable forestry. (Sun Dongjing/ the Experimental Center of Tropical Forestry)
