Countries in the Asia-Pacific region have pledged to achieve 20 million hectares of forest cover by 2020, and they have achieved 60 percent of the target, Forest Department Conservator General Anura Satharasinghe said.
He said China is ahead of other countries in achieving this goal by 2020.
He was speaking at the inaugural session of the third meeting of the Asia Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management and Rehabilitation (APFNet) Council hosted by the Forest Department of Sri Lanka in Colombo, recently.
Satharasinghe was of the view that the outcome of the APFNet will shape the forest sector in the region.
APFNet was officially launched in September 2008 as an international non-profit organization dedicated to help its member economies by advancing sustainable forest management and rehabilitation in the Asia-Pacific region.
Explaining the priority objectives for 2016 to 2020, APFNet Executive Director QU Guilin said projects will be conducted in the Asia-Pacific region to rehabilitate degraded forests and increase forest cover, promote sustainable forest management to enhance ecological functions, ensure ecosystem security of forests and enhance forests’ contribution to socio-economic development and to improve livelihoods.
APFNet Senior Consultant Rosalie McConnell, APFNet Officer of Governance and Membership Lu Qian, APFNet Partnership Coordinator Wang Yingyi and delegates from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, China, Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Peru, Thailand and Vietnam also participated.
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