Date & Time: Wednesday 21 August 2019 13:00-17:00
Venue: Tonantei (Room No. 201), 2F, Inamori Foundation Building, CSEAS, Kyoto University

Background:
The recent Asia Pacific Forestry Sector Outlook study (UNFAO 2019) identified four discourses in governance that have shaped the region’s forest landscapes: forestry for timber; participatory forestry; multiple benefits from forests; and climate change and sustainable development. Efforts to strengthen forest governance in the region include increasing stakeholder participation, market-based approaches, forest-related conflict management, and institutional reform.

While governance is improving, conflicts continue over forestland appropriation for agriculture or tree crops, and over land tenure and allocation. Experts and policy makers debate the mechanisms for benefit sharing from conventional forest products and from new sources of income through climate finance or other payments for environmental services.
Efforts to shift the role of forest agencies from dominant players and ‘forest gatekeepers’ to facilitators of participatory approaches are having limited impact.
The aim of this roundtable is to bring together scholars on forest governance based in Japan to present recent work and discuss future directions in forest governance in the region, including mechanisms for achieving Sustainable Development Goals, and forest conservation, restoration and sustainable management.

Key questions for discussion:
1. What approaches to forest governance can best support greater transparency, increased participation of women,
indigenous peoples and youth, and provide equitable arrangements for forest and land tenure?

2. What governance arrangements can build the resilience of forests and people in the face of climate change and other
future shocks and uncertainties?

3. How can governance arrangements best support the landscape approach and the integration of land uses to increase forest
ecosystem goods and services?

Speakers:
Professor Yasuyuki Kono, CSEAS, Kyoto University (Chair and welcome address)
Professor Wil de Jong, CSEAS, Kyoto University (Facilitator)
Professor Rod Keenan, University of Melbourne, visiting scholar CSEAS
Professor Jun He, Yunnan University, visiting scholar CSEAS
Dr Heni Kurniasih, recent PhD graduate, University of Melbourne
Dr Daisuke Naito, Tropical Forest Research & Education Unit, Kyoto University