Seoul, 5 June 2014 – The Korea Forestry Service briefed ASEAN ambassadors in Seoul on Thursday, 5 June 2014 on the status of the forestry cooperation between ASEAN and the Republic of Korea (ROK), with an eye toward optimizing an existing agreement between the two sides.

South Korea and the 10 ASEAN member states signed in November 2011 an MOU on Forestry Cooperation during the 14th ASEAN- ROK Summit in Indonesia. Following the implementation of various projects throughout Southeast Asia, the parties to the MOU have decided to move ahead with the establishment of a regional organization called the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFOCO). In the Philippines, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Korea Forestry Service are jointly implementing projects in forest management. One significant project is “Climate-Proofing of the Philippine Revised Master Plan for Forestry Development,” which aims to enhance the resiliency of Philippine forest ecosystems and forest dependent communities to impacts of climate change.