South Kalimantan forests join Indonesia-Finland cooperation

Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan (AntaranewsKalsel) - South Kalimantan's forestry management is included in the Indonesia-Finland "Join Working Group" program, said Head of the province's Forestry Agency Dr. Hanif Faisol Nurafiq.

This, he said in Banjarbaru on Thursday, is a joint program of forestry sector management planning and conservation efforts. One of its programs is to send forestry delegations to Finland to study.

According to Hanif, as a successful country in forest management with the involvement of the community, Finland became the international reference for more deeper management of forest for environmental sustainability.

The Indonesian government, he added, has done bilateral cooperation with the Government of Finland. The memorandum of understanding has been signed by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry a few months ago.

Related to this matter, South Kalimantan through the Forest Agency as one of the participants who was invited directly by the government to study forestry governance there.

Government cooperation one of them is to send apparatus to take a formal education in Finland.

"The education in Finland is very comprehensive, we are planning to send the delegation to study, whether S1, S2, and S3 or short course, we hope also get a budget from the Ministry," he said.

According to him, when compared to Finland which has four seasons, South Kalimantan only knows two seasons is very potential to develop forest management.

In Finland forest products can be enjoyed after 70-90 years of planting, then in South Kalimantan can be 10 to 20 years only, so the harvest period was shorter.

According to Hanif, the Finnish system example has to be followed by integration and synergy between the four pillars of forest management: government, academia/researchers, industry, and society.

Researcher of the Ministry, Dr. Retno Maryani, MSc, said that South Kalimantan is the only province included in the Join Working Group Program between Indonesia and Finland.

The appointment of South Kalimantan because of the government focus on strong forest management planning, minimize waste and involve the community in its management.

"Join working group is a communication forum covering several stakeholders who essentially develop and transfer knowledge and communication that can run in a planned and sustainable forest management results in South Kalimantan," said Retno.