APRS 2018: As it happened
Themed “Protecting forests and people, supporting economic growth,” the 2018 Asia-Pacific Rainforest Summit (APRS) focused on conservation, livelihoods and investment over three days of international dialogue and knowledge-sharing in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
The first day kicked off with an opening ceremony featuring APRS host Indonesia's Minister of Environment and Forestry, Siti Nurbaya, and Australian Minister of Environment and Energy Josh Frydenberg, followed by statements from regional ministers and two high-level panels highlighting the role of forests in countries' Nationally Determined Contributions.
The following day, eight parallel sessions covered a number of topics including finance and investment, community forestry, peatlands and more.
Highlights from the 3rd Asia-Pacific Rainforest Summit - #APRS2018
APRS Report
Green growth, sustainable land use and investment, and private-sector pledges to stop clearing rainforests: the Asia-Pacific region is ramping up these and other strategies to address climate change and biodiversity loss in some of the world’s most rapidly developing economies.
The 2018 Asia-Pacific Rainforest Summit – the third of its kind – drew more than 1,100 participants from over 30 countries to Yogyakarta, Indonesia to exchange ideas and key practices for slowing and reversing deforestation in the region. Speakers from the Philippines to Fiji to Singapore to Indonesia shared insights on conservation, livelihoods and investment over two days of intense discussions in the vibrant city on the island of Java.
Hosted by the Indonesian Government with the support of the Australian Government and in partnership with the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the 3rd APRS built on the success of the summits in Brunei Darussalam in 2016 and in Sydney, Australia in 2014.
This year’s focus was “Protecting forests and people, supporting economic growth,” a theme taken to heart by high-level speakers and discussants alike. Countries shared examples of their work on forest conservation, as well as progress on implementing their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Climate Change Agreement and opportunities for cross-country collaboration within the region to meet these goals.
What People Are Saying At APRS 2018
“More than 450 million lives depend on the sustainable management of forests. Last year Indonesia took major measures to promote social forestry, setting a target to allocate 12.7 million hectares of land to social forestry by 2019”
Siti Nurbaya
Minister of Environment and Forestry, Indonesia
“We need to maintain this momentum and step up the pace of change if we are going to protect our forests and people, while securing economic growth”
Josh Frydenberg
Minister of Environment and Energy, Australia
“Public and private sector, community groups and others are embracing forests but that goes against current economic models. The question is 'How do we make forests part of economic strategies?'”
Jack Hurd
The Nature Conservancy
“In policy-making, investment needs to be involved”
Juan Chang
Green Climate Fund
“It is more important to change behaviors, we need to have a new type of behavior for all stakeholders”
“We don't have any other choice than to be ambitious”
Laksmi Dhewanti
Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Indonesia
APRS 2018 THEME
Protecting Forests and People, Supporting Economic Growth
The seven subthemes have evolved through APRS activities and in response to partners’ and participants’ engagements and priorities. These seven subthemes form a starting point for the selection of discussion topics at the 2018 APRS.
