On 10 May 2019, CIFOR hosted a visit from Professor Matthew Hansen and Diana Parker of University of Maryland, United States, and Dr. Belinda Margono of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. Professor Hansen is a remote sensing scientist, well-known for his research on land cover and land use changes. Diana Parker is a PhD candidate working on governance strategies and policies to prevent deforestation. Dr Margono is the Director of Forest Resources Inventory and Monitoring. The purpose of their visit was to understand the context of Indonesia’s deforestation, especially relating to fire and haze-related deforestation in Riau. Professor Herry Purnomo explained his study on political fire and haze in Riau in 2015-2017, a part of the study being conducted in Dompas. With funding from Temasek Foundation and Singapore Cooperation Enterprise, CIFOR continues to work in Dompas village under the PAR CBFPR project. The current project, on participatory action research for community-based fire prevention and peatland restoration, aims for social transformation and behavioral changes within community-based groups in Dompas.
University of Maryland visit to CIFOR headquarters
