Forest restoration and reforestation (FRR) in Asia is one of its major regional goals. According to FAO from 2000 to 2015, in Southeast Asia, the forest area has decreased to about 32 million ha, reflecting an annual decline of about 0.35% in their total forest cover of 924 million ha. At the same time an estimated 36 million people in the region still live “below the international poverty line, with almost 90% of these people living in Indonesia or the Philippines.” Poverty is linked to hunger and approximately 9.8% of the regional population is undernourished.

Regional Training Workshop for Policy Makers on “Beyond Planting Trees: Forest Pathways to No Poverty (SDG1) and Zero Hunger (SDG2)” took place in collaboration with the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO) and the Forestry Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation at the Regional Education and Training Center of AFoCO on 21-23 May 2019 in Myanmar. A total number of 20 government officials across 10 countries namely Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Laos, Myanmar, The Philippines, Thailand, Timor Leste and Vietnam participated in the training.

In the view of 2030 Agenda, this 3-day training provided an opportunity to address and discuss ways to enhance the benefits of FRR to achieving SDG1 (no poverty) and SDG2 (no hunger) at both country and regional levels. Particularly, in the context of SDG2 and given the high relevance of woodfuel for cooking and water sterilization, SDG7 on “Affordable and Clean Energy” was also highlighted[1].

The level of participation in the training was very high and most of the participants echoed that the training offered a useful opportunity to better understand the nexus between forests and SDGs, particularly on SDG1 and SDG2. For instance, the participants expressed their previously narrow view on the concept of food security being only linked to harvesting forest food, which was replaced with a more holistic understanding of the 4 dimensions of food security and their links to a wider range of forest goods and services, thanks to the training.

In addition to the enhanced technical knowledge of the participants, the regional training workshop provided a promising opportunity for closer regional collaboration led by Myanmar, which FAO hopes to be replicated in the near future.