Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) is opening a new page of history by being entrusted to host the 5th APEC Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Forestry (MMRF5) on 23-25 August in Chiang Mai, Thailand. This MMRF5 will be the first time for Thailand to host the ministerial level in forestry sector by following the last MMRF4 which was hosted by Republic of Korea in 2017. The MMRF is a forum to strengthen technical cooperation to achieve sustainable forest management as well as combating climate change effect among members of APEC.
“The MMRF forum serves as an important platform to establish cooperation in tackling problems seriously, for our generation and the next” MNRE Permanent Secretary-
Mr. Jatuporn Buruspat said.
Thailand will take the opportunity at the forum to call on and encourage APEC members to overcome any conflicts that may occur through cooperate, promote, and develop initiatives by highlighting three “If” scenarios: 1) “Business-as-usual” which under the current trend is still beset by numerous problems that need to be solved, 2) “Aspiration” which calls on all APEC members to set milestones as a reference point to achieve targets such as the Sustainable Development Goals under the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and acting accordingly to produce concrete results and, 3) to trigger “Disruptive” with expected environmental catastrophic changes if doing nothing.
Meanwhile, Mr. Jatuporn noted that Mr. Warawut Silpa-archa, Minister of MNRE, intends to put forward the concept of the Thailand’s initiative-BCG (Bio-Circular-Green Economy) Model to the MMRF5. The minister will also encourage all APEC members to deploy appropriate tools to promote legal timber trade, combating illicit timber business, and taking other actions related to the matters such as certification of the Timber Legality Assurance System. Furthermore, public-private partnerships among entrepreneurs in the forest industry to foster mutual understanding, information exchange, and to halt forest loss and land degradation to balance greenhouse gas emissions and reabsorption will also be promoted. Those initiatives will align with the Cabinet Resolution on 12 April 2022 and in accordance with the pledge made by Thailand in the Glasgow Leaders on Forests and Land Use Declaration.
Mr Jutaporn said that the Minister has assigned the Royal Forest Department to fully prepare for the MMRF5 as it shows the importance of Thailand’s participation in the international community in solving forest problems which have an impact on climate change and livelihood of people. The Chiang Mai forum is expected to be attended by about 300 people including ministers and senior officials responsible for forestry missions from the 21 APEC Economies, and officials from APEC Secretariat, APEC Business Advisory Council, ASEAN Secretariat, The PECC International Secretariat and Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, as well as invited guests, observers and exhibitors from various sectors.
MNRE offers various channels to access related information to this meeting through press conferences, the ministry’s website, on-line news delivery, and printed media outlets. In addition, interested parties can visit the exhibition of the conference in person at the Le Meridien Hotel in Chiang Mai.
“MNRE expects that by hosting the MMRF5 in Thailand, the Thai public will be given a direct opportunity to learn about forest resource management international-wide”, the permanent secretary concluded.