I am very glad to have this opportunity to be at the World Forestry Congress.

My name is Theya Chaw from Layshi township, Khantee district, Sagaing region of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. I am from the Naga ethnic group, and come from a remote area near the tri-junction of India, China and Myanmar.

Where I come from, land is divided and ruled according to our local ancestral customs, and traditionally managed without the main purpose of forest  conservation. In the past, local communities made their living through Taung-ya or shifting cultivation.

This annual progress report highlights key achievements and lessons learned of the “Grassroots Capacity Building for REDD+” project in the Asia‐Pacific region in 2013.

The stories in this report illustrate the invaluable contributions being made by community members, pioneering government personnel and others who are actively participating in forest management – leading to improved livelihoods, and more equity and a fairer share of benefits. The stories highlight the challenges faced and opportunities created by people in Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and Viet Nam who are promoting community forestry.

It has been proven time and again that integrating gender issues into forestry policies and practices by addressing women’s roles and needs is central to the sustainable management, conservation and governance of forests. In the Asia-Pacific region alone, there are about 450 million people who rely on forests for their livelihoods and 50% of them are women. 

In Asia, while women play central roles in the use, management and conservation of forest resources and agricultural lands, they are often excluded from land management decision-making. Customary practices and widespread perceptions that the forest and land-related sectors are more “suitable for men” result in women’s lack of opportunities to take part in landscape decision-making, lack of access to financial services, and lack of ownership of land.

In this case, equity issues were brought about by the absence of participation mechanism in forest management as the communal rights system in practice was not sufficient to control resource utilization within the community.

Since 2009 RECOFTC through the Grassroots for Capacity Building for REDD+ in Asia project have been working to develop capacities of local partners in five countries (Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Nepal and Viet Nam) to facilitate awareness raising on and initiatives to deal with climate change and REDD+.

This brief discusses how gender perspectives are being integrated in Nepal's forest policies, laws and regulations in terms of women's representation, participation, access and decision-making in forest use and management. The brief also highlights the key challenges that prevail and outlines recommendations to promote gender mainstreaming further in forestry.

Since 2009, the Government of Switzerland and RECOFTC have partnered with ASEAN through the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)’s support to the ASEAN Social Forestry Network (ASFN) and the ASEAN-Swiss Partnership on Social Forestry and Climate Change (ASFCC). This is a brochure describing the RECOFTC activities under the ASFCC Phase II (2014-2016).

RECOFTC - The Center for People and Forests with support from USAID Adapt Asia-Pacific are working to empower local women in the village of Bishnupur, Nepal to take climate action into their own hands and protect their community's vital forestry resources.