The Asia-Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management and Rehabilitation (APFNet) was officially launched on 25th September 2008 in Beijing. The establishment of the APFNet, proposed by China and co-sponsored by Australia and the United States, was agreed by the 15th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting in September 2007 in Sydney, Australia.
In the Asia-Pacific region the APFNet aims to:
- promote forest rehabilitation, reforestation and afforestation in the region to contribute to the achievement of the aspirational goal of increasing forest cover in the APEC region by at least 20 million hectares across all types of forests by 2020
- strengthen sustainable forest management and improve forest quality in the region, including through climate change mitigation and adaptation responses, and to increase carbon sequestration
- improve the productive capacity and socio-economic benefits of forest ecosystems and enhance biodiversity conservation in the region.
The APFNet delivers these aims through capacity building, information-sharing, regional policy dialogues and pilot projects. The three main objectives are in accordance with the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) Global Objectives on Forests.
APFNet capacity building activities in the Asia-Pacific region includes supporting demonstration projects and training workshops.
Australia is a member of the APFNet and periodically attends meetings to discuss the strategic direction of the APFNet and report on activities.