From October 30 to November 1 of 2017, Lin Hwa-ching, Director-General of the Forestry Bureau, the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, and Yue-hsing Star Huang, Director-General of the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, were in Seoul, Korea, to attend the 4th APEC Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Forestry (MMRF4). A total of 18 economies attended the conference. Director-General Lin Hwa-ching delivered addresses at the meeting, and held bilateral discussions with four economies over the course of the conference. In the end, the meeting produced as its outcome the “The Seoul Statement of the MMRF4”.

Director-General Lin delivers two addresses: “Chinese Taipei's efforts in increasing forest cover rate”, and “Future developments of Chinese Taipei's forestry”

　　On October 30 and 31, Director-General Lin made separate reports to the conference entitled “Chinese Taipei's efforts in increasing forest cover rate”, and “Future developments of Chinese Taipei's forestry”. In the first report, he emphasized that, in order to attain to the goals of the 2007 Sydney Declaration, Taiwan has been pro-actively promoting all kinds of afforestation projects. In the future, Taiwan will launch the “Green Network Establishment Project for National Ecology Protection” project. By linking the ecosystems of high-elevation mountains and coastal regions, we can create a national green network, in order to cope with the impact of climate change., Lin also discussed Taiwan’s efforts at reforestation, and our determination to restrain the deforestation and forest degradation. In his second set of remarks, he shared with all the other economies Taiwan’s plan for future forestry  development. In response to UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Taiwan has set the goal of maintaining a zero forest loss rate, and will introduce standards and indicators for sustainable management of forests, restore the natural resources rights of indigenous peoples, and promote the mountain villages’ green economy. Taiwan will strengthen protection, restoration, and sustainable management of forests, to leave a sustainable environment for the next generation.

The meeting issues The Seoul Statement of the MMRF4

　　In response to the 2017 APEC theme, “Creating New Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future”,  the MMRF4 opened a dialogue with private-sector organizations with respect to increasing forest coverage area in the Asia-Pacific region, promoting cooperation in combating illegal logging and associated trade, creating forest-based jobs, bringing into the concept of forest welfares, and sharing the future prospects of forests.

　　After two days of discussion, the meeting announced the “The Seoul Statement of the MMRF4”. It reaffirms the importance of forests in realizing the goals of sustainable economic growth and prosperity supported by APEC, echoes the acknowledgement by APEC leaders that forests have an important function in climate change mitigation and adaptation, and especially emphasizes the important function of sustainable forest management in achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. The Statement proposes eight measures, including: (1) Maintain and expedite efforts to achieve the goal of increasing forest cover in the region by at least 20 million hectares by the year 2020; (2) Strengthen cooperation to combat illegal logging and associated trade, by establishing and implementing effective policies within individual economies and sharing information and best practices among APEC economies, especially through the EGILAT; (3) Further enhance coordination and cooperation amongst APEC economies to promote trade in legally harvested forest products, which would contribute to, among other things, increasing income from forests and international trade opportunities, and to share best practices and information on effective schemes in this regard; (4) Promote the health, productivity, and resilience of forests to ensure that they continue to provide essential goods and services as well as to further contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation; (5) Promote the revitalization of forest-dependent communities and regional development to increase the benefits of forests, especially in terms of forestry-related job creation and income generation; (6) Enhance the implementation and sharing of successful forest-related policies relating to recreation, healing, education and well-being; (7) Explore future actions and foster closer cooperation with international and regional organizations in order to maximize the contributions of forests to economic, environmental and social outcomes, and address common challenges related to the forestry sector; and (8) Continue to actively raise awareness on the importance of forests in achieving APEC’s mission by sharing the outcomes of the MMRF4 at relevant fora, including the APEC Leaders’ Meeting.

Taiwan’s delegation engages in bilateral discussions with several member economies

　　During the MMRF4, Director-General Lin held bilateral discussions with several member economies. They broadly undertook exchanges of views and understandings on combating the illegal timber trade, certification systems of the timber legality, preservation of endangered species, and management of forestry administration. The Taiwan side also absorbed the experiences of various economies with respect to legislation related to legal timber trade, and at the same time, shared Taiwan’s strategies to promote legal timber trade in the future, as well as our successful experiences in nature conservation. Through those bilateral meetings, we successfully established the contact channel for further cooperation and exchanges on forestry related issues.

From October 30 to November 1 of 2017, Lin Hwa-ching, Director-General of the Forestry Bureau , Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, and Yue-hsing Star Huang, Director-General of the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, were in Seoul, Korea, to attend the 4th APEC Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Forestry (MMRF4).

In response to the 2017 APEC theme, “Creating New Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future”, the MMRF4 opened a dialogue with private-sector organizations with respect to increasing forest coverage area in the Asia-Pacific region, promoting cooperation in combating illegal logging and associated trade, creating forest-based jobs, bringing into the concept of foresr welfares, and sharing the future prospects of forests.