This presentation by Seong-il Kim from the Seoul National University given during the Forests Asia Summit in the discussion forum "Learning event: Forestry education and research in Asia: Reality, challenges and the way forward" shows the experience of ASEAN and the ROK cooperation, introduces the AFoCO training program and how they plan to reinvent forest education.

1. Experience of ASEAN and ROK Cooperation
on Forest Education and Some Thoughts for Future
Prof. Seong-il Kim
Seoul National University
Presented at Forest Asia Summit
May 5, 2014

2. Experience of ASEAN and ROK
Cooperation

3. AFoCO Training Program (Fund: Korea Forest Service)
• To support AFoCO procedures, AFoCO Training Program has
been established from August 2011 at Seoul National
University.
• The Program was initiated the AFoCO Scholarship Program to
produce international experts on forest sector to promote
successful establishment of AFoCO and its activities in the
future.
• For 3 years

4. Output
• International Technical Workshop 3 times
• Scholarship 10 students (Int’l 7, Korean 3) for degree program
• Field Practice in ASEAN member states 3 times (16 students)
• Internships with International Organizations 2 students (UNCCD, Parks
Victoria)
• Publishing 1 book (Opportunities and Challenges of Ecotourism in ASEAN
countries)
• Raising Awareness Paper Series 3 papers (Forest Land Tenure, Ecotourism,
Protected Area)
4

5. Outcome
Build a Career in forestry
Inspire future forestry leaders
Nurture global talent
Identify key issues for Asia Forestry
Address problems and propose solutions
Share Expertise, knowledge and experiences
Stimulate new ideas for cooperation
Educate professionals and public officers
Expand the network
Awareness raising on key issues

6. Implication
We need to
• Set up a long-term/regular training program for capacity
building
• Prepare evaluation criteria and indicators
• Provide guidelines for individual/cooperative projects
• Share knowledge, methods and experience
And maintain good relationship with Donor

7. Thoughts for Forest Education

8. Reinventing Forestry Education (2004)
• The role of the forester is changing as the forestry
profession increasingly focuses on the multiple
values, products and services of forests
• professional forestry education will need to be even
more dynamic as the pace of change accelerates
• Professional forestry education needs to produce
rounded graduates prepared for the breadth of the
responsibility

9. Most Frequent Keywords (2011)
Conservation Industry Policy
Forest Protection Forest Product Forest Policy
Illegal Logging Energy/Fuel Demand Local Community Right
Climate change Community Poverty Forest Ownership
Forest Conversion Export and Import Forest Law
Emission Reduction Forest Plantation
Expansion
Forest Governance
Forest Fire Forest Investment Forestry Institution
REDD Employment Forest Management
Deforestation/Degradation Forest Product Demand

10. Forests in the Broader Landscape (2013)
• The SDGs framework and focus on Forests
• Cross-cutting nature of Natural Resources
 Interconnectedness
 Different levels of development among countries
 Achieving poverty eradication and food security
 Muti-functional role of natural resources for economic
growth, social inclusiveness, and environmental
sustainability.

11. IUFRO now and Unasylva 2300
IUFRO Task Forces
• International Forest
Governance
• Resources for the Future
• Forest and Water Interactions
• Biodiversity and Ecosystem
Services
• Forest Bioenergy
• Forests and Climate Change
• Forests for People
• Education in Forest Science
• Traditional Forest Knowledge
• Forests and Human Health
Unasylva in next 300 ys
• Increased harvest
• Increased land conversion
• Increased trade
• Management intensification
• Biodiversity/habitat loss
• Increased GHG emissions
• Increased vulnerability of
species and ecosystems
• Increase economic activities

12. Landscape vs Ecosystem Services
Regulating
• water regulation
• pollination
• erosion control
• disaster risk reduction
Provisioning
• food
• fuel
• fiber
• genetic resource
Supporting
• nutrient cycling
• soil formation
• primary productivity
• water infiltration
Ecosystem Services
10ha
104ha

13. Forest Ecosystem Services Example
Physic-chemical Biological Socio-economical
Timber
Energy and Fuel
Food and Medicine
Carbon Emission Credit
Erosion and Natural Disaster Control
Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation
Biodiversity Conservation
Combating DLDD
Recreation and Well-being

14. Crucial Qs by IUFRO TF (2012)
• What do our students learn?
• What should they learn?
• Do they learn what they will need later?
• What would our graduates make successful in
their careers in the labor market?
• Do the exams assess what professors intend to
teach, or what student wanted to learn, or
what the labor market needs?

15. Need for Inventing New Forest Education
Forest Mngt Unit Forest Landscape
Re/Afforestation
SustainabilitySustainable Yield
Forest Restoration
Commodities Ecosystem Services
Paradigm Shifting
Local/National Global/International