Project News

Six forestry officers from the Department of Forestry, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and Provincial and District Agriculture and Forestry Offices in Oudomxay Province visited Japan for 12 days in September 2019, with the purpose of learning Japan's practices in rural development utilizing forests, the forestry industry, and local resources. In order to gain an understanding of Japan's forestry policy, the participants attended lectures at the Forestry Agency and JICA on the Forest Planning System, the Mountain Villages Development Policies and JICA's international cooperation projects on forestry. Furthermore, the participants visited the prefectures of Miyazaki and Saitama, where they learned the local operations in forestry, timber processing, forest conservation, forest management such as erosion and flood control, and their efforts on rural development, specifically their promotion of cultivating mushrooms and vegetables as local agricultural products. The challenges faced by rural Japanese villages in Miyazaki and Saitama are very similar to those in Laos and, moreover, the participants were able to observe various efforts being made by these communities to overcome them. As a result, they approached these lectures seriously, showing keen interest as they listened and asking so many questions that each visit went over the scheduled time limit — so that, ultimately they might be able to utilize what they learned about rural development and forest management in Laos. F-REDD will provide support in various aspects so that the fruits of this training are utilized in the remaining project activities to produce tangible outcomes.

Visiting a mushroom farmer in Saitama Prefecture.

Visiting a forest product distribution center in Miyazaki Prefecture