DESMA Center Joined Regional Conference Forest Connectivity and Biodiversity Conservation: Women Empowerment in Ecotourism for Forest Conservation to ShowcaseProject
Regional Conference Forest Connectivity and Biodiversity Conservation, held from 21 to 22 November 2023 at Selangor, Malaysia. This conference organized by The Forestry Department of Peninsular Malaysia; Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change; the UNDP Malaysia; and GEF-GOM Project IC-CFS in collaboration with ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity (ACB). Along together with international and regional speakers, DESMA Center is invited by ACB to be a speaker on the conference, represented by our Founder and Executive Director Wiwik Mahdayani presenting Women Empowerment in Ecotourism for Forest Conservation, showcasing our program in Gunung Leuser National Park, Indonesia. This is a development project of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry Republic of Indonesia, in collaboration with the ASEAN Center for Biodiversity (ACB), co-financed by the Federal Republic of Germany through KfW.
The conference provides a platform to showcase the efforts on biodiversity conservation, restoration of forest landscape, sustainable forest management, sustainable financing as well as the involvement of local communities in forest landscape. This conference also gave an opportunity for government agencies, non-government organisations and other relevant stakeholders to exchange information and best practices on biodiversity and various initiatives in forest connectivity in the ASEAN region.
The conference was attended and launched by the Malaysian Minister of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change, Mr YB Nik Nazmi bin Nik Ahmad. Mr. Nheden Amiel D. Sarne, Biodiversity Conservation Division Director from ACB also attended the conference to deliver a paper on Southeast Asia Regional Landscape Connectivity Efforts at the Keynote session and Sustainable Financing at the thematic issue session together with other international and regional presenters.
On the second day of the conference, the delegates visited the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) area. Located on 545 hectares of land in Kepong, Selangor; FRIM is home to a variety of research facilities and programs, including a herbarium, arboretum, ecotourism site, and laboratories. The area offers skywalks, glamping, museums and nature trails for visitors.
