[디스커버리뉴스=이한결 기자]
SK Forest and the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO) announced that they had signed a “trilateral memorandum of understanding (MoU) on forestry cooperation as a response to climate change for Timor-Leste” with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries of Timor-Leste at the Westin Chosun Seoul in Seoul, Republic of Korea, on the 26th April.
SK Forest CEO/President Daeik SON, AFoCO Secretary General Chongho PARK, and Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries of Timor-Leste Pedro dos Reis attended the signing ceremony.
The signatories of MoU signatories agreed to promote and develop initiatives for restoration of mangroves and coffees, thereby reducing natural disaster damage with the mangrove forests and improving the livelihoods of the local people in Timor-Leste based on sustainable and profitable coffee production.
The agreement includes efforts for various international financial resources, including the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to contribute to capacity building of people in Timor-Leste, and providing political and technical supports. It is expected that this will provide an opportunity to commit and expand cooperation on mangroves and coffees restoration initiatives.
Mangrove restoration helps to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by sequestering carbon in trees and soil. In addition, mangrove forests protect local people from natural disasters such as wind and waves and help to increase fishing productivity by providing habitats for fish. Mangrove forests, in particular, offer habitats to a variety of aquatic organisms and endangered species, including crocodiles and monkeys, as a treasure trove of biodiversity. Also, coffee is one of Timor-Leste's key exports and, therefore, planting coffee plants would bring a practical benefit to the natural ecosystem and the local communities.
In March of this year, SK Forest signed a letter of intent (LoI) with the General Directorate of Forest, Coffee and Industrial Plants of Timor-Leste. Upon the LoI, both parties agreed to promote and develop opportunities to vitalize Timor-Leste through reforestation, afforestation, and preventing deforestation. SK Forest said, “This MOU expands the partnership to fulfill the existing LoI, with AFoCO’s participation, a leading entity in international forestry cooperation, and will help to strengthen adaptation capabilities beyond entering the carbon market with an expanded partnership. By securing international financial resource like the GCF, we will contribute to preserve sustainable mangrove forests and improving coffee productivity as a means of living."