Workshop in Cambodia, August 23 to 25, 2011
International Seminar & Workshop on Forest Resource Management under Socio-Ecologically Fragile Environments
The "International Seminar/Workshop on Forest Resource Management under Socio-Ecologically Fragile Environments" was held at the Sunway Hotel in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from August 23 to 25, 2011. This seminar/workshop was co-sponsored and organized by Risk Analysis Research Center, ISM, Global COE for Ecological Adaptation, Tohoku University, and the Cambodian Forestry Bureau. This seminar/workshop was aimed at building scientific capacity and research development on forest resource management in Cambodia. Lectures on the application of mathematical models, statistical models, and simulation models in forest resource management were given to stimulate discussions on; the current status and issues on forest resource management in Cambodia, provide the opportunity to generate new joint research opportunities, and build a strong education and research network with Cambodian practitioners and researchers.
After warm welcome remarks by H.E. Chheng Kimsun, the Director of the Cambodian Forestry Bureau, the seminar/workshop began with introductory remarks by Prof. Atsushi Yoshimoto of ISM. This was then followed by a presentation by Dr. Sokh Heng, the Director of Institute of Forest and Wildlife Research, and Development of Cambodia. In his presentation, he discussed the objectives and expected outputs. This session ended with two lectures: Forestry and Carbon Cycle Modeling, given by Dr. Sasaki of the University of Hyogo; and a lecture on Mathematical Programming for Forest Resource Management by Prof. Yoshimoto of ISM. These presentations received numerous questions from the audience. There were questions on the details of the computational processes and its practical application in Cambodian forest management. The evening session was devoted to a discussion on challenging issues facing Cambodian forests.
On the 24th, the second day of the workshop, Dr. Kamo from Sapporo Medical University and Dr. Konoshima from the University of the Ryukyus opened the Workshop with a presentation of their respective studies. This was followed by a presentation by officers of the Cambodian forest administration and researchers from Royal University of Agriculture, Cambodia. They made a presentation on the current condition of forest resource and management in Cambodia, by providing participants with a well-rounded background of Cambodian forest and forest management. In order to promote accurate understanding and effective discussion, Khmer/ English simultaneous interpretation was provided.
On the 25th, the last day of the workshop, participants went on a field tour to Kampong Chhnang Province to observe the current situation of community forestry projects and to discuss the development of future projects.
As a result of this workshop, we concluded that there is a need to prepare a database for projecting forest growth, which provides the basis for forest resource management. It was also realized that future workshops should include database development and forest growth modeling along with its application. The workshop successfully ended with a total of 77 participants. The participants were not limited to those from Phnom Penh, but also included forest directors or deputy directors from other states. Also, 14 students from Royal University of Phnom Penh joined this workshop. The event was reported on KTV(Kampuchea TV) on the evening news on Aug. 26th, 2011.
Introductory remarks (Prof. Atsushi Yoshimoto from ISM)
Filed tour to Kampong Chhnang Province