8 delegates from the Timor Leste Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries who is also the National Forest Inventory (NFI) team of Timor Leste attended the visit and knowledge sharing activities for Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) readiness support on 12 – 17 June 2023 as part of the Green Climate Fund project funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The delegates from Timor Leste include Mr. Adalfredo Do Rosario Ferreira who is the national director of the forestry watershed and mangrove management as well as  REDD+ focal point, Calisto Afoan, Luis Barbosa Soares, Nilton Ribeiro Jorge Auxiliadora De Carvalho Rebeiro, Domingos Alves De Jesus, Manuel Da Cruz, and Virgilio Maria De Carvalho. Mr Julito Fatima Dos Santos De Araujo as representative of FAO Timor Leste and REDD+ project coordinator also joined the visit.

The key objectives of the NFI team visit to SEAMEO-Biotroph Bogor are to learn methodologies and tools of the NFI that the Indonesian government has used to develop their Leste's Forest Reference Emission Level/Forest Reference Level (FREL/FRL), Learn about the Indonesian National forest monitoring system (NFMS) and the National greenhouse inventory (GHGI), To learn about the activities under REDD+ as well as carbon pools that currently covered under Indonesian FREL/FRL, and to Provide opportunities for Timor Leste representatives to interact with international experts, university professors, researchers, and fellow participants.

National Forest Inventories (NFI) systems are comprehensive methods and tools that gather accurate information about the size, distribution, condition, and use of forest resources and biodiversity. They serve as a foundation for developing Timor- FREL/FRL and act as a baseline for various REDD+ activities such as reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, conservation of forest carbon stocks, sustainable forest management, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.

In his opening remarks, Dr. Zulhamsyah Imran, the Director of SEAMEO BIOTROP, highlighted the importance of blue carbon ecosystems as a contribution to greenhouse gas reduction, not only from forests but also from blue carbon ecosystems. He also mentioned the need to pay attention to the issue of FOLU Netsink.

Topics covered in this visit and knowledge sharing activities were: 1) Sustainable Forest Management; 2) Developing Forest Reference Emissions Level/Forest Reference Level (FREL/FRL) in Indonesia; 3) Sustainable forest management and conservation of carbon stock in supporting REDD+ Program; 4) Assessment of above and belowground carbon pools in a forest ecosystem; 5) National Determined Contribution on Climate Change (NDC) of adaptation in AFOLU sector; 6) National forest monitoring system (NFMS); 7) Sustainable forest plantation management from an ecological perspective; 8) Spatial approach on carbon stock inventory; and 9) Field practicum on Hutan Plot Penelitian KLHK.

The resource persons in this activity including Dr Rahmat Budiono, Mr. Muhammad Ridwan, from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry; Dr. I Wayan Susi Darmawan and Bimo Dwi Satrio, M.EMD from CIFOR-ICRAF; Dr. Yudi Setiawan, and Dr. Dadan Mulyana, S. Hut, M.Si from IPB University; and Dr. Supriyanto, Mr Slamet Widodo Sugiarto, and Dr Perdinan from SEAMEO BIOTROP.