SD4C-ASIA REGIONAL MEETING IN BALI (INDONESIA)

By: Christina Eghenter

The first Asia Regional Network meeting, “Setting a Regional Agenda for Social Development in Conservation,” was held in Bali (Indonesia) on 20th-23rd January 2010. The meeting was organized on behalf of the network by the Community Empowerment Working Group of WWF-Indonesia and supported by the Papua program.
The meeting was the realization of the commitment taken by the network at Lak Naivasha (Feb 2009) to ensure that poverty, good governance, equity and human rights are appropriately addressed and solutions integrated in our conservation work to sustain transformational change at all levels. The Lake Naivasha meeting also put emphasis on the South with the proposal to have Regional Networks in charge of the roll out and mainstreaming of social policies in the network. The regional networks are part of the Social Development for Conservation Team (SD4C).

The participants in the first Asia Regional Network included (WWF-India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, PNG, and special guest from LAC, WWF-Chile from LAC). Only WWF-China was not able to attend.

The meeting aimed at discussing how to strengthen NOs and NIs delivery with regard to pro-poor conservation, sound governance of natural resources, and other social issues; identify and key common issues at regional level; and examine the case of Papua (Indonesia). The meeting also represented the formal establishment of the network, now recognized and supported by participating offices and NIs in Asia.
The participants agreed that the regional network is expected to become, first, a “think tank” on social development issues in conservation; and, at the same time, be a center of capacity building for NOs/POs and NIs to integrate social policies in their programs. This also extends to the south-to-south sharing and exchange which is crucial to raise the voice of the South.

The event saw several special presentations: the development of the LAC regional network and community conservation in Chile; MDGs and the linkages of poverty and environment; NI and the opportunity for the SD4C and regional networks to engage; footprint; and sustainable development vision for Papua.
Through various brainstorming and mapping exercises, the participants indentified 4 main social regional issues where the combined expertise of the participating offices could bring added value to the discussion: food security and biodiversity; the social impacts of climate change; population issues; and equitable access to natural resources.
The regional network will also further explore substantial ways in which to engage more formally with NIs in the Asia-Pacific region.