ITTO, JICA renew their agreement

 Wednesday, October 19, 2022

ITTO and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) renew their memorandum of cooperation. Under this agreement signed by JICA Director General, Global Environment Department, Morita Takahiro, and Sheam Satkuru, Executive Director of the ITTO, the two organisations will keep working together to support tropical nations and stakeholders in conserving and sustainably managing their forests.

“Creates synergies and increases efficiency and effectiveness,” Mr. Morita

This joint effort that started in 2010 will be extended by the new memorandum of cooperation (MOC) for 2022–2026. It will allow both groups to continue collaborating on identifying, developing, and implementing into practice strategies to support the preservation and sustainable use of tropical forests. In order to enhance the implementation of sustainable forestry in the tropics, ITTO and JICA will work together to foster capacity building, information exchange, experience sharing, and knowledge sharing among nations and stakeholders. The survival of the globe and the resolution of universal issues like climate change and biodiversity loss depend on tropical forests. However, a lot of the world’s tropical forests are in danger of being destroyed or degraded, and action is needed to prevent this and improve the livelihoods of those who depend on the forests.

The MOC, according to Ms. Satkuru, is a chance to capitalise on the complementary qualities of the two institutions. “JICA has many tropical-forest-related initiatives, and ITTO is focused on the sustainable use and conservation of tropical forests and a legal and sustainable tropical timber trade,” she said. “Moreover, given that ITTO is headquartered in Japan, there is already a strong sense of alliance between us in achieving our common objectives. We believe there are strong advantages to continue our already existing cooperation framework, in accordance with our mandates, to better serve ITTO member countries.”

The partnership will operate within the parameters of JICA’s Global Agenda in Natural Environment Conservation, the Organisation’s new programming approach, and the Strategic Action Plan for the period 2022–2026 of the ITTO. The MOC’s operations will be reviewed and updated yearly by the ITTO/JICA Working Group on Forests, which will also suggest fresh collaborative projects.

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