On October 17, 2018, at the Grand Savero Hotel, the IFM Fund held a meeting marking the start of the project. The title of the activity is "Strengthening Forest Governance through Independent Monitoring of Forestry Towards Effective Implementation of SVLK and FLEGT Initiatives in Indonesia". This activity is funded by the FAO-EU FLEGT for a period of 15 months, and starts from the signing of the employment agreement as of the end of August 2018.
Before heading to Day H, preparations have been made since the previous week, given the invited leaders have different schedules and activities and almost all the invitations state their willingness to spend their time. At 8.30, an hour before the event officially began, Director of MFP 4, Tri Nugroho. A few moments later other invited attendees, Dr. Rufi'ie and Ir. Sigit Pramono, M.Sc. from KLHK (Ministry of Environment and Forestry), Michael Bucki from European Commission, Paul Eastwood from DFID, Mardi Minangsari from Environment Investigation Agency, and representatives from NGOs and independent monitoring networks forestry.
The meeting was opened by IFM Fund Director Christian Bob Purba, followed by remarks from Josil P. Murray from FAO. Christian Bob Purba then continued by presenting a series of activities to be carried out over the next 15 months in order to complete the IFM Fund's responsibilities in implementing this project.
The response to the presentation presented was delivered by Dr. Rufi'ie, Ir. Sigit Pramono, M.sc., Paul Eastwood, Michael Bucki, Mardi Minangsari, Tri Nugroho and Dhio (Independent Forest Monitoring Network). Some of the inputs and responses submitted are:
- The IFM Fund must be more professional and transparent and understand "rule of game " (Dr. Rufi’ie)
- Independent monitors must always actively communicate with KLHK regarding activities and results (Dr. Rufi’ie and Ir. Sigit Pramono, M.Sc)
- The monitoring process can be more useful and reach many things (Ir. Sigit Pramono, M.Sc)
- The capacity of the parties involved FLEGT must be increased (Ir. Sigit Pramono, M.Sc)
- Continuity of monitoring and percentage of "fees" (Tri Nugroho)
- Funding opportunities from CSR (Ir. Sigit Pramono, M.Sc)
- Consolidation and synergy of activities and opportunities and capacity building with other PI's (Mardi Minangsari and Syahrul (Auriga))
- Strengthening the SVLK system (Dwiana (Lembaga Ekolabel Indonesia))