Forestfund, 8 March 2021. In the end of 2020, independent monitors in Sumbawa had their joyful news. In collaboration with the Independent Forest Monitoring Fund (IFM Fund), LOH Sumbawa held a training event in Sumbawa District, producing an agreement to establish a forest monitoring organisation/coalition.
Organised on 23-24 December 2020, this event became an initiative to strengthen independent monitors’ understanding on TLAS.
This training was attended by 15 women and men from various backgrounds including members of student mountaineering club, scouts and local NGO staff. According to the Director of LOH Sumbawa, Yani Sagaroa, they were selected to participate in the training taking into account their previous actions in forest activities.
Unfortunately, issues on TLAS remains unknown to many of the participants. Through this training, they gained new knowledge on forestry as well as basics to forest management, especially timber distribution in Sumbawa.
This training also provides materials on investigation to build independent monitors’ technical capacity in field investigation for tracing timber distribution information.
With the establishment of cooperation between participants under an organisation as the event ended, it is expected that synergy form between independent monitors in Sumbawa District.