Jakarta, Indonesia - Forum for Executives: Natural Resource Management in a Globalizing Asia will be held on 4-8 June 2007. The regional executive forum will be held at the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Regional Open Learning Center (SEAMOLEC) Headquarters in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The executive forum will cover topics on the millennium development goals and NRM in Asia; current status and trends in NRM; environmental governance; conflict management in NRM; environmental and resource valuation; environmental leadership; and participatory action and research planning.

This forum hopes to craft environmental sustainability consciousness in the mindset of policymakers in the Southeast Asian milieu. Southeast Asia is abundant with natural resources and is home to diverse ecosystems in various landscapes. These resources are the region’s anchors of development. But increase in human population and economic activities have placed these resources at risk.

With this, the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) hosts this learning forum for executives to gain better understanding on the status of natural resource in the region and the role of NRM versus the demands of globalization.

Through this forum, SEARCA and the Biodiversity International (IPGRI) provide executives a learning platform for updating, sharing, and exchanging lessons and experiences in natural resource management in the context of globalizing Asia.

First in a series of executive training fora on natural resource management (NRM) lined up for the year, this forum-type executive course addresses the need to preserve the sustainability of Southeast Asia’s natural resources, while meeting the demands of its growing population. Aside from SEARCA and IPGRI, the other collaborating organizations for this regional executive forum are SEAMOLEC and the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Tropical Biology (BIOTROP).

The resource persons for the executive forum include:

• Dr. Percy E. Sajise, Director of Bioversity International;
• Dr. Doris Capistrano, Director of the Forests and Governance of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR);
• Dr. Ma. Victoria O. Espaldon, Dean of the University of the Philippines Los Baños, School of Environmental Science and Management (UPLB SESAM);
• Dr. Nicomedes Briones, UPLB SESAM
• Dr. Parikeset of the Institute of Ecology, University of Padjajaran, Indonesia; and
• Dr. Asa Jose U. Sajise, UPLB Senior Lecturer of Economics.

PARTICIPANTS

This forum is open to all top-level executives working on NRM projects and programs.

For details regarding the forum, visit http://web.searca.org/page.asp?id=16&subcat=4&pageid=147 or contact the following:

Dr. Ma. Victoria O. Espaldon (voespaldon_at_yahoo.com), Course Coordinator

Dr. Maria Celeste H. Cadiz (mchc_at_agri.searca.org)
SEARCA Training Manager

Ms. Mayla H. Viray (mhv_at_agri.searca.org)
SEARCA Training Specialist