Bimonthly Board Report

November-December 2023

 

General Maintenance of the Association

Development Fund and supported projects

Development Fund November and December and Special Issue 

Despite advertising the Development Fund on our social media accounts, we unfortunately received only a few applications during the last two months. However, we are happy that we can still support delegates attending COP28 in Dubai, UAE. 

A special issue of the Development Fund – aside from the normal monthly Development Fund – was created to support IFSA officials to get to the INTERIM 2024 in Switzerland, hosted by LC Bern. The INTERIM is a mid-term meeting of IFSA officials to build up a stronger bonding between the officials within and between IFSA’s departments, which aims to increase the efficiency of the communication. Moreover, important topics as well as the progress on the work plans will be discussed during this meeting. 

 

Mangrove Tree Monitoring in the Philippines 

The first prize of the IFSA photography award was used to support the Mangrove Tree Monitoring event organised by the Association of Filipino Forestry Students-UPLB (AFFS-UPLB) on November 11, 2023, in Brgy. Kinagunan, Padre Burgos, Quezon Province.

The event, attended by AFFS-UPLB members, BS Forestry students, UPLB undergraduates, and the local community, featured a multifaceted approach to ecological monitoring and community engagement. The Mangrove Tree Monitoring included the collection of crucial data on Diameter at Breast Height (DBH), Height, and Mortality Rate of propagules, fostering collaboration among participants and local residents.

Additionally, a Focus-Group Discussion incorporated insights from a local community speaker, emphasising the significance of mangroves and the necessity for continuous monitoring for environmental preservation.

Finally, the event showcased “Palarojuan sa Bakawan,” an initiative focusing on community building through workshops and games. This segment aimed to foster camaraderie among residents, participants, and the local community, aligning with AFFS-UPLB’s holistic commitment to environmental conservation. 

 

Member of The Month

Every month, IFSA selects the best Commission or Sub-Commission based on their work during that month. In the last two months, we wish to award Rizka Afif Muhammad & David Mark Semanda (WFF Sub-Commission) for the October Officials of the Month, Alexander William Arnott Watson (Head of Communication Commission) for the November Officials of the Month, and Anna Stara & Tadhg Prendiville (Northern Europe Regional Representative) for the December Official of the Month. 

October

November

December

 

Departments Update

External

In the months of November-December, the ED team has been organising activities and delegations at UNECE Foresta 2023, Linkiwood Tech Summit and UNFCCC COP28. The open calls for delegate applications to IUFRO World Congress and Forest Europe Ministerial Conference were also live in December – we hope to see loads of you there.

Congratulations to Afif, Davis, and Alex – our OoTMs of October & November – for their superb efforts on WFF, TFD, and the Comms dept – team work makes the dream work !

Delegations and Events

IFSA members have been participating in events and delegations of our partners and of external organisations, including – 

  • 24th Session of the African Forestry and Wildlife Commission (AFWC) in Arusha, Tanzania – where Chrispus Ongum participated as panel speaker, check out a detailed report on the post here.
  • Forest Europe had a High-Level Policy Discussion meeting in Berlin this November, where we had delegates and fruitful conversations with our partners.
  • UNECE Foresta 2023 was held in Sam Marino, Italy where Philipp Hoehme represented us and held talks with the UNECE network. Our open call for HoSC UNECE is open – feel encouraged to apply there.
  • IFSA has been working on a survey project on forestry students and skills in line with the Forum of Ukrainian Education event in Austria, for which a finalised outcome is coming soon.
  • Korea International Water Week had Hye won Lee representing IFSA on discussing Smart Water Management – check out posts here.
  • The online Linkiwood Tech Summit, happened in November with 12 IFSA delegates, check out the post here. Isabelle Claire Paz, represents us as a speaker about the Pivotal Role of Companies in Shaping the Youth for the Wood Industry.
  • At the UNFCCC COP28, IFSA had several delegates from 10 different countries – check out posts here, where we partnered up with organisations for social media, side events and activities. Multiple connections and agreements were signed, we look forward to the great collaborations further.

We encourage interested folks to keep an eye out on IFSA channels for more opportunities like these!

Partnerships and Relations

Recently, the project with EFI-IFSA-IUFRO gave us a paper titled “Passion for Nature: Global Student Motivations for Forest-Related Education and Career Aspirations” discussing students’ perceptions about their studies. 

At the recently concluded COP28, we signed an MoU with Australian Forest Products Association,  International Association of Agricultural Students and Related Sciences and built strong connections with RECOFTC, 1t.org, GEF, ITTO, SalesForce, Rainforest Partnership and HackforEarth amongst others. 

We encourage LC members to apply for the calls and get in touch with us for any queries.

Other Updates

We are currently on the lookout for IFSA members to complete our team. In the PAC Commission, the roles of HoSC ITTO and IUCN are open. In the IPC Commission, the HoSC of UNCCD, UNCBD, UNFF, UNECE are open and would be great opportunities for IFSA members. To apply you can send your motivation letter & membership verification letter to the HoSC email or to opencall@ifsa.net 

Internal

In the last two months, the internal department helped a lot in the technical preparation of some conferences like COP, Forest Europe, and AFWC including information dissemination, giving social media accessibility, promotional video creation, and carbon assessment. We are also receiving collaboration from Forestry AI and UNICEF India. In the meantime, several of the Sub-Commission are in the process of launching the project in the next year like Language School, PenPal X Tandem Language, Cultural Days, Workshop for Regional Meeting, Education Mentorship, and Gender Living Book. Read more about our progress here. 

Membership

Throughout November-December, the membership department has started to execute and polish several plans that we have been working on in the beginning of the term. Below are the details. 

Membership Department Meeting 

The second membership department meeting was held on November 23, 2023. The meeting aimed to discuss the continuation and Person in Charge (PIC) allocations to our upcoming projects, namely the IFSA Pen Pal and LC Buddy, the IFSA Meetings Organising Committee Guidebook, and LC Project of the Month. This year, the membership department intends to integrate two of our main projects, IFSA Pen Pal and LC Buddy, with the hope of better promoting it to the members and gaining more involvement. Aside from that, the meeting also addressed regional updates from each respective RR. 

Membership Application Review 

The first half of the term has delightfully been rich for IFSA applications from future LCs. We have a total of 13 on-going applications with 7 of them being new this term. Most of these applications have been reviewed and sent back to the applicants to be revised. Thanks to IFSA activities, including delegations such as the COP 28, we have managed to promote our organisation and activities more intensely to attract potential students to join us. We are expecting to have a new application from New Zealand shortly. 

Workshop Preparation for Members and RRs 

One of the Membership Department’s projects for this term includes workshops for the members and RRs. Given our main term’s priority of fundraising and delegations, we aim to incorporate these substances to the workshop’s topic, hoping to give a better understanding of how members could fundraise for their local projects and activities effectively and how can they involve in a global level by sending out IFSA delegations, with the help of RRs. 

In the past 2 months, several preparations have been made from the department, including the projects’ concept notes, speakers’ allocation, and meeting with Tim as the Head of Workshop and Project Design Sub-Commission. By the beginning of January, it is within our hope to proceed with the meeting and coordination with other related parties from the Internal and External Departments. 

IFSA LC Project of the Month 

LC Project of the Month is one of the new initiatives for the past 2 terms of IFSA to highlight and appreciate LC projects’ achievement. There were 2 submissions in November and December consecutively. The project “Global Sight” with the theme of “Conservation: Efforts to Preserve Our Wildlife Sustainability” organised by IFSA LC UGM (Indonesia) was awarded as the LC Project of the Month November, while the submitted projects in December are currently on review. Congratulations to the IFSA LC UGM team and don’t miss out our LC Project of the Month for December announcement!

Progress on IFSA-Meeting Guidebook 

The IFSA Meetings Guidebook is an initiative from the Membership Department since the last term that serves as a help to the Organising Committees of different types of IFSA meetings, both official meetings such as the International Forestry Students’ Symposium, Interim, and Regional Meetings, and unofficial meetings. During the period, the department focuses on the section’s Person in Charge (PIC) allocations and getting to know the historical meetings, as well as reaching out to past organising committees (OCs), before proceeding to the completion of the document.