The Closing Workshop for the German-Netherlands FLEGT VPA Support Programme was held on 25 November 2011 at Le Meridien Hotel, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. It was well-attended by nearly 100 participants ranging from government departments, agencies, NGOs and companies.

The funding under the Support Programme was made available by the Federal Republic of Germany (Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development) and the Government of the Netherlands (Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality & the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) to provide technical assistance and financial support, specifically to relevant agencies to improve capacity in ensuring the various legal requirements in the timber supply chain are complied to within the scope of the FLEGT VPA.

On the European side, the joint funds was managed and disbursed by the German International Cooperation or Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) while the Malaysian Timber Council (MTC) has been appointed by the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities as the executing agency (EA) to co-manage the fund and coordinate the implementation of the programme.

The Support Programme had come to an end with the completion of the projects. The results and outcome of four technical projects as well as the experiences and lessons learned during the implementation of the projects was shared with various interested stakeholders at this closing workshop.

The Implementing Agencies presented their findings of their respective projects, including speakers from Sabah Forestry Department (SFD), Environment Protection Department (EPD) and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

1. Capacity Building Projects under the Support Programme - MTC
2. Sabah Independent Auditing of SFMLA - SFD
3. Enhancing Environmental Management by Way of Strengthening the Compliance of Logging Operators to the Environmental Conditions in Sabah - EPD
4. Capacity Building towards OSH Management System Implementation in the Logging and Primary Wood-Based Industries in Sabah - NIOSH
5. Establishment of FLEGT Unit within Sabah Forestry Department - SFD
6. FLEGT Unit Database & Website - SFD

Please click on the titles for the slides presentation in pdf format..