Capacities of key operational actors including NDFWM, NGOs and other stakeholders to expand the CB-NRM mechanism are enhanced.

The latest assessment revealed that, in Timor-Leste, about 13,000 ha of forests had disappeared between 2003 and 2012 and about 171,000 ha of dense forests had been degraded to sparse forests for the same period. The same assessment indicates that the total forest coverage became about 59 % of the whole country (about 869,000 ha) in 2012.

Deforestation has further caused soil erosion, land slide and flash floods, which eventually affected the lives of people residing within river basins.

In order to promote sustainable forest management in the country, GOTL developed the Forest Policy in 2007, which aimed at achieving sustainable management of forest resources in the country. It has been however difficult for Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (hereinafter referred to as “MAF”) and NDFWM to apply the necessary measures against issues that cause forest degradation due to the undeveloped legal system on forest management, insufficient institutional set-ups, and lack of human resources in MAF and NDFWM quantitatively and qualitatively.

Under such circumstances, GOTL agreed with JICA on the conduct of a development study named “The Study on Community-Based Integrated Watershed Management in Laclo and Comoro River Basins” in 2004. As a result of the study, a community-based integrated watershed management plan for the said river basins and watershed management planning guidelines were developed and submitted to GOTL.

After this development study, GOTL and JICA conducted “The Project for Community-Based Sustainable Natural Resource Management (2010-2015)”. Under this project, a model of the Community-Based Sustainable Natural Resource Management (CB-NRM) mechanism was developed and it was introduced in six (6) villages in the Laclo and Comoro river basins.

For scaling up the CB-NRM mechanism, GOTL requested GOJ for implementing an additional technical cooperation, the Project for Promotion and Strengthening of Community-Based Sustainable Natural Resource Management.

The project is on-going.