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Bandar
Seri
Begawan
-
Brunei,
Indonesia,
and
Malaysia
will
be
holding
the
Fourth
Trilateral
Meeting
of
the
Heart
of
Borneo
(HoB)
Initiative
at
the
Rizqun
International
Hotel
on
April
20-22.
It
is
the
second
time
that
Brunei
will
host
such
meeting
since
July
2007
when
it
facilitated
the
maiden
meeting
of
the
HoB
Initiative.
The
second
and
third
HoB
trilateral
meetings
were
hosted
by
Indonesia
and
Malaysia
in
2008
and
2009,
respectively.
The
Heart
of
Borneo
Initiative
is a
joint
undertaking
of
the
three
Bornean
governments
-
Brunei,
Indonesia,
and
Malaysia
-
declaring
their
commitment
to
preserve
one
of
the
most
important
centres
of
biological
diversity
in
the
world,
including
the
220,000
sq
kilometres
of
equatorial
forests
and
numerous
wildlife
species.
Under
the
HoB,
the
three
countries
have
agreed
to
carry
out
cooperation
programmes
on
trans-boundary
management,
protected
area
management,
sustainable
natural
resource
management
and
sustainable
financing,
according
to a
press
release.
The
Fourth
HoB
Trilateral
Meeting
will
aim
to
discuss
and
finalise
the
Institutional
Arrangement
and
Modalities
for
the
implementation
of
the
HoB
Initiative.
This
HoB
Trilateral
meeting
will
also
be
the
venue
to
provide
an
update
of
each
country's
progress
in
implementing
their
national
HoB
initiatives
and
discuss
other
matters
which
are
relevant
for
the
successful
and
effective
implementation
of
the
HoB
initiatives.
The
Trilateral
Meeting
will
be
immediately
followed
by a
workshop
on
"The
Next
Frontier:
Forests
to
Reefs
-Challenges
and
Opportunities",
which
will
be
held
from
April
22
to
23.
The
workshop
will
start
with
an
opening
ceremony
at
2pm
on
April
22.
The
objectives
of
the
workshop,
among
others
are
to
promote
awareness
regarding
the
importance
of
forests
and
reefs,
to
explore
opportunities
that
the
forests
and
reefs
could
offer
together
both
in
Brunei
and
in
the
region
wide
context
as
well
as
to
discuss
the
way
forward
to
overcome
the
challenges
being
faced
in
implementing
initiatives
and
endeavours.
It
will
highlight
the
interrelationship
of
the
forest
ecosystem
with
the
coastal
ecosystem
in
order
to
formulate
an
integrated
approach
in
natural
resources
management.
Expected
participants
will
be
representatives
from
government
institutions,
private
sector,
local
community,
non-government
organisations,
and
other
concerned
stakeholders
from
the
HoB
(Brunei,
Indonesia
and
Malaysia)
and
BIMP-EAGA
(Brunei,
Indonesia,
Malaysia
and
Philippines
-
East
Asia
Growth
Area)
member
countries.
A
total
of
200
participants
are
expected
to
attend
this
workshop.
The
trilateral
meeting
will
be
facilitated
by
the
Forestry
Department
while
the
Forests
to
Reef
workshop
will
be
jointly
facilitated
by
the
Forestry
and
Fisheries
Department
of
the
Ministry
of
Industry
and
Primary
Resources.
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