My background: 

The concept of sustainable forest management and forest certification immediately fascinated me the moment I attended workshops on forest certification for trade unions in Indonesia and Malaysia back in 1998 which were held jointly by the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI), Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and FSC Board Representatives. It was like an answer to the questions on how discouraging the forest industry situation, especially in South East Asia in the late 1990s, had become. We were surrounded by illegal and unsustainable logging, Indigenous communities were disrespected, and there were poor working conditions in the forest and wood manufacturer mills. Could certification alleviate all this?  

Since then, I have led efforts in the ‘sustainable forestry for sustainable jobs’ campaign as part of my capacity development work with the Indonesian wood and forestry trade union organization and BWI. I was entrusted with key roles in institutional capacity-building, industrial and sectoral relations, policy advocacy and collective bargaining negotiations, in which demonstrated clear leadership abilities were needed.  

Part of my work has also been representing unions on active engagements in the multi-stakeholder sustainable development and forest certification agendas, such as: the Plantation Forest Certification Standard of the Indonesian Ecolabelling Institution (LEI), 2001, the Union-led National multi-stakeholder dialogues on Sustainable Wood and Forestry Industries, 2005-2010; The Forest Dialogue, 2007-2009; Trade Union Delegation in the UNFCCC COPs 2007, 2009, 2011; East Asia FLEG on Illegal Logging, 2008; ForestWorks Australia Asia Pacific Sustainable Forest Management Projects, 2008-2009; Social Audits on International Framework Agreements (IFA) of Faber Castell, Staedtler and IFBWW, 1999-2011, the Standard Committee of the Indonesian Forest Certification Cooperation, 2012-2013, the ILO Tripartite Experts on Sustainable Development, Decent Work and Green Jobs in 2015, and UNFF Major Groups Expert on Workers and Trade Unions.  

What special knowledge or experience do I have to offer to the Board and FSC members? 

The experiences I have in the multi-stakeholder arena described above, complimented with my academic university studies in Literature and Sociology, Law, and Masters Program in Public Administration, have contributed to my engagement in the previous term of FSC International Board of Directors representing the Social Chamber South from 2014-2021. I have learned that FSC is a unique entity comprising a diverse range of membership interests, where its leadership has to guide the organization toward achieving its strategic goal and objectives, protecting its reputation and credibility yet at the same time ensuring that our standard setting agenda and processes meet the expectations and realities of our stakeholders.  

I was fortunate to have had the opportunities serving in various FSC Board committees and appointments: Board Executive Committee (ExCo), Board Complaint Resolution Committee (BCRC), Board Strategic Planning Committee (BSPC), Board Governance Committee (BGC), Board Liaison to Policy and Standard Committee (PSC) and the privilege of appointment as Board Chair for 2016-2018. As part of those board committee roles, I took part in developing various monumental policies/strategies, such as: 

• Global Strategy 2015-2020 
• Controlled Wood Strategy  
• Guideline for Standard Developers on the Generic Criteria and Indicators based on ILO Core Conventions Principles 
• FSC Core Labour Requirements 
• FSC Network Policy 
• GA2022 Motion 37 (passed) on Required Changes to the FSC Principles and Criteria to Implement the Policy to Address Conversion. 

The last two years of my previous board term (2020-2021) have been hit with the unprecedented pandemic, that has dramatically changed the pace and dynamic of the board engagement as well as that with the membership. Hence, despite the legacy, there is still much to do. The recent GA in Bali has created opportunities to interact with both FSC new members and senior members, aspiring for new or revived approaches in areas such as: 

• meaningful stakeholder engagement toward solutions 
• developing and transfer of institutional memory 
• collating supply vs market potential challenges 
• building capacity of the ‘South’ sub-chambers engagement in the membership 
• enhancing FSC certification coverage in the tropical forests 
• ensuring FSC Core Labor Requirements are effectively implemented.  

Besides, the organization needs board members who are not only collaborative, but also actively contribute, offer constructive positioning and be willing to walk the extra mile to reach amicable solutions. I have demonstrated from my experience described earlier, I am that kind of person. 

On another important note, being a global organization, it is also of great significance to have a balanced geographical representation at the FSC Board. It is obvious that there is an under-representation of Asia region in the current board and among this year’s board candidates, to which I am confident that I can effectively fill in.  

In what fields/directions would I wish to guide the implementation of Global Strategy 2021-2026? 

It is one thing to have a Global Strategy, which we do, and it is another thing to have an implementation plan, which we do, but there is one other thing that would lead us to achieving our goal, which we haven’t done yet: Remain focused in our efforts in producing meaningful results as outlined in the strategy.  

I would use three simple key words that could serve as reminders in guiding the implementation of Global Strategy: INHERENCE, INCLUSIVENESS and INNOVATION.  

INHERENCE: getting our house in order and not get lost in bureaucracy to produce meaningful results.  

INCLUSIVENESS: re-convening people of different mindsets to solutions. After the virtual interactions for more than two years, it is time to get our members and stakeholders back together again, to strengthen foundation for increased dialogue, transparency and accountability, that would lead to further INNOVATION. After all, this is our core strength at FSC.