On Thursday, September 19th, 2024, at 02:30 p.m., in Meeting Room No. 10, 2nd floor of the Kasetsart Golden Jubilee Administration and Information Center Building, Kasetsart University Bangkhen Campus, Prof. Dr.Dokrak Marod, Vice President for Research and Internationalization and team, namely Assoc. Prof. Dr. Chamaipak Maiklad, Assistant to the President for International Affairs; Asst. Prof. Dr. Kobsak Wanthongchai, Dean of the Faculty of Forestry; Asst. Prof. Dr. Kritsadapan Palakit, Assistant Dean for International Affairs, Faculty of Forestry; Dr. Michael Jenke, Lecturer from the Department of Silviculture, Faculty of Forestry; Asst. Prof. Dr. Pichit Lumyai, Deputy Dean for Student Affairs, Faculty of Forestry; Asst. Prof. Dr. Somporn Maelim, Head of the Department of Forest Product, Faculty of Forestry; and IAD representatives welcomed representatives from Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asia and the Pacific (RECOFTC), namely Dr. David Ganz, Executive Director; Mr. Chandra Silori, Deputy Executive Director; Mrs. Mary Ann Llanza, Director - Knowledge Management, Information Technology, and Strategic Communication; Mr. Ronnakorn Triraganon, Senior Strategic Advisor; Mr. Santosh Raj Pathak, Partnerships and Fundraising Officer; Mr. Julian Atkinson, RMFN-Asia Secretariat Manager; and Mrs. Nattarikarn Thongsomboon, RMFN-Asia Secretariat Officer.

The Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asia and the Pacific (RECOFTC) has a core mission to support people in the Asia-Pacific region to live sustainably alongside forests and landscapes. The purpose of this visit to KU was to establish a memorandum of agreement under the Regional Model Forest Network Asia (RMFN-Asia) initiative as well as to lease the Yes-KUFF building to serve as the RMFN-Asia office and co-working space.

Before the signing ceremony, Dr. Michael Jenke congratulated Prof. Dr. Dokrak Marod on his new position. He emphasized that the word "internationalization" holds significant influence, as RECOFTC is also striving to become a more international organization. In the past, RECOFTC had only a handful of foreign staff, but now it employs personnel from 18 different nationalities. Furthermore, forestry issues in the Asia-Pacific region require collective efforts to resolve. RECOFTC hopes to offer internship opportunities to KU students in the future, as they are currently preparing for an internship program. After the signing ceremony, both parties took a group photo together.