The Panel Chair attended the CIFOR Board meeting at CIFOR headquarters in April 1997. The Chair, accompanied by the Panel Chairs of IRRI and CIMMYT External Review Panels, attended a one day briefing and discussion meeting in London in May 1997, with the TAC Chair and staff from the TAC and CGIAR Secretariats. The purpose of the meeting was to brief the Panel Chairs on the review process and to initiate discussion of the key issues to be considered by the respective Panels.
The Panel Chair and one Panel member attended the CIFOR Board's Executive Committee meeting held in October 1997 in Antalya, Turkey, immediately following the World Forestry Congress. The whole Panel visited CIFOR Headquarters from 2 to 11 December 1997 for the initial phase to familiarize itself with the Centre. The Panel members interacted with the senior management and staff, and met with representatives from the National Staff Advisory Group and the Internal Auditors. Panel members also met with the representatives from Lembaga Ekolabel Indonesia, Indonesia, WWF and the ITTO/Bulungan Steering Committee.
The Panel Chair attended the meeting of the Asia Pacific Association of Forestry Research Institutes at the 30th Anniversary Conference of Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 12-13 December 1997; he interacted with Directors and scientists of many institutions in the region. In January, the Panel Chair and one Panel member met with the Board Chair and one Board member in London to discuss governance issues.
From 16 to 20 February, the Panel Chair attended the Second Workshop of CIFOR Co-operative Project "Site management and productivity in tropical plantations", held in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. He then visited CIFOR's collaborative work in Zimbabwe. From 11 to 14 February 1998, one Panel member visited CIFOR's collaborative work based in Bangalore, Karnataka and Peechi, Kerala, India. From 15 to 23 February, another Panel member visited CIFOR's collaborative work in Bolivia and Peru. These visits provided opportunities for Panel members to interact with CIFOR staff in the field and their national partners.
The whole Panel returned to CIFOR Headquarters on 2 March 1998 for the main phase of the Review. Panel members interacted with management and scientific staff, individually and in small groups, and met with the nationally recruited staff, CIFOR trainees, and representatives of the Spouses Association. They also met with the staff of ICRAF's Southeast Asian Regional Research Programme based at CIFOR. Opportunity was also taken to meet with the management and staff of the Forestry Research and Development Agency, and staff at the Institute Pertanian Bogor, as well as with the Secretary General of the Ministry of Forestry and the Directors General under the Ministry. One Panel member met with the external auditors.
Draft chapters of the report were shared with the Director General. On 16 March 1998, the Report of the Panel was presented by the Panel Chair to the Board Chair and the Board members in Bogor, and subsequently to the staff.
