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Te InternationalModel Forest NetworkA Global Approac to Ecosystem Sustainability

IMFN_Book_Eng_rev5.indd 1 13/09/11 9:59 AM



Catalogue number: Fo4-38/2011E

ISBN: 978-1-100-18364-0

Tis publication was carried out wit

te aid o a grant rom te International

Development Researc Centre, Ottawa, Canada.

Tis report as been publised wit

te support o te Government o Canada.




Sei I Introduction

Sei II About te IMFNThe Model Forest Concept

Growth of the IMFN

Milestones

The IMFN and International Forest Policy Priorities

Structure of the IMFN

Partnership and Collaboration

IMFN Global Forum

IMFN Strategic Initiatives

Sei III Regional NetworksIbero-American Model Forest Network

Canadian Model Forest Network

Mediterranean Model Forest Network

African Model Forest Network

Regional Model Forest Network – Asia

Russia and Northern Europe

Sei IV Conclusions

Aedix A Model Forest Activities Cart

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33

4

6

7

9

11

12

14

1719

25

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35

39

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51

Contents



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Twenty years ago it was uncommon to invite local communities, indigen-

ous groups and environmental non-government organizations to meet with

industry and government representatives in the hope that all parties might

agree on what sustainable forest management means. Even more uncommon

was to then ask the parties to collaborate in trying to put sustainable forest

management into practice.

Yet, in 1992 at the Rio (UNCED) Summit, this is exactly what Canada

did when it set out to see if its “Model Forest” concept – a promising, if

unconventional, national initiative – might offer broader benets. Backed by

a $10 million commitment, the International Model Forest Network (IMFN)

was born.

We are now on the eve of the 20th anniversary

of that announcement. In the intervening years,

membership in the IMFN has grown steadily and

a remarkable amount of work has been undertaken

throughout the entire Network.

Today the IMFN is a dynamic and results-oriented initiative with a global reach and breadth of activities

that address the full spectrum of sustainability challenges in ways that benet sustainable forest manage-ment practitioners and policy-makers alike.

This publication highlights many of the accomplishments of the thousands of people and organiza-

tions that are part of the IMFN. National government representatives, business owners, scientists, local

Section I

Introduction

ThE IMFN A GlobAl ApproAch to EcoSyStEm SuStAInAbIlIty 1

Te credit or tis work goes to te many committedindividuals and groups, oten located in remote parts o

te world, wo are indeed making a dierence.“”

Peter BesseauExeive Die, Ieaiamde Fes newk Seeaia

osie age: Burgos, Spain.

Location o te 2011IMFN Global Forum




farmers, indigenous people, citizens of resource-dependent communities, individual champions: all

have worked – often unacknowledged and with modest resources – to advance sustainable development

policy and practices where they work and live.

Today, in 2011, the IMFN includes more than 55 large-scale landscapes in 24 countries, covering more

than 100 million hectares with a population of several million people.

Through its regional and global learning networks, the organization has been able to demonstrate prac-

tical approaches for addressing many of the most important issues faced by international forest policy

today. A key accomplishment, for example, has been validation that local communities are indispensible

partners in achieving resource management that is indeed sustainable. Also signicant has been the

ability of Model Forests to provide a workable approach to ecosystem-based management – manage-

ment whose partnerships are as complex as the land uses found in those ecosystems. In both of these

arenas, Model Forests offer an invaluable way to test the social science component of sustainable nat-

ural resource management – that is, helping us understand the human dimension of sustainability, the

demands that we place on our ecosystems, the tradeoffs involved in the choices we make in resource use,

and the options we have to achieve an acceptable balance.

Over the years, IMFN participants have supported research, training and monitoring related to the

issues of particular importance to their Model Forest region. Those issues range from climate change

and biodiversity protection to sustainable economic growth, valuation of ecological goods and services,

and meaningful stakeholder participation in planning and decision-making. Individual Model Forests

around the world, as well as those that are part of regional networks now established in Asia, Ibero-

America, Canada, Africa and the Mediterranean region, have been generous in making their knowledge

and experience available to one another – a cornerstone objective of the IMFN.

Such peer-to-peer and site-to-site knowledge exchange and shared learning have accelerated innova-

tion across the spectrum of sustainable development issues and have led to the adoption of promising

approaches to many common problems.

This publication proles the history and evolution of the IMFN to its present structure and activities.

The IMFN experiences highlighted are only a small sampling of the broad set of programs and activ-

ities already delivered or now underway across the Network. The credit for this work goes to the many

committed individuals and groups, often located in remote parts of the world, who are indeed making

a difference.

Congratulations to all participants in the IMFN!

2 SEctIon I INTRODUCTION




Te Model Forest ConceptIn the early 1990s, one of Canada’s responses to

the challenge of integrating the principles of sus-

tainable development into forestry – a practice

now known as sustainable forest management –

was the creation of the Model Forest Program.

The aim of the program was to bring diverse

organizations and people together to develop

innovative local, landscape-scale approaches to

integrating forest management policy, with on-

the-ground implementation supported by sound

science.

In creating a Model Forest, individuals and groups

supporting a wide range of forest values agree

to collaborate to devise and demonstrate ways

to manage forest-based landscapes and natural

resources, using approaches that are both locally

acceptable and nationally relevant.

Model Forest participants typically include land

users, owners and managers; forest-based and

other industries; community, environmental,

non-government and forestry groups; federal,

provincial and municipal government agencies;

academic and research institutions; conservation

areas; and indigenous groups and communities. In

this way, each Model Forest represents a divers-

ity of forest values, including social, cultural, eco-

nomic and environmental concerns important to

the participants.

Sharing ideas and knowledge, incorporating mul-

tiple values into management, and enhancing

local capacities for engaging in sustainable man-

agement practices are all fundamental principles

of Model Forests. Through research, tools and

approaches to sustainable landscape management

are also developed and transferred to practition-

ers. Governance of a Model Forest is based on

consensus, allowing for participants to have a say

in the issues to be addressed and activities under-

taken. The governance structure is highly exible

and is designed to reect the cultural, social, pol-

itical and economic realities of the area within

which a Model Forest operates.

Section II

About te IMFN

A Model Forest is a large-scale, orest-based landscapetat encompasses a variety o land uses and values,resource management administrations, and land ownersip.





Through a Model Forest, participants learn to

recognize the potential impacts of their activities

on forests and the options that are available for

improving their management and use of natural

resources. They also develop a shared understand-

ing of sustainable development and of how to put

this new knowledge into practice through collab-

orative activities.

Growt o te IMFNThe United Nations Conference on Environment

and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in

1992 saw unprecedented global consensus on the

urgent need to nd real, practical and sustainable

solutions to the serious environmental challenges

facing the planet. At the Rio conference, Canada

invited other countries to participate in testing

Model Forests as a new approach to translating

the principles of sustainable development into

on-the-ground actions for improving the manage-

ment of forests and natural resources.

Following the Rio conference, Canada pilotedModel Forests in Mexico and Russia and, in 1995,

established a Secretariat for the International

Model Forest Network (IMFN), headquartered at

the International Development Research Centre

in Ottawa, Canada. The IMFN Secretariat sup-

ports the development of the network, facilitates

the exchange of knowledge and expertise, and

champions the Model Forest concept to inter-

national organizations on behalf of its members.

From an initial 10 Model Forests in Canada in

1992, the IMFN has grown to include more than

55 sites in over 24 countries on ve continents,

with thousands of partner organizations – and the

numbers continue to grow.

To facilitate the growth and continued develop-

ment of the IMFN into an effective approach

4 SEctIon II ABOUT ThE IMFN

1992

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

1994 1996 1998 2000 2002

N u m b e r o f M o d e l F o r e s t s

2004 2006 2008 2010

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

8071

67 66

6057 55

Activities

Distribution of Most Frequently Occurring

Model Forest Activities (2010)

IMFN Growth (1992–2010)

C o m m u n i t y

S u s t a i n a b i l i t y

& E c o n o m i c D e v e l o p m e n t

E d u c a t i o n &

C a p a c i t y B u i l d i n g

B i o d i v e r s i t y , C o n s e r v a t i o n

& S t e w a r d s

h i p

I n n o v a t i v e P r a c t i c e s

& T o o l s

N o n - T

i m b e r

F o r e s t P r o d

u c t s

E c o - c u

l t u r a

l

T o u r i s m

% o

f M o d e l F o r e s t s




to addressing global forest and natural resource

management issues, several national and regional

Model Forest networks have also been established:

• Te largest regional network, te Ibero-American Model ForestNetwork, includes 25 sites in Central and Sout America, aswell as one site in Spain.

• Te Canadian Model Forest Network includes 15 Model Forestsacross te country.

• Establised in 2008, te Mediterranean Model Forest Networkincludes nine countries and regions in te Mediterranean basin

tat are actively pursuing Model Forest development.

• Te Arican Model Forest Network currently includes two ModelForests in Cameroon and proposed initiatives in oter CongoBasin countries. Tree sites also being developed in NortArica (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia) are aliated wit teMediterranean Model Forest Network.

• Te Regional Model Forest Network – Asia includes ModelForests in Cina, India, Indonesia, Japan, te Pilippines and

Tailand.

• A new Russia and Nortern Europe Model Forest Network isemerging, wit participants exploring opportunities to joinSweden in using te Model Forest approac as a way toenance sustainable development in te Baltic Sea region.

Together, all of the Model Forests and their regional

networks make up the IMFN, a global community

of practice whose exible shared framework facili-

tates the exchange of lessons learned across theregions and with other organizations.

For nearly 20 years now, forest-dependent stake-

holders around the world have been voluntar-

ily translating sustainable natural resource man-

agement priorities and policies into action on the

ground through the Model Forest approach.


Total Hectares of

Model Forests by RegionTotal hectares = 108 516 717 in 58 Model Forests

Regional Distribution of

Population in Model ForestsTotal = 8 124 410 in 58 Model Forests

Ibero-America4 348 801 (25 MFs)

Canada1 703 018 (15 MFs)

Mediterranean355 792 (3 MFs)

Africa106 000 (2 MFs)

Asia1 288 899 (8 MFs)

Russia & Northern Europe321 900 (5 MFs)

Ibero-America31 243 954 (25 MFs)

Canada65 224 761 (15 MFs)

Mediterranean556 485 (3 MFs)

Africa

2 369 445 (2 MFs)

Asia1 124 244 (8 MFs)

Russia & Northern Europe7 997 828 (5 MFs)

Note: Urbión Model Forest is included as part of the Mediterranean Model Forest Network,

but it is also a member of the Ibero-American Model Forest Network.




International Model Forest Network

The IMFN was established with the vision of supporting, through Model Forests, the manage-

ment of the world’s forest resources in a sustain-

able manner, reecting environmental and socio-

economic issues from the perspective of local

needs and global concerns.

The primary goal of the IMFN is to establish a

global network of Model Forests that will repre-

sent most of the major forest ecosystems of the

world. The Network strives to ensure that all part-

ners, regardless of political or economic status,

can contribute to, and share in, the benets of

the Network as they work toward the sustainable

management of forest-based landscapes.

Three key objectives of the IMFN are:

• To oster international cooperation and excange o ideas

relating to te working concept o te sustainable managemento orest-based landscapes and natural resources

• To support international cooperation in critical aspects o orestscience and social science tat underlie te searc or newmodels o orest and landscape management

• To support ongoing international discussions on te criteria andprinciples o sustainable development

As a long-term goal, the Network will serve as a

foundation for international cooperation on thesustainable development of forest-based land-

scapes and natural resources. Participating Model

Forests will share their knowledge and encourage

broad implementation of management and con-

servation methods that ensure that forests con-

tinue to provide benets for humanity.

1992 caada aes aia mde Fes pga

caada ivies ieaia aiiai i mde Fess a e uied nais

ceee Evie ad Devee, ri de Jaei, bazi

1994 Fis mde Fess esaised side caada (mexi ad rssia)

1995 Ieaia mde Fes newk Seeaia esaised a e Ieaia

Devee resea cee, oawa, caada

1996 ImFn Ga F, ciaa, mexi1998 Fis mde Fess esaised i S Aeia (Ageia ad cie)

1999 Fis mde Fes esaised i Asia (cia)

ImFn Ga F, haiax, caada

2001 ImFn ad cuSo (w cuSo-VSo) sig a ageee aae ae

vee eas i mde Fess

2002 regia mde Fes newk lai Aeia ad e caiea esaised

2004 Fis mde Fes esaised i Ee (Swede)

2005 ImFn Ga F, tiaa, csa ria

Fis mde Fess esaised i Aia (cae)

2008 ImFn Ga F, hi, caada

medieaea mde Fes newk esaised

2009 Aia mde Fes newk ad Seeaia esaised

Seeaia e regia mde Fes newk – Asia esaised

2011 ImFn Ga F, bgs, Sai

Ieaia Ssi Esse ad ladsae-eve Aaes

Ssaiaii, bgs, Sai


Milestones





The Model Forest approach is highly focused on

“doing” — that is, on taking sustainable forest

management policy priorities and nding ways

to put them into practice, in real landscapes, in

real time, and for real benets. Therefore, local,

national and international agreed-upon sustain-

able forest management policy provides a frame-

work for Model Forest activities, thereby actualiz-

ing the adage “from global to local.”

The IMFN is not prescriptive in terms of the pro-

gram of activity that individual sites commit to; all

Model Forest projects are at the discretion of the

individual Model Forest partnerships. However,

in applying to become a member of the IMFN,

members agree to support the goals and object-

ives of the Network and, in particular, to make an

active link between their programs and national

forestry policy. As national governments are typ-ically members of the Model Forest partnership

group, this tends to encourage this “policy/prac-

tice” relationship.

As shown in the table (right) there are signi-

cant and extensive links between the activities of

Model Forests and several of the most important

policy vehicles supporting SFM internationally.

IMFN Strategic Initiatives (see page 14) provideadded opportunities for the Network to respond to

national and international policy priorities.

Te IMFN and International Forest Policy Priorities

Gveae, aiiaesses ad i

iigai

Ssaiae eidevee

Iegaig eed aeavaes i age adsaes

Edai adaai idig

Aied sieead esea

newkig ad eaig

tesig ad desaigesse aagee

pi ias

rese iizai

mieiDevee Gas

cvei bigia Divesi

naia Fespgas

uied nais F Fess: Ga

ojeives Fess

uied naisFaewk cvei ciae cage

uied naiscvei caDeseifai

}Main Areas o Impact





1

32

45

6

7

8

9 10

11

13

12

1415

16

22

23

24

26

27

28

31

3233

34

35

3637

3839

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

49

50

51

52 53

54 55

56

57

58

2930

21

17 18 19

20

25

47 48

Argentina36 Formoseño 2000

40 Futaleufú 1998

37 Jujuy 2002

39 Norte de Neuquén 2005

35 San Pedro 2007

38 Tucumán 2008

Bolivia28 Chiquitano 2005

Brazil30 Mata Atlántica 2004

29 Pandeiros 2005

Cameroon49 Campo Ma’an 2005

50 Dja et Mpomo 2005

Canada5 Clayoquot Forest

Communities 2008

9 Cree Research andDevelopment Institute 1997

15 Eastern Ontario 1992

4 Foothills ResearchInstitute 1992

14 Fundy 1992

11 Lac-Saint-Jean 2007

7 Lake Abitibi 1992

COUNTRY / MODEL FOREST ESTABLISHED COUNTRY / MODEL FOREST ESTABLISHED COUNTRY / MODEL FOREST ESTABLISHED COUNTRY / MODEL FOREST ESTABLISHED

10 Le Bourdon Project 2007

6 Manitoba 1992

12 Newfoundlandand Labrador 1992

8 Northeast SuperiorForest Community 2007

13 Nova Forest Alliance 1998

1 Prince Albert 1992

3 Resources North Association 1992

2 Weberville Community 2010

Chile32 Araucarias del

Alto Malleco 2002

31 Cachapoal 2005

34 Chiloé 1998

33 Panguipulli 2005

China53 Lin’an 1999

52 Tahe

Colombia27 Risaralda 2008

Costa Rica25 Chorotega 2011

26 Reventazón 2003

Cuba16 Sabanas de Manacas 2008

Dominican Republic19 Colinas Bajas 2010

18 Sabana Yegua 2003

17 Yaque del Norte 2007

Guatemala21 Lachuá 2008

22 Los Altos 2008

Honduras23 Atlántida 2006

24 Yoro 2007

India54 Kodagu 2005

Indonesia58 Margowitan 2004

Japan51 Kyoto 2011

Morocco47 Ifrane

Philippines57 Carood Watershed 2010

56 Ulot Watershed 2000

Puerto Rico20 Tierras Adjuntas 2007

Russia43 Komi 2006

41 Kovdozersky 2005

42 Pskov 2006

Spain46 Urbión 2006

Sweden45 Bergslagen

44 Vilhelmina 2004

Thailand55 Ngao 2000

Turkey48 Yalova

Countries in which a Model Forestis in early stages of development:

Algeria

Croatia

Democratic Republicof the Congo

France

Greece

Italy

Paraguay

Peru

Tunisia

International Model Forest Network




Structure o te IMFNAt the centre of the IMFN are the Model Forests

themselves. Model Forests acknowledge that the

social side of sustainability – building relation-

ships that allow for a broad range of stakeholders

to work together over a long period of time – is

just as important as other aspects of sustainability.

For this reason, Model Forests create governance

structures that are inclusive, participatory, open

and accountable to their stakeholders and the rest

of the IMFN.

While the IMFN Secretariat facilitates the day-

to-day administration of the overall network,

regional Model Forest networks and secretariats

were created to allow for a greater focus on Model

Forest development and networking opportunities

from regional vantage points. An International

Advisory Council and the IMFN Networking

Committee were also created to provide strategicand operational advice to the IMFN and IMFN

Secretariat.

IMFN SecretariatThe IMFN Secretariat was established in 1995.

The Secretariat has a small staff that provides the

central day-to-day coordination of support anddevelopment services to the Network, and works

to strengthen and expand the Network. The

Secretariat also supports:

• Maintenance o te principles and attributes o Model Forests

• Partnersip development and capacity building

• Tecnical and logistical issues in establisingand operating Model Forests

• International communications, networkingand knowledge management

• Network-level initiatives on key globally relevant temes,suc as ecological goods and services, climate cangeand community sustainability

• Resource expansion and international advocacy

For 12 years the IMFN Secretariat was housed

within the International Development Research

Centre in Ottawa. In 2007, it moved to the

Canadian Forest Service within Natural ResourcesCanada.

Regional Model Forest NetworksRegional networks were created to more effect-

ively dene, articulate and manage a program of

work reecting the priorities, strengths and oppor-

tunities unique to a particular region. Regionalfunctions include:

• Networking between Model Forests witin a region(transer o knowledge and experience)

• Assistance in regional resource expansion

• Regional communications, advocacy and knowledgemanagement

• Regional program support

• Regional partnersip development and capacity building

• Review and approval o new Model Forests and membersipin a regional network

Governance structures for regional networks vary

from region to region. For example, the Ibero-

American Model Forest Network has a manage-

ment team based in Turrialba, Costa Rica, and a

board of directors that meets twice a year. Small

Secretariats have also been established for Africa

(Yaoundé, Cameroon), Asia (Beijing, China) and

the Mediterranean (Valladolid, Spain).






In some regions, such as Canada and Russia,

the national network effectively operates as

a regional network. In 2006, the Canadian

Model Forest Network became an independent,

non-government organization with a manage-

ment team based in Kemptville, Ontario. The

Argentine Model Forest Network is supported by

a Secretariat housed within a national govern-

ment agency, while the Komi Model Forest acts

as the coordinator for the Russian Model Forest

Network.

IMFN International Advisory CouncilThe IMFN International Advisory Council (IAC)

was established in 2007. Among its functions,

the IAC provides strategic advice to the IMFN

Secretariat concerning its growth, focus, deliver-

ables and opportunities for fullling its mandate

and meeting the needs of its members. The IAC

also assists the Secretariat in engaging and collab-orating with other international organizations and

initiatives with similar goals and thereby in actively

contributing to international forest policy issues.

The council consists of several senior experts with

broad international experience and perspectives.

IMFN Networking CommitteeThe IMFN Networking Committee assists the

IMFN Secretariat in identifying trends, issues

and opportunities of global or regional import-

ance, and in facilitating information, expertise and

experience ow between regions. The creation of

the committee was a direct response to outcomes

from the 2005 IMFN Global Forum in Costa

Rica, where participants requested the formation

of a Network-level body that would address issues

common to all Model Forests. Each RegionalModel Forest Network and IMFN operating

region has a representative on the committee.

This group represents an important opportunity

both for Network members to have greater voice

in the evolution of this global community of prac-

tice, and for new ideas to be brought forward and

realized.

Principles and Attributes o ModelForestsModel Forests around the world are as unique and

diverse as the countries and cultures they belong to. While each Model Forest sets its own program-

ming priorities and governance structure, on a

global scale Model Forests are linked through a

common philosophy. All Model Forests share

a core set of six principles that give the IMFN

coherence and provide the basis for networking

and knowledge sharing:

1. Broad-based partnersip: ea mde Fes is a ea

a wees va aiiai eeseaives sakede ieess ad vaes e adsae

2. Large landscape: ea mde Fes is a age isia

aea eeseig a ad age es vaes, idig

sia, a, ei ad eviea es

3. Commitment to sustainability: sakedes ae ied

e sevai ad ssaiae aagee aa

eses ad e esed adsae

4. Good governance: e mde Fes aagee ess is

eeseaive, aiia, asae ad aae, ad

es aaive wk ag sakedes

5. Broad program o activities: aiviies deake a mde

Fes ee e mde Fess’ visi ad sakede

eeds, vaes ad aagee aeges

6. Commitment to knowledge saring, capacity building and

networking: a mde Fes ids sakede aai egage i e ssaiae aagee aa eses,

aae, ad sae ess ad esss eaed g

ewkig




Partnersip and CollaborationSince 1995, the IMFN Secretariat has worked

with numerous international organizations to sup-port the sustainable management of forests and

landscapes. These organizations include:

• Food and Agriculture Organization o te United Nations (FAO)

• Center or International Forest Researc (CIFOR)

• International Union or Conservation o Nature (IUCN)

• Secretariat o te Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)

• UNESCO Man and te Biospere Program (MAB)

• Te Center or People and Resources (RECOFTC)

• Tropical Agricultural Researc and higer Education Center(CATIE)

• CUSO-VSO, a Canadian volunteer-sending developmentorganization

CUSO-VSO and te IMFN: A Mutually Benecial CollaborationCUSO-VSO is one o Nort America’s leading volunteer-based international development organizations. It

seeks people o all ages wo ave in-dept knowledge and experience in a range o elds, and places tem

wit organizations around te world seeking to overcome poverty.

Since 2002, more tan 50 volunteers ave been placed in Model Forests trougout Latin America. One o

tese was Canadian Linda Vaillancourt. An expert in integrated rural development, Linda went to Costa Rica

in 2007 to advise te Protected Area Management Program in te Reventazón Model Forest. Te program’s

goal was to strengten tree protected areas by supporting te development and implementation o tailored

management plans troug broad participation. Over er two-year assignment, Linda worked to transer erknowledge to Model Forest stakeolders so tey could work to balance conservation values wit cultural and

economic needs.

Today, all tree management plans are operational. Not only t at, but te communities and localorganizations involved in te process now ave te skills necessary to understand and participate in te

sustainable development o teir areas at a landscape scale.

Based on te success o volunteer placements like tis one across Latin America, collaboration between

CUSO-VSO and te IMFN was extended in 2010 to Cameroon and te Pilippines.


le: CUSO cooperant talking witCiquitano Model Forest member

in Alta Vista, Bolivia

rig: CUSO cooperanttalking wit KEDLAP worksop

participants in Alta Vista, Bolivia




IMFN Global ForumEvery three years, Model Forest representatives from

around the world gather at the IMFN Global Forumto share experiences and knowledge, review their

accomplishments and identify strategic directions

for the Network for the years ahead. The 1996 and

1999 events – in, respectively, Chihuahua, Mexico,

and Halifax, Canada – were small because few

Model Forests had been established in the IMFN,

particularly outside Canada.

By the 2005 IMFN Global Forum in Turrialba,

Costa Rica, 37 Model Forests were active or

in development in 16 countries on ve con-

tinents, with an aggregate land base of nearly

50 million hectares and more than 1 000 partner

organizations.

By 2008, the year of the IMFN Global Forum

in Hinton, Canada, more than 50 Model Forests

existed in 21 countries.

2005 Global Forum,Turrialba, Costa RicaThe 2005 IMFN Global Forum marked the 10th

anniversary of the IMFN Secretariat. More than

130 Model Forest representatives and partners

from around the world met in Turrialba, Costa

Rica, to review the accomplishments and develop-

ment of the IMFN over the last decade and to

consider where it should go from there. Highlightsof the 2005 Global Forum included:

• Tree working group sessions, ocusing on networks andnetworking at local/regional, national and international levels

• A request by representatives or te development o a ormalstatement o te common pilosopy tat links Model Forestsaround te world – a statement tat became te Model ForestsPrinciples and Attributes Framework

• A meeting o boreal orest countries to discuss optionsor developing IMFN-level tematic programming acrosste boreal region, leading to te development o te IMFNCircumboreal Initiative


Mountainous cloud orest,Jujuy Model Forest, Argentina




2008 IMFN Global Forum,

hinton, CanadaMore than 150 delegates, representing national

governments, IMFN partner organizations and

Model Forest stakeholders, came together at the

2008 IMFN Global Forum. Highlights of the

2008 Global Forum included:

• Formal adoption o te Model Forest Principles and AttributesFramework

• Identication o our strategic priorities or te IMFN: climatecange, community sustainability, ecosystem services andknowledge management

• Formalization o te International Advisory Committee and teIMFN Networking Committee

• Identication o sort-, medium- and long-term goals or aknowledge management approac or te IMFN

• A series o capacity-building worksops on a wide range otopics, including Model Forest development, strategic planning,eco-tourism, resource mobilization and carbon budget modeling

2011 IMFN Global Forum,

Burgos, SpainDuring the 2011 Global Forum, IMFN members

will gather to share knowledge, to discuss the suc-

cesses and challenges of the past three years, and

to plan for the next three years. Discussions will

include progress on IMFN Strategic Initiatives

and an IMFN Charter, both of which will estab-

lish guidelines to facilitate the ongoing expansion

of the Network.

Preceding the Global Forum, more than 300

experts from around the world will participate in

the International Symposium on Ecosystem and

Landscape-level Approaches to Sustainability.

During the symposium, the IMFN and the

Spanish Regional Government of Castile and

León will facilitate the exchange of knowledge

and ideas on the inventorying and monitoring of

landscapes, ecosystem goods and services, govern-

ance, and future directions and opportunities.


2008 IMFN GlobalForum in hinton, Canada




IMFN Strategic InitiativesModel Forests provide platforms for putting local

research and actions into practice. At the broader

level, the Model Forest Network serves as a conduit

for disseminating ideas and expertise gained from

this research and for building partnerships with

other like-minded organizations. These attributes

make the IMFN an efcient, cost-effective spring -

board from which to tackle global, regional and

local challenges, as well as to foster innovation in

these and other priority areas.

At the 2008 IMFN Global Forum, participants

identied several programming priorities of rel-

evance to all network members in all regions and

countries. Strategic Initiatives were established to

enable members to develop and implement pro-

gramming priorities that address thematic issues

that extend beyond one Model Forest. The goal of

each initiative is to use Model Forests as a platform

for examining the links between international

policy objectives and on-the-ground actions.

The IMFN Circumboreal Initiative focuses on

developing international cooperation on key com-

mon boreal issues using Model Forests and otherlandscape areas in all boreal countries. Through

this initiative, links between countries are being

explored that will allow many important questions

to be examined collaboratively, including those

related to conserving biodiversity, helping forest-

dependent communities adapt to rapidly changing

climate, and managing forest land use sustainably.Te IMFN is developing models or knowledge saring

tat would work at local, regional and global levels andtat could be replicated by oters, tereby increasing tepotential or scaling up impacts.


Reventazón River, ReventazónModel Forest, Costa Rica




Climate change is one of today’s greatest

international challenges and one that has far-

reaching implications for sustainable livelihoods,

water and food security, health, and biodiversity.Model Forests, with their landscape-scale platforms

and broad stakeholder engagement, are ideally

suited sites in which to carry out climate change

studies, develop and test community adaptation

strategies, and monitor such efforts over the long

term. The IMFN Climate Change Strategic

Initiative focuses on enhancing Model Forest

capacity to engage in “Reducing Emissions from

Deforestation and Forest Degradation” (REDD+)activities, as well as to examine vulnerability and

adaptation in terms of issues of shared import-

ance, such as the effects of climate change on bio-

diversity and sustainable livelihoods. Successful

strategies and lessons learned will be shared across

the Network.

Because people and the forest-based communities

they live in are central to the Model Forest con-

cept, community sustainability is highly relevantto the IMFN. Through the IMFN Community

Sustainability Strategic Initiative, Model

Forests focus both on assessing the practices

and actions needed at the local level to promote

sustainability, and on looking at global challen-

ges related to poverty alleviation, sustainable

economic development and food security.

Activities under this initiative are expected to

affect communities in positive, tangible ways whilefullling the goals and objectives of international

priorities such as the United Nations’ Millennium

Development Goals.

The IMFN Ecological Goods and Services

Strategic Initiative focuses on ensuring the pro-

vision of goods and services essential to meet basic

human needs through integration of management

and conservation of natural resources into the

market economy. Model Forests serve as oppor-tunities to demonstrate approaches to developing

and promoting the value of ecological goods and

services.

Prince Albert Model Forest, Canada, and Vilelmina Model

Forest, Sweden, Collaborate Troug te IMFN CircumborealInitiativeWitin te boreal region, indigenous peoples consider reindeer (Rngifr rns rns ) and woodland

caribou (R. rns cribo ) to be cultural keystone species. Te Model Forests in Prince Albert, Canada,

and Vilelmina, Sweden, are participating in a joint study to link species distributions o reindeer and

caribou, based on indigenous observations o canging climate and abitat conditions, to erders’ and

unters’ adaptive strategies. Supported by te IMFN Circumboreal Initiative, te knowledge gained will

enance understanding o ow canges across dierent parts o te circumboreal region impact nortern

indigenous livelioods.

Caribou unters in Saskatcewan and reindeer erders in Sweden are being interviewed troug te Model

Forest Program to document teir experiences o ow climate canges are aecting caribou and reindeerabitat and distribution.

Te ocus will be on ow knowledge is gained rater tan wat knowledge is gained. Te inormation will beused to develop a teacing module tat can be linked to resource management courses taugt at nortern

and boreal region–based universities and colleges.

Te IMFN E-commerce Pilot ProjectNine Model Forests in te Ibero-American region are involved in an e-directory pilot project designed to

acilitate te electronic buying and selling o goods and services oered by small- and medium-sized

enterprises witin Model Forests. Te e-directory will be an important reerence guide or potential buyers

and a marketing tool or enterprises based in Model Forests. A CUSO-VSO volunteer cooperant as joined

te Ibero-American Model Forest Network management team or a two-year period as Advisor in Marketing

and Trade to assist in implementing and supporting te development o tis pilot project.





The topic has garnered strong interest across

the IMFN and a discussion paper has been writ-

ten, entitled “Maintaining Ecological Goods and

Services: Overview of the Issues and Options”

(Kennedy et al., 2009, Pembina Institute). In addi-

tion to regional pilot projects underway, there aremany examples of activities at the site level.

A fundamental principle of Model Forests is to

share experience and lessons learned. The IMFN

Knowledge Management and Sharing approach

supports the use of information and communi-

cations technology and knowledge management

techniques to improve the effectiveness of Model

Forests in the sustainable management of forest-

based landscapes. The IMFN is developing mod-els for knowledge sharing that would work at local,

regional and global levels and that could be rep-

licated by others, thereby increasing the potential

for scaling up impacts and reliability.

Regional Model Forest Network – Asia Pilot Project:Valuation o Ecological Goods and Services in teKodagu Model ForestThe 800-kilometre Cauvery River in Karnataka, India, is the area’s predominant river. It provides

water or the cities o Bangalore and Mysore and or a large rural population. Over the past

10 years, average annual infow into the watershed has dropped signicantly, a situation madeworse by shiting rainall patterns and loss o orest cover in the catchment area.

Sade-grown coee accounts or a large portion o te economic base o te region and coee

planters are seeking increased timber arvesting rigts to supplement declining income.

Wit unding rom te IMFN Strategic Initiatives, te Kodagu Model Forest is supporting a

compreensive assessment o te ull value o te ecological goods and services aorded

by te watersed. Troug tis assessment, stakeolders are planning to approac local

governments about adopting a system o Payment or Environmental Services or coeegrowers in te area. Te payments would encourage growers to play an active role in ensuring

tat te ecological goods and services o te river basin are managed or te long term.

Knowledge or Eective Learning and Development(KEDLAP)Te KEDLAP project was launced in 2008 to assess ow collaborative learning and saringo knowledge can elp resource based development organizations acieve better results.

Funded by te International Development Researc Centre, te project is also being supported

by CUSO–VSO, te Ibero-American Model Forest Network and te IMFN Secretariat.

KEDLAP participants create and sare knowledge in dierent orms troug, or example,

collecting and saring tematic inormation, systematizing best practices, leading policy

analysis, developing practical metodologies and tools, participating in online courses and

seminars, sponsoring coacing and mentoring, and conducting ace-to-ace excanges and

worksops. Lessons learned rom te project are being transerred to oter IMFN regions.


le: Fencing between elepant and

coee plants, Kodagu Model Forest. Indiarig: KEDLAP worksop participants in

Alta Vista, Bolivia




Ibero-AmericanModel Forest Networkage 19

Canadian Model ForestNetworkage 25

MediterraneanModel Forest Networkage 31

Arican Model Forest Networkage 35

Regional Model ForestNetwork – Asiaage 39

Russia and Nortern Europeage 45

Section II I

Regional Networks


membercandidateRegional Model Forest SecretariatIMFN Secretariat




18 SEctIon III REGIONAL NETWORKS




Te Ibero-American Model Forest Network

Sabanas de Manacas

Los Altos AtlántidaYoro

Reventazón

Risaralda

Chiquitano

Cachapoal

Araucarias delAlto Malleco

Panguipulli

Chiloé

San Pedro

Formoseño

Jujuy

Tucumán

Norte de Neuquén

Futaleufú

Pandeiros

Mata Atlántica

Lachuá

Yaque del NorteSabana Yegua

Colinas BajasTierras Adjuntas

Chorotega

Brazil

Chile

Bolivia

Argentina

Costa Rica

Puerto RicoDominican RepublicCuba

HondurasGuatemala

Colombia

membercandidateIAMFN Secretariat (Turrialba, Costa Rica)

Development o a Regional Model Forest Network in Ibero-AmericaThe rst Model Forest in Latin America was established in Chile in 1998. That same year, Argentina

committed to developing one Model Forest in each of its ve forest regions. Growing interest in Model

Forest development in the region led, in 2002, to the Latin America and Caribbean Model Forest

Network (LAC-Net) being established. The Secretariat for the new regional network was based in the

United Nations Development Programme ofces in Chile.


tis age: CiquitanoModel Forest, Bolivia

osie age: Turrialbavolcano spewing steam,

Reventazón Model Forest,Costa Rica

Urbión

Spain




In 2004, Brazil and Costa Rica joined LAC-Net

and the organization’s headquarters moved from

Chile to the Tropical Agricultural Research and

Higher Education Center (CATIE) in Costa

Rica. When Spain joined in 2007, the network

changed its name to the Ibero-American Model

Forest Network (IAMFN). Today the IAMFN is

the largest regional network in the International

Model Forest Network (IMFN), with 25 Model

Forests established in 12 countries across Central

America, South America and the Caribbean and

in Spain.

The IAMFN is governed by a Board of Directors

made up of one national-level representative

from each member country, one Model Forest

representative per country, and one representa-

tive from each of the IMFN Secretariat, CATIE,

CUSO-VSO and the United Nations Food and

Agriculture Organization.

Model Forest Activities andRegional PrioritiesThe vision of the Model Forests of the IAMFN

is to be a regional benchmark for the sustainable

management of natural resources on a landscape

scale, supported with widespread social participa-

tion. The IAMFN contributes to public policies on

the sustainable management of natural resources

by promoting cooperation among Model Forests,institutions and countries in the region through

knowledge exchange and innovative practices.

The IAMFN members are collectively working

toward this by:

• Consolidating existing Model Forests and te growt o tenetwork wile connecting wit one anoter

• Strengtening te capacity o te IAMFN to provide support

to its members, including elping tem acieve nancialsustainability

• Disseminating and transerring tecnical knowledge across tenetwork troug te saring o best practices and activities

• Contributing to processes tat encourage te ormulation,implementation and evaluation o public policies related tosustainable development


Since 2008, te Analog Forestry Project as establisedpilot biodiversity restoration sites and oered practicaltraining or landowners.

Risaralda Model Forest,Colombia




Regional ProjectsIn addition to supporting Model Forest develop-

ment, the IAMFN Management Team at CATIE

facilitates Model Forest cooperation with other

organizations and engagement in regional-level

activities. Two key regional-level activities imple-

mented in collaboration with partner organiza-

tions include the Analog Forestry Project and

the Ibero-American Landscape Management

Network.

Since 2008, the Analog Forestry Project hasestablished pilot biodiversity restoration sites and

offered practical training for landowners in three

Model Forests: Atlántida (Honduras), Reventazón

(Costa Rica) and the Colinas Bajas (Dominican

Republic).

Analog forestry methodology and organic

production practices were taught. As well,

demonstration sites and tree nurseries were estab-

lished, with a large variety of trees, shrubs and

plants cultivated in them. This project created

the capacity for local communities not only to

restore degraded land but also to diversify their

cultivation practices. This resulted in new forms

of income generation, as well as an increase in

organic production practices.

The experience and development tools gained

through the project will be shared with otherModel Forests in the region, as well as other

organizations with similar biodiversity restoration

and poverty reduction goals. It will also serve

as the foundation for extending biodiversity

restoration projects based on analog forestry

throughout Ibero-America. With funding fromCIDA, the project is coordinated by the IAMFN,

CATIE and the Falls Brook Centre (a Canadian

centre for rural development and training).

The Ibero-American Landscape Management

Network (RIMAP) is a network linking research

groups that are partners of Model Forests in eight

countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa

Rica, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Puerto

Rico and Spain). The goal of the project is topromote and coordinate the management and

restoration of degraded forest-based landscapes in

the Model Forests. This Community of Practice

also focuses on sharing knowledge by organiz-

ing or supporting the organization of regional

workshops and meetings and the production

of publications distributed through the Ibero-

American Model Forest Network. RIMAP is

funded by the Ibero-American Science andTechnology Development Program.

Analog orestry is “a sse wi seeks esais aag esses wi aiea

ses ad egia is siia e igia iax s iax vegeai. I as

seeks sege a iies, sia as as eia, g e se

seies a vide eia ds.”

Sorc: International Analog Forestry Network (ttp://www.analogorestrynetwork.org/)

Analog orestry plantingproject in Reventazón

Model Forest, Costa Rica





Looking ForwardIn 2009, the IAMFN Board of Directors identi-

ed the following set of priorities for the IAMFN:

• Land use planning and sustainable development – mde

Fess wi aiiae eaed sakede egagee i

e devee ad ieeai ad se as.

• Social responsibility – mde Fess wi assis i eaig

sakede aai eaed ae sia essiii

ad iease eai wi e ivae se.

• Researc program – A sed IAmFn resea Fd wi

e idei iies aai ad sege

eai ewee mde Fess ad a ivesiies.

• Micro-credit, micro-entrepreneursip and competitive unds –

tese aaes, wi id e sess exeiees sevea mde Fess i e IAmFn, wi e eaged

i e mde Fess e esa ad eive

devee iiiaives.

• Local leadersip or sustainable development – A s

eades wii e IAmFn wi sseaia ai g

ee wi e ga eaig aaive eadesi

aai ass e egia ewk.

1998 cié mde Fes esaised i cie, e fs mde Fes i lai Aeia

Faeú mde Fes esaised i Ageia

2000 Fseñ mde Fes esaised i Ageia

2001 cuSo-VSo eas fs aed i mde Fess i e egi

2002 Jj mde Fes esaised i Ageia

Aaaias de A mae mde Fes esaised i cie

lai Aeia ad caiea mde Fes newk (lAc-ne) esaised

2003 Saaa yega mde Fes esaised i e Diia rei

reveazó mde Fes esaised i csa ria

2004 lAc-ne eadqaes ved cie csa ria

maa Aáia mde Fes esaised i bazi

2005 Five mde Fess ji e ewk: ne de neqé (Ageia), ciqia (bivia),

padeis (bazi), ad pagii ad caaa (cie)

2006 Aáida mde Fes esaised i hdas

uió mde Fes esaised i Sai

2007 lAc-ne ages ae e Ie-Aeia mde Fes newk (IAmFn) we

Sai jis e ewk

F mde Fess ji e ewk: yaqe de ne (Diia rei),

y (hdas), las tieas Adjas (pe ri), ad Sa ped (Ageia)

2008 Fis IAmFn cgess, Sia, Sai

Five mde Fess ji e ewk: risaada (cia), tá (Ageia),

laá ad ls As (Gaeaa), ad Saaas de maaas (ca)

2010 cias bajas mde Fes esaised i e Diia rei

cega ees adidae mde Fes i csa ria

Milestones

t e: Forestry education inUrbión Model Forest, Spain

t ig: Araucarias del AltoMalleco Model Forest, Cile





C a S e S t u d y

Costa Rica’s Reventazón Model Forest: Strengtening Development o Conservation and Protected AreasTe Reventazón Model Forest occupies a geograpically and culturally diverse region in te

province o Cartago in te central region o Costa Rica. Te Model Forest includes rare virgin

cloud orest, active volcanoes, several national parks and an important arcaeological site, as

well as igly populated suburban and industrial areas and extensive agricultural land.

Te Model Forest as provided opportunities or implementing many o te country’s

conservation policies and several international initiatives. Begun as part o te Mesoamerican

Biological Corridor project, te Model Forest as supported development o te Talamanca

Central Volcanic Biological Corridor and te Ribereño Interurbano Subcuenca Reventado Agua

Caliente Biological Corridor. By strengtening tese two biological corridors, te Model Forestis promoting ecosystem connectivity in addition to community participation and cross-sectoral

planning wit local environmental organizations. Te corridors assist in creating social

agreements tat promote te conservation o biodiversity and te sustainable use o natural

resources, wile also improving te quality o lie o residents in te surrounding areas.

C a S e S t u d y

Argentina’s Jujuy Model Forest: Building Credibility and Trust

Te Jujuy Model Forest is located in te nortwestern part o Argentina. Witin it aremountainous terrain, two major river valleys, extensive armland and urban areas. Most o te

orested area is cloud orest (Yungas), ric in biodiversity as well as being a major source o

timber. In 1999, a small group o volunteers began to old open community worksops and

meetings wit organizations rom a variety o sectors to promote te idea o creating a Model

Forest in Jujuy.

It was a dicult time in Argentina’s istory, a time o crisis, uncertainty and discontent wit

te country’s political leadersip. Te volunteers worked or two years troug worksops

designed to explain te Model Forest pilosopy and its potential or creating an organization

tat is participatory, open and ocused on nding concrete solutions to te issues aced byte stakeolders. In 2002, te Jujuy Model Forest was establised and accepted into te

International Model Forest Network.

Today te Jujuy Model Forest is a successul collaboration o over 30 partner organizations

and as many projects underway. Examples include development o criteria and indicators

o sustainable orest management (in collaboration wit Canada), establisment o a orest

seedling nursery and a seed bank o native tree species, orestry education in elementary

scools, and tree planting.

Tese plans are contributing to integrated landscape management and cooperation amongstakeolders, as well as strengtening governance and decision-making troug community

participation.

For a ull description o te work o te Jujuy Model Forest, see www.bmj.org.ar/index.pp

Two rural inabitants o Jujuy Model Forest saring goat ceesetey made, wit a member o te Jujuy Model Forest tecnical team.F e ig: Doña Rosa Mendoza, Don Bauza and Iván Escalier (Jujuy MF member)

A diverse organic arm inReventazón Model Forest,Costa Rica





C a S e S t u d y

Canada-Argentina Collaboration onDeveloping Local-Level Criteria andIndicators or Sustainable Forest ManagementTe desire to measure and track teir progress toward te goal o sustainability is driving

countries to experiment wit varying reporting rameworks. Since 2007, te Argentinean andCanadian Model Forest Networks ave been collaborating to transer Canadian Model Forest

experiences in te development and implementation o local-level indicators or sustainable

orest management. Te work, bot in Canada and Argentina, is enancing capacity to report

on te impacts o orest management activities at a local level witin a ramework based on

global criteria.

C a S e S t u d y

Cile’s Araucarias del Alto Malleco Model Forest: Economic Diversication troug Local ProductsSince December 2008, local economic diversication as been te ocus o te Araucariasdel Alto Malleco Model Forest in Cile. Following award-winning researc on te piñon, a ruit

o te protected arcri rcn tree, te Model Forest developed a program tat aims to

improve te local economy using non-timber orest products suc as te piñon, roseips and

musrooms. Success was acieved toug streamlining te production cain, bringing togeter

collectors, ormalizing te legal status o an all-women entrepreneur group, placing value-

added products in te marketplace and increasing local identity. Te program empasizes

tat community involvement in te sustainable use o natural resources can oster local

development.

t: Araucaria araucana treesin te Araucarias del Alto

Malleco Model Forest, Cile

C&I worksop, Argentina





Te Canadian Model Forest NetworkDevelopment o te Canadian Model Forest NetworkThe Model Forest concept was developed in Canada in the early 1990s by the Canadian Forest Service

in response to a need for a forest management approach that would take into account the environmental,

social and economic aspects of the forest. Canada’s Model Forest Program was announced in 1991 and

an initial 10 Model Forests were selected through a competition.

Since then, a number of additional Model Forests have been developed and others have completed

their work and no longer exist. Today, the Canadian Model Forest Network (CMFN) is a not-for-prot

corporation with a Board of Directors and 15 member Model Forests. The Model Forests encompass125 communities and involve more than 1 100 forest stakeholders. Canadian Model Forests cover more

than 65 000 000 hectares, with representation in all Canadian provinces. Over 270 indigenous and non-

indigenous communities (amounting to a population of more than 975 000) are involved with Model

Forests across Canada. The CMFN’s vision is “Sustainable Forests; Sustainable Communities,” which

truly reects the goals Model Forests are looking to achieve.

National Focal Areas or te Canadian Model Forest NetworkEvery Model Forest is unique, with respect to its priorities, community characteristics, partners and

activities, but many similarities do exist. The CMFN works to bridge the commonalities between its

members by nding programs that are of interest to a number of regions, forest-based communities and

partners. From this process, a suite of national, network-level initiatives has emerged.

Prince Albert

Resources NorthAssociation

Foothills ResearchInstitute

Clayoquot ForestCommunities

Manitoba

Weberville Community

Lake Abitibi

Northeast SuperiorForest Community

Cree Research andDevelopment Institute

Le BourdonProject

Lac-Saint-Jean

Nova ForestAlliance

Newfoundlandand Labrador

Fundy

EasternOntario

Canada

membercandidateCMFN Secretariat (Kemptville, Canada)IMFN Secretariat (Ottawa, Canada)


Rocky Mountains o WesternCanada, Footills Researc

Institute, Canada




Two early programs that achieved success focused,

on local-level indicators of sustainable forest man-

agement and on engagement of woodlot owners

and managers of small forested lands. Currently,the network has the following seven national-level

strategic initiatives.

Bioenergy

Resources are being developed to assist commun-

ities considering developing bioenergy facilities,

including a guidebook that will provide an over-

view of current information, research and policy,

and a web-based source of policy informationand case study examples of current activities. A

planned project is the development of a tool that

will allow communities to assess the potential suc-

cess of a bioenergy facility in their region.

Canadian Cirumboreal Program

Model Forests based in Canada’s boreal region

are developing partnerships with Model Forests

in other circumboreal countries around the globe.

They are working to address forest management

issues in the context of concerns such as climate

change and changes in the forest sector.

Community Transition andDevelopment

The network is developing a workbook to help

leaders in resource-dependent communitiesassess current conditions, as well as choose the

best methods for addressing current and future

challenges they face with respect to changing eco-

nomic conditions.

Ecological Goods and Services

Through collaboration with the Canadian

Federation of Woodlot Owners and the Canadian

Federation of Agriculture, the network isexploring incentives and markets for protecting

ecological goods and services, and options

for offsetting the costs of voluntary actions of

forest managers, landowners and farmers. The

program will include a number of local-level

projects across Canada, as well as examining

options for policy development.

International Knowledge TransferThe CMFN will continue to share its experiences

with other members of the International Model

Forest Network and seek to learn from members

of other regional networks. Canadian Model

Forests are currently involved in collaborative pro-

jects with Model Forests in Argentina, Cameroon,

Chile, Costa Rica, Russia and Sweden.


t: A moose in ManitobaModel Forest, Canada

b: Collecting birc sapto make syrup in Nova ForestAlliance, Canada




Non-Timber Forest Products

The network produced a report on non-timber

forest product (NTFP) activities in Canada, sup-

ported workshops across the country and recently

released a report summarizing the workshop dis-

cussions on challenges and solutions in creating

and meeting demand for NTFPs.

Youth Education and Training

The Youth Education and Training initiative

encourages young people from Canadian com-

munities, and in particular from indigenouscommunities, to develop new skills and nd

opportunities in the new forest economy, allowing

them to bring their important perspectives to

future forest management planning processes.

Looking ForwardOver the past decade, the forest sector in Canada

has undergone an economic crisis that has

profoundly affected rural communities. Members

of the CMFN have taken a lead role in redevel-

oping the economies of Model Forest commun-

ities, focusing on capacity building and helping

to develop integrated, multi-sector approaches to

forest management.

Through research and other activities to advance

the many aspects of sustainable forest manage-ment, Canada’s Model Forests will continue to

develop resources, connect stakeholders and

provide expertise and knowledge-sharing oppor-

tunities for forest-based and resource-dependent

communities, both within and outside Canada.

This will support communities in addressing

challenges and making wise decisions, now and in

the future.

Milestones

1991 caada’s mde Fes pga aed e Gvee caada

1992 10 mde Fess aed ass e

caada’s pie miise aes e Ieaia mde Fes pga ad, a e

uied nais ceee Evie ad Devee, ri de Jaei, ivies

e ies ji caada i esaisig mde Fess

1993 caadia mde Fes newk Seeaia esaised a e caadia Fes Sevie

1997 Waswaii cee mde Fes esaised (e fs idiges-ed mde Fes ji

e cmFn)

1998 nva Fes Aiae esaised

2002 lg bea mde Fes ses

2004 pie Edwad Isad mde Fes je esaised as a adj nva Fes

Aiae

2006 caadia mde Fes newk ees a ideede nGo wi a bad Dies

2007 bas-Sai-lae mde Fes ses

F ew mde Fess ji: caq Fes ciies, la-Sai-Jea mde

Fes, le bd pje ad neas Sei Fes ci

Sevea mde Fess eaed eaiged:

mGeg mde Fes ees reses n Assiai

Wese newdad mde Fes eaed

e mde Fes newdad ad laad

Fis mde Fes eaed e Fis resea Isie

Waswaii cee mde Fes ees e cee resea ad Devee Isie

2010 Weevie ci mde Fes esaised, igig e e mde Fessi e ewk 15





Wit conventional orest and oter resource industries in decline in many parts o Canada,tere is growing recognition o te need to identiy alternative sources o income in orest-

dependent communities, especially opportunities wit limited ecological impacts. In addition

to network-level activities, many o Canada’s Model Forests ave been involved in non-timber

orest product (NTFP) projects:

• Lac-Saint-Jean Model Forest as a multi-year program or NTFP development, including

an inventory o wild musroom resources and a guide to edible wild musrooms, an

evaluation o te potential or collecting and processing birc sap, and promotion o joint

production o trees and blueberries in an agroorestry system

• Resources Nort Association undertook a variety o NTFP-related projects in partnersip

wit te Centre or Livelioods and Ecology at Royal Roads University, Victoria, Britis

Columbia, producing a national compendium on law and policy related to NTFPs, and asearcable online directory o key players in te sector

• Model Forests in Atlantic Canada were involved in te development o te rst NTFP

directory or tat region, From Or alnic Woos . Te directory includes NTFP producersand service providers rom all o te Atlantic Provinces, as well as te state o Maine in

te United States

• Te Norteast Superior Forest Community is planning to create blueberry agroorestry

production projects in eac o te six communities witin its territory

In 2008, in recognition o te growing need to accommodate indigenous interests in allresource decision-making, te Norteast Superior Forest Community acilitated a relationsip-

building process between te mayors and te cies o te area. Te resulting relationsip

between te municipalities and te First Nations in te Model Forest is unique in Canada.

Te partnersip as equal input into te Model Forest’s activities, wic include educationactivities or elementary scool students, exploration o alternative energy products,

development o non-timber orest products, and a blueberry network using a cooperative

model.

C a S e S t u d y

Canada’s Model Forests and Non-Timber Forest Products: Saring Knowledge, Creating Opportunities

C a S e S t u d y

Building Relationsips in te Norteast Superior Forest Community


t: Maple syrup rom a certied orest inEastern Ontario Model Forest, Canada

b: Edible musrooms growing inLac-Saint-Jean Model Forest, Canada




Te Grizzly Bear Program o te Footills

Researc Institute in Alberta provides

knowledge and planning tools or land and

resource managers to ensure te long-termconservation o grizzly bears. Key to its

eorts are sound scientic eld researc,a ocus on gaining practical results, and a

large-scale or “landscape level” approac

to grizzly bear conservation.

Since 1999, te Eastern Ontario Model Forest (EOMF) as worked wit te ForestStewardsip Council (FSC) to develop a collaborative certication process or bot privateland and community orests. Te process allows or numerous landowners and community

orests to sare te benets and costs o certication by certiying teir lands as one unit

wit one certicate. Te certicate is managed by te Eastern Ontario Model Forest on beal

o te private owners and community orest managers. Teir current certicate covers more

tan 6 500 ectares o privately owned orest and 35 000 ectares o community orest,

including two distinct orest owners groups representing over 100 orest owners. Te EOMF

was also te rst organization in Canada to sell FSC-certied maple syrup as a non-timberorest product.

To oset a decline in post-secondary orest education programs, te Model Forest oNewoundland and Labrador and its partners ave developed a series o teacing and learning

tools to increase awareness o sustainable orest management among students in te

provincial scool system and te general public. Te tools are available to teacers and orest

practitioners in Newoundland and Labrador to use in teir classroom activities, wit te goal

o promoting a positive attitude towards orestry.

C a S e S t u d y

Footills Researc Institute:Understanding Grizzly Bear Populations

C a S e S t u d y

Acieving Forest Certication in te Eastern Ontario Model Forest

C a S e S t u d y

Model Forest o Newoundland and Labrador:Sining a Positive Ligt on Forestry and Education


Limerick Forest, FSC certiedand an partner o te EasternOntario Model Forest, Canada

Ave: Enviroton members romte Model Forest o Newoundlandand Labrador

Grizzly bear researc supported by teFootills Researc Institute, Canada




Canadian Model Forests are working wit Model Forests worldwide, saring knowledge andexpertise. For example:

• Manitoba Model Forest is working wit te Reventazón Model Forest, Costa Rica, on

etno-cultural tourism by developing management plans and establising capacity,

inrastructure and tecnology to develop te business, as well as providing te training

and education o yout and women or uture leadersip

• Lac-Saint-Jean Model Forest is working wit two Model Forests located in Cameroon, to

promote te armonization o orest use and oter integrated land management activities

• Prince Albert Model Forest is working wit te Araucarias del Alto Malleco Model Forest,Cile as a bridge to acilitate inormation and knowledge excange between te two Model

Forest partners and develop a uture collaborative excange program

A Canadian Model Forests partnersip – o Manitoba Model Forest, Prince Albert Model

Forest, Footills Researc Institute, and Resources Nort Association – as been working wit

researcers, wildlie managers and provincial government departments on woodland caribou

researc, management and recovery planning. Te western populations o tis species arelisted as “Treatened” under Canada’s Spcis Risk ac and tese groups are working

collaboratively to bridge te gaps between individual jurisdictions. Tis will allow te saring

o tecnologies and metods or researc and stakeolder engagement, and will ensure tat

science inorms land management decisions or ealty populations and recovery eorts.

C a S e S t u d y

International Partnersip Projects

C a S e S t u d y

Canadian Model Forests Partnersip:

Establising a Caribou Knowledge Network

Te Clayoquot Forest Communities is ocused on economic diversication, innovation, te

building o strong local institutions, and development o an ecosystem-based management

approac to resource use. Five communities are involved in te Model Forest: te First Nations

o Aousat, hesquiat, Toquat, Ucluelet and Tla-o-qui-at, and te Municipal Districts oUcluelet and Tono.

C a S e S t u d y

First Nations Engagement in Clayoquot


Members o Manitoba and ReventazónModel Forests working togeter

Canadian Caribou




Te Mediterranean Model Forest NetworkDevelopment o a Regional Model Forest Network in te Mediterranean BasinThe Mediterranean landscape is characterized by high population density, major human impacts over

the past 2 000 years and a high proportion of privately owned lands over publicly owned lands, par-

ticularly on the northern rim. Sustainable forest management in the region must therefore address such

factors as the relevance of regional and local governments in forest management, the reality of impacts

caused by climate change and the importance to the region of such critical issues as non-timber forestproducts and services.

The Urbión Model Forest was established in 2006 in Spain’s Castile and León region. While the Model

Forest initially became a member of the Ibero-American Model Forest Network, there was also a vision

to expand Model Forest development throughout the Mediterranean region with its unique forests and

landscapes. Since the 2008 establishment of the Mediterranean Model Forest Network, 13 regions and

countries have joined and are in the process of developing Model Forests. Since 2010, two Model Forests

– Ifrane in Morocco and Yalova in Turkey – have been accepted by the International Model Forest

Network (IMFN) as Candidate Model Forests.

Urbión

Ifrane Yalova

Tunisia

AlgeriaMorocco

Spain

France

Italy

Croatia

Greece

Turkey

membercandidateMMFN Secretariat (Valladolid, Spain)


Irane Model Forest, Morocco




Model Forest Activities and RegionalPrioritiesThe central focus of the Mediterranean Model

Forest Network has been initiating activities to

support the principles of effective, low-cost decen-

tralization, cooperation, solidarity and equity

among participants.

The EU-funded Project MED Forêt Modèle,

initiated in January 2009, is aimed at developing

a Model Forest in each participating European

region. The project involves:

• Illustrating ow te Model Forest concept can be applied in tesocio-economic and ecological context o te Mediterraneanregion

• Developing a strategy or te Mediterranean Model ForestNetwork to promote Model Forests as an innovative and originaltool or territorial governance o orest-dominated landscapes,and to integrate tis tool into European regional policies

Looking ForwardDuring the 2010 regional Model Forest network

meeting (Medforum), climate change and cork

oak production and marketing were identied as

two key thematic programming areas for Model

Forests in the region.

Climate Change

In addition to developing links with existing adap-

tation and mitigation strategies underway in the

Mediterranean region, the following priorities

were identied:

• Strengtening te tecnical and nancial capacities oMediterranean Model Forest Network members, ocusing onclimate cange adaptation and mitigation strategies

• Putting in place a common approac to silviculture, taking into

account conservation o water resources• Establising an arboretum network to preserve genetic

resources in te Mediterranean basin

• Promoting te inclusion o biotic and abiotic actors in researcon ecosystem dynamics

• Monitoring o biodiversity and landscape conditions


Members o te

MediterraneanModel Forest Network:

regi casiead leó (Sai)

regi mia (Sai)

regi csia (Fae)

regi pvee-As-csa de Az (Fae)

regi Sadiia (Ia)

regi tsa (Ia)

regi Isia (caia)

peee magesia (Geee)

regi Wesemaedia (Geee)

tke

tisia

m

le: Atlas Cedars,Irane Model Forest, Morocco

rig: Irane Model Forest,Morocco




Cork Oak

A working group has been established to build

partnerships between cork producers in Model

Forests of the region. The working group is

addressing several areas of common concern in

cork production and marketing, focusing on:

• Building capacity troug tecnology transer (e.g., newecient cork arvesting tecniques) and promotion o bestpractices

• Improving management and production o cork operations

• Implementing adaptation in response to climate cange

• Developing a common marketing strategy

• Establising a databank o inormation about cork oak orests

• Researcing new cork applications and uses

• Promoting a Mediterranean alliance among all stakeoldersinvolved: orestry departments, regions, te private sector,non-governmental organizations and researc experts

Milestones

2006 uió mde Fes esaised i e casie ad leó egi, Sai

2008 medieaea mde Fes newk (mmFn) aed

2009 mmFn ad e medieaea regia ofe e Eea Fes Isie sig a

mead udesadig deveig mde Fess i e egi

2010 Iae mde Fes, m, aeed as adidae mde Fes

mmFn jis e caaive paesi medieaea Fess, ag wi uied

nais Fd ad Agie ogaizai’s Sva medieeea ad e aj

gveea ad -gveea gaizais i e egi

2011 yava mde Fes, tke, aeed as adidae mde Fes


le: Cork trees in Tunisia

rig: Making wine bottle corksrom cork bark in Tunisia




Urbión Model Forest, Spain

Yalova Model Forest, Turkey

Te Urbión Model Forest, located in te region o Castile and León, Spain, was created in2006 in one o te most extensive continuous wooded areas on te Iberian Peninsula. Te

orests o Urbión ave provided well over al o its inabitants wit employment or centuries.

Timber rom te native Scots pine (Pins slvsris ) o te area is arvested and processed,

and edible musrooms and oter non-timber orest products are gatered. Tese activities,

along wit woodland recreation, orm te basis or te sustainable development o tis

orested landscape.

Te Model Forest as created an online inormation system to elp local municipalities

improve te sale o wood rom sustainably managed orests. Inormation is now available

tat sows te location o woodlots, te tracks and roads used to transport wood, and various

distribution plans. Tis inormation system simplies te registration process or companies

tat bid on lumber at municipal auctions, wic in turn acilitates te marketing o wood

witin te Model Forest.

Te Yalova Model Forest in Turkey was accepted as a candidate by te IMFN in February

2011. Encompassing a region tat as a ig capacity or tourism and non-timber orest

product development (e.g., musrooms, oney, medicinal and aromatic plants and ruit

production), tis Model Forest’s goal is to work towards sustainable management o te

landscape wile promoting te development o timber and non-timber orest products and

tourism.

Irane Model Forest, MoroccoIrane is te rst Model Forest to be identied in Morocco. Te Irane Model Forest was

accepted as a candidate by te IMFN in July 2010. Situated in a unique and ragile ecosystem

in te Middle Altas region, te Model Forest as te ollowing objectives:

• Support sustainable development o natural resources and landscapes

• Conserve and valorize o biodiversity and natural ecosystems

• Contribute to improving local socio-economic conditions

• Create value rom natural resources

• Raise awareness troug education on te environment and sustainable development


Women arvesting lavenderin Irane Model Forest

Scots pine (Pins slvsris )

in Urbión Model Forest, Spain




Te Arican Model Forest Network

Development o a Regional Model Forest Network in AricaThe Congo Basin in Central Africa is home to the second largest area of humid tropical forest on the

planet, after the Amazon region. Forest degradation, however, is a major issue in many areas, often as a

result of pressures from mining and logging as well as from population growth and poverty.

Cameroon contains a signicant portion of the

forests of the Congo Basin. With almost 90 % of

Africa’s ecosystems represented in Cameroon, the

biodiversity of the country’s humid forest zone

is considered to be one of the richest in central

Africa. Forestry plays a key role in Cameroon’s

social fabric, providing employment, recreation

and cultural identity. Cameroon is also the largest

exporter and second largest producer of forest

products in Africa.

Forest policy reforms were introduced by the

Cameroon government in the mid-1990s to

address the problems of resource degradation, but were having limited success because of implementa-tion difculties. Then, in 2002, the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) approached the

International Model Forest Network (IMFN) Secretariat with the idea of collaborating on Model Forest

development in Cameroon.

Campo Ma’an

Dja et Mpomo

Cameroon

DemocraticRepublic

of the Congo

membercandidateAMFN Secretariat (Yaoundé, Cameroon)

In te Arican context, Model Forests are seen as long-term

cange veicles owned and governed by local stakeolders.Tis arrangement gives te stakeolders te ability togo beyond te usual sort-cycle project scemes wile

making te best use o bot local and external resources. — Joachim Nguiebouri and Chimère Diaw

African Model Forest Network Secretariat, Cameroon

“”





Together, CIFOR and the IMFN introduced the

Model Forest approach to the region, working with

Cameroon’s forest administration, local partners

and a host of international agencies, including theCanadian International Development Agency,

the Central African Forest Commission, the

International Union for Conservation of Nature,

and the Food and Agriculture Organization of

the United Nations. In 2005, two Model Forests

were identied – Campo Ma’an in the south and

Dja et Mpomo in the east – to serve as pilot sites

for the entire Congo Basin.

Since 2005, Campo Ma’an and Dja et Mpomohave established governance and management

structures, formalized partnerships (local, regional

and international) and initiated a variety of

local projects aimed at building the capacity of

local people to develop sustainable, income-

generating enterprises. Strategic planning exer-

cises have used processes that aim to ensure that

all voices are heard, including those of women,

indigenous peoples and other marginalized

groups who live there.

The African Model Forest Initiative was launched

in 2009 by Natural Resources Canada and is man-

aged by the IMFN Secretariat. It aims to improve

the conservation and sustainable management

of forest-based natural resources in franco-

phone Africa, including the Congo Basin and

Mediterranean regions, through Model Forests.

This initiative is supporting an African Model

Forest Network Secretariat established in 2009 in

Yaoundé, Cameroon, to build on the pilot work in

two Model Forests in Cameroon. The objective isto show the value of the Model Forest approach

in the African context, and to create a viable

African Model Forest Network by 2013.

Te Arican Model Forest InitiativeFunded by Canada, the African Model Forest

Initiative is supporting activities in ve key areas:

• Establising Model Forests in te Congo Basin andrancopone Mediterranean regions o Arica (Morocco,Tunisia and Algeria)

• Developing a network in eac o tese regions trougwic Model Forest practitioners can sare knowledgeand innovations tat will strengten policy, regulation anddevelopment at te community, local and regional levels

• Promoting and supporting alternative economic opportunitiesor local people to enance community development and tesustainable management o local orest resources

• Building capacity and supporting innovation in tesustainable management o local resources

• Documenting and saring lessons learned rom allaspects o te initiative wit oters in te regions andtrougout te IMFN


Te Arican Model Forest Network is using te lessonslearned rom te Model Forests in Cameroon to supportte expansion o te Model Forest concept in otercountries on te continent.




Looking ForwardThe African Model Forest Network is using the les-

sons learned from the Model Forests in Cameroonto support the expansion of the Model Forest con-

cept in other countries on the continent. Work is

already moving ahead quickly in the Democratic

Republic of Congo following the launch in 2010

of Model Forest development processes in three

provinces of the country. Other processes are at

an early stage in the Republic of Congo and other

countries in central and western Africa. And at

the ninth session of the United Nations Forum onForests held in New York in early 2011, the IMFN

Secretariat announced that it would be assisting

Rwanda in developing the Model Forest approach

under the auspices of its Forest Landscape

Restoration Initiative.

To better support these new processes, the

IMFN Secretariat is developing exciting collab-

orations with partners such as the International

Union for Conservation of Nature and its GlobalPartnership on Forest Landscape Restoration, the

International Tropical Timber Organization, and

the United Nations Forum on Forests Secretariat,

among others.

Milestones

2005 Ieaia mde Fes newk desigaes ca ma’a ad Dja e m as

mde Fess

2006 Fis Geea Asseies ca ma’a ad Dja e m

2008 meads udesadig siged wi Wd Widie Fd, Ieaia ui

csevai nae, ad e caadia mde Fes newk

2009 caai egis ewee e ca ma’a ad Dja e m mde Fess i

cae ad caada’s la-Sai-Jea mde Fes

te Aia mde Fes newk is esaised, wi a egia Seeaia ased i

yadé, cae2010 naia iee esaised s mde Fes devee i Deai

rei cg

reeseaives e Aia Fess resea Iiiaive csevai ad

Devee (AFrIcAD) ad caada’s la-Sai-Jea mde Fes, uivesi biis

cia ad FpIvais exaie iies aaig siae sa

eeise devee i caeia mde Fess

2011 ImFn aes is ie wk wi rwada i e ex is Fes ladsae

resai Iiiaive


le: Wood arvested and cutin Cameroonian Model Forest

rig: Women rom teModel Forests in Cameroon

sell teir locally made products

during an agricultural air




C a S e S t u d y

Protecting Biodiversity and Providing Income

C a S e S t u d y

Better Living rom te Forest troug International Collaboration

Once abundant in Cameroon’s orests, giant Arican snails were consumed only by villageelders, a convention tat protected te snails rom over-arvesting and elped guarantee te

continuity o te species. Today, owever, snails are muc in demand because tey a re ig

in protein and te amino acid lysine (sold in supplement orm or its various ealt benets).Snail by-products are also used in te production o animal ood.

heliciculture, or te raising o snails, is contributing to te sustainable management o teCampo Ma’an Model Forest. A eliciculture project as been initiated in te Campo Ma’an

Model Forest wit te aim o protecting giant Arican snails and providing an alternative

source o ood and income or local residents, wic in turn reduces poacing. Raising

snails also elps to promote te prolieration o eart worms, urter enricing te soiland contributing to conservation eorts.

Researc on te giant Arican snails is continuing in te Campo Ma’an Model Forest,

as is urter exploration o ways to sustainably develop eliciculture in order to benet

local communities.

Tey are tousands o kilometres apart, but te Campo Ma’an and Dja et Mpomo Model

Forests in Cameroon and te Lac-Saint-Jean Model Forest in Canada are united in a common

cause: building a orest-based economy troug collective management o teir resources.Troug nancial support rom te Arican Model Forest Initiative, te tree Model Forests

ave been collaborating closely since 2008.

In January 2009, te general manager o te Lac-Saint-Jean Model Forest travelled to

Cameroon wit a wood late, sandpaper, uretane glue, cisels and 200 pen mecanisms. he

trained tree skilled carpenters in te produciton o producing wooden pens rom exotic woodresidues, let over rom logging operations in te Dja et Mpomo Model Forest. Te project

quickly translated into a much-needed economic boost or the carpenters who, within 10 months,

had sold more than 700 pens at US$20 each, trained two additional carpenters and reinvested

te earnings in te business. It also inspired oter Model Forest partners to look at oter

orest goods tey could sustainably produce and market, suc as edible giant snails.

In September 2010, representatives rom te Lac-Saint-Jean Model Forest and FPInnovations

(te world’s largest private, not -or-prot orest researc institute) and researcers rom

te University o Britis Columbia and te AFRICAD network visited Campo Ma’an and Dja

et Mpomo. Tey met wit Model Forest partners to discuss new ways to stimulate economic

development and entrepreneursip. Tey also visited sawmills, woodworking plants, a evea(rubber) processing plant, community orests, nurseries and eliciculture projects.

Te visit opened new avenues or collaboration and te tree Model Forests plan to continue

to work togeter in areas suc as orest inventory, certication, marketing and distribution.


Giant Arican snail arming in CampoMa’an Model Forest, Cameroon

Te making owooden pens in Dja et Mpomo

Model Forest, Cameroon




Te Regional Model Forest Network – AsiaIn many regions of the world, protecting and managing forests sustainably depends on social and eco-nomic policies that provide income-generation opportunities beyond forest harvesting or forest clearing

for agriculture. For the 430 million people who depend directly on Asia’s forest resources for all or a sub-

stantial part of their livelihoods, there is a delicate balance between meeting their livelihood needs and

addressing the signicant pressure that these subsistence activities exert on the landscape. In Asia there

are increasing pressures on forest resources from many

sources, including livestock grazing and the collection

of fuel wood, building materials and non-timber forest

products (such as charcoal).

Kyoto

Tahe

Lin’an

Kodagu

Ngao Ulot Watershed

Margowitan

Carood Watershed

China

Philippines

India

Indonesia

Japan

Thailand

membercandidateRMFN-Asia Secretariat (Beijing, China)


Successul Model Forest development and regionalprogram implementation across Asia conrm tat

large-scale partnersips or sustainable developmentcan work in a variety o cultures, landscapes and

economic scenarios.

Mangrove orest in CaroodWatersed Model Forest,

Pilippines




Model Forests in Asia provide a strong stake-

holder- and community-based approach to nat-

ural resource management. Although commun-

ity-based approaches in the Asia region are not

unique, what sets them apart is that they are gen-

erally enshrined in national legislation. Model

Forests in Asia provide a link between national

government focal points and local-level organ-

izations, facilitating stakeholder dialogue and in

turn opens doors to opportunities to strengthen

governance and collaborative planning. This

explicit link between national-level policy-mak-ers and operations at the landscape level provides

Model Forests with the opportunity to inuence

national policy.

Beyond the inuence that they can exert on

existing national policies, Model Forests also offer

discrete and cost-effective testing grounds for

national initiatives. Involvement of governments

in the Model Forest development process has

enabled national-level policy testing and develop-ment to be directly linked with on-the-ground

demonstration.

Development o a Regional Model

Forest Network in AsiaThe promotion of Model Forests in Asia began

in 1997 when China initiated development of the

Lin’an Model Forest, which was formally estab-

lished in 1999.

Also in 1999, the government of Japan provided a

grant to the United Nations Food and Agriculture

Organization (FAO) in support of Model Forestdevelopment in China, Thailand, the Philippines

and Burma (Myanmar). This two-and-a-half-year

project had its roots in a series of international

workshops initiated by the Forestry Agency of

Japan, held between March 1998 and October

2000, entitled the “Model Forest Approach for

Field-Level Application of Sustainable Forest

Management.” A follow-up evaluation1 found the

FAO project to have been timely and relevant,

producing broadly positive results.

1 Lai, K.C., Isida, K. and Canonizado, J. (2002). trminl vlion rpor of FaO projc GCP/RaS/177/JPN – assisnc for h

Implmnion of h Mol Fors approch . Bangkok, Tailand: FAO Regional Oce or Asia–Pacic.


le: Terraced agriculture inMargowitan Model Forest,Indonesia

rig: Local communitymembers are allowed to growporang, a ig-value crop, inte teak plantations in teMargowitan Model Forest,Indonesia


With th t bli h t f M d l F t i th f ilit t th i f M d l



With the establishment of Model Forests in these

countries, an informal regional network emerged.

As well, a regional secretariat based at the FAO

during the project carried on and continues to be

an active partner in development of the regional

network and Model Forests. In addition to the

critical support provided by national governments,

funding is also provided by the Government of

Canada and the International Development

Research Centre.

Over the rst several years, the main focus of

regional activities was on capacity building within

the Model Forests. At regional workshops, ModelForest representatives met to discuss ways to

strengthen capabilities in a range of areas, such

as resource mobilization, criteria and indicators

(C&I) for sustainable forest management, forest

policy and related legislation, and project mon-

itoring and evaluation. Strategic planning work-

shops were also held. Subsequent development

at the site level focused strongly on the continued

exploration and use of the Model Forest govern-

ance approach. During this period there was also

an emphasis on economic development projects

using sustainably managed forest resources.

In March 2010, an Asia Regional Model Forest

Network (RMFN – Asia) ofce was ofcially

opened in Beijing. This new regional Secretariat

facilitates the ongoing governance of Model

Forests in Asia and communicates site-level activ-

ities to regional and international audiences, while

at the same time supporting the maintenance

and expansion of the regional network. Hosted

by the Chinese Academy of Forestry, the ofce is

co-located with the newly established Secretariat

of the Asia-Pacic Network for Sustainable

Forest Management and Rehabilitation, set up to

promote sustainable forest management in theAsia-Pacic and APEC regions.


Beyond te infuence tat tey can exert on existingnational policies, Model Forests also oer discrete and

cost-eective testing grounds or national initiatives.

Involvement o governments in te Model Forestdevelopment process as enabled national-level

policy testing and development to be directly linkedwit on-te-ground demonstration.

le: Elepant in KodaguModel Forest, India

midde: Young tree planter, NgaoModel Forest, Tailand

rig: Training in Ulot WatersedModel Forest, Pilippines


A i M d l F t R i l P i iti d A ti iti



Asia Model Forest Regional Priorities and ActivitiesThe Model Forests of the RMFN – Asia are col-

lectively working towards a vision in which:

• Forest resources in Asia are managed sustainably

• Local people are able to make use o orest resources orbetter lives

• Concerned individuals, agencies, groups, organizationsand institutions work togeter to ensure te sustainablemanagement o orests and oter resources witin te region

To realize that vision, members of the RMFN–

Asia have agreed to focus their collective efforts on

two priority themes: ecological goods and services,

and integrated landscape management. Under

these two themes, six types of site-level activities

have also been identied. For these, individual

Model Forests are now coordinating their research

and demonstration efforts.

Regional Priority Temesand Activity Focus Areas

Ecological Goods and Services

Exig egia gds ad sevies vided ess

Integrated Landscape Management

pig ve aeviai ad d seiEaig es ve ad idivesi sevai

Esig wae sei

Ivig gveae ad aw eee

ssaiae es aagee

Assessig iae age veaii ad

aiiaig i adaai


Kodagu Model Forest, India




Looking ForwardIn the coming years, the RMFN – Asia will focus on

the following four main strategies to achieve their

objectives in each theme area: capacity building,

networking and knowledge sharing, promotion of

the Model Forest approach, and research. At the

same time, they will combine with the regional

pilot projects already underway as part of two

of the IMFN’s strategic initiatives – Ecological

Goods and Services, and Climate Change.

Both the regional network and the individualModel Forests are also continuing to expand and

mature, with increasing collaboration on pro-

jects occurring between Model Forests within the

region and between the region and key regional

forestry organizations. Successful Model Forest

development and regional program implemen-

tation across Asia conrm that large-scale part-

nerships for sustainable development can work

in a variety of cultures, landscapes and economic

scenarios.

Milestones

1998 Fes Age Jaa sss ieaia wks seies “te mde FesAa Fied-leve Aiai Ssaiae Fes maagee”

1999 li’a mde Fes esaised i cia

Gvee Jaa sss egia mde Fes je g e FAo’s

Asia–paif fe i bagkk, taiad

2000 nga mde Fes esaised i taiad

u Waesed mde Fes esaised i e piiies

pakkag mde Fes esaised i ba (maa)

2002 bea mde Fes esaised i Idesia

2004 magwia mde Fes esaised i Idesia

naia-eve a mde Fess i Idesia

2006 pakkag mde Fes ses

2009 regia mde Fes newk – Asia fe eed e Gvee cia’s Sae

Fes Adiisai

bea mde Fes i Idesia ses

2010 cad Waesed mde Fes esaised i e piiies

2011 K mde Fes esaised i Jaa

Fis cuSo-VSo ea vees sa wk i cad ad u Waesed mde

Fess, piiies


t e: Sade-grown coeein Kodagu Model Forest, India

t idde: MargowitanModel Forest, Indonesia

t ig: Bamboo,Lin’an Model Forest, Cina




C a S e S t u d y

Building National Strategies on Local Success in te Pilippines

C a S e S t u d y Training and Capacity Building

Since its establisment in 2000, te Ulot Watersed Model Forest as been used to develop

and test on-te-ground applications or several national-level initiatives. For example, te

Model Forest acted as a landscape-level pilot or identiying criteria and indicators (C&I)

o sustainable orest management. Te success o te C&I pilot project was ten transerred

to te national C&I program and subsequently used in various orest management units

around te country.

Since 1999, Lin’an Model Forest in central Cina as oered worksops to armers on tecultivation and processing o bamboo soots, ickory nuts and tea. Te worksops are unique

in Cina as tey work towards enancing sustainable management practices by providing a

compreensive skills training program tat included tree elements:

• Establising a demonstration bamboo plantation or vocational training

• Developing capacity building courses on cultivating and processing bamboo soots,

ickory nuts and tea

• Working wit te local Rural Cooperation Bank to establis a small loans programor te disabled once tey are trained

Since training began, more tan 600 persons ave beneted rom te training and te small

loans program. For example, troug te “Association o Disabled Peoples o Lin’an” – a

stakeolder organization tat participates in te Model Forest – worksop participants

received small loans and ree tree stock to assist tem in establising teir arms. houseold

survey data collected clearly demonstrates tat participating ouseolds ave risen above te

poverty line, as teir average annual income was sown to ave tripled.


t e: Ulot WatersedModel Forest, Pilippines

t ig: harvested bambooready or processing in

Lin’an Model Forest, Cina


member



Russia and Nortern EuropeRussia was the rst country to accept Canada’s invitation to develop Model Forests when it created the

Gassinski Model Forest in Khabarovsk Krai in 1994. Located in the Russian Far East, the Gassinski Model

Forest helped to establish the rst national park in the region, enhance employment for the indigenousNanai people, and introduce the use of criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management.

In the rst ve years of its existence, work included substantial data acquisition and analysis. This was

then used by the partners of the Model Forest to develop a long-term sustainable development strategy

for the broader region of the Model Forest. The

government of Khabarovsk Krai adopted this as

the ofcial development strategy.

In the European part of Russia, a number of indi-

vidual landsdcape-level and partnership-basedinitiatives emerged that were initially unafliated

with the International Model Forest Network.

However, in 2007, representatives of four sites –

Komi, Pskov, Kovdozersky and Kologrivski – met in St. Petersburg, Russia, with representatives of the

Gassinski Model Forest and the Federal Forest Agency to discuss working together and developing an

informal national network as part of the IMFN. An agreement was struck and work continues today to

explore other options for Model Forest development in Russia, including through afliation with neigh-

bouring countries in the Baltic Sea region and with other boreal nations who are members of the IMFN.

Kovdozersky

Pskov Komi

Russia

membercandidate

Vilhelmina

Bergslagen

Sweden


Oter countries witin te Baltic Sea region ave alsoturned teir attention to te Model Forest approac,

seeing it as an innovative way to advance te sustainablemanagement o orests and landscapes.


Sweden joined the IMFN in 2004 when the the Baltic Forest Project was enhancement of



Vilhelmina Model Forest was established. Since

then, other countries within the Baltic Sea region

have also turned their attention to the Model

Forest approach, seeing it as an innovative way to

advance the sustainable management of forests

and landscapes, including addressing issues such

as participatory processes, conservation and the

sustainability of resource-based communities.

In 2006, with funding from the European Union’s

Baltic Sea Region Interreg Neighbourhood

Programme, the “Baltic Forest Project” was

developed. Its purpose was to explore how theModel Forest concept might be promoted in

northern Europe as a complement to already

existing landscape-level initiatives. The focus of

regional development based on sustainable use

of forests and elevated forest sector cooperation.

Eight Baltic Sea region countries were involved.

Among the main conclusions of the project were

that:

• Te Model Forest concept would add to te overall capacity inlandscape-level sustainability

• Some countries – notably, Sweden, Poland and Finland –already ave available inrastructures tat allow or a scalingup and establisment o a network o landscape case studies in

connection wit te IMFN• Te Baltic Forest Project resulted in strengtened cooperation

wit Nortwest Russia as a natural regional extension

Looking Forward Based on the success of the Baltic Forest Project

and parallel activities to explore landscape-levelapproaches to sustainability, plans are under-

way for a new regional project on Model Forest

development and networking in Sweden, Finland,

Poland, Belarus and Northwest Russia. In this

proposed “Baltic Landscape Project” there is a

stronger focus on creating new case studies to be

connected with the IMFN and creating a long-

term foundation for a regional network. The

project’s core idea is to implement, evaluate and

dene Model Forest principles in the context of the current needs and premises concerning sus-

tainable use and governance of landscapes in

northern Europe.

1994 Gassiski mde Fes esaised i rssia

2004 Vieia mde Fes esaised i Swede

2005 Kvdzesk mde Fes esaised i rssia

2006 tw mde Fess i rssia ji e ImFn: Ki ad pskv

bai Fes pje egis

2007 Ageee ewee e rssia mde Fess deve a aia mde Fes

newk

2008 begsage, Swede deve a mde Fes

2010 Gassiski mde Fes ses

2011 Devee e bai ladsae Iiiaive ewee Swede, Fiad, pad, beas

ad nwes rssia iiiaed


Milestones




Activities Undertaken in te Komi Model ForestThe Komi Model Forest is located at the west-

ern base of the Ural Mountains in Russia. Here

the taiga forest landscape covers 89 % of Komi

Republic (417 000 square kilometres). Because

industrial logging began only 80 years ago, the

landscape is relatively untouched. This pristine

landscape is rich in biodiversity and therefore has

a high conservation value. At the same time, thetaiga forest still provides the base for local wood

industries and is used for many traditional pur-

poses by local villagers. Tension among forest

stakeholders had arisen because of differences in

opinion over conservation and economic needs.

The Model Forest concept was seen as a viable

approach to improve the management of old-

growth forests that were endangered by unsustain-

able forest practices, and to resolve conicts

between forest industry workers and traditional

forest users.

The Komi Model Forest has successfully imple-

mented a wide arrange of activities since its incep-

tion, including:

• Undertaking an inventory o old-growt orests in Komi Republicand te development o management strategies to protect

biodiversity

• Acting as a pilot site or Forest Stewardsip Council (FSC)certication in Komi Republic, developing a regional FSCstandard, and encouraging oters to become FSC-certied(2.2 million ectares o te republic are now FSC certied).Te Model Forest experience was also vital or FSCcertication o an IKEA project in te neigbouring region(100 000 ectares)

• Developing procedures to involve local stakeolders insustainable orest management and decision-making; teexperience o local involvement in orest management asbeen disseminated in two oter regions o Komi Republic

• Testing innovative metods to adapt orest practices tosustainable management requirements, te recommendationso wic were adopted by te State Forest Service

•

Developing and implementing training and extension coursesto disseminate knowledge and experience beyond teModel Forest; courses ave been oered to approximately1 200 people rom te State Forest Service, te orest industry,teacers and non-government organizations

• Developing recommendations or Komi Republic ocials anddecision-makers to introduce and legally adopt sustainableorest management practices


Gassinski Model Forest, Russia


Climate Cange Activities in te Vilelmina Model Forest



Climate Cange Activities in te Vilelmina Model ForestIn the Vilhelmina Model Forest, most of the infor-

mation on changes in weather patterns and cli-mate comes from interviews with local elders and

reindeer herders, most of whom suggest that the

winter season is changing – notably, with warmer

and shorter winters now occurring and changes

to snow types and cover. For example, elders have

observed that rivers and lakes freeze later, if at all.

In addition, warmer summers have made rein-

deer herders particularly vulnerable to rain-on-

snow events and to rapid shifts in temperature,

which may act to prevent access to winter grazing

areas. Some herders argue that such events have

increased in frequency.

Reindeer herding communities in the region

already express fear of changing weather pat-

terns, and many practices have had to be aban-

doned. For example, many traditional migration

routes over water are now inaccessible because of

unsafe conditions. Most herders are also restrictedin their ability to adapt because of nancial con-

straints and partly because of land rights issues,

such as access to grazing lands.

The Model Forest has been involved in capacity-

building activities and awareness raising about cli-mate change and its potential effects. Reindeer

herders have changed some of their practices

and are using technology for help, such as put-

ting GPS-collars on the reindeer to more ef-

ciently monitor herd location. Another measure

being used increasingly is supplementary feeding

of reindeer during the winter season in order to

reduce the degradation of winter forage areas.

Model Forest partners have also launched severalresearch and best-practice-oriented projects. An

example is the widespread use of experimental

plots and demonstration areas in the forestry sec-

tor. In the forestry–reindeer husbandry interface,

the Model Forest is involved in developing and

assessing a planning tool called Renbruksplaner,

aimed at increasing collaboration between stake-

holder groups and at ensuring greater use of cli-

mate-sensitive planning measures.


Sami Reindeer erders inVilelmina Model Forest, Sweden




Te Way Forward:Te IMFN Looks Towards te Coming YearsThe IMFN, nearly 20 years after its establish-

ment, has pioneered and developed a successful,

exible and accessible approach to landscape-

scale sustainability – an approach that is based

on the inclusive and meaningful engagement

of stakeholders. As well, the IMFN has linked

Model Forests regionally and globally, stimulat-

ing important collaboration and innovation thatsupports a broad range of sustainability object-

ives. These are major accomplishments. We know

that Model Forests are processes, not projects. The

great majority of Model Forests established over

the years remain active processes that are contrib-

uting to their stakeholders and communities.

In many parts of the world, the practice of man-agement and planning at a landscape scale and

with broad-based partnerships is not yet well

entrenched. Model Forests and similarly mandated

initiatives must therefore continue to illustrate, in

concrete terms, the value of such approaches.

The way forward, we know, will present as many

new and daunting challenges as those we have

already faced. Population growth and increases in

personal wealth, for example, will mean greater

urbanization, a more aggressive search for raw

materials to produce more products for consum-ers, and more pressure to convert forested land

for agricultural purposes. At the same time, we

Section IV

Conclusions

We now ave te time, wit Rio+20, to refect on te workdone and – even more exciting – to look to te utureand ow we can work togeter to even greater eect

in te coming years.



The work and dedication of the members of the

IMFN have been outstanding as the preceding



will continue to be challenged to understand and

anticipate the effects of climate change on our

landscapes.

More than ever, then, we need to be openly and

continually seeking fresh ways to solve problem

– ways that speak to the unique challenges and

opportunities found across all landscapes, and that

allow us to draw upon the strength, ideas and skills

of our communities. In this pursuit, we must also

take the opportunity to convey the valuable les-

sons being learned by Model Forests to national

levels so that those lessons ultimately nd expres-

sion in national policy frameworks.

IMFN have been outstanding, as the preceding

pages demonstrate. An idea that started in 1992

with 10 Canadian Model Forests has grown tobe a global learning network of over 55 Model

Forests on ve continents, involving thousands of

partner organizations across enormously varied

landscapes and jurisdictions. The strengths and

signicance of the Model Forest process is that

it builds working partnerships among those who

typically do not work together, it creates focused

alliances for collaboration, and it addresses issues

that are relevant to stakeholders and communities

in tangible ways.

The IMFN remains committed to improving what

we do and to sharing what we learn, both through-

out the Network and with the many organizations

we know that are undertaking equally important

work in sustainable resource management.

We now have the time, with Rio+20, to reect on

the work done and – even more exciting – to look

to the future and how we can work together to

even greater effect in the coming years.

50 SEctIon IV CONCLUSIONS

Members o te IMFN at a sideevent at te nint session o teUnited Nations Forum on Forests,January 2011




Appendix A

Model Forest

Activities Cart





Regional Model Forest Networks



InternationalModel ForestNetwork Secretariat580 Boot Street

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0E4

[email protected]

Fax: +613-947-7399

imn.net

Arican Model Forest Network

Via 1022 bass,Qaie Aassade de cie

bp 33678, yadé

cae

www.aiadeess.g

Canadian Model Forest Network

p.o. bag 2150

10 cas Dive

Kevie, oai caada K0G 1J0www.dees.e

Ibero-American Regional Model Forest Network

Divisió de Ivesigaió Desa

cAtIE 7170,

tiaa, csa ria

www.sqesde.e

Mediterranean Model Forest Networkpaza de a uivesidad

ne 4 - Eeaa 1

47002 Vaadid

Sai

www..i

Regional Model Forest Network — Asia

ciese Aade FesWa S Sa p.o. bx 38

beijig 100091

pee’s rei cia

Russia

c/o Komi Model Forest

p.o. bx 810

Skvka, Ki

rssia 16700

www.kidees.

Nortern Europe

c/o Vilelmina Model Forest

Vgsjöväge 27, S-912 32

Vieia, Swede

www.vieiadees.se




imn.net

International Model ForestNetwork Secretariat

580 b Seeoawa, oaiK1A 0E4caada

[email protected]: +613-947-7399


imfn book eng 9-13 hres

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