Origins

The international model forest program was announced by Canada’s prime minister at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro with a pledge of CDN 10 million. There, he invited other countries to join in testing this innovative approach to sustainable forest management (SFM) that was showing promise in Canada.

From the beginning, model forests promoted the idea of forming partnerships to provide a neutral forum where a whole range of values and interests could be represented, and where a desire to experiment with new ideas under a common goal of SFM could occur.

In 1994, three model forests were established outside of Canada — two in Mexico and one in Far East Russia — each one “twinned” with a Canadian model forest. After a 3-year pilot period, it became clear that these “international” model forests were fully engaged and undertaking SFM projects that were not only beneficial to their communities, but were providing lessons learned that could be useful elsewhere.

Model forest practitioners understood that working in voluntary partnerships was leading to reductions in conflict among stakeholders, new ideas on sustainable economic development and poverty alleviation, new thinking about the relation between conservation areas and the communities in and around them, and more focused application of existing resources. In fact, the model forest approach was being used to address many more issues than originally conceived as local-level partnerships throughout the world figured out for themselves how to translate the policies of SFM into practice.

It also became clear that a network of international model forests could accelerate overall SFM learning through simple multiplication: each model forest would develop and, through networking, share its own innovations, knowledge, experience, strengths, skills, challenges and lessons learned about SFM practices and tools with the other members of the International Network.

But model forests don’t just happen by themselves. After 2 years of development at the Canadian Forest Service, in 1995 the International Model Forest Network Secretariat (IMFNS) was established at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) to facilitate the creation of a global network of model forests dedicated to managing the world’s forest-based landscapes in a sustainable manner.

• Find out more about the IMFNS

By the year 2000, the rapid growth of the Network demanded consideration of how to ensure issues and participation, governance, funding, program planning and strengthening of network activities remained relevant and efficient. The creation of regional networks was seen as the best way to achieve this goal.

• Find out more about our Regional Networks

What began as a voluntary association of partners working toward the common goal of SFM and use in three counties has become a thriving, vibrant, and highly relevant network comprised of nearly 40 model forest sites in 18 countries on five continents. More than a decade after the first international model forest sites were established, the continued growth and strengthening of the IMFN is a testament to their effectiveness.

The vision and objectives set out for the Network 10 years ago remain as important and relevant today as they were that first day. The IMFN, though, has changed enormously in size, in maturity and in opportunity. We need to continue to deliver our mission, to ensure that the expertise gained is shared with the widest possible audience, to strengthen links to policy levels, and to consider linking sites for long-term research on issues of shared importance (e.g., climate change, biodiversity, poverty alleviation).