The IMFN Story

Model Forests were developed to find solutions to conflicts over the management and use of natural resources that were increasing in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Ten Model Forests were initially established across Canada. There are currently 60 Model Forests in 30 countries on five continents, representing 100 million hectares and thousands of partner organizations.

During the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development in 1992, Canada invited other countries to participate in developing Model Forests. With Model Forests established in Mexico and Russia, the International Model Forest Network was initiated.

Model Forests were first established in South America (Argentina and Chile) and Asia (China) in the late 1990s. In 2002, the Ibero-American Model Forest Network (IAMFN) was formed. Today the IAMFN is comprised of 26 Model Forests in 13 countries with a regional secretariat based at CATIE in Costa Rica.

The IMFN grew substantially from 2000 to 2005 as new Model Forests were established in Cameroon, Russia, Sweden, Costa Rica, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Honduras, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia Guatemala, Chile and Argentina. By the 2005 IMFN Global Forum in Costa Rica, the Network had grown to include 37 Model Forests in 16 countries.

In 2006, the Canadian Model Forest Network, representing 14 Model Forests, became an independent non-governmental organization. Today, Canada’s Model Forests bring together 178 forest communities, 98 First Nations and over 1000 partner organizations. In 2008, over 150 delegates from 31 countries attended the IMFN Global Forum which was held in Alberta, Canada.

From 2008 to 2011, the IMFN expanded into Africa and the Mediterranean. Three new regional network secretariat offices were also opened: one for Asia in Beijing, China; one for Africa in Yaoundé, Cameroon; and one for the Mediterranean in Valladolid, Spain. There are now three Model Forests in the Mediterranean basin—in Morocco, Turkey and Spain—with numerous other countries and regions developing new sites. The African network is expanding into Congo basin countries and supports an important forest restoration project in Rwanda.

The strategic programming priorities of the IMFN include climate change, community sustainability, ecosystem services and circumboreal cooperation. Model Forests collaborate regionally and internationally on research projects and knowledge sharing activities under these IMFN Strategic Initiatives.

Collaborating on such initiatives led to the IMFN’s first trilateral collaboration agreement linking Model Forests in three regions—Araucarias del Alto Malleco (Chile), Vilhelmina (Sweden) and Prince Albert (Canada). Through the agreement, these three Model Forests will work together on joint priority areas such as ecosystem services and engagement of indigenous peoples in natural resource management.

Model Forests collaborate on Community Sustainability
Model Forests focus on assessing the natural resource management practices and actions needed at the local level to promote community sustainability, and on examining global challenges related to poverty alleviation, sustainable economic development and food security.

• Manitoba Model Forest (Canada) has been working with the Cabecar Indigenous community of Reventazón Model Forest (Costa Rica) to promote and develop ecotourism in the region.
• Lac-Saint-Jean Model Forest has exchanged knowledge with Model Forests in the Cameroon since 2008 on community sustainability projects leading to income generating projects in Cameroonian Model Forests.
• Asian Model Forests have shared knowledge on bamboo species and processing of this valuable plant into marketable products.

Model Forests collaborate on Climate Change
Model Forests, with their landscape-scale platforms and broad stakeholder engagement, are ideally suited to carry out climate change research, develop community adaptation strategies and monitor such efforts over the long term.

• Prince Albert (Canada) and Vilhelmina (Sweden) Model Forests collaborated on an international research project which looks at aboriginal knowledge on climate change and how this relates to species at risk in both countries.
• The African Model Network Secretariat Forests and regional partners held a regional workshop on REDD+ and local implementation strategies in the Congo Basin in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Model Forests work towards Forest Restoration
Traditional approaches to forest restoration have focused on measurable biophysical outcomes. For nearly 20 years the Model Forest approach to forest restoration has also been addressing the social and economic dimensions of these challenges.

• Model Forests in Central America and the Caribbean collaborated on a forest restoration and community development project, establishing demonstration areas, participating in capacity building, and exchanging information and knowledge on sustainable forest management.
• A joint project between the AMFN, the IMFN and the Canadian and Rwandan governments will support Model Forest development on a priority landscape in Rwanda.

The IMFN works closely with international organizations to foster cooperation and the exchange of ideas on the sustainable management of natural resources. Since 2001, CUSO International has placed over 50 volunteers in Model Forests in Latin America, Africa and the Philippines who have worked on strategic planning, knowledge sharing, eco-tourism, e-commerce and land use management.

The 2011 IMFN Global Forum and the International Symposium on Ecosystem and Landscape-level Approaches to Sustainability, held in Burgos, Spain, brought together a diverse group of scientists, policy-makers, Model Forest participants and academics to share knowledge on ecosystem and landscape approaches. Participants concluded that Model Forests provide a powerful platform from which to discuss and disseminate sustainable forest management challenges and successes, and are very important to ensure the provision of ecosystem goods and services to society.

The 20 year history of Model Forests around the world provides an educational, research and communication resource through which changes on the landscape can be observed over the long term, providing valuable insight and experience that can be used to advance sustainable forest management.