What is a Model Forest?
A Model Forest can be described as a large-scale landscape encompassing many different land uses; a specific partnership-based approach to sustainable forest management; and a long-term process that adheres to a broad set of principles to promote sustainability. The partnership is voluntary and made up of stakeholders – such as local community associations, indigenous peoples, governments, academia, and industry – representing the environmental, social and economic forces at play within the landscape. The partnership works to define a shared, locally relevant operational vision of natural resource management and then collaborate to achieve it in concrete terms for the benefit of all stakeholders Model Forests bring joint solutions and innovative strategies to shared challenges such as climate change, governance, land degradation, food security, wildfires, markets and livelihoods, health and well-being, and land-use conflicts. Through the network structure and a commitment to knowledge sharing and capacity building, best practices and lessons learned in one Model Forest can be shared with others to accelerate learning and collectively make lasting progress to realize sustainable development, both locally and globally.
