Key Partners

RECOFTC collaborates with governments, universities, local nongovernment organizations (NGOs), and intergovernmental bodies to help local people gain secure and strong rights to forests. Last Updated: November, 2011

Current Regional and International Partnerships

Asia-Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management and Rehabilitation (APFNet): APFNet is a network that promotes sustainable forest management and rehabilitation in the Asia-Pacific region through capacity-building, information-sharing and policy dialogues, and pilot projects. RECOFTC works closely with APFNet by designing activities to strengthen existing beneficial practices, and also developing and promoting innovative approaches to sustainable forest management. An MOU between the two organizations was signed on April 2010.

ASEAN Social Forestry Network (ASFN): Established by ASEAN Senior Officials on Forestry (ASOF) in August 2005, this is the first government-driven social forestry network in Southeast Asia. RECOFTC has supported ASFN since its establishment in both capacity building and networking, and currently is engaged in joint activities in Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand. ASFN was also a vital partner in the Second Regional Forum for People and Forests. Some highly informative publications on the role of social forestry in the ASEAN region have been developed under the partnership.

Climate & Development Knowledge Network (CDKN): CDKN supports decision makers worldwide in designing and delivering climate change compatible development.  CDKN and RECOFTC joined capacity building efforts to strengthen REDD-Net Asia-Pacific by enabling it to disseminate lessons learned beyond its core audience of civil society organizations and reach a wider group of stakeholders. 

Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR):An international scientific research organization based in Bogor, Indonesia, CIFOR contributes to sustainable management of forests and well-being of people in the tropics.  With a common interest in identifying and providing solutions to combating deforestation and forest degradation, CIFOR and RECOFTC have collaborated to develop international training courses to improve the basic skills needed by Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) practitioners assisting local people to actively be involved in its implementation.

European Forest Institute (EFI): Established by the EU, EFI is Europe's leading forest research network. Under the EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance, and Trade (FLEGT) Asia program that is managed by EFI, RECOFTC produced research and publications that demonstrated the potential of reducing poverty and improving forest conditions through improved forest tenure rights. The EU FLEGT Asia Action Plan plays a pivotal role in promoting and facilitating international trade in verified legal timber – both within Asia and exported from Asia to other consumer markets. It particularly aims at enhancing the understanding of emerging demands in key timber-consuming markets and promoting the use of systems that assist buyers and sellers of timber and timber products from Asia to meet these demands more sustainably.   

Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO): RECOFTC has long collaborated with FAO, particularly its Asia-Pacific regional office. Recent activities include the Asia-Pacific Forestry Week, the First and Second Regional Forum for People and Forests, and several publications. We also work together on capacity-building events such as Training of Trainers on Conflict Management and the development of training modules based on FAO’s recent forest tenure reform guidelines.

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC):  In 2011, FSC International Center established the Smallholder Support Program with an aim to provide more and better access to, and benefits from FSC certification for small and community producers. FSC and RECOFTC have joined hands to develop a Training of Trainers program for increasing smallholder training and capacities for FSC Certification in Southeast Asia, China and the Pacific. RECOFTC is also a member of FSC’s Social Chamber (Southern sub-Chamber).

Global Alliance of Community Forestry (GACF): This is a coalition of community-based organizations working to build political and community processes for establishing and defending community access, use, and management rights over natural resources. In Asia, GACF supports community-forestry networking in Thailand and seeks to build the capacity of national networks across the region — something that RECOFTC actively supports.

The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF):  With the aim of using science to generate knowledge about the role of trees in agricultural systems, livelihoods and the environment, ICRAF and RECOFTC have collaborated over the years in various projects and partnerships such as organizing study tours for Lao PDR government officials to China.

Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES): Established by the Japanese government in 1998, IGES is an international research institute that conducts practical and innovative research for realizing sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region. Collaborations with IGES span both the regional level and across RECOFTC’s focal countries particularly in the areas of REDD, Payments for Ecosystems Services (PES) and Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).  An FPIC Training Manual is also currently being developed together and will be published soon.

International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED): An international research organization that promotes sustainable development and links local processes with international ones, IIED works with some of the world's most vulnerable people to ensure they have a say in the policy arenas that most closely affect them, from village councils to international conventions. RECOFTC has collaborated with IIED since 2006 through the Forest Governance Learning Group, involving 10 countries in Asia and Africa.

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN): RECOFTC have been close allied with IUCN especially through its Asia Regional Office.  Areas of collaboration span across various natural resource management issues such as community forest management, national resource governance, landscape management, ecosystems modeling for adaptation, and REDD. The collaboration has also included several publications including for training purposes.

Overseas Development Institute (ODI): A crucial partner in establishing REDD-Net Asia-Pacific, ODI and RECOFTC have worked together for three phases of the project since 2009 to support Southern civil societies in promoting the interests of local people in REDD+ dealings. ODI is Britain’s leading independent think tank on international development and humanitarian issues.

Princeton in Asia (PiA):PiA is a non-profit affiliated with Princeton University that provides practical exposure for graduates through summer or one-year fellowships with partner organizations in the Asia. RECOFTC and PiA began partnering in 2006, offering 2-3 highly talented young fellows every year the opportunity to work closely with a wide range of community forestry stakeholders both in the office and out in the field.

Responsible Asia Forestry and Trade (RAFT): A five-year initiative funded by USAID, RAFT influences the public policies and corporate practices needed to improve forest management and bring transparency to the timber trade in Asia. RECOFTC leads RAFT’s Conflict Management Training Program and its REDD Learning Network.

Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI):RRI is a global coalition working to advance forest tenure reform in developing countries. RECOFTC is a founding member of RRI and coordinates coalition activities in the Asia-Pacific region.  RECOFTC and RRI partner in projects such as the Forest Tenure Learning Group in Lao PDR and other collaborations on legal pluralism with the Forest Peoples Program (FPP).

Southeast Asia Network for Agroforestry Education (SEANAFE): SEANAFE aims at improving livelihoods and sustainable land management in Southeast Asia through facilitating educational change in agroforestry and integrated natural resource management.   As a network of 85 members institutions in Indonesia, Laos, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, RECOFTC involves SEANAFE in all community-based natural resource management related projects that we engage in.

The Nature Conservancy (TNC): TNC is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for people and nature. RECOFTC established the REDD Learning Network and Conflict Learning Network together with TNC under the RAFT Initiative.

United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (UN-REDD): Launched in September 2008, UN-REDD was established to assist developing countries to prepare and implement national REDD+ strategies. UN-REDD and RECOFTC have collaborated closely in developing and implementing various climate change related capacity building and research and analysis projects such as the Grassroots Capacity Building Program for REDD+ in the Asia-Pacific and FPIC evaluation and verification for REDD+.

Wageningen University: Landscape Functions and People, an open-subscription course that focuses on current practices in landscape approaches to natural resource governance by linking grassroots initiatives to broader goals for the ecosystem, has been the product of partnership between Wageningen University and RECOFTC. This leading university located in the Netherlands is known for sound research and education that is strongly geared toward application in practice.

Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture & Natural Resource Management (WOCAN): WOCAN is a women-led global network of professionals engaged in agriculture and natural resource management who are committed to organizational change for gender equality and environmentally sustainable development.  Both organizations have a collective interest in identifying and providing gender sensitive solutions in community forestry, through capacity building, action research, networking and advocacy. WOCAN and RECOFTC formalized their partnership through an MOU inaugurated in September 2011.

Government Partners

Royal Thai Government is one of the founding members of RECOFTC and a signatory in the Charter of RECOFTC. RECOFTC collaborates closely with the Royal Forest Department, the Department of National Parks and the Department of Marine and Coastal Resource in strengthening the National Community Forestry Network and numerous community-based natural resource management capacity building activities throughout the country. In the last 25 years, the collaboration has helped build the capacity of national and local government leaders, community forest managers and practitioners in sustainable forest management and increasingly, in responding to climate change. The Royal Thai Government also contributes an annual budget to RECOFTC’s Thailand Country Program to support community forestry initiatives in Thailand through the Officer of Higher Education Commission of the Ministry of Education and Kasetsart University. Click here to read Thailand's Forest Act of 1941.

Royal Government of Cambodia: Although RECOFTC has been active in Cambodia for a decade, it formalized its partnership with the Forestry Administration under the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in 2006. RECOFTC plays an active role in initiatives shaping and promoting community forestry development in Cambodia as a member of the Technical Working Group on Forestry and Environment, the National Community Forestry Program Coordination Committee, the National Forest Program Task Force as well as the National REDD Task Force. The Royal Government of Cambodia is also another founding member of RECOFTC and a signatory in the Charter of RECOFTC. Click here for a resource on Forestry Laws in Cambodia.

Government of the Republic of Indonesia: Working with the Government's Center for Forestry Education and Training (Pusdiklat Kehutanan) and Regional Forestry Training Center (Balai Diklat Kehutanan/BDK), RECOFTC has held dozens of national-level workshops and training events in Indonesia since the 1990s for over 300 Indonesian nationals. An  MoU was signed with the Ministry of Forestry  in 2005 as the collaboration expanded to include capacity building at all levels of  community forestry including conflicts, and REDD+. Click here to read Indonesia's 1999 Law on Forestry.

Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: RECOFTC has been building government and national capacity for community forestry in Vietnam for the last 20 years. Working under an MoU with the Vietnam Administration of Forestry of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, RECOFTC is analyzing the gaps in the national community forestry program and ways to address them. It is a partner of the Forest Sector Support Partnership, a  core member of the Climate Change Working Group and advisor to the Vietnamese Nongovernment Organizations and Climate Change network on REDD+ technical issues. It is also an active member of Vietnam REDD Network and Technical Working Group. The Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is the 7th founding member of RECOFTC and a signatory to the Charter of RECOFTC. Click here for a resource on Forestry Laws in Vietnam.

To learn more about partnership opportunities with RECOFTC, please email partnerships@recoftc.org. Together, we can help local communities and indigenous people find a stronger voice.