Menu
Chapters Building a regional research community

Introduction

  1. Foreword
  2. Message from the Executive Director
  3. The year that was
  4. Working towards impact

Ensuring forest landscapes provide climate solutions

  1. Eight forests, six countries and a shared framework for learning
  2. New terms for community forestry in Riau, Indonesia
  3. Community forest groups in Nepal invest in recharge ponds
  4. Moving beyond monoculture in Viet Nam’s coffee farms

Securing rights and inclusive governance

  1. Making forest tenure processes work for women
  2. Planning for forests through participation
  3. Strengthening inclusive governance in Chitwan’s buffer zones

Supporting growth of forest landscape-related businesses

  1. Building a mangrove business around mud crabs
  2. From forest management to forest income
  3. Building stronger coffee businesses in Viet Nam’s Central Highlands

Securing finance for sustainable forest landscapes

  1. Restoring watersheds, one tree at a time

Generating evidence for influence

  1. Chiang Mai’s community forests take ownership of biodiversity data
  2. Building a regional research community
  3. From development site to urban conservation area
  4. Mapping oil palm from the ground up
  5. Thai community forests earn Green Globe recognition

Engaging the public on forest landscape issues

  1. A new generation of forest guardians
  2. Community members map their forests in western Thailand
  3. Peering into curtained forests
  1. Board of Trustees
  2. Our project donors, partners and networks
Mountain landscape with village
Generating evidence for influence

Building a regional research community

Four new research grants expand Explore's network to 11 active teams studying forest landscape governance across the Asia-Pacific

Generating evidence for better forest governance requires long-term investment in local research. Through the Explore network, RECOFTC is supporting universities and research institutions across the Asia-Pacific to produce evidence that informs policy and practice.

Research rooted in local realities

In 2025, Explore awarded four new research grants worth a combined USD 300,000 to projects in Indonesia, Lao PDR, Cambodia and Timor-Leste. Selected from 99 applications through a double-blind peer review process, the projects examine community institutions, forest legislation and governance systems that shape how forests are managed.

A researcher meets with a community member.

One project, in Aceh, Indonesia, focuses on 'mukim' – customary community institutions holding traditional authority over land and forests – and their role in conservation and inclusive forest governance. Another considers forest legislation and implementation strategies to engage ethnic groups and local communities in biodiversity conservation in Lao PDR. The other two projects are transboundary in nature, studying systems of community-led governance of flooded forests in Cambodia and Lao PDR and mangroves in Indonesia and Timor-Leste.

A researcher talks with community members.

Building evidence for action

The new projects bring Explore's portfolio to 11 active multidisciplinary research teams. Together, they are building a regional community of practice that connects researchers, practitioners and policymakers working on forest landscape governance.

Over 2026 and 2027, RECOFTC will support the teams beyond research delivery by strengthening implementation, communicating findings and promoting policy uptake. Early stakeholder consultations are already underway, laying the groundwork for research that is both academically rigorous and relevant to decision-makers.

RECOFTC’s work is made possible with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Government of Sweden.