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Chapters Eight forests, six countries and a shared framework for learning

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
Woman measuring a tree in a Model Forest
Ensuring forest landscapes provide climate solutions

Eight forests, six countries and a shared framework for learning

RMFN–Asia’s Model Forest Indicator Framework helps track what sustainable forest management looks like on the ground

Since becoming secretariat of the Regional Model Forest Network–Asia (RMFN–Asia) in January 2024, RECOFTC has laid the groundwork for a shared monitoring and learning framework for Asia’s Model Forests.

At the centre of this effort is the Model Forest Indicator Framework (MFIF). The MFIF is helping eight Model Forests across six countries – China, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines and Thailand – assess and communicate their progress towards sustainable forest management.

A shared framework for diverse landscapes

Model Forests are diverse landscapes where communities, governments, researchers and the private sector sustainably manage natural resources under a shared strategy. No two Model Forests are the same as each community defines and works towards sustainability on its own terms.

This also means that there is need for a shared framework to track forest management across Model Forests. To that end, we co-developed the MFIF with Model Forest communities around the four interconnected pillars of ecosystem, governance, production and well-being.

Using the MFIF, Model Forests can track changes in forest conditions, better engage stakeholders and strengthen livelihoods and community resilience.

Model Forest team measuring a tree in Thailand

From consultation, pilots to implementation

Between October 2024 and March 2025, we conducted a four-part online learning series that brought together Model Forest representatives from across the Asia-Pacific to explore each pillar and discuss practical indicators.

Across the sessions, more than 50 individuals joined to share experiences and context-specific approaches, and to grapple with how multi-dimensional sustainability really is. The sessions revealed gaps in available data, especially around governance and well-being. They also highlighted the need for simple, flexible tools rooted in local realities.

From August 2025 through January 2026, two Model Forests – Carood Watershed Model Forest in Bohol, Philippines and Ngao Model Forest in Lampang, Thailand – piloted a beta version of the MFIF.

The results from these pilots have informed the guidelines for implementing the MFIF. These guidelines are meant for use by Model Forests and practitioners from other forest landscapes to monitor and manage their landscapes better.

Community interview in a Thai Model Forest
RECOFTC’s work is made possible with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Government of Sweden.