RECOFTC and the Rajamangala University of Technology Lanna (RMUTL) signed our first memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen forest landscape restoration in Nan province, Thailand. Effective till January 2029, MoU was signed on 14 January 2026 at the RMUTL campus in Nan. The agreement targets ecological benefits and sustainable livelihood development for local communities.
RECOFTC and RMUTL will work together on academic collaboration, research and knowledge transfer to support forest landscape restoration in Nan province. RECOFTC has committed to support the development of alternative livelihoods for local communities in Nan. Our focus will be on conservation-oriented agriculture, production and processing of natural resource-based products, ecotourism and community management. We aim to support income growth for local communities and strengthen their economic resilience.
Through this partnership, we will promote experiential learning and capacity development for personnel, students and local communities through training programmes, research studies, internships, field-based learning and short courses. We will also strengthen mechanisms for multi-stakeholder collaboration, including the exchange of knowledge, data, experiences and personnel between RECOFTC and RMUTL. Building on research outcomes, we will work together to enhance the quality of learning at the local and policy levels.
RECOFTC and RMUTL will co-develop and propose area-based research and development projects through joint research proposals for funding from national and international agencies. We will focus on studies that contribute to forest and watershed conservation and restoration, sustainable natural resource management and promotion of a bio-based economy in Nan province.
RECOFTC’s executive director, David Ganz, and RMUTL’s acting president, Annop Thasanaudom, signed the agreement and presided over the ceremony. RECOFTC Thailand’s country director, Warangkana Rattanarat, was also present along with the Trees4All project and business coordinators. The signing event was also attended by representatives of RMUTL faculties from their Chiang Mai and Nan campuses and representatives of Trees4All project farmers.
Speaking at the signing, Thasanaudom noted that this MoU is “a crucial mechanism for scaling up the successes of RECOFTC and RMUTL”. He noted that the partnership integrates RECOFTC’s international experience with RMUTL’s academic expertise and extensive networks in Nan province to foster innovations that suit the local context while committing to the United Nations Global Goals. “RMUTL will support community participation, enhance multi-stakeholder collaboration and develop capacities for balanced ecological and socio-economic goals,” he said.
Ganz emphasized working with and for the benefit of local communities, highlighting RECOFTC’s long-standing expertise in capacity development and experiential learning. “We hope that the cooperation with RMUTL is going to bring fruitful impacts for both our organizations and particularly, for the people of Nan province.”
RECOFTC has been working in Nan since 2012 to promote forest landscape resilience, where local people are key actors and beneficiaries. For the past three years, RECOFTC and lecturers from the RMUTL Nan campus have been collaborating toward forest landscape restoration and alternative livelihood development for local communities. These collaborations include capacity development initiative on community-based enterprise management in Santisuk district as part of the Trees4All project. RECOFTC has also gained support from RMUTL for livestock farming and business development for local livelihoods.
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Nitchanun Tantapong is communication officer at RECOFTC Thailand.