Community Forestry Network meeting connects research and policy for inclusive forest governance

On 28 August 2025, RECOFTC Viet Nam brought together Explore researchers, policymakers and community forestry stakeholders at a ‘Community Forestry Network’ meeting in Hue city, Viet Nam.

The Community Forestry (CF) Network in Viet Nam, an initiative convened by RECOFTC, has long facilitated knowledge sharing, experience exchange and policy updates based on community forestry practice. The network meetings connect local implementers, including communities and CF projects, with central agencies responsible for forest and community-related policies and target programmes.

At the August meeting, three Explore research teams presented their project objectives, initial results and recommendations for linking research findings to local practice and community forestry initiatives. The teams were from Hue University of Economics, Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry and Vinh University.

National, provincial and commune-level stakeholders shared information on target programmes for ethnic communities and women, providing context for discussions on embedding gender research into policy and practice.

Tran Quoc Hung, co-principal investigator of the Explore research team at Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry, presents early findings from his research project ‘Enhancing community resilience of socio-ecological production landscapes with agroforestry in Southeast Asia’.

The meeting concluded with consensus on the importance of sustained collaboration between research institutions, government agencies and civil society to ensure relevant research design and results. It was agreed that such results can be widely used by key stakeholders to inform policy and decision making at landscape and national levels.

Participants included members of the Standing Committee of Women’s Affairs – Viet Nam Fatherland Front, the National Office on Ethnic Minorities and Uplands – the Ministry of Ethnic Affairs and Religion. Also participating were representatives from the Viet Nam Academy of Forest Sciences, the Department of Agriculture and Environment and the Sub-Department of Forest Protection of Lam Dong Province. Members of the Viet Nam Forest Owners Association, business representatives, local communities, community forest members and RECOFTC Viet Nam staff were also present.

The participants noted that this CF Network meeting could set a precedent for more regular and structured future two-way exchange platforms in the future.

Explore research team members, RECOFTC staff, government representatives and other stakeholders at the national CF Network meeting in Hue, Viet Nam.

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Nguyen Chien Cuong is CF partnership coordinator at RECOFTC Viet Nam. Utsav Maden is communication and knowledge management officer at RECOFTC.

Explore is a research network and community of practice dedicated to expanding and applying knowledge on forest landscape governance in Southeast Asia. The network is funded by the government of Sweden. It is hosted by RECOFTC, in partnership with the CIFOR-ICRAF, in collaboration with universities, research institutes, governments, civil society organizations, local communities and the private sector in Southeast Asia.

For more information about Explore, contact [email protected] or visit here.