Ready, steady, grow: RECOFTC nurtures strength through innovation and partnership

Seeding

In the late 1970s, traditional forestry was deemed to be inadequate for the Asia-Pacific region. Decades of centralized control and policies that focused on natural resource extraction had led to loss of forest cover and a general decline in the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people dependent on forests across the region. A lack of technical knowledge, skills and effective approaches hindered policymaking and the implementation of sustainable community forests. This was why and how RECOFTC started.

We were set up in 1987 in Bangkok under the leadership of noted forestry expert and founding executive director Somsak Sukwong (PhD) of Kasetsart University. Our first supporters were the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Government of Switzerland – through the Asian Development Bank, Kasetsart University and the Royal Forestry Department, Thailand.

Initially, we trained and built leaders and movers in the community forestry sector using participatory learning approaches. Later, we offered courses beyond how foresters and extension workers implement community forestry. These included topics on governance, conflict resolution and participatory rural appraisal for livelihoods, enabling a more holistic take on community forestry.

By the early 2000s, RECOFTC was recognized as an autonomous international organization through an intergovernmental charter designating Thailand as the host country for our regional operations. Over the next decade, we expanded operations into other countries. This was made possible through the partnerships we had nurtured with the forestry and environment ministries of the countries where we now operate – Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and Viet Nam.

As awareness of the interconnections of environmental challenges and community forestry grew, the focus of the development sector and funding priorities shifted. RECOFTC became known in the Asia-Pacific as the regional hub for capacity building, research and policy advocacy focused on building capacities and technical knowledge on community forestry.

Growing

Over the next 20 years, thinkers and doers converged at RECOFTC to define, redefine and craft what community forestry meant, examining complexities in approaches through the lens of global commitments – the Millenium Developments Goals and now the Sustainable Development Goals, also known as the Global Goals.

A rights-based approach has always been central to us. We honed the free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) process and highlighted the crucial role of women and Indigenous, ethnic and minority groups in forest communities and forest landscape management.

For Indigenous Peoples across the world and for organizations like ours who work with and for them, 2007 was a turning point as it saw the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, recognizing the rights of Indigenous communities to manage their forest and resources.

From 2008 to 2013, we focused on strengthening governance and rights while promoting equitable benefit sharing and sustainable forest-based livelihoods to reduce poverty. At the same time, we mainstreamed community forestry to support effective policy implementation.

The 2015 Paris Agreement, emphasizing the role of forests in climate change adaptation and mitigation, was a paradigm shift that directed more funding towards implementing climate-resilient practices and community forestry-led initiatives. Advocacy for the rights and roles of Indigenous Peoples, ethnic minorities and local communities in protecting forests also gained further momentum. Core donor support enabled RECOFTC to pivot our strategic focus while examining critical connections to economic progress and emerging issues.

From 2013 to 2018, our focus was on securing community forestry, enhancing livelihoods and markets, addressing climate change and transforming forest conflicts. Transforming conflict into opportunities for collaboration was key to addressing forest-related disputes over land rights and resources, which were obstructing community forestry efforts. We focused on inclusive governance, fostering peace and protecting the rights of marginalized communities. This phase was followed by multi-year projects largely concentrated around the Mekong region.

Grounding

Our community forestry approach now addresses climate change and ensures gender and social inclusion, effective governance and livelihoods for communities. We do our work through a rights-based approach through the FPIC process, the landscape-based approach for more holistic interventions and the recognition that the private sector can be allies in combating deforestation.

While projects aligned with donor priorities, core funding has enabled us to anchor our cause and provided us the flexibility to explore, innovate and adapt to emerging issues. The administration, infrastructure, technology, communication, partnership and advocacy elements essential for operations, engagement and collaboration, and the safety nets we have built were made possible through the support of the Government of Sweden and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

These deeply rooted partnerships have enabled RECOFTC to withstand crises and geopolitical shifts such as the ASEAN economic recession, Brexit, natural disasters affecting the countries and landscapes where we operate, the COVID-19 pandemic, the wars affecting country economics and aid, and the more recent shift in US government priorities.

During COVID-19, RECOFTC was able to immediately move to digital collaboration and networking, allowing us to continue delivering commitments and innovate approaches such as our e-learning courses. Through long-term donor commitments, nonprofit organizations are able to invest in building staff capacities and modernizing technology. These necessary transitions have led to upgrades or a full overhaul of infrastructure, making RECOFTC adaptable and in a good position to seize new opportunities with new partnerships.

Rooting in resilience

Today, the situation of the forests where we operate varies. While some are thriving, others call for greater protection, reforestation and afforestation. With warmer temperatures and a largely agricultural sector in the Asia-Pacific region, forest fires have wreaked havoc and continue to disrupt the lives and livelihoods of farmers and local communities.

Where international standards and regulations seek to protect forests and communities, RECOFTC takes a critical stand with smallholders and stakeholders in addressing the gaps between national government and local community preparedness to comply with these regulations. The interface between global requirements on forest risk commodities and local realities is where RECOFTC is best suited to help communities navigate uncertain times, especially as economies struggle to find footing with international compliance.

We continue to work through partnerships throughout the Asia-Pacific region, and more recently globally. We are the secretariat to two large networks – the Regional Model Forest Network–Asia and the Peoples Forests Partnership , and continue to contribute to the Rights and Resources Initiative and Forest Connect.

We have been operational now for 38 years. Forests take longer to grow and even longer to flourish. Building capacities means changing mindsets and even values. While these do not happen overnight, former trainees who have learned with us and are accessing our knowledge base are now formidable leaders in their own right. The initiatives we have taken, the approaches we have developed, our trainings and knowledge products have helped them manage projects, lead communities, organizations, government agencies and landscape interventions that have been sustained.

Like the trees in the forests that we protect, we ourselves have had to take deep-rooted approaches so that turbulent winds of funding cuts will not deter the foundations that we have built. As we have taken solid footing, we have grown, diversified our staff and our approaches. The support of our core donors and partners has enabled us to be sustainable as we continue building resilient communities and sustainable and equitable forest landscapes.

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David Ganz is executive director at RECOFTC.