More than 180 delegates from over 40 countries, representing Model Forests from around the globe and partner organizations to the International Model Forest Network, attended the IMFN Global Forum 2025 at the end of May in the Eastern Ontario Model Forest in Canada. The week’s events aimed to build momentum and elevate IMFN’s profile by fostering collaboration with global forest initiatives and reinforcing governance through a General Assembly, knowledge sessions, field tours and key technical, regional and interregional meetings.

IMFN Global Forum 2025 participants

From their inception, Model Forests have promoted the idea of forming partnerships where diverse interests could be represented, and where partners could experiment with new ideas under a common goal of sustainable development. These ideals were exhibited throughout the IMFN Global Forum 2025, held in the Kemptville Campus Education and Community Centre, in the heart of the Eastern Ontario Model Forest in Canada, a pioneer member of the IMFN with over 30 years of experience.

The opening plenary and regional meetings highlighted the strength of partnerships and the value of learning from those who paved the way before us. During the Global Landscapes Forum’s event Forests, People, Planet, we’ve seen the power of connecting with new audiences — and how these new audiences can bring new perspectives to the IMFN. This event itself achieved some notable benchmarks including 1.99 million online interactions and over 178 000 views of the livestreamed sessions (and these numbers are still growing!). That same day, Model Forests were featured in a Film Festival presented by the Global Landscape Forum, both at the Kemptville Campus and online.

Through six field tour options within the Eastern Ontario Model Forest, we also demonstrated what reforestation, restoration, conservation and sustainable management looks like in practice.  From the internal IMFN knowledge day, we’ve heard a variety of perspectives across 12 topics important to Model Forests – such as: post-wildfire restoration, youth leadership, gender equality, private sector approaches, forest education and connection with nature – with new voices and new examples for more commonly told stories or themes.

Over the course of five days at the end of May in Kemptville, 169 speakers from around the world shared their experiences and insights across 17 knowledge-sharing sessions. Meaningful exchanges and inspiring connections formed throughout the week made this event a resounding success.

With this event, we’ve built strong momentum towards COP30 (United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties), happening in Belém, Brazil this November. We look forward to deepening our connections as a Network and advancing our shared commitment to sustainable landscape management in the months and years ahead.

“This has been a really wonderful time for me to meet new friends, share ideas and move forward. We all have something in common: our job, our function… Our goal as individual humans is to make the Earth a better place than we found it.” – Dick Lalande, also known as Chief Dream Hunter, member of the Council of Elders of the Tay River Algonquin Community, during the 2025 IMFN Global Forum closing ceremony

“May you take the seeds we planted here on this week of initiatives, knowledge, and shared ideas for a sustainable, healthy, and green future and spread them as far and as wide as you travel home to [improve] forests for the next seven generations.” – Sionaid Eggett, Field Operations Manager, Ontario Woodlot Association – Eastern Ontario Model Forest

“[It is important] to build safe spaces, with the right people, that not only serve as places to reflect, but also to share our vulnerabilities, not simply to acknowledge that we have weaknesses, but to turn them into fuel for our strengths. ” – Natalia Ruiz-Guevara, Vice-President of the Latin American Model Forest Network

Global Landscape Forum news: 4 steps to scale up forest solutions before COP30

Global Landscape Forum news: Local roots, global impact: The power of Model Forests

IUCN news: IUCN and IMFN highlight the contributions of Model Forests to local communities and global targets

RLABM news (in Spanish): IMFN Global Forum 2025: Participation of the Latin American Model Forest Network

Photos by Pilar Valbuena