Costa Rica’s Model Forest Getting Underway
Costa Rica is expected to submit its proposal for the Río Reventazón Model Forest to the Regional Model Forest Network Centre for Latin America and the Caribbean (RMFC―LAC)Board of Directors when it meets in Costa Rica at beginning of December 2004. If accepted, the aspiring model forest will likely be launched in 2005.
Europe Launching Model Forests
Some of Europe’s oldest and richest forests are being linked to the IMFN. With one model forest already under its belt, the fledgling Barents Sea Region Model Forest Network, that will include model forests in the northern parts of Sweden, Finland, Norway and in north-western Russia, is working on creating its second and third model forests.
On September 1, 2004, Sweden officially launched the Vilhelmina Model Forest — Europe’s first model forest. Finland and Russia are next in line. Finland has selected a proposed site, the Ilo-Mansti Model Forest, just east of Joensuu on the border of Russian Karelia. And the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources has approved development of the Kovdozersky Model Forest in Murmansk Oblast.
A Third Model Forest for Chile
In August 2004, Chile submitted its proposal for a third model forest, Bosque Modelo Panguipulli, situated in the 10th region in the extreme southern part of the country, to the Regional Model Forest Network Centre for Latin America and the Caribbean (RMFC―LAC). If funded by the Chilean government, Panguipulli is expected to be launched in 2005.
Site Selection Underway for First African Model Forest
Representatives from 10 prospective model forest sites attended a workshop in Kribi, Cameroon, June 25―26, 2004, sponsored by the IMFNS, together with CIFOR (Centre for International Forestry Research) and MINEF (Cameroonian Ministry of Environment and Forestry), to assess the suitability of proposed sites and discuss the development of a model forest — the first in Africa. Forest site selection is expected to be made by the end of December 2004.
Japan Exploring Model Forest Approach
As a follow-up to the IMNFS Executive Director’s visit to Japan’s Kyoto Prefecture in January 2004, to explore the possibility of establishing a model forest in the highly urbanized region around the country’s largest lake (Lake Biwa), a delegation from the Prefecture will be visiting the IMFNS, the Canadian Model Forest Network Secretariat, and Canadian model forests between October 18―22, 2004, to gather additional information.
Gassinski Model Forest Celebrates 10th Anniversary
The first international model forest to join the IMFN, the Gassinski Model Forest Association (GMFA) in Far East Russia, celebrated its 10thanniversary in July 2004, with a workshop held in Khabarovsk. In commemoration, the GMFA published the brochure My Amur Homeland(in Russian). For copies, please contact Genrikh Telitsyn at: forestry@trk.kht.ru
On a related note:
June 30, 2004, marked the official end of the five-year McGregor― Russia Project between the McGregor Model Forest in British Columbia, Canada and an area near the GMFA. The project involved capacity building and technology transfer in five natural resources areas, related to activities such as value-added wood processing, non-timber forest products, and economic opportunities for indigenous peoples. One Russian official called the collaboration the most productive foreign-aid project ever implemented in the Russian Far East.
