Unshaping Model Forests in the Global South: Trans-local Politics and Community Forestry Knowledge Circulation in Ecuador and Cameroon

Forest communities around the world are increasingly connected to defend territorial and community rights over lands and forests. This is how the International Model Forest Network (IMFN) was created in 1995 by the Government of Canada, aiming at bringing together a diverse association of individuals and groups towards a common vision of sustainable development across extensive landscapes. In 2002, the Ibero-American Model Forest Network (RIABM) was created in Costa Rica, and in 2009 the African Model Forest Network (AMFN) emerged in Cameroon. This research examines how Model Forests’ actors build shared knowledge on community-based forest management through trans-local dynamics. It draws on a comparative analysis of the Choco Andino Model Forest, Ecuador, and the Campo Ma’an Model Forest, Cameroon. It shows the financial and project-based opportunities of being part of a Model Forest network, and the challenges related to local appropriation and visibility, political continuity, leadership and tensions with extractive activities.