The Forest for the Trees
More than one tree has fallen in the world’s forests, but many people have heard. They heard in Canada, and in Bolivia, Costa Rica and Honduras. And they heard in Araucanía, Chile, a mountainous area that borders Argentina. The Araucanía region is a culturally diverse slice of the Andes; indigenous Mapuche-Pehuenche people live here along with settlers of European ancestry.
Models of sustainability
Farming, logging and livestock ranching are how most of the nearly 30,000 inhabitants of Araucanía make a living. But it’s not an easy life – the geography is steep and rough, the climate harsh. And the soils and the forests have been weakened by bad farming and logging practices. That’s why a different kind of natural resource management has taken root in the Araucanía region. It’s a so-called model forest, a form of community stewardship that provides both a place and a process where best practices are developed, tested and improved. These models of sustainability are then shared with other communities.
Geographically, such a site must encompass an area large enough to represent all of the forest's uses and values. It’s a working landscape of protected areas, farms, woodlots, towns, watersheds and rivers. Model forests provide a space where those who know and use woodlands can develop a common plan to achieve social benefits, environmental conservation, and economic opportunity. The approach is based on the view that broad-based local participation is the key to long-term success.
"Model forests allow for innovation and experimentation, and the best ideas are shared with other communities and networks," says Marie-Eve Landry, a CUSO-VSO volunteer who worked in Costa Rica with the Iberoamerican Model Forest Network. They also strengthen participatory governance of natural resources in a forest-based landscape.
At the heart of each independent model forest is a group of people who have different perspectives on the human and natural dynamics within their forest-based ecosystem – viewpoints that are all necessary to make informed, balanced and fair decisions about how to manage the forest and its resources.
No two model forests are identical. Some are in low population-density areas, where rural poverty and access to resources are priority issues. Other model forests may be heavily settled areas where urban-rural issues, including water quality, recreation, conservation and biodiversity, feature prominently in the equation for sustainable forest management.
The approach was first brought to the world’s attention at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At this global gathering, better known as the Earth Summit, Canada promised to “internationalize” its innovative model forest program.
What began with an initial 10 sites in Canada has grown to nearly 50 model forests in existence or under development in 22 countries on five continents. Collectively, these sites make up the International Model Forest Network (IMFN). To support these efforts, the IMFN Secretariat was established in 1995. Based in Ottawa, Canada, the Secretariat provides the day-to-day coordination of support and development services to the model forests worldwide.
The ‘Alto Malleco’ Model Forest
One of these forests is the ‘Alto Malleco’ Model Forest in the Araucanía region of Chile, spread over roughly 400,000 hectares of landscape. It covers not only native forests but also steppes (barren plains), watersheds, grasslands, scrublands, snow-capped mountains and even a few glaciers. The region is home to the native Araucaria tree (often called the ‘monkey puzzle tree’), a slow-growing, cedar-type conifer susceptible to over-logging. There are three national wildlife reserves and one national park in the area.
Partners in the Alto Malleco Model Forest include the Chilean national government, municipal governments, farmers, indigenous people, community development groups, and representatives of the agricultural and forestry industries. And since 2004, CUSO (now CUSO-VSO) has been sending volunteers for a two-year-long walk in those woods.
Robert Duncan helped strengthen planning capacities in the Araucanía model forest, which in turn improved the sustainable management of forest resources. He was particularly involved in the conservation and renewable use of the auracaria, the slow-growing tree native to southern Chile.
Stacy Barter played a central role in developing a strategic planning process for the forest, and facilitated the increased participation of local stakeholders including small farmers and indigenous peoples.
And Leonardo Durán (who was what CUSO-VSO calls a ‘host-national’ volunteer, as he both served in and was from Chile) helped build a land use information system in Araucanía. He incorporated Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools to assist institutions and communities in making informed decisions about strategic projects for local development.
Results of the Araucanía Model Forest so far include a strategic plan, as well development of projects in sustainable forestry, soil recovery, inter-cultural communication and environmental education. There has also been a renewed emphasis on the harvesting of non-timber forest products; for example, an edible kernel that is gathered from the araucaria tree.
Future environmental benefits
There is a growing understanding that sowing economic opportunity in the present can also yield environmental benefit in the future. The model forest method has been successfully transplanted from Canada to the Americas, and CUSO-VSO volunteers helped it take root.
Sylvain Legault of Gatineau, Quebec, was the first cooperant placed with a model forest in the region – he was on the island of Chiloé, lying off the southern coast of Chile, from 2000 to 2002.
Measuring 180 by 50 kilometres, the island is home to both diverse ecosystems and unique human cultures. Once carpeted almost entirely in trees, only 50 percent of Chiloé’s temperate rainforest remains. Chiloé has a mild, cool climate, so most wood goes to domestic heating and cooking – unlike mainland Chile, which exports shiploads of lumber and pulp. Most of the island’s 150,000 citizens are small landholders who farm, fish and log to survive. Without proper management, the remaining woodlands would be chipped away.
A sustainable approach to forestry and natural resource management was needed, and Legault helped the member partners of the Chiloé Model Forest map the island’s resources. He also assisted with strategic plans and projects. In addition to more ecologically sound logging, new emphasis was placed on renewable non-wood products such as honey and hazelnuts, as well as eco-tourism. Other initiatives included an environmental education centre and a 'biodiversity store' where sustainably produced local handicrafts are sold.
Many volunteers have followed in Legault’s footsteps by volunteering in these forests of the Americas. In 2002, CUSO and the IMFN signed a partnership agreement, and to date 26 CUSO/CUSO-VSO volunteer cooperants have supported the development and implementation of nine model forests throughout the Americas.
In addition to the Chiloé and Araucanías del Alto Malleco model forests in Chile, other volunteers have worked in the Chiquitano Model Forest in Bolivia, the Reventazón Model Forest in Costa Rica, and the Atántida Model Forest in Honduras.
While most volunteers have come from Canada, some have been recruited from within the country in question, or from other nations of the Americas. CUSO/CUSO-VSO cooperants have also supported the creation of the Ibero-American Model Forest Network, a growing regional initiative that links 18 model forests in eight Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries.
"A model forest is a process and a journey as people plan, implement and participate in projects and activities to achieve their vision," says Bob Sutton, a volunteer who worked with the Atántida Model Forest in Honduras. "I have been privileged to live, work and learn alongside my peers here in Honduras, and to join them for part of that journey."
