Teenager No More…Whither the IMFN?

Canada's Model Forests 20 years on: towards forest and community sustainability?

“…This created a perceived separation between the national and international networks. In fact, they always had been intended to be one international network, albeit fueled by Canadian‐based sites, leadership, and resources (e.g., the IMFN Secretariat was originally based in NRCAN/CFS, see Pollett, ). Soon after these networks were established, the SFMN was also set up (Klenk and Hickey, ), which is seen to have made significant contributions to the development of social science in forestry.…”

“…It is difficult to determine whether parallel processes and entities dedicated to sustainability may have affected the viability of Model Forests in terms of focus and competition for social science expertise, resources, and profile. For example, conceived in Canada in 1990 and then introduced at Rio in 1992, the Canadian portion of the network was initiated before the IMFN was launched (Pollett, ). This created a perceived separation between the national and international networks.…”

“…In 1991, Canada introduced the MFP as part of the Green Plan for a Healthy Environment to address the need for leadership in forest management in sustainable development following the 1987 World Commission on Environment and Development (Pollett, ). The approach was introduced to demonstrate sustainable development in ‘practical terms on a working scale’ (NRCAN, : 2).…”

“…For example, despite the focus on doing forestry differently and developing new information and tools, early MFP evaluations adopted conventional forest management assessment tools to measure their own progress and process outcomes (see Gardner Pinfold Consulting, ). Furthermore, although their original intent was to follow eco‐regional boundaries (Pollett, ), several Model Forests initially adopted the forest management license boundaries of their industrial partners and adjacent parks and protected areas (e.g. McGregor, Foothills, Prince Albert, Manitoba, Abitibi, Western Newfoundland).…”

“…Placed within the federal department Natural Resources Canada (NRCAN), the Canadian Forest Service (CFS) had a substantial budget to implement programmes to advance both forest and community sustainability . Model Forests became globally recognized as demonstration sites for multi‐stakeholder SFM initiatives, and there are approximately 60 sites in 25 countries (Pollett, ). Despite international proliferation, federal funding to Canadian Model Forests was cancelled in 2013, and only four of 15 sites in the Canadian Model Forest Network remain .…”