Model Forests become a governance tool in Tuscany’s new forestry law

In Tuscany (Italy) the regional law amending the forestry legislation (l.r. 39/2000) was published, officially recognizing and promoting for the first time Model Forests as tools of territorial governance.

In particular, a new paragraph has been added to Article 19, committing the Tuscany Region to promote Model Forests, established through public and/or private partnerships, in compliance with the standards defined by the International Model Forest Network (IMFN).

The reasoning reported in the law strongly emphasizes the value of the Model Forest experience in which they were directly involved:

“The positive experience carried out by Tuscany Region over the past fifteen years, joining the International Model Forest Network in 2009 and achieving in 2012 the establishment of the first Model Forest in Italy (the Montagne Fiorentine Model Forest), makes it necessary to include the Model Forest, as a tool of territorial governance, among the forms of active forest management.”

Since 2019, the Region of Tuscany has also been committed to managing the MMFN Secretariat, demonstrating the regional administration's confidence in the Model Forest process as one of the best ways to improve sustainable forest management throughout the Mediterranean basin.

The Model Forest is thus confirmed not only as a laboratory of good practices, but also as a concrete tool to:

• connect public and private actors,
• manage forests actively and sustainably involving all stakeholders,
• promote local development through dialogue and participation.

A special thanks goes to the Tuscany Region and to all those who closely followed the technical process and contributed to the drafting of the law: without this shared work, the result would not have been possible. Tuscany, the first Italian region to have experimented with and created a Model Forest, thus confirms its pioneering vocation in adopting innovative tools for active forest management.

We are happy and proud of this recognition, which opens up new prospects for the future of Model Forests in Italy and for all the communities that wish to walk this path with us.