Posted on November, 26 2025
- WWF’s Regional Forest Programme brought together forest teams from six Mekong countries to strengthen regional collaboration.
- The meeting focused on accelerating forest and landscape restoration, community-led conservation, and cross-border cooperation.
- Discussions aligned national priorities with WWF’s Global Roadmap 2030 and the United Nations Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
- Participants used forest and landscape restoration principles and tools to explore solutions in forest management, sustainable agriculture, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and private-sector partnerships.
WWF’s Forest Programme staff from across the Greater Mekong region gathered in southern Laos from 18 to 20 November for an annual WWF Regional Forest Programme Meeting. The event brought together forest teams from China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam. Hosted this year by WWF-Laos, the meeting aimed to strengthen cross-border collaboration and accelerate regional efforts in forest and landscape restoration, as well as community-led conservation.
Held in Paksong District, Champasak Province – in the heart of Bolaven Plateau – one of WWF-Laos’ priority forest restoration landscapes surrounding Dong Hua Sao National Park – the location provided an important real-world backdrop. Participants observed restoration efforts, responsible supply chains, and agroforestry practices firsthand, gained insights into the pressures facing forest ecosystems, and reflected on how regional collaboration can address challenges shared across Mekong countries, especially within transboundary forest landscapes.
The timing of the meeting added further significance, coinciding with the second week of COP30 in Brazil. Many discussions in Paksong echoed global calls to scale up forest-based solutions to the climate and nature crises. Participants reflected on how the region can translate the ambitions of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) and the Paris Agreement into practical, coordinated action, while also supporting ASEAN member states in advancing Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) and strengthening sustainable land use management and governance across the restorative continuum.
The program began on 18 November with a visit to community forest restoration sites supported by WWF-Laos. Participants exchanged lessons and heard from Slow Coffee – a private-sector partner working with local communities on sustainable coffee production. In the afternoon, forestry officials from Champasak and Paksong guided teams to meet with village authorities to discuss community-led forest management, observing reforestation planting on an encroached site, zoning work, and land-use planning. Local leaders shared practical insights on their motivation, what is working, which challenges remain, and the long-term commitment required to restore and sustain their village forest.
“Along with excessive logging and overuse of non-timber forest products, exacerbated by the continuing loss of forest, many remaining forests today are becoming empty – poaching and hunting have pushed wildlife out, and without wildlife, forests begin to collapse and communities that rely on them struggle,” said James Bampton, WWF-Asia Pacific Forest Lead.
“People value land, but without proper management, it can also lead to encroachment and degradation. Regional collaboration is essential to provide sustainable restorative alternatives for the wide variety of different situations we find across biodiverse landscapes at a scale that is both economically viable and impactful for climate and nature. By learning from each other, aligning with ASEAN priorities and guidelines, and scaling up Nature-Based Solutions and sustainable forest governance and professionalism, we can accelerate our collective impact. Our ecosystems are connected, and so are our challenges – only through coordinated action can we deliver real solutions for both people and nature,” added Bampton.
In August 2025, at the ASEAN Senior Officials on Forestry 23rd International Seminar in Luang Prabang, James Bampton also introduced the idea of developing an ASEAN NbS/Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) Platform, aimed at bringing economies of scale, strengthened regional collaboration, knowledge exchange, and investment in forest restoration and NbS through ASEAN institutional leverage.
Throughout the meeting in Laos, participants – including representatives from WWF-Sweden – discussed shared priorities for the coming years, including strengthening forest landscape governance, improving monitoring systems, scaling up community-led forest protection, management, and restoration, advancing responsible value chains, and enhancing cross-border cooperation. Teams explored a variety of frameworks, tools, and geospatial analysis to support evidence-based decision-making.
Given that we are reaching the halfway point of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, participants emphasized the need to mobilize greater investment for long-term restoration. Discussions also explored opportunities to access emerging financing mechanisms, including private-sector partnerships, climate finance, and the newly launched Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF) – the world’s largest proposed forest financing mechanism, introduced at COP30 to support large-scale forest protection and restoration.
Discussion on the role of food systems in driving forest loss was also on the agenda – led by WWF-Asia Pacific Food and Sustainable Agriculture Lead, reflecting global evidence that food production contributes to up to 80% of global deforestation and is a major driver of biodiversity loss. The meeting underscored how integrating sustainable agriculture with forest conservation can reduce pressures on forests while supporting community livelihoods and enhancing biodiversity in production landscapes – a growing priority across the Mekong region.
Each country team – and the region collectively – reflected on how their forest priorities align with WWF’s Global Roadmap 2030 and national commitments under the GBF. Discussions focused on contributions to Target 2 (restoring 30% of degraded ecosystems), Target 4 (preventing species extinctions), Target 8 (climate adaptation and nature-based solutions), and Target 10 (sustainable agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries, and forestry). These linkages highlight how forest conservation delivers multiple benefits – from safeguarding biodiversity and supporting species recovery to strengthening climate resilience and improving community well-being.
In Laos, alongside forest restoration and protected area management, WWF and partners have recently made progress on Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measures (OECMs). National-level dialogues and southern provincial consultations, including in Champasak, have helped identify potential community forests, wetlands, and culturally significant areas that could be registered as OECMs if they meet the criteria to effectively complement formal protected areas and support Laos’s long-term biodiversity and climate ambitions, including the national goal of achieving 70% forest cover.
“Hosting this regional meeting in Laos not only strengthens our national team’s work through shared regional experience and support, but also reinforces our commitment to national forest priorities and to contributing actively to regional collaboration,” said Kongkeo Sivilay, WWF-Laos’ Forest Programme Manager. “The lessons shared by our neighbours help strengthen the work we do here – from restoring degraded forests to engaging communities and improving forest governance. Laos is making strong progress, but lasting impact can only happen when we learn together and act together as a region.”
The meeting concluded with a reaffirmed commitment from all six Mekong countries to work together toward shared 2030 goals, guided by common frameworks and approaches. By aligning site-level interventions with landscape objectives, national targets, regional action, ASEAN priorities, and global commitments, WWF and its partners aim to build resilient forest landscapes that support biodiversity, climate stability, and the well-being of communities who depend on forests for their livelihoods.
