Forests, People, Planet: Agenda

From Indonesian mountains to Nigerian wetlands and the forests of Uganda and the Philippines, meet passionate young actors breathing life back into our landscapes. In this curated video showcase, we follow the journeys of Restoration Stewards and GLFx chapters from across the globe – Javie, Trisa, Anna, Joel and Imran – as they share powerful stories of restoration, resilience and rooted community action.Each video offers a window into their unique ecosystems and the tireless work being done, from reforesting degraded lands and safeguarding wetlands to upskilling Indigenous youth and mobilizing local communities. These young leaders aren’t just restoring nature: they’re restoring hope.

Join us for the opening plenary as we reflect on progress toward the 2030 goals at this critical halfway point. Together, we will explore how locally-led participatory solutions are essential for achieving lasting environmental impact. Discover how these living laboratories balance trade-offs and generate transformative change. We will highlight 30 years of IMFN knowledge and innovation and other integrated forest management initiatives. This plenary will frame the day’s discussions around creating the conditions to scale up and establish participatory landscape governance for climate, biodiversity and land.

Integrated landscape approaches offer a promising framework to balance competing land use objectives – production, conservation and local livelihoods – in increasingly multifunctional rural and peri-urban landscapes. Yet despite growing evidence, these solutions have yet to be widely implemented.
This session will explore real-world examples, discuss challenges and identify actionable solutions, moving beyond general calls for action and focusing on concrete strategies to implement, monitor and incentivize collaboration. Together, we aim to bridge the gap between theory and practice to advance sustainable land management and deliver on global environmental and development goals.

This session offers a unique opportunity to meet and connect with people from all over the world working towards a sustainable future. During this networking session, you will be randomly matched with other participants and have the chance to chat for a few minutes. After that, the platform will automatically assign you another participant so you can start another interesting conversation. Always make sure to briefly introduce yourself and start by explaining why you’re interested in the conference themes and how they relate to your work.

Join forest and landscape actors in discovering insights and lessons learned from the ground up. These three 30-minute moderated conversations will explore pressing issues like climate-related forest risks, intergenerational leadership and policymaking. Each dialogue will bring together practitioners and researchers working collaboratively or on similar themes, offering real-world perspectives on forest resilience. You’ll have the opportunity to take part in interactive polls to pitch your own bold ideas and emerging solutions. Together, let’s harness the collective intelligence of the Model Forest community and inspire action across landscapes and generations.

From the grassroots to the global stage, Landscape Talks will spotlight bold ideas and breakthrough solutions in forest stewardship. These dynamic talks feature fresh perspectives, showcasing how communities around the world are leading the way. Designed to inspire action and connection, each talk will bridge local circumstances with global ambitions for a more just, resilient and sustainable future.

This closing plenary will wrap up a full day of insightful discussions by addressing a key question: how can landscape approaches become the norm rather than the exception? This is the time to connect vision with action.
Discover practical ways to establish inclusive, participatory landscape governance through policy alignment, integrated financing and stronger local leadership. Explore major avenues for change and what’s needed to embed stewardship into our political, social and economic systems.

The New Vision for Earth Film Festival returns for its fifth edition – and this year, it starts in the forests. From the heart of the IMFN Global Forum and Forests, People, Planet, this special lineup brings powerful stories from the ground. Meet forest keepers and people sharing knowledge across generations.
Real forests. Real people. Real stories. Join the 90-minute screening, followed by a live conversation about community mobilization through cinema and explore how these stories connect us all – beyond the screen.
All films are available in English, French and Spanish.