Over the past decade (2015–2025), Consultant on Development (CODE) and Social Policy Ecology Research Institute (SPERI) have focused on developing watershed-based forest co-governance models grounded in legally recognised community rights and endogenous capacity.

These efforts have centered on securing legal recognition of community-managed forest territories, including boundaries, customary laws and belief systems associated with sacred forests, watershed protection forests and livelihood forests. 14 These governance systems are embedded in traditional ecological knowledge and community-specific practices that reflect long-standing relationships between local ethnic communities and their ecosystems.

Watershed-based co-governance models that align carbon management with landscape-level ecological and institutional processes, enables coordination across actors and improving system integration. These discussions inform the design of carbon systems that connect community-based governance with national frameworks and market mechanisms. This model organizes coordination the active participation of five stakeholders: forest owners, carbon emitters, an independent arbitrator, government authority and government media.

This includes defining roles, responsibilities and decision-making structures, enabling multi-level coordination and linking ecological processes with institutional arrangements to support consistent and scalable system implementation.