Center for International Forestry Research

What Center for International Forestry Research does

CIFOR (Center for International Forestry Research) is an international non-profit research organization founded in 1993 and headquartered in Bogor Barat, Indonesia. It operates as a CGIAR Research Center alongside the International Centre for Research on Agroforestry (ICRAF), with the two entities having officially merged operations in 2022 under the unified operating name "Landscape Alliance." The organization's core function is generating open-access scientific evidence on forestry, agroforestry, climate change, biodiversity, landscape restoration, land rights, and sustainable land use, and translating that evidence into policy guidance for governments and development programs across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe.

Its product portfolio is structured as a multi-platform knowledge dissemination system rather than a commercial product stack. Key offerings include the Publications Repository (over 750 open-access titles annually in multiple languages), Forests News, Agroforestry World News, ThinkLandscape, the Global Landscapes Forum event and campaign platform, a public Datasets repository, a Video Library, and the Restoration Stewards community program. The underlying platform is essentially an open-access digital knowledge hub distributing publications, datasets, videos, podcasts, and presentations without paywalls. Distribution is reinforced through a 25-country office network with regional hubs in Bonn (Europe/GLF), Nairobi (Africa), and Colombo (Asia), plus country offices in 22 additional markets.

The business model is non-commercial and grant-funded. Revenue flows from institutional research funding through the CGIAR system, sourced from governments, foundations, and development agencies worldwide, and is classified as recurring subscription-like institutional funding. Content and data are distributed free of charge, and pricing is not disclosed because there are no paid tiers. Primary "customers" are governments and policymakers, researchers and academics, rural communities and farmers, NGOs and development organizations, and indigenous communities — none of whom are billed in a conventional commercial sense.

Name

Center for International Forestry Research

Legal name

Center for International Forestry Research

Website

https://cifor.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

CIFOR is a non-profit CGIAR Research Center that, merged with ICRAF under the Landscape Alliance brand, produces open-access forestry and agroforestry research and operates the Global Landscapes Forum across 25 countries for governments, researchers, NGOs, and rural communities.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Bogor Barat

HQ country

Indonesia

HQ region

Asia

Offices24 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Institutional Research Funding: As a CGIAR Research Center, CIFOR and ICRAF (operating as Landscape Alliance) receive institutional funding through the CGIAR system for agricultural and forestry research programs addressing climate change, biodiversity, food systems, and livelihoods.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

CIFOR conducts scientific research on forestry, agroforestry, climate change, biodiversity, food systems, and livelihoods, and disseminates findings through an open-access knowledge platform. The organization operates news outlets, a publications repository with over 750 titles annually, datasets, video and podcast libraries, and the Global Landscapes Forum event platform, alongside a Restoration Stewards community program across 25 countries.

Product overview

Landscape Alliance is the operating name of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the International Centre for Research on Agroforestry (ICRAF), functioning as a multi-platform knowledge organization. The portfolio consists of news platforms (Forests News, Agroforestry World News, ThinkLandscape), the Global Landscapes Forum for events and campaigns, a publications repository with over 750 annual titles, a datasets repository, a video library, and the Restoration Stewards community program. These products collectively advance planetary health and human well-being through research dissemination, community building, and landscape restoration initiatives.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Forests News: News platform covering forestry research and updates.
• Global Landscapes Forum

Products and services

• Forests News An online news platform publishing stories about forests, climate change, and landscape restoration research for global audiences.
• Agroforestry World News A curated news channel focused on agroforestry developments, innovations, and research worldwide.
• Global Landscapes Forum A global platform hosting forums, campaigns, and events focused on landscape restoration and environmental action, engaging millions of stakeholders worldwide.
• ThinkLandscape A collaborative news platform covering landscape restoration and environmental governance topics.
• Publications Repository An open-access repository housing over 750 research publications annually across multiple languages, covering agroforestry, climate change, biodiversity, restoration, and policy.
• Datasets A collection of research datasets available for public access supporting forestry and agroforestry research and reproducible science.
• Landscape Alliance Video Library A library of videos covering climate action, regeneration, agroforestry, and landscape restoration topics.
• Restoration Stewards Program A grassroots restoration community initiative enabling participants to join restoration efforts globally through GLF chapters.

Quantifiable outcome

• Active in 25 countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Europe
• +1 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• African Governments and Research InstitutionscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 June 2026Scientists call for stronger investment in Africa-led research to secure Central African forests, engaging national governments and regional research institutions across the continent.
• CGIARcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCIFOR and ICRAF are independent International Organizations and CGIAR Research Centers, part of the global CGIAR agricultural research system addressing food security, climate change, and environmental sustainability through collaborative research programs.
• CIMMYTcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partnership with International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, posting job openings for research positions and joint programs in crop science, remote sensing, and agricultural research.
• ICRISATcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics for research technician positions and collaborative agricultural research programs.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Rainforest Alliance: Rainforest Alliance is a global NGO operating certification, sustainable-landscape programs, and convening initiatives across tropical forestry regions — overlapping CIFOR-ICRAF's value-chain, livelihoods, and sustainable-land-use focus areas.
• World Wildlife Fund: WWF is a large international conservation NGO operating in forest-rich tropical regions with field offices, advocacy, restoration programs, and policy influence — overlapping CIFOR's geographic footprint and forest-conservation mission, though WWF is more campaign- and fundraising-driven.
• Conservation International: Conservation International is a global conservation NGO working on forests, biodiversity, and climate policy across tropical regions, with research outputs and field programs that overlap CIFOR's portfolio on REDD+, restoration, and biodiversity hotspots.
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: FAO is the UN specialized agency leading global efforts on forestry, food security, and sustainable agriculture, producing flagship reports like the State of the World's Forests and convening member states — a direct institutional peer to CIFOR-ICRAF's mission and outputs.
• World Resources Institute: WRI is a major global research organization producing open-access data, policy analysis, and convening platforms (e.g., Global Forest Watch) on forests, climate, and sustainable development — directly comparable to CIFOR-ICRAF's research-and-policy mission and convening model.
• International Union for Conservation of Nature: IUCN is the global authority on species and ecosystem conservation, producing the IUCN Red List and convening governments on biodiversity and forest policy — a comparable research-and-policy organization with similar international-institution status to CGIAR centers.
• The Nature Conservancy: TNC is a large environmental NGO with significant forestry, restoration, and climate programs operating globally, combining science, policy, and on-the-ground implementation — closely aligned with CIFOR-ICRAF's evidence-to-policy-to-implementation model.

Direct peers

• CATIE (Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza): CATIE is a regional agricultural research and higher-education center focused on tropical agriculture, agroforestry, and natural resources in Latin America — a direct peer to ICRAF's agroforestry research mission and CIFOR's landscape-restoration work in the region.
• UNEP-WCMC: UNEP-WCMC is the UN Environment Programme's biodiversity and nature-data center, producing global datasets, policy analysis, and indicator frameworks on forests and ecosystems — a direct peer to CIFOR-ICRAF's open-access data and policy function.
• International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis: IIASA is an independent international research institute producing modeling, data, and policy analysis on land use, forests, and climate — comparable to CIFOR-ICRAF's research-publication and policy-engagement model in scope and methodological rigor.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CIFOR
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@CIFORICRAF
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/landscape-alliance
• Facebookfacebook.com/cifor

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Center for International Forestry Research