In support of the Government of Malawi’s National Forestry Landscape Restoration Strategy, and the Dedza District Council’s FLR Action Plan, the Department of Forestry (DoF), with support from Modern Cooking for Healthy Forests activity has engaged local communities using data (e.g., from the National FLR Assessment, the National Forest Inventory, and the Deforestation Assessment) to prioritize degradation hotspots in selected Forest Reserves and adjacent landscapes. The degradation hotspots are focal points for “restoration” interventions–including a number of hotspots in/around the Mua- Livulezi  Forest Reserve.

Ireland has ca. 1.46 Mha of peatlands. Today about 85% of all peatlands are degraded through conversion to agriculture and forestry, extraction and horticulture. The pilot site is part of a Natural Heritage Area. The site (33 ha) consists of drained high bog and cutover bog. It was impacted by 28,000 m of extensive ditching in the high bog and cutover as well as legacy effects of bog cutting. This scenario provided an opportunity for restoration works within NWE Interreg Care-Peat project. Restoration activities were successfully completed in October 2020. The existing drain network was blocked with earthen dams at a ratio of 1 dam for every 10 cm rise in elevation. It was completed by diggers and resulted in exposed areas of bare peat. It formed experimental areas for Sphagnum transfers. Monitoring of restoration success is ongoing with assessment of dam and bunding integrity. A total of 24 collars plots are sampled monthly. Overall the carbon stocks at the site are estimated at 42,074 Mg/ha.

In Guinea-Bissau, The Restoration Initiative (TRI) has been working to establish policies that enhance the restoration of the country’s three mangrove ecosystems. The project has used participatory territorial diagnoses to identify restoration opportunities in each of the three regions and worked to improve Guinea-Bissau’s regulatory framework for mangrove restoration. As the diagnoses work to build local capacity and define priorities for the development of natural resource laws, TRI has also focused on developing proposals for a National Mangrove Law and National Mangrove Restoration Strategy, which will fill gaps and strengthen institutions in the country’s legal, regulatory, and legislative landscape. To date, TRI’s work has resulted in a second, and likely final, draft of the National Mangrove Law, which regulates the sustainable management of the country’s mangrove ecosystems, as well as a newly drafted National Mangrove Strategy, which outlines how the law will be implemented.

TRI is a GEF-funded project

Mangroves are uniquely valuable coastal wetlands forming the natural transition zone between land and sea. They are preserving biodiversity, mitigating against climate change and sustaining livelihoods. However, they are globally degraded and are therefore a priority for ecosystem restoration.
Madagascar contains Africa’s fourth largest extent of mangroves with various species providing critical ecosystem goods and services to coastal communities and supporting rich biodiversity. Unfortunately, Madagascar’s mangroves are being rapidly degraded and, in some areas, completely deforested.
The Global Project Forests4Future (F4F), launched by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), uses a low-cost Community-Based and Assisted Natural Mangrove Restoration method in the Diana region (Madagascar) to restore degraded mangrove ecosystems. This technique allows tidal currents and seedling (propagule) establishment in more inland located and degraded mangrove ecosystems using excavated water channels.

The Grazing Horses of Assateague Island are an introduced species characterizing this Barrier island, which are typically long spits of land that play an important role in protecting coastlines from the worst wind and weather coming off the ocean. Assateague’s rich salt marsh ecosystem provides habitat for diverse wildlife, and on the dune side facing the open sea, native plants help resist erosion. The grazing of the horse herd was reducing the abundance of species; without sufficient grasses to stabilize the dunes, the island would be at risk of being washed away by the waves. Also, the patterns of the horses were altering plant and animal communities, allowing invasive plants to take hold and disrupting natural ecological processes and the nesting of many bird species. CPSG joined stakeholders, and after deliberation and competing goals for managing the island, the group agreed on a population target of 80-100 horses to protect the plant communities in addition to the herd’s genetic health.

The Grazing Horses of Assateague Island are an introduced species characterizing this Barrier island, which are typically long spits of land that play an important role in protecting coastlines from the worst wind and weather coming off the ocean. Assateague’s rich salt marsh ecosystem provides habitat for diverse wildlife, and on the dune side facing the open sea, native plants help resist erosion. The grazing of the horse herd was reducing the abundance of species; without sufficient grasses to stabilize the dunes, the island would be at risk of being washed away by the waves. Also, the patterns of the horses were altering plant and animal communities, allowing invasive plants to take hold and disrupting natural ecological processes and the nesting of many bird species. CPSG joined stakeholders, and after deliberation and competing goals for managing the island, the group agreed on a population target of 80-100 horses to protect the plant communities in addition to the herd’s genetic health.