Treelings is a tree registration system that empowers individuals and organizations to plant trees and track their environmental impact — supporting nature-based carbon removal projects.
During the following 2 years of enlisting, the trees undergo regular monitoring through the use of drones, satellite images, and AI models to ensure their successful growth in the harsh climate of Mongolia. The process entails counting the number of trees, assessing the biomass, calculating carbon sequestration and checking their overall health with our algorithms. This information then gets recorded on blockchain and stays visible to their owners on the app and the website during their growth.
Since launching our MVP in 2022, our application has been downloaded 10000+ times and we are currently monitoring 89 thousand trees of 6 forestation projects on our platform. On top of developing a digital solution, we also directly overlook the plantation of 30,000 trees in a 20 hectares of area affected by desertification.
The Bogda Component of Xinjiang Tianshan World Natural Heritage Site exemplifies representative geomorphological features and ecosystems of Xinjiang Tianshan. As a quintessential arid landscape in Eurasia’s hinterland, it showcases remarkably distinct and complete vertical zonation of mountain natural landscapes within minimal distances. This includes: snow-capped peaks and glaciers, pristine forests and meadows, crystal-clear rivers and lakes, expansive deserts. It achieves a remarkable convergence of stark contrasts: heat and cold, aridity and humidity, desolation and beauty, grandeur and delicacy. To realize win-win protection and development, the site is steadily advancing its smart conservation management platform, providing foundational support for sustainable development.
In Côte d’Ivoire, most local communities are barely involved in the valorisation of genetic resources like medicinal plants – beyond providing them as raw or minimally processed material. They are unaware of what happens to these resources beyond local markets.
This is compounded by deep-rooted mistrust, which can lead to community representatives not attending meetings. Thus, their resources are often used without their participation or them benefitting.
Improving the inclusion of local communities in valorisation has been a key pillar of the ABS Capacity Development Initiative. New approaches have led to promising results. In northeastern Côte d’Ivoire, the ABS Initiative piloted a model and successful integrated communities into the value chain for traditional medicine. The approach included engaging traditional and administrative authorities at every level, actively involving village residents, and using tools like picture cards and role-playing games, all while supporting the organisation of traditional healers.
The situation is not new: a ministry is assigned responsibility for a socio-political issue but lacks the assertiveness, resources, or political backing to advance it effectively. More powerful ministries – such as those for economics, finance, or trade – often perceive the topic as marginal and economically insignificant, leading to disengagement. The responsible ministry frequently fails to recognise the broader socio-political relevance or how to engage more influential stakeholders to mainstream the topic and its implementation.
The approach to mainstreaming Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) taken by the ABS Capacity Development Initiative (ABS Initiative) highlights solutions to overcome these challenges but also reveals their limitations. Mainstreaming can be seen as a process whereby ABS is systematically integrated into existing or future structures, laws, strategies, plans, policies and programmes of other ministries and stakeholders. However, the methods used to implement mainstreaming are of crucial importance.
Other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) are sites outside protected areas that deliver effective and long-term in situ conservation of biodiversity. Biodiversity conservation may be the primary objective of the site, a secondary objective of a site that is managed for other purposes, or it may be an unintended consequence of the way the site is managed. OECMs may be governed and managed by governments, private entities or Indigenous peoples and local communities, or a combination of these. This tool guides an assessor through three steps to apply eight criteria which determine if a site qualifies as an OECM as set out under the Convention on Biological Diversity. For sites which do not currently meet all the criteria, the tool serves to highlight areas where further information or improvements in governance and management are required.
The Global Species Action Plan (GSAP) is a critical initiative developed to support the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), to address the increasing biodiversity loss worldwide. The GSAP outlines strategic interventions and actions to conserve and sustainably manage species while ensuring equitable benefits. Emphasizing the critical role of species in ecosystem stability, human livelihoods, and cultural heritage, the GSAP seeks to prevent extinctions, reduce threats, and ensure equitable benefits from species use. Implementation involves diverse stakeholders, including governments, Indigenous peoples and Local communities, NGOs, academia, and businesses, fostering cooperation at global, regional, and local levels. The GSAP underscores the collective responsibility to safeguard Earth’s rich biological heritage for future generations.
As the World Heritage Convention celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2022, over 1100 sites around the world are recognized as World Heritage – places that are so valuable to humanity that there conservation has been deemed our collective responsibility. Yet many of these exceptional places face increasing pressure from diverse types of development projects within and around the sites. Assessing the impacts of such projects is essential to both prevent damage to World Heritage and identify sustainable options. This Guidance and toolkit explains the process for achieving these goals. Offering practical tips and tools including checklists and a glossary, it provides a framework for conducting impact assessments for cultural and natural heritage sites.
Поскольку конфликты между человеком и дикой природой становятся все более частыми, серьезными и широко распространенными во всем мире, их решение, как известно, является сложной задачей, и многие усилия, направленные на решение этих конфликтов, с трудом достигают прогресса. Данное Руководство является важной инструкцией для понимания и разрешения конфликтов между человеком и дикой природой. Цель Руководства – заложить основы и принципы передовой практики с ясными практическими рекомендациями по оптимальному решению конфликтов и обеспечению сосуществования с дикой природой. Они были разработаны для использования специалистами-практиками по охране природы, лидерами сообществ, лицами, принимающими решения, исследователями, правительственными чиновниками и другими лицами. Сосредоточенные на подходах и инструментах для анализа и принятия решений, они не ограничиваются каким-либо конкретным видом или регионом мира.
NACOFA gathers community feedback on Forest and Landscape Restoration (FLR) and Natural Resource Management (NRM) challenges, such as degradation. It analyzes existing laws and policies to identify gaps and inconsistencies that hinder effective solutions. To empower its CFA members, NACOFA builds their capacity in policy advocacy, teaching them to influence policymakers, secure inclusion in consultative forums, and impact policy planning and implementation. Collaboration with government bodies like the Ministry of Environment, Kenya Forest Service, and County NRM departments addresses these gaps through policy reviews, amendments, and new regulations. NACOFA also formed coalitions with stakeholders to tackle policy issues. When governments are slow or resistant to change, NACOFA engages in horizontal advocacy by working within government oversight structures, such as Technical Working Groups and Forest Conservation Committees, to influence policy from within.
The “Strengthening Access to Solar Energy for the Bagyeli Indigenous Communities” project in South Cameroon addresses the Bagyeli’s climate change challenges, such as variable rainfall and temperature, which affect their livelihoods. These communities face poverty and vulnerability due to limited access to electricity, impacting education, health, and quality of life. This initiative aims to enhance their resilience by increasing solar energy access, building capacity in solar system maintenance, and raising climate change awareness. Beneficiaries include 500 people and 200 students, primarily women and youth. Expected outcomes include improved solar capacities in schools, enhanced youth skills, solar installations in community centers, and solar kits for 50 families, benefiting over 300 Bagyeli individuals.
The TREEO Technology – the first dMRV tool certified under the Global Tree C-Sink standard from Carbon Standards International – lets you prove your tree planting efforts to your stakeholders through forest inventory and even carbon sequestration calculations. The TREEO App works through image processing and machine learning models based on tree allometry, which allow for the calculation of biomass (thus the amount of carbon in a tree) by measuring the tree’s diameter at breast height (DBH). The App then calculates the CO2 sequestered by tree in a matter of seconds. When the trees are small (with a DBH less than 3 cm and less than 1.3 m in height), you can still report tree evidence for your inventory and survival rate estimations via the App. The TREEO App also collects other data such as GPS coordinates, GPS accuracy, and azimuth, as well as tree species. This information is uploaded and stored on the TREEO Cloud, our data management system where you can manage your project, teams, and data.
Mount Kenya, with its lush biodiversity and vital ecosystems, has been increasingly threatened by deforestation, habitat degradation, and the adverse effects of climate change. To combat these challenges, our project, funded by IKI small grants and implemented by Help Self Help Centre, focuses on the community-driven regeneration of native forests. This initiative is not just about planting trees; it’s about empowering local communities and ensuring environmental sustainability for generations to come.
Our solution begins with the heart of the issue: the people who live adjacent to the forest. These communities are directly impacted by the degradation of the environment and are pivotal to its restoration. We have trained over 1,300 members of Community Forest Associations (CFAs) in essential skills such as organizational management, leadership, and sustainable natural resource management. This comprehensive training equips them to actively participate in and lead conservation efforts.
