Cameroon, home to nearly 20 million hectares of forest, is increasingly affected by forest and land degradation driven by bushfires, uncontrolled grazing, and unsustainable agricultural practices. To address these challenges, the global project Forests4Future, implemented by GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit) in partnership with local councils and MINEPDED (Ministry of Environment, Nature Protection and Sustainable Development), introduced Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR) in the Yoko and Nanga-Eboko landscapes. ANR is a low-cost, nature-based restoration approach that supports the natural recovery of degraded ecosystems through targeted human interventions rather than tree planting. The approach combines community sensitization, participatory site identification and mapping, site protection, and collaborative management agreements with local communities.
Lesotho is a small, landlocked mountain kingdom entirely surrounded by South Africa. More than 80% of its land lies above 1,800 metres, making it the ‘Water Tower’ of Southern Africa and a vital source of freshwater for the region. Despite this, Lesotho’s water resources are under threat from soil erosion, overgrazing, and climate change. ReNOKA (“We are a river”) is Lesotho’s national programme and citizen movement for addressing these challenges and sustainably managing the country’s water and land resources. It supports local communities in restoring degraded catchments through a pioneering climate finance mechanism. The approach empowers community councils to implement their own nature-based solutions, including stone bunds, wetland fencing, and tree planting. These actions reduce erosion, improve water retention, and restored vegetation across degraded landscapes.
Embedded in national systems, ReNOKA connects policy, people, and finance — securing Lesotho’s water and land resources for future generations.
Cette note d’information a pour objet d’aider les pays à reconnaître et à soutenir les territoires et les aires du patrimoine conservés par les peuples autochtones et les communautés locales (APAC), en restant sensibles et respectueux des nombreuses questions en cause. Elle contient des éléments de base sur les APAC ainsi qu’un condensé de leçons apprises, et des recommandations pour les gouvernements qui mettent en oeuvre le Programme de travail de la CDB sur les Aires protégées (PoWPA).
Se espera que la presente Nota Informativa los oriente de manera sensible y respetuosa teniendo en cuento los muchos temas involucrados. Contiene hechos fundamentales acerca de las ICCA, sintetiza lecciones aprendidas, y ofrece recomendaciones para los gobiernos qui implementan el Programa de Trabajo sobre Áreas Protegidas del CDB (PoWPA). La Nota ofrece también consejos sintéticos sobre qué hacer y qué no hacer dirigidos a los gobiernos y la sociedad civil qui están comprometarget_idos en mantener los immensos beneficios de las ICCA en términos de conservación y sustento a los medios de vida.
Yaghnob National Nature Park was established in a remote mountainous region home to the Yaghnobi people, a community with ancestral ties to the area. The park creation shifted local land governance. Previously, pasture use was shaped by traditional ownership rights, long-term arrangements, and locally negotiated community practices.
Subsequently, park authorities control and allocate grazing areas through rentals, upending access for local, outside, and transiting herders. These changes fuel friction over access, trust, and decision-making. Community members are concerned grazing allocations lack environmental assessments or equitable access, while park staff must implement ambitious management plans in difficult terrain with limited experience.
In response, TNF supports a community-led advisory board. This voluntary, collaborative body connects locals, pastoralists, park staff, government authorities, and scientists to improve communication, strengthen coordination, resolve conflicts, and share conservation responsibilities.
In Ethiopia’s Rift Valley, Lake Hawassa faces accelerating degradation from deforestation, pollution, erosion and rapid urbanisation – pressures no single actor can address alone. This solution establishes an inclusive multi-stakeholder partnership uniting public authorities, private companies and civil society to protect the lake through coordinated catchment stewardship.
Guided by the Natural Resources Risk and Action Framework (NRAF) developed between 2015 and 2020, partners jointly assessed risks, planned actions and implemented nature-based solutions (NbS).
Key building blocks included:
The partnership is now fully government-managed, and the approach upscaled to federal guidelines for restoring, rehabilitating and protecting surface water bodies all over the country.
In Uruguay, against a backdrop of the loss of habitat critical to biodiversity, the degradation of vulnerable ecosystems and soils due to the intensification and expansion of livestock and agricultural activities, poor grassland management practices, and pollution of water bodies and wetlands, the project aimed to implement actions to strengthen systemic, financial, and institutional capacities for biodiversity conservation and sustainable land management, thereby improving the effectiveness and sustainability of the management of protected areas, associated productive lands, and human well-being. This was achieved through: the establishment of a regulatory, financial, and institutional framework for biodiversity conservation and land degradation neutrality; Implementation of biodiversity and land conservation measures at pilot sites; and Knowledge management, monitoring and evaluation, and learning, to promote dialogue between public and private stakeholders.
In Seychelles, increasing developmental pressures are degrading land, forests and soils leading to a loss of ecosystem services carbon sequestration and the ability to combat climate change. In an effort to reverse these pressures and restore degraded land, the project: ‘A Ridge to Reef Approach for the Integrated Management of Marine, Coastal and Terrestrial Ecosystems’ (Ridge to Reef) has been working with farmers to improve their sustainable land management practices.
Funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented in partnership with UNDP, the ‘Ridge to Reef’ approach is an integrated management strategy for marine, coastal, and terrestrial ecosystems, focusing on the connection between land and sea to address environmental degradation.
In particular, the project has been working directly with farmers to improve their sustainable land management practices (SLM). Through direct farmer assistance these farmers have begun to shift their practices to improve ecosystem health and resiliency.
The Agave Restoration Initiative, led by Bat Conservation International, is the world’s first landscape-scale foraging habitat restoration effort for migratory bats.
To offset agave loss and fragmentation across Mexico and the U.S. Southwest, the initiative is creating a climate-resilient, bi-national agave corridor that supports recovery of three pollinating bats, including the endangered Greater (Mexican) long-nosed bat, and rural livelihoods. The initiative unites 100+ partners (communities, Tribes, private landowners, NGOs, government agencies, researchers, and companies) across 14 states.
We envision a connected, community-based agave corridor where thriving bat populations and resilient communities and rural economies reinforce each other. Our goal is to plant 500,000+ agaves and protect, restore, or sustainably manage 300,000+ hectares.
By coordinating across a migratory corridor, the initiative is pioneering a model to transform how we restore keystone plants and corridors for migratory species globally.
LIFE TERRACESCAPE is an innovative approach to restoring traditional terraced landscapes in Mediterranean regions, using them as nature-based solutions for climate adaptation. The project addresses the degradation and abandonment of terraces, which leads to soil erosion, biodiversity loss and increased vulnerability to extreme weather events.
The solution combines physical restoration of dry-stone terraces with sustainable land management practices, strengthening their function as green infrastructure that regulates water flows, prevents erosion and supports biodiversity.
By integrating local knowledge, community engagement and technical expertise, the model enhances landscape resilience while supporting rural livelihoods. It demonstrates how restoring cultural landscapes can deliver environmental, social and economic benefits, and offers a replicable approach for climate adaptation across Mediterranean mountainous and island regions.
LIFE Olivares Vivos is an innovative agri-environmental model that integrates biodiversity conservation into olive grove management in the Mediterranean. Developed under the EU LIFE programme, it addresses biodiversity loss driven by intensive agricultural practices by promoting restoration measures within productive landscapes.
The solution combines habitat restoration, scientific biodiversity monitoring and a certification scheme that rewards farmers for measurable biodiversity gains. Through tailored farm advisory support, olive producers adopt practices such as vegetation cover recovery, habitat creation and reduced chemical inputs.
The model generates both environmental and economic benefits by improving ecosystem health while enhancing the market value of olive oil through biodiversity-based branding. It has demonstrated measurable increases in species richness and ecosystem functions, and offers a highly replicable approach for sustainable agriculture across Mediterranean regions.
The GEF7 project has developed an integrated model for sustainable management that combines the accelerated formalization of community forests, participatory CLIP mapping (Free, Informed, and Prior Consent), the strengthening of local governance, and the participatory structuring of value chains for non-timber forest products (NTFPs), fisheries, and ecotourism. This approach has helped improve territorial governance, diversify livelihoods, reduce pressure on natural resources, and prepare several community forests for FSC pre-certification.
As the document highlights: “ The GEF7 project has established an integrated model of local economic development based on the accelerated formalization of community forests across a 91,779 km² forest landscape, with a direct impact on 30,000 people and 336,219 indirect beneficiaries…”.
CLIP is a right and a process that ensures that communities affected by a project: (i) are consulted freely, without pressure or manipulation; (ii) are informed
