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Cross-Sectoral Exchange For Improved Management Of Natural Resources In Rwanda
The Cross-Sector Taskforce (CSTF) was established in 2015 to coordinate Rwanda’s response to the Bonn Challenge and enhance Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) efforts. Comprising 35 member organizations, including government bodies, NGOs, private sector actors, and research institutions, the CSTF fosters collaboration, shares technical knowledge, and harmonizes FLR monitoring systems. It provides a platform for addressing deforestation, land degradation, and biodiversity loss while aligning restoration efforts with national and international strategies like the Green Growth and Climate Resilience Strategy (GGCRS), AFR100, and the Paris Agreement. Recent meetings have focused on integrating FLR with sustainable food systems, improving monitoring tools, and incentivizing local farmers. By facilitating knowledge exchange and improving governance, the CSTF enhances restoration efforts and strengthens Rwanda’s ability to meet its target of restoring 2 million hectares of land by 2030.
First Payment for Environmental Services Scheme in Cuba: Promoting carbon removal through sustainable forest management
Cuba’s geological evolution, climate, and insular geography led to highly diverse ecosystems with various endemic species. Nonetheless, declining forest cover and climate change hazards have threatened the country’s rich biodiversity. Moreover, CO2 emissions accelerate the impacts of climate change on ecosystems, in addition to harming human well-being.
To address these challenges, the Cuban government, with support from the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN) of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ecovalor project, established a payment for environmental services scheme that rewards carbon removal through sustainable forest management.
By March 2025, the scheme disbursed USD 238,000 (CUP 5,709,066) in payment for environmental services, associated with the removal of 999,473 tons of carbon across 12,646 hectares of forest. This initiative contributes to climate mitigation, ecosystem conservation, and the responsible use of natural resources in Cuba.
Environmentally Sensitive Areas: A Story of Conservation, Development and Resilience
Sri Lanka, though small in size, is part of a global Biodiversity Hotspot due to its rich biodiversity and increasing threats from habitat encroachment, unsustainable resource use, pollution, and invasive species. While 28% of the country is covered by Protected Areas (PAs), many critical ecosystems exist outside these zones. Recognizing this, the Ministry of Environment and UNDP, with funding from the GEF, implemented a co-management approach in Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESAs) landscapes with high biodiversity and ecosystem service value outside formal PAs. The approach engaged public and private sectors, along with local communities, to conserve biodiversity while sustaining the ecological and socio-economic benefits essential to surrounding populations. It promoted inclusive and sustainable management practices, balancing conservation with responsible resource use, and enabling collaborative agreements between communities and the government. This approach is vital to safeguard Sri Lanka’s unique biodiversity.
Empowering Children as Community Conservation and Climate Action Champions in Cameroon
Cameroon’s ecosystems face threats from deforestation, species loss, habitat degradation and climate change. Children and youth, among the most affected, are rarely included in conservation and climate initiatives. Voice of Nature (VoNat) empowers children aged 10–18 across four regions to become community conservation and climate action champions. The program integrates environmental education, storytelling, citizen science, and traditional knowledge, enabling children to conduct ecological studies, monitor biodiversity, document climate impacts, and lead awareness campaigns using arts, media, and community outreach. Over 10,000 children have been trained, fostering community-wide behavioral change, reviving traditional storytelling, strengthening partnerships with schools, families, and local leaders, and reducing destructive practices such as bush burning, hunting, deforestation, and waste dumping. This participatory approach transforms youth into active conservationists and climate leaders while promoting sustainability.
Co-producing an integrated landscape and seascape approach in the Indigenous Amis Makotaay Gangkou Village, Hualien County, Taiwan
As the government agency responsible for conserving Taiwan’s terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity, our Branch has long collaborated with the Indigenous Amis Makotaay (Gangkou) Village in Hualien County, beginning with terraced landscape restoration in 2009 and biodiversity monitoring in 2016. Building on this foundation, in 2021 we partnered with National Dong Hwa University to conduct community-based resilience assessment workshops, aiming to gain a comprehensive understanding of sustainability challenges facing the Gangkou landscape–seascape. These workshops identified 43 priority issues requiring urgent action. In March 2022, we co-established the Gangkou Forest-River-Village-Ocean Initiative (Gangkou ILSA), along with its cross-sector, multi-stakeholder platform and action plan. Since then, the Initiative has advanced ocean-friendly farming, restored coastal wetlands, strengthened community-based ocean and forest patrols, documented Amis knowledge and culture, and developed innovative youth-led eco-tourism.
Embedding Integrated Water Resources Management in Rwanda’s Sebeya Catchment
The Sebeya catchment in Western Rwanda, once prone to recurrent flooding, erosion, and landslides, was transformed through the “Embedding Integrated Water Resources Management in Rwanda (EWMR)” project. Led by Rwanda Water Resources Board and partners, the project applied Nature-based Solutions (NbS) to restore 7,700 hectares using terraces, trenches, riverbank protections, and afforestation. The approach combined land rehabilitation with innovative financing, value chains, and inclusive planning. Over 35,000 green jobs were created, alongside improved soil health, aquifer recharge, agricultural productivity, and livelihoods. By integrating community-driven land use planning into district-level governance, the project laid the foundation for long-term resilience and scalability.
Jabal Shada Protected Area – Where Nature and Communities Thrive Together
Jabal Shada is an isolated twin-mountain granite massif with spectacular scenery characterized by jagged spires, pinnacles, and traditional agricultural terraces. Located in the Al-Baha region in southwestern Saudi Arabia, it supports exceptionally rich floral diversity (nearly 493 recorded plant species) and traditionally important highland crops notably Shadawi coffee. The mountain is both an ecologically isolated element and a cultural landscape. It was declared as a protected area in year 2002 to secure unique biodiversity while supporting local livelihoods and providing nature-based tourism opportunities. Recent management planning emphasizes biodiversity monitoring, community partnerships (including agricultural support and farm-experience tourism), and identification of hiking/ecotourism trails to deliver conservation and socio-economic benefits.
The Green Project Model: Regreening Rwanda Bugesera for People and Nature
The Green Project in Gashora Sector, Bugesera District, Eastern Rwanda, transformed the country’s driest agro-ecological zone through regenerative, farmer-led land restoration. Facing severe land degradation, poor soil fertility, and widespread poverty, the project implemented agroforestry-based conservation agriculture using shrub-tree hedgerows, rotation cropping, and organic mulching. Designed as a low-cost, inclusive and replicable model, the project improved soil health, enhanced biodiversity, increased yields, and diversified household incomes. Starting with just six farmers, it now engages over 1,000. The intervention shows how Nature-based Solutions (NbS) tailored to local conditions can reverse degradation, boost resilience, and uplift rural livelihoods.
Unite for Nature on the path to 2045
Unite for Nature on the Path to 2045: A 20-Year Strategic Vision for the Union articulates IUCN’s commitment to “a just world that values and conserves nature” and establishes a clear direction for the next two decades. It guides collective efforts to safeguard biodiversity, inspire societal engagement, and drive transformative change toward a sustainable future.
Unite for Nature on the path to 2045
Unite for Nature on the Path to 2045: A 20-Year Strategic Vision for the Union articulates IUCN’s commitment to “a just world that values and conserves nature” and establishes a clear direction for the next two decades. It guides collective efforts to safeguard biodiversity, inspire societal engagement, and drive transformative change toward a sustainable future.
Unite for Nature on the path to 2045
Unite for Nature on the Path to 2045: A 20-Year Strategic Vision for the Union articulates IUCN’s commitment to “a just world that values and conserves nature” and establishes a clear direction for the next two decades. It guides collective efforts to safeguard biodiversity, inspire societal engagement, and drive transformative change toward a sustainable future.
Unidos por la naturaleza en el camino hacia 2045
«Unidos por la naturaleza en el camino hacia 2045: una visión estratégica de 20 años para la Unión» articula el compromiso de la UICN con «un mundo justo que valora y conserva la naturaleza» y establece una dirección clara para las próximas dos décadas. Orienta los esfuerzos colectivos para salvaguardar la biodiversidad, inspirar el compromiso social e impulsar un cambio transformador hacia un futuro sostenible.