Triple Level Digital Monitoring (3LDM) – Remote sensing and IT solutions for monitoring Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR)

The GIZ’s Forests4Future (F4F) project champions Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) and governance in countries like Ethiopia, Madagascar, and Togo. Current FLR monitoring systems face issues of accuracy and completeness. To address this, F4F initiated the development of a reliable monitoring system and piloting a standard operating procedure. Leveraging expertise from external geospatial data firms, F4F introduced the Triple Level Digital Monitoring System (3LDM). This system refines monitoring, integrating threee levels of data:

1. Field-based data

2. Drone-based data

3. Satellite data

The 3LDM approach tracks hectares restored, above ground tree biomass, and tree diversity on selected FLR sites

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Emergency action to address COVID-19 related threats to the survival of mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP).

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Helping Endangered Cape vultures at Tswapong Hills, Eastern Botswana

Cape vultures are vulnerable and endemic to southern Africa, and their breeding in eastern Botswana are surrounded by agricultural lands. We discovered that at least 15% of the chicks were born with deformed bones, a sign of calcium deficiency, which make them fail to fly. After thorough consultation with stakeholders, we initiated a project to provide over 500kg of bone fragments as calcium supplement to the vultures during the breeding season (May-November 2019). This project is part of the IUCN Save Our Species (https://iucnsos.org/initiative/sos-african-wildlife/), co-funded by the European Union. Bones are rich in calcium and therefore help in the skeletal development and growth. Mothers eat bones and feed chicks in the nests. The number of chicks with bone deformities decreasing by 58% in the first year of intervention, less than 5% of chicks reported with bone deformities thereafter. We have seen a successful uptake of the project by the local community and this project is still running with little input from us.

Fostering Community Stewardship of Nature: Balancing Community Livelihoods and Biodiversity Conservation in Chimanimani KBA, Zimbabwe

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Agroforestry for Sustainable Livelihoods and Community Transformation (STAY Trees)

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Beyond Boundaries: Kamungi Conservancy's Wildlife-Friendly 10% Fence Plan Approach

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Restoring Wildlife Populations in Uruq Bani Maarid: A Successful Reintroduction program

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Mozambique faces substantial challenges in balancing development and environmental conservation. To protect biodiversity and address climate change, the country has adopted the ambitious 30×30 goals, safeguarding 30% of its terrestrial and marine ecosystems by 2030. This requires overcoming obstacles like fragmented development efforts, limited coordination, and insufficient data. In response, Mozambique’s Government, supported by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), has launched a campaign to raise awareness and build consensus. This collaboration has produced a forward-looking framework within the National Territorial Development Plan (PNDT 2020-2040), which aims for a “prosperous, competitive, sustainable, safe, and inclusive” country. The PNDT integrates key data on population, climate, and socio-economic factors, emphasising the need for accurate, real-time data for sustainable development. Pilot projects in two areas have proven innovative strategies and offer best practices for wider application.

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