National Mangrove Ecosystem Management Plan 2017-2027 provides for establishment of National and County Mangrove Management Committees to serve as advisory organ to inform Kenya Forest Service on the technical issues regarding mangrove management. The committees at national and in the five counties of Kwale, Mombasa, Kilifi, Tana River and Lamu, have been established and operationalized. Their membership comprise of technical experts for mangrove ecosystem relevant disciplines, including; Forestry, Fisheries, Wildlife, Water, Land, and Climate, and representatives of communities and Civil Society/Non-governmental organizations.

We identified an efficient technology that can be replicated by the local community members

The IOC requires that all Olympic Forest Network projects “be developed and implemented in collaboration with the relevant experts and authorities.” All six projects that are currently part of the Network not only take this requirement into account but establish it as a corner stone of their implementation.

For example, the Papua New Guinea project involves a partnership between the NOC, local communities, the National Fisheries Authority, and the Conservation and Environment Protection Authority. The Slovenian project is partnered with the Slovenian State Forestry Company; the Spanish with the Ministry of the Environment and the Federation of Spanish Municipalities; while the Portuguese project has the technical support of the governmental Institute for Nature and Forest Conservation (ICNF) and the Abramud e Sentido Verde association. 

Requiring partnerships between NOCs and environment experts ensures that projects running under the Olympic Forest Network are as relevant and effective as can be with regards to nature conservation. Partnering with local experts and organisations also ensures that the Network can have meaningful impact not only on the environment, but also on the local communities where projects are run. Moreover, it facilitates local interest in, and ownership of, environmental work. 

While following the direction and guidance of the IOC, NOCs are best placed to design and implement projects complying with the IOC’s global standards at local level. This means that the IOC can support and promote environmental projects, while benefiting from expertise that the NOCs can provide in the local context through. This implementation method not only promotes local solutions to global problems, but also increases local ownership, empowers local communities, and promotes cooperation between sports, local environmental groups and indigenous peoples.  

In Brazil, for example, the “Brazil Olympic Committee Olympic Forest” project aims to restore a damaged part of the Tefé National Forest in the Amazon and is executed together with the Mamirauá Institute of Sustainable Development. Besides restoration, the project’s objective is to reinforce the sustainable use of the forest by the local community through planting key species such as Brazilian chestnut and açaí or providing training to the local community. 

Training and upskilling of local communities (on mangrove planting/rehabilitation) is one of the main objectives also of the Papua New Guinea Olympic Committee’s “Love Your Coast Project” where they aim to train “Love Your Coast Champions”, who are to lead small conservation projects in their communities

The use of scientific data and analysis provides a sound and sustainable basis to develop scenarios and provide information for the design of sustainable plans, projects and activities. Given specific knowledge may not be always a working tool, particularly when GIS and scenario and data analysis is referred to, it is important to ensure and to include the need IT and specialist that may build knowledge, capacities and awareness in all development and biodiversity practitioners.

For this the project supported the technical contribution of a specialist and developed a series of power point to explain and to train the beneficiaries on its use and on the use of the provided scenarios, as development and ecosystems-based planning tools.

For the integration of multi-sectorial data and multiple partners databases, as well as post action awareness raising efforts, IUCN mobilised its members, donor community, conservation actors and biodiversity and GIS specialists, around the Government technical group. Along the document development, several meetings were organised to ensure engagement and participation, with the focus on wider and qualitative data. The partnerships contributed for actors coordination, integration of several studies and the inclusion and the links to biodiversity components, particularly mangroves.

The exercise facilitated a joint and common voice on mangrove protection and status to the Nairobi Secretariat, to WIOMSA and furthermore to the integration on and support to the Global Mangrove Alliance and to the Great Blue Wall.

The exercise was complimented with a training of trainers MSP workshop that built capacities in planning specialist to integrate coastal and marine components into local development plans.

Technical financial cooperation was provided to four projects in the country's Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM), mobilising both public and private investment funds. Two calls were made to access non-reimbursable funds through the Urban Green and Biodiverse Fund (FRUV), administered by Fundecooperación para el Desarrollo Sostenible (Fundecooperación). Fundecooperación made non-reimbursable resources available to four public-private initiatives whose objective was to promote initiatives in the GAM that would have an economic impact on the beneficiaries while integrating the sustainable use or conservation of biodiversity.

Four organisations (Coopecabañas R.L., Parque la Libertad, Asociación de Desarrollo de Cipreses de Oreamuno de Cartago (ADICO) and Coopetoyopan) received support and technical advice to co-design a business plan under a positive economic recovery approach with nature, with achievable objectives and sufficient profitability, or a business idea that complies with this, based on the capacities of the entities executing the project proposals and existing opportunities. 

The technical and business capacities of the organisations financed were strengthened to facilitate the implementation of the projects, which contributed solutions that will improve urban wellbeing and contribute to the conservation of urban biodiversity and ecosystem services in the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) of Costa Rica.

In addition, around 150 people benefited directly from training in green recovery, nature-based solutions, e-commerce, composting, and logistical and operational improvements to their organisations. The key is to provide financial support together with technical training.

First, we identify a suitable community – one that is threatened by fire and has the will to address the problem, and ideally has an established community group. On the Tonle Sap Lake we have worked with Community Fishery Organizations (CFi’s), Community Protected Area Organizations (CPA’s), and Villages to implement CBFiM. Engaging a formal community organization with a recognized structure has several advantages, including recognized community leadership, management capacity, financial resources such as bank accounts, and recognition by the local authorities. From this we develop the community wildfire management team which should be integrated with both the Village and Commune authorities. The community wildfire management team forms the basis of CBFiM.

At the stakeholder consultation workshop, three urban EbA measures were identified and selected to pilot in Dong Hoi city, including: 

1) The water retention measure aims to address flood risk through water retention and delayed runoff during flooding, and heat stress reduction in the core urban zone of Dong Hoi City. It integrates urban flood risk management, relieves pressure on Cau Rao River as the main floodway protecting the city, improves existing ecosystem health, and increases blue-green space for the city. The measure is designed with multiple urban EbA components, including (1) a water retention area for flood reduction, (2) permeable surfaces (e.g. grass, vegetation and pavement) for storing water runoff, (3) swales along the existing road to reduce runoff and infiltration of pollutants, (4) additional trees to provide shading and regulate microclimate, (5) a protected area for habitat and to enable scientific investigation.

2) The green wall and green roof measure aims to conserve green spaces in the municipality in the face of increasing pressure to develop the natural lands due to rapid urbanisation, contribute to the reduction of surface temperature and heat stress during hot summer months and flood risk mitigation, green-blue components (e.g. trees, vegetation layers...). The measure is designed with facade greening on exterior walls and a rooftop garden replaced the traditional corrugated iron-roof of the building adjacent to a rainwater harvesting system. 

3) The Sustainable Urban Drainage System (SUDS) aims to enhance the drainage system through applying a nature-based approach in the construction and operation of the system to improve the flood management in the urban area. It helps to address the problem of local hotspot flooded areas during heavy rainfalls or typhoons in Dong Hoi city. The measure is designed and implemented with following components: 

• Two underground storage tanks with storage capacity of 150 m3 with soak-away structure
• Eight inlets to collect rainwater on the road surface around the site
• Perforated uPVC collection pipes that are connected to the existing drainage system with a one-way backflow preventer
• Sidewalk paving slabs replaced by permeable structure
• Green trees to increase water permeability on land surface

The results showcase the effectiveness and possibilities of green interventions in helping the city to cope with increasing temperatures, flood management and energy efficiency while reducing GHG emissions. On top of that, lessons learnt and practical experiences in terms of technical knowledge, methodology and approach were shared, expanded and integrated into provincial technical standards, urban planning and relevant binding documents. 

In fact, in order to finalise the urban EbA measures at site after the selection process, there were different steps required according to Viet Nam's legal frameworks and project's procedures: 

• Site assessment: Planning an urban EbA measure required a thorough site assessment of the local climatic and geographical conditions to inform the optimum design and installation requirements. A comprehensive site assessment examined climate, hydrology, soil and water conditions on meso- and micro-level and takes into account the existing built environment.
• Planning: At this step, it was important to set an upfront goal of each urban EbA measure as this will influence the design, construction and level of maintenance required for the system. The scale, relationship to other facilities, benefits and impacts to communities and region, problems to be addressed were defined and elaborated. In addition, stakeholder engagement needed to be considered to define relevant involved parties and their roles, specialists, technical designers and service providers. All relevant procedures and regulations were figured out as well.
• Design phase: The crucial step of this phase was to develop a technical design document for the measure. Based on the set goals, site assessment results and requirements, the designers and technical experts prepared the technical drawings and the design report. Aspects related to size, functional components, technology, materials, timeline and cost estimation needed to be included. Consultation process to present the technical design was conducted for comments and feedback from different stakeholders before submitting all files for approval by local authorities. Upon the approval of the technical design document, the process to obtain the construction permit needed to be carried out according to government regulations. 
• Implementation: The construction implementer and construction supervision consultants were selected through a bidding process. An implementation plan was worked out and agreed by all relevant stakeholders before construction on the site. Local authorities and project partners took the roles of overall management, monitoring the work progress. Monthly meetings were conducted to update the progress and deal with arising issues during the implementation. The relevant government regulations and standard requirements needed to be complied fully and strictly at this phase. At the end of this phase, the implementation guidelines, lesson learnt and leaflets to promote the results were developed and shared in public for awareness raising and upscaling in the region.
• Maintenance: Upon the completion of the implementation phase, the urban EbA measures were handed over to provincial partners. A consultation process was conducted to agree upon the roles and responsibilities on management, operation and maintenance of the work by parties who took over. Planning and budget allocation was prepared and committed to on the partner side.