This project was initiated against the backdrop of an existing community forest association (VAJIKI) that had expressed interest in the conservation of mangroves. The community had already been engaging in planting mangroves, but in this specific area, attempts had yet to bear fruit. Although no meaningful salt production took place, salt pans had earlier on been excavated in the area, resulting in the clearing of about 10 ha of mangroves. The site had since remained bare due to the extremely high salinity levels that hindered the recovery of mangroves even upon abandonment of salt production. 

Guiding the restoration efforts based on research and ecological principles ensured that the hydrological interventions were scientifically sound and ecologically appropriate. This approach involved applying research findings to address specific challenges related to water flow, salinity, and mangrove health.

During the project, the partners involved were different users of the Vanga mangrove, both directly and indirectly, and all depended on the existence of the forest to accomplish their uses. These include fishermen, beekeepers, dagaa processors, Vanga Blue Forest, researchers, Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, Kenya Forest Service and WWF-Kenya. This was necessary for successful hydrological restoration. This collaboration ensured that resources were shared, efforts were coordinated, and the restoration process benefited from diverse expertise.

Field-based training allowed community members to gain practical involvement and experience in the process of hydrological restoration. The community members to be engaged in the activities were identified through the village heads and VAJIKI CFA officials. Meetings were first held with opinion leaders in the village before extrapolating to the larger community. They then went through training, which was mainly field-based. The community was trained on general mangrove restoration and on how to create a (fishbone) network of channels in the degraded site to facilitate free and almost simultaneous flooding of the area. Hydrological restoration was trained in the field, allowing the community to observe and appreciate the baseline conditions and the modifications that could be made.

A reference framework for the implementation of Social and Environmental Safeguards was implemented, based on the World Bank's operational policies, as well as on the national and international legal and regulatory framework on safeguards. Safeguards are defined as those actions taken to ensure that the environmental and social impacts derived from productive activities can be identified and mitigated through the implementation of good practices. These were designed as a risk mitigation management system, but also to increase the positive impacts of the subprojects implemented. The development of a framework for the implementation of the Safeguards component ensured that this component operated transversally in all actions and stages of the project. This promoted the implementation of specific strategies and actions at the subproject implementer level, under the principles and standards established for achieving social and environmental objectives. As part of the implementation of safeguards for the MDE Mexico Project, Environmental Management Plans (EMP) were designed to identify the mitigation measures that each subproject had to implement to avoid or mitigate possible negative social and environmental impacts associated with its productive activity, thereby enhancing the benefits of each initiative. Its construction was carried out in a participatory manner, together with the selected beneficiaries, as part of the process for the integration of technical proposals and planning documents for each subproject.

In Mexico, there are barriers that hinder access to sources of financing for productive projects led by women and young people in the rural context, particularly those associated with land tenure and access to positions of participation, community and technical leadership. In addition, lack of access to training opportunities, limited experience, as well as technological and communication limitations, represent a major obstacle for these groups, not to mention the cultural aspects that are often incompatible with their involvement in community economic life. In this context, MDE Mexico addressed the social inclusion approach in a cross-cutting manner, through actions that favored the participation of women, youth and people without recognized agrarian rights or residents. The design of the Social Inclusion Window (VIS) made it possible to define specific financing strategies to facilitate the participation of these people and their inclusion in community development. These strategies resulted in an increase in the participation of women and young people in the identification and implementation of productive activities in forest territories.

In order for the producers to successfully implement their projects, various regional figures were called upon to provide them with the necessary support and accompaniment. The Local Technical Assistance teams, Local Community Promoters and Regional Operational Liaisons provided the groups with technical support to develop their proposals, collect evidence of implementation and prepare subproject reports. In the area of procurement, contracting and finance, the Regional Administrative Liaisons provided support and advice for the completion of procurement, contracting and verification procedures, through financial reports. For groups that were not legally constituted, the National Executing Agency (Rainforest Alliance Mexico) was in charge of administration, direct preparation of all procurement procedures, execution of allocated resources and the corresponding verifications. This shared responsibility with the beneficiaries made it possible to reduce the gap that exists for the groups and to fully comply with the highest standards in the execution of procurement, contracting and financial management during the implementation of the subprojects.

The objective of the MDE Mexico was to strengthen the capacities of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities that depend on forests and jungles through participatory and inclusive processes for the consolidation of productive projects in forest landscapes. The training began to take shape as soon as the subprojects were selected by the Evaluation Committee, whose members received training to facilitate analysis and dialogue on the proposals received to guide the evaluation and selection process.

On the other hand, the Local Technical Assistance provided the beneficiaries with accompaniment and specialized advice for the participatory construction of the technical proposals and the planning and monitoring instruments, which ensured the development of capacities and the appropriation of the instruments in each Working Group.

In addition, in order to provide technical support to the beneficiaries in the execution, monitoring and evaluation of the subprojects, a training program for change agents (Local Community Promoters) was implemented for community productive projects with a REDD+ approach.

Likewise, Knowledge Exchange Workshops were implemented among beneficiaries to strengthen their capacities with the knowledge of other more experienced groups.

This building block centers on engaging universities, colleges, and local partners in environmental education and conservation efforts. We collaborate with football clubs and teams on campuses to promote climate change awareness and endangered species conservation. By leveraging these partnerships, we provide communities with the knowledge and tools needed to combat climate change. The collaboration extends to local environmental organizations, which offer technical support to communities. This interconnected approach is vital to the success of our campaign, which mobilizes resources, boosts participation, and amplifies the campaign’s impact through the collective efforts of educational institutions, environmental groups, government agencies, football stars, influencers, and corporate sponsors.

This project was lead by Fundacao Tartaruga, in partnership with two other long-standing non-governmental organisations: Cabo Verde Natura 2000 and Bios.CV and with the local management authority: Ministerio do Agricultura e Ambiente Boa Vista (MAA-BV).

All organisations contributed and benefitted to the project. It has reinforced the relationships between the organisations at coordination level and implentation level with representatives of each organisation participating in the majority of activities.

This project has only been successful with the contributions of time, effort and knowledge of all entities involved.

With TREEO's technology, project implementers gain real-time insights into the status of their projects through on-the-ground data. This enables them to make timely corrective actions without needing to visit the field in person.

Adopting the TREEO Technology supports project implementers in managing their teams and monitoring their tree-planting efforts. In the past, tape measurements were used to track the growth of trees, which usually takes a lot of time, especially when the data of a lot of trees are needed. Remote sensing is another popular way of estimating tree biomass, however, this is not species-specific and leads to overestimations thus a lack of trust in the data. The single-tree monitoring approach is providing a solution which simplifies the process, while receiving the data within a few seconds only. After collecting the data of the tree measurement through the app, it will be provided in the TREEO Cloud.

The TREEO Cloud is the project and data management system connected to the TREEO App which allows project implementers to manage their teams and analyze the collected data. It provides necessary functionalities to manage projects with millions of monitored trees and import/export to GIS tools, and facilitates seamless team and project management to manage the data. TREEO Cloud has a strong user management and access rights control system. Every organisation registered in the TREEO Cloud has 4 default user roles. These roles can be modified or new roles can be created on request.