The systematic monitoring of planted trees that is conducted by HAF and the gathering and registering of data of trees planted, including GPS locations, height, diameter, survival rates, and social benefits. The integrated tree monitoring system, called AKVO, was developed by Ecosia, a German organization which plants trees using revenue generated from their search engine. Trained in the use of this application, the monitoring team disperses throughout the regions, visiting the farmers and monitoring the trees that were planted during the previous planting season. Stored in a shared database, the information collected by the team in collaboration with local nursery caretakers will enhance informed decision-making at all levels of governance and across sectors by filling gaps in knowledge and precedence regarding practical application of resource management. 

HAF has had critical successes in engaging women in the management, monitoring, and institutionalizing processes of sustainable agriculture, overcoming gender barriers as a result. These strategies are vital in order for actual socioeconomic and environmental improvements to take hold. Empowerment outcomes with women’s groups in different regions of Morocco have been enabled by the Imagine workshop, which takes place over four days and 32 hours. These workshops help build the personalized vision of the women participants, provide the setting and coaching in order to analyze social relationships, including familial relationships that may promote and/or need strengthening in order to gain the support needed to achieve greater levels of self-determination and economic benefits. Imagine workshops, however, are not solely for women - men have and will continue to be encouraged to participate in empowerment workshops such as Imagine to support a holistic community empowerment process. As a result of these workshops, beneficiaries often join together to create cooperatives and self-employment initiatives. For example, 178 women now earn income from 13 new cooperatives which operate fruit tree and medicinal plant nurseries, engage in food processing, keep bees, and more.

In implementing community development projects, particularly those related to the environment, it is vital that local communities are involved as they understand their environment best. The participatory approach encourages close collaboration with civil groups. Heavily focusing on its members’ capacities to be effective managers of change, a more functional and successful solution can be adapted. Through participatory dialogues, technical trainings, and the fostering of partnerships among NGOs, business, and governments — local and national —  solutions are generated that cannot be achieved by any of these entities on their own. These dialogues allow the opportunity to collectively assess needs, and identify, design, and implement initiatives.

As the public-private partnership improved approaches to conservation, it became clear that the challenges being faced on site were affected by its wider context. It was vital to recognise the Vesuvian area and wider socio-economic dynamics, as a source of opportunities, not threats, that could reinforce site management. Heritage was increasingly viewed as a shared responsibility.

A key initiative was the Herculaneum Centre, a non-profit association founded by the heritage authority, the municipality and a research institute to consolidate a network of local, national and international partners. For 5 years, it implemented an activity programme focused on stimulating new types of involvement in Ercolano’s heritage. The capacity to work with others was enhanced within institutions and civil society through research networks, community projects and a variety of learning environments.

The trust of local partners created conditions, unimaginable ten years earlier, for the regeneration of a difficult urban district adjacent to the archaeological site known as Via Mare.

With the Centre’s programme completed, this tradition of cooperation has been taken forward by Herculaneum’s new heritage authority, supported by the Packard foundation and other partners.

In response to severe decay across the archaeological site, in 2001 a process of change was initiated by a philanthropic foundation, the Packard Humanities Institute. Twenty years on the public-private partnership which emerged, the Herculaneum Conservation Project, continues to conserve and enhance ancient Herculaneum and its relationship to the surrounding area, including the modern city of Ercolano and the wider Vesuvian region. The partners’ activities today unfold within the management system of the dedicated public heritage authority responsible for the site, the Parco Archeologico di Ercolano. The partnership has also benefited from significant collaborations with many other local, national and international stakeholders.

Each partner brings its particular strengths to the initiative: for example, the democratic mandate and long-term commitment of the public authority and the responsiveness and vision of the private partner. A team of Italian specialists from different disciplines and specialist contractors have worked alongside public heritage officers to identify and tackle the problems faced at Herculaneum, reinforcing the existing management system from the inside.

STW has demonstrated success as a leader of surf conservation and coalition building.  We create strategic coalitions to carry out conservation projects at World Surfing reserves that have real impacts.  In selecting partners on the ground, we find common interests, fill capacity gaps based on strengths, and set common goals to have an outsized impact in the places we work. Through this work, STW has built a reputation of trust working with local partners around the world. 

For World Surfing Reserves and at Bahia de Todos Santos, we built a coalition between local surfers, environmental NGO's, local government agencies, businesses, artists and neighborhood groups to create holistic vision for the protection and enhancement of the region and coastline.  

Depending on their location, pilgrimage routes are owned by individuals, local or national governments who take care of their maintenance. Local inhabitants and Non-Profit Organizations (NPO) participate as well of the restoration, conservation and maintenance of some of the pilgrimage routes. For example, many preservation societies are active on the Iseji pilgrimage route where they conduct daily cleaning activities on the mountain passes where old roads remain. They also collaborate with patrolling after typhoons and heavy rains. These activities are recorded in the report and submitted to the respective Prefectural Board of Education via the respective Municipal Board of Education.

Most of the forested areas of the Kii mountains have been planted because this area has traditionally  been a place for logging. Trees are cut down every 50 to 100 years, and after the logging, people plant small trees. This traditional logging strategy has been done since the 16th century under a traditional technique such as seed collection, planting, planting density, thinning and felling especially in the Yoshino County, Nara Prefecture, where cherries are characteristic. Nara Prefecture has also introduced a tax for the conservation of the forest environment and is working with volunteers and private organizations through its municipalities to cut down abandoned forests. The abandoned forests have been replanted with broad-leaved trees instead of coniferous trees such as cedar and cypress, which are suitable for forestry, and mixed forests of coniferous and broad-leaved trees are being converted to forests that are free of human intervention in the future. In parallel with traditional tree-planting and harvesting, we are trying to maintain the forests and forest landscape in the Kii Mountains in a sustainable manner.

Through the whole process that the sacred places in the Kii Mountains were being designated as cultural heritage and natural heritage (as part of a national park), and later included in the Biosphere Reserve, to finally be part of the World Heritage property, the religious bodies were officially granted their protection and management following the traditional knowledge carried for centuries, based on religious beliefs and sacred values. For instance, due to their sacred character, primeval forests have been conserved under strict felling prohibitions by the different religious communities. The mountain landscapes are interpreted as materialized “mandalas” by Shingon Buddhists, and Shugendo practitioners reproduce “mandalas” by doing pilgrimage and performing their ascetic practices in these natural environments. For pilgrims, the Kii Mountains represent the paradise on earth. Another example is the Nachi sacred forest that has been designated as a “Natural monument” under the Law for the Protection of Cultural Property, and the management has been done by the Kumano Nachi Shinto shrine, as part of their sacred place. The Nachi waterfall is regarded as sacred. This means that the sacred waters cannot be touched or diverted.

The Laponia Process has used several traditional governance working methods. For instance, Rádedibme or councils have a central function in the management. These are open meetings held on important issues with the local population and diverse stakeholders, where local viewpoints and knowledge are expressed and taken into consideration for management. Searvelatnja means “learning arena” and is based on dialogue and learning. On a conceptual level this means that Laponia should be an arena where everyone can participate, a meeting place for several generations, cultures, languages and perspectives. By working together we learn from each other and share each other’s knowledge. How Laponia is to be managed is an ongoing process, where an unpretentious approach is adopted, in order to create a local management that integrates the interests of all parties concerned. Oassebielráde or Council of the Parties is the annual meeting for all the entities that manage the World Heritage property. This meeting does not appoint a committee: the parties themselves decide who will represent them in Laponiatjuottjudus. However, consensus is required when electing the chairperson. Consensus is sought as a process of joint decision-making where everyone must be in agreement before any decision is made.