The GAW campaigns are organized in such a manner that each year there is a common theme for all the participating countries globally. This enhances learning from each other as there are common resources that are shared by the coordinating agencies such as brochures and provision of a common platform for cross learning and shring amongst participating partners. There are opportunities that are provided for joint meetings to review the progress of the campaign and share experiences from various parts of the globe. This provides an opportunity to jointly evaluate what has been working and what has not been working for improvement and learning. Having a common theme around the globe enhances the level of achievement of the anticipated results from various continents. The campaign also takes place simultaneously around the world.

Following the Devolvement of Kenya in 2010, PELUM Kenya devolved itself in to six networking zones namely: Central Rift Valley Zone, Lower Eastern and Coastal Zone,  Nairobi/Central Zone, Upper Eatern and Northern Kenya Zone, Western Zone and Nyanza Zone.

PELUM Kenya has therefore been focusing on a zone during implementation of the Green Action Week campaigns as a way of promoting horizontal networking. The members of a zone are involved in the planning, implementation and monitoring of the campaigns with one of the member organizations being the lead member organisation and in close coordination by PELUM Kenya secretariat and zonal staff. This provides a platform for learning and sharing among Member Organizations

The campaign employs a multi-stakeholder approach by ensuring that relevant stakeholders including the relevant Government Ministries, Schools, Private Sector, Farmers, Media, PELUM Kenya member organizations and othe CSOs are involved in the campaigns as a strategy of enhancing sustainability of the project beyond the project period.

The project targets the wider public through mass awareness creation so as to raise awareness on the need to grow and eat organic foods.

Media is embraced to reach to the wider public through both electric and print media methods. This includes continuous update of PELUM Kenya’s social media sites with organic food and farming messages. The media practioners are also invited to cover and air the various activities.

It also targets to build capacity of small scale farmers to further embrace organic foods and farming for healthy environments and people. This is done through exchange visits to successful organic enterprises and organic exhibitions.

As a way of enhancing the spirit of networking within PELUM Kenya network, all the member organizations of PELUM Kenya in the focus areas are involved in all aspects of this project.

Effective communication has been a key factor in enhancing ecotourism and protecting Jabal Mousssa. The Reserve enjoys today a nation-wide recognition as a young, yet professional ecotourism destination. Public support has played a key role in putting pressure on the violations that have long been taking place.

Thanks to effective communication, Jabal Moussa is also today a reliable brand name: whether food and handicraft products, hiking packages, or tree seedlings, people are increasingly fond of the Jabal Moussa products, tagged with our logo and registered trademark.

Our mascot, the Rock hyrax (or "Tabsoun" in Arabic) a previously unknown peculiar animal, is the hero of 2 books of a children's book series. Whether the real-life animal or the costumed mascot, it is becoming increasingly popular among children and adults.

APJM keeps a close relationship with media stakeholders in Lebanon, and APJM team uses a variety of communication tools to reach its partners: annual report; social media; website; email communication; direct conversations; group meetings; feedback sheets...

While the message is unique, the form is adapted to the audience: locals, children, visitors, donors...  Honesty and transparency are among the core NGO values.

The "helicopter approach" has become part of our philosophy and is an important key to success in Protected Areas. As an NGO, we constantly hover between local and international, and we aim to be rooted locally, while universally connected.

We thrive to balance between local assets, skills, and needs, with international concepts and expertise, without the need to stop at any "intermediary".

We seek to be adaptive and collaborative in our management of the Reserve: we seek the guidance of locals to adapt techniques and recommendations to our local context.

Our staff and board members are predominantly local residents; we have direct links with local stakeholders, and we advance personal relationships over numbers in large scale surveys. On the other hand, we aim at adapting the international concepts of the Man and Biosphere Programme, and we seek to have an active role in regional and international networks, and to build partnerships with multilateral donors and international foundations.

We believe that by having been locally rooted, and internationally connected, we became trustworthy partners on both levels.

It has always been at the core philosophy of APJM, and as means of sustainability, that every project should generate impacts and be sustained beyond the life of the project, or its funding.

Therefore, while NGOs might fall into the trap of designing projects based on the donor's needs, APJM's projects are designed to directly answer the gaps identified locally. The needs were first identified in 2009 during a socio-economic survey describing the socio-economic profile of the local communities, or during scientific research done by experts, and were later on updated by APJM staff or experts.

Activities are subsequently planned to answer APJM's mission and vision, and fit into APJM's Management Plan and Strategy. The project management structure is designed to fit into the organizational chart of APJM. As activities often target or are implemented in partnership with local stakeholders, activities also build on existing local skills and know-how, and aim at their leverage.

Most project activities are therefore sustained beyond the project funding, on both financial and operation levels, and projects turn into programs, or sub-activities of programs.

In this project we worked closely with government at all levels.

National level: it was important to obtain political support on priorities and to agree on where restoration would be useful and where protected areas could established

Regional level: Regional buy in is very important - to convince regional government of the need for and positive consequences of establishing a protected area; key arguments were linked to social issues and income from the landscape – establishing a linkage between biodiversity protection and the development of income alternatives with the villages

Local level: Buy-in here focused on practical level decisions linked to resources for the villagers.

If not all levels agree then there is a danger for a “paper park”

That’s why it was important to bring all on board.

The region in Madagascar we worked in was very complex with different needs of people in the landscape. As communities were key drivers of degradation and deforestation via slash and burn agriculture, we had to take a long term approach to build relationships and trust and to get community buy-in towards adopting alternative income opportunities and sustainable agriculture approaches. This included offering training, building capacity and awareness. In return we got them involved in restoration activities.

Communities have to take real ownership of the solution. The project gave the communities a joint vision and positive alternative to their previous way of living and working in the landscape. Achieving that buy in village by village takes time. The project area was large, with a Protected Area at the core, surrounded by many villages. Without a social component and cooperation, the chance for deforestation and degradation to continue is high.

For any project that deals with restoration and community engagement, giving it time is of big importance to ensure sustainability and long term effects.

The objective of implementing native plant nurseries is to promote forest plantations in thickets and/or agroforestry, which contribute to carbon sequestration, do not degrade the soil and do not consume much water as eucalyptus or pine. This will contribute to water regulation and protect the soil from erosion. In turn, these species have economic value and are of practical use to the community because they are an important source of wood for carpentry, construction, firewood and charcoal, as well as being melliferous (used by bees to produce honey), medicinal (they cure various diseases, such as digestive, respiratory, renal, etc.) and useful for dyeing fabrics (they give different colors). In addition, Polylepis forests are in danger of extinction and currently form relict forests in patches. Thus, the community plants to produce trees and shrubs; they know and practice good management and value the importance of Jalca's native trees and shrubs. The process goes from the collection of vegetative material for propagation to the planting of the seedlings produced in the selected sites. They are implemented by combining traditional and technical knowledge and with communal work such as mingas.

The nature of this Project sought to create a biodiversity finance solution for South Africa's protected areas that was built on tax law. In order to succeed in this venture, it was central to have a tax specialist undertake the Project. Previous attempts to introduce biodiversity tax incentives in South Africa had failed due to incorrect tax structuring and lack of practical tax testing. In both the amendment of national tax legislation, as well as the actual appropriation of the tax incentives on behalf of landowners, a skilled tax practitioner, who understood both detailed tax law as well as the environmental policy and legislation that the tax incentives linked to, was required. The very unique nature of this work required a niche skill set to ensure its effective and efficient implementation. This biodiversity finance solution could not have been introduced without a tax specialist.