The formation of the Entarara Community Forest Association (CFA) marked a critical step in managing and conserving the forest through community engagement. WWF facilitated discussions with the seven nearby villages on the benefits of creating a CFA to allow legal and organized community involvement in forest management. By 2023, the CFA was officially formed, with a governance structure and a participatory forest management plan (PFMP) developed in collaboration with the Kenya Forest Service and Kajiado County. The CFA serves as the primary organization responsible for implementing restoration, protection, and community-led activities in the forest. It plays an essential role in mobilizing community members, organizing user groups, and ensuring that forest resources are managed sustainably, offering an inclusive platform for local voices and promoting ownership.

In 2020, efforts to restore Entarara Forest included a focus on removing invasive plant species, specifically lantana camara, which had spread throughout the area. The County government and CFA, with support from the WWF initiated invasive plant removal as part of its commitment to rehabilitate the degraded areas in the forest. The invasive species removal aimed to improve the ecological health of the forest by allowing native species to re-establish and enhancing habitat quality that  better supports ecosystem services. To support this, the County government supports local residents  to patrol and secure the forest, preventing re-encroachment. This early restoration activity coupled with re-afforestation was essential for creating the right conditions for forest regeneration and  impetus for future reforestation efforts.

The KCNRN enhances local capacity for FLR through targeted training and resource mobilization. A needs assessment informed the development of thematic leadership roles and capacity-building programs for local organizations. Training initiatives strengthen skills in sustainable land management, value chain development, and resource mobilization. The network also supports knowledge sharing and cross-sector collaboration, ensuring that member organizations can efficiently implement restoration activities.

The KCNRN promotes FLR awareness and community participation through innovative campaigns, such as linking restoration efforts to cultural events. The "Miti" festival mobilizes schools, businesses, and government institutions for large-scale tree planting, using social media influencers to amplify participation. This campaign integrates cultural identity with environmental action, fostering a sense of ownership among community members. By making tree planting a shared cultural event, the network raises awareness of sustainable land use while strengthening public support for FLR initiatives.

Using the described approach is set to simplify formally linking a community group with the authorities and empower these organisations to assist in sustainably managing natural resources. Fostering and preserving positive ties is important, as the government agencies are usually in charge of managing natural resources, such as fisheries. When a committee oversees this resource, it must answer to these authorities and take responsibility. The committee does not intend to strip the government’s authority to resource management but instead to collaborate with them for the community’s benefit.

Once the committee is officially recognized and its members’ capabilities are clear, it needs to start the creation of a development plan. This development plan includes a clear vision for the future, outlines the course of action and envised outcomes. All committee members should be involved in the creation of this joint picture of the future of their waterbodies and the planned management practices to reach this joint picture.

Such a target could be combating illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU) in the waterbody the committee is managing. Therefore, the management committee assesses the initial status of the waterbody and fishing activities, develops patrol plans, and organises awareness-raising events to inform the community of new regulations. 

When necessary, the management can request assistance from relevant authorities, like commune chiefs, fisheries administrations or provincial departments of agriculture and fisheries. In addition, the supported committee can collect fishing data, document all their patrolling and record or report any IUU fishing incidents that occur within its area. They achieve this by either using paper forms or digitally with tablets or cellphones when trained accordingly.

Next, the committee must learn how to turn its development plan into a monthly action plan. This can be done following the same process as was used to establish their development plan, just for the course of one month at a time. With the help of external assistance, they can determine what they can do over the next thirty days. 

Finally, a simple monitoring and evaluation system needs to be set up. Generally, this involves monitoring the progress of the tasks listed in their action plan. This includes recording any deviations from the plan, documenting any modifications made, and keeping track of the expenses associated with each activity. The committee should meet at the end of each month to review the previous month’s work and schedule the next one. 

When the needs for capacity building are evaluated, it is time to deliver the trainings regarding management, e.g. state regulations, creating officially recognized bylaws, and monitoring, and on technical topics such as legal fishing practices and patrolling.

When supporting existing management systems and committees, it is recommended to assess the group’s status by reviewing its membership size, existing statutes or bylaws including objectives, management structure, and activities. Then evaluate the management committee’s ability to fulfil its foreseen obligations either through individual interviews and questionnaires or focus-group discussions.  If existing organisations are not operational, it may be necessary to work with the local fisheries authorities to revive the current structure and to ensure that these organisations are being supported in fulfilling their tasks. This can be through revisions of statues, assistance with the registration at fisheries administrations, the identification of fundraising aims, or the recruitment of new members.

It is recommended to form a local group through elections if none already exists. The community and relevant parties need to be notified about the upcoming election (e.g. through community meetings, village get-togethers, and other events) and to find possible candidates for the committee that will lead the communities fisheries resource management (e.g. by speaking with influential members of the community and contacting the relevant candidates directly). The election should be attended by local government representatives, interested parties, and the public. 

After the election, it is important to provide the newly elected committee with technical support to help them establish their management structure during their first meeting. This includes defining roles such as secretary, accountant, leader, and vice leader.

Capacity building measures through trainings or awareness campaigns can help to overcome sociocultural barriers, but structural boundaries, unequal rights and policy could remain. To limit these boundaries for gender equality, the involvement of all genders in management organisations is important. In Cambodia, the “Sustainable Aquaculture and Community Fish Refuge Management Project” (SAFR) promoted women’s participation in leadership and management of the Community Fish Refuge (CFR) ­committees – a form of dam or other water resource management organisation which members are elected by the community. CFR management are vital fish conservation measures that intend to improve the productivity of rice field fisheries and reduce illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. The approach introduces community-based management committees and assists them in developing plans such as detailing how and when the fish is utilized and by whom. This initiative significantly contributes to rural livelihoods by enhancing food security, nutrition, and income generation by restoring rice field fisheries systems that are ­accessible to everyone.

To ensure women’s equal participation in the decision-making process, the programme supported the ­electoral process for CFR leadership within the communities where rice field fisheries exist. Capacity-building training was conducted with the members focusing on organisational development, transparent decision-making, gender roles and improved management. Through this, a social-­ecological environment was created, in which members could actively and jointly manage their resources. The support also involved documenting and encouraging women to take on active roles in the management of the committees, such as vice chief and accountant positions. It also took into consideration how to reduce participation boundaries for women, for example by situating CFR closer to the village to increase safety while fishing.

“As a woman, I know that not only me, but other women in the community also feel proud to work for the community assuming that the society accepts and supports us in decision-making positions. After several elderly people from the community approached my husband and suggested he encourage me to become a candidate, I decided to play a more active role in community development and stand as a candidate for a position on our CFR Management Committee.” 
Ms. Sokh Samart, a woman CFR Management Committee member from Boeng Khangek Ngout.

In Madagascar, PADM followed a similar approach to promote leadership of women in farmer’s groups and increase their representation in decision-making bodies. As for the CFR their programme included training in the promotion of women’s memberships, development of a strategy to encourage women to express their opinion in decision-making groups and management organisations and in the valorisation of women’s work and contribution to fish farms. They also included a special training for men to mentor and accompany women to become leaders themselves, highlighting the necessity to include the whole community in gender transformative approaches. 

“I must admit that I did not know much about the importance of having women join the (CFR Management) Committee. After I received training on gender roles and I better understood them, I realized that women are as important as men in doing community work. So, my male colleagues and I work together and support the female CFR Management Committee members to perform their jobs.” 
Mr. Ly Peng Chhoun, CFR Chief – Boeng Khangek Ngout.

To enable women to assert themselves and assume full responsibility at all levels in the long term, PADM assisted in the creation of a support framework, including regularly using different tools and maintaining contact with the trainers.

Instead of being restricted to housework according to traditional gender roles, through agency and capacity building together with a demand-oriented, refined management, women were empowered to actively contribute to the development of their communities.

To publicly raise awareness on gender equality and structural boundaries, different approaches were taken by the projects.

In the “Project for Aquaculture in Madagascar” (“Projet d’Aquaculture Durable à Madagascar”, PADM), part of the training from the cooperative “Tilapia de l’Est” (TDE) for female small-scale aquaculture producers was the topic how to involve more women in the cooperative. To fight against the stereotype, that the profession of aquaculture is a “man’s job” and to improve the representation of women in the sector they documented women’s success stories to encourage other women to venture into fish farming. The stories were on the one hand spread through videos to ­integrate them in the training and capacity-­building activities. To raise awareness on the role of women, they on the other hand produced ten “success stories” of female fish farmers based on a survey and broadcasted them in three regional and one national radio station each morning and evening for two months. 

In Zambia, F4F followed another approach with the video and comic series “Let Me Tell You”. In those, women are represented as female fish farmers and actors in the fish value chain, working together with men in their communities and families with equal knowledge and contribution, therefore depicting gender equality as a norm. For example, Chimwemwe, the grandmother figure in the series, often explains important knowledge and is praised by the others, regardless of their gender, as wise and skilful.