In collaboration with local partners, we identified vulnerable areas and conducted a survey in Matondoni village, Lamu, where traditional cookstoves are common. The survey assessed cooking needs and methods while raising awareness about the benefits of ICS for both mangroves and human wellbeing. Two cookstoves were initially set up to gather feedback from end-users over two months on their experiences, benefits, and challenges. Following this pilot, an additional 51 cookstoves were built to inform scaling efforts in other areas of Lamu.

Three-levels of a Co-living community

By implementing a three-level urban renewal strategy of shared neighborhood, shared courtyard, and shared building, the scattered and limited spaces in the Fayuan Temple area are organized.A top-down communal living system is established to solve the difficulties of residents' relocation, outdated infrastructure, and the protection and utilization of historical buildings. 

Shared Neighborhood

We analyzed the activity paths of different groups of people in the Fayuansi neighborhoods. The clear functional division of different areas leads to lack of intersection among various groups, which invisibly forms social barriers and is not conducive to long-term development of the city.

In the shared neighborhood, the entire block is taken as a shared space and considered as a whole, with a management center as the core to lead the co-living system. By dispersing the public functions throughout the block, the daily life of the local residents in the block has been transformed into a distinctive experiential tourism product. Overlapping activities are happening in composite physical spaces, which generates continuous energy for the neighborhood.

Shared Courtyard

The current living condition inside the courtyards is barely acceptable. Illegal construction such as kitchens and bathrooms has become a common phenomenon and the importance of public spaces are severely downgraded. There is hardly any public spaces left other than basic transportation space. 

Most of the young generations have moved out. Among the remaining residents , elderly and young children are the majority as well as some short-term tenants. The continuous reduction of vitality among the neiborhood has become an attention-grabbing problem.

While improving the overall courtyard environment, priority is given to ensuring the basic living needs of residents. This project adopts a four-step (evaluation, repair, demolition, and addition) measure of courtyard renovation. As the number of vacated households increases, existing illegal buildings will be demolished and public service facilities such as shared kitchens and shared laundry rooms will be added. These facilities will be integrated with internal courtyards and public green spaces to form a pubic core for the neighborhood.

Shared House

The vacant houses in the Fayuan Temple district are all made up with "rooms" with various ownerships. Using "room" as a basic unit for renovation is an effective way to reduce the risk of conflicts regarding property ownerships, and also flexible units can better adapt to the living needs of different types of people. By analyzing the dimensions of the courtyards, a 10-12 square-meter room unit was determined as a standard renewal module. The combination of dual and multiple units enables the possibilities for various functions such as long-term apartment, youth hostel, and Café etc.

A special feature of the training manual is that the material on pasture management, forestry and adaptation to climate change is based on the example of Kyrgyzstan, where teachers from Bishkek and Jalal-Abad have identified topics and offer a new methodology for teaching sustainability standards. 

In the frame of the project a teacher manual on Education for sustainable development and biodiversity had been developed.

The manual consists of the following 4 technical chapters each with elaborated exercises and teaching aids as well as one methodological pre-chapter:

1. Education for sustainable development
2. Forest
3. Pasture
4. Climate

The manual is designed to address gaps in the school curriculum with regard to teaching about the environment, using Kyrgyzstan as an example. "When it comes to teaching materials on the environment, they often do not address this area in relation to our country. For example, pasture and forest management systems in Kyrgyzstan.

The start of our information campaign was preceded by a survey among the communities in the project area. We used this approach to objectively assess the attitudes and use of local people's knowledge about the state of the forest, their understanding and perception of the consequences of the current environmental situation, and their willingness to change consciousness and behaviour. First we interviewed 214 respondents in 4 rural districts to determine their level of awareness of the project's thematic areas and their preferences for the choice of information sources/channels/activities that would be effective in increasing their environmental knowledge. 

The target groups selected were: 

1. Representatives of local authorities at the rural district, village level (village administrations, forestry); 

2. Representatives of social institutions (schools, kindergartens, hospitals, first aid points);

3. Representatives of different associations and groups: religious (mosques), pasture committees, water users associations, political parties, NGOs etc; 

4. General population: dependent users of natural resources (focus on pilot communities): forest users, pasture users, product processors, etc.; women, elderly, people with disabilities.

The results of the survey showed that the level of environmental awareness and readiness to change the consciousness and behaviour of the population was below average (on a scale from 1 to 10 it was 4). The planned information campaign should have raised the level by at least 3 points. According to the results of the final KAP survey conducted among 332 residents in the two districts within the project area, the score would be 7. Thus, the level of environmental awareness was 10 points after the end of the project. 

In collaboration with the Shangri-La Group and Jinhua Grand Hotel, corporate social responsibility projects have been implemented, resulting in significant support for local industries such as Chinese honeybee farming and Cornus officinalis cultivation, with a cumulative investment of nearly 300,000 yuan. Partnering with Xi'an Pengxiang Driving School, the “Caring for Qinling Mountain Area - Education Aid and Poverty Alleviation” donation campaign has been conducted for several consecutive years, providing financial assistance to 67 university students from mountainous regions, with total donations reaching approximately 300,000 yuan.

Efforts have been made to mobilize local residents to participate in conservation activities, fostering a cooperative approach to maintaining critical habitats for key species and creating a conducive ecological environment. The reserve has hired 30 residents from surrounding communities as forest rangers, sanitation workers, and security personnel, many of whom come from impoverished households. By addressing employment needs within the community, the relationship between the reserve and the surrounding communities has been significantly strengthened.

At the end of the workshop, all the points of the model agreement were validated by the stakeholders present. The next stage of this important activity was therefore the organization of meetings with the communities of the various villages concerned in the Bouna and Nassian sectors to discuss any difficulties they might have in implementing the convention for access to the PNC for the purpose of worshipping sacred sites, followed by the signing of the convention in the villages visited.A meeting tour with the communities of each village whose representatives were present at the December 2022 consultation workshop was carried out to discuss the implementation of the convention for access to the PNC in the context of the adoration of sacred sites, and to proceed with its signature. The tour was attended by the OIPR/DZNE (the North-East Zone Director, the Project Manager, the Riparian Measures Manager, the Chiefs of the sectors and rural animators concerned) and the Biodiversity and Forests Expert from GIZ/Pro2GRN. There was a massive response from the local population, with village and land chiefs and their notabilities warmly welcoming the delegation.

The workshop to validate the agreement on access to the PNC as part of the worship of sacred sites was attended by a number of players, including the prefectoral authorities, GIZ, the villages bordering the Bouna and Nassian sectors, and local radio stations. This meeting required perfect coordination between the DZNE and its partner GIZ/Pro2GRN.

The first stage focused on carrying out a study to identify cult sites in the PNC and surrounding villages.

OIPR's North-East Zone Management plans to boost ecotourism in the Comoé National Park (CNP). To this end, a strategy has been defined to promote the traditional practices of local residents for tourism purposes. Taking into account the history of the creation of the PNC, it is known that it inherited sacred sites in the interior, for which little information is available. With this in mind, a study by the Institut National Polytechnique Félix Houphouët Boigny entitled "Contribution des pratiques socio-culturelles à la relance de l'écotourisme au Parc national de la Comoé" (Contribution of socio-cultural practices to the revival of ecotourism in the Comoé National Park) was initiated, with the aim of gathering information on cultural sites and attractions that could contribute to the revival of ecotourism in the CNP.

The establishment of the Golden Monkey Monitoring and Research Base at Northwest University and the Zhouzhi Substation for the National Field Scientific Observation and Research of Biodiversity for Giant Pandas and Golden Snub-nosed Monkeys, in collaboration with various institutions such as the Shaanxi Institute of Zoology, Northwest A&F University, Beijing Forestry University, and Northwest University, serves as an internship base for graduate and doctoral students. These partnerships facilitate joint efforts in wildlife surveys and other scientific endeavors, thereby promoting high-quality development within the region.

Research projects have been implemented to conduct extensive surveys, resulting in the creation of a comprehensive database of rare and protected species such as the Giant Panda, Golden Snub-nosed Monkey, Golden Takin, Himalayan Yew, and Kingdonia uniflora. This has led to the compilation of 13 specialized survey and monitoring reports, including the "Giant Panda and Its Habitat Monitoring Report" and the "Golden Snub-nosed Monkey Survey Report," earning two second-place awards for scientific and technological advancements from the Shaanxi Forestry Department.

Since 2012, infrared cameras have captured approximately 40,000 photographs and 5,000 video clips of rare wildlife activities, including Giant Pandas and Golden Snub-nosed Monkeys. Remarkably, the Zhouzhi Nature Reserve has recorded three leopards foraging together on three occasions, as well as footage of two wild Giant Pandas playing, and the first recorded appearance of a brown Giant Panda. Additionally, images of the Asiatic Golden Cat have been documented in various areas within the jurisdiction. In 2019, footage of the Golden Takin garnered the "Best Video Award" on CCTV's "Eyes of the Secret Realm." In 2023 alone, the effectiveness of biodiversity conservation efforts has been reported 16 times by provincial and national-level media.

In close collaboration with the Regional Directorate of Fishing and the Blue Economy of Diana, with whom we developed an action plan for the implementation of all the activity, mutually approved and signed.