Inception phase | PANORAMA

Developing Forest Management and Landscape Restoration Frameworks for Chilgoza Forest Ecosystems

To strengthen Pakistan’s policies and legal frameworks in support of FLR and sustainable land management, TRI Pakistan has facilitated the development of forest management and landscape restoration frameworks for Chilgoza Forest Ecosystems in the four districts of Sherani, Chitral, South West, and Gilgit Baltisan with technical input and hosting and engaging in the consultation of stakeholders. While the Chilgoza Forest Multi-Function Management Plan for the Sherani District has been finalized and a draft for the South West Multi-Function Management Plan has been drafted, the plans for Chitral and Gilgit Baltisan are still under development. The plans are drafted by the respective district’s forest departments and work to address economic concerns, biodiversity conservation, and the key drivers of degradation. The plans are also built on the findings of the participatory ROAM assessments TRI Pakistan conducted, which included key stakeholders from all four project districts and identified restoration opportunities and priority interventions such as more efficient cooking stoves. Ultimately, these plans facilitate the implementation of FLR and sustainable land management at the local level as they are made with input from local stakeholders and outline management measures designed with their communities’ priorities in mind.

In order to develop these policies in a way that best addresses the needs of the four districts, TRI Pakistan’s ROAM assessments were vital. As a way to ensure hotspots are given priority, properly conducting the assessments was also critical. Pakistan trained forty-four professionals and key stakeholders from all districts on the ROAM methodology to ensure the process was inclusive as possible and effective in identifying priorities to be addressed in the management plans.

From the development of the four districts’ Chilgoza Forest Multi-Functional Management Plans, TRI Pakistan learned multiple lessons on how forest management should be approached at the local level and how differences in local communities affect the prioritized goals and measures. Beginning with the ROAM assessments, TRI Pakistan was able to see where the districts differed in their prioritized restoration areas, which interventions they pursued, and the overall goals and economic needs of local community groups. From these assessment findings, the respective forest departments, in elaborating the plans, also showed the team how their district context affected the way they approached FLR and sustainable land management. Understanding how the different local communities approach forest management further helped TRI Pakistan facilitate the government’s transition in considering local and private sector perspectives in the implementation of national forest and climate policies.

Inception phase

National

Filling knowledge gaps in restoration opportunities and the valuation of ecosystem services

To increase CAR’s commitment to forest and landscape restoration at the national and subnational levels, TRI CAR is working to fill existing knowledge gaps in the valuation of ecosystem services and restoration opportunities. To do this, TRI CAR has contracted two graduate students with the Central African Agricultural Research Institute (ICRA) and the Higher Institute for Rural Development (ISDR) to carry out a valuation of ecosystem services. As the projects develop, the on-the-ground research will inform TRI CAR’s technical recommendations for the various policies being elaborated. Similarly, to help identify restoration opportunities, TRI has initiated the creation of a geospatial working group that will focus on finding restoration priority areas. This will also lay a base for TRI CAR’s policy input, as the team will pursue measures focused on the restoration opportunities identified in geospatial data analysis.

To successfully engage in projects that fill knowledge gaps necessary for policy elaboration, the work of ICRA and ISDR in supervising and leading the graduate projects looking at the valuation of ecosystem services will be critical. Additionally, to best enable the technical working group working on analysis on geospatial data, TRI CAR has conducted trainings on how to collect and use data analysis. The trainings ensured the working group most effectively analyzes the geospatial data.

Contracting two projects to research the valuation of ecosystem services and bringing together a technical working group to conduct analysis of geospatial data to identify restoration opportunities, TRI CAR is learning critical lessons around how to work with local institutions to facilitate knowledge generation and how to train participants to best implement project research. TRI CAR is growing its understanding of how working with institutes like ICRA and ISDR through the graduate projects will help policy commitment and how collaborating with outside actors can provide greater resources for filling knowledge gaps. TRI CAR is also strengthening its ability to train participants and local actors in collecting and analyzing data required for the effective development of the country’s policies. Ultimately, TRI CAR’s work has also provided the team with invaluable information it can use to provide technical input and recommendations for the elaboration of national policies related to restoration and sustainable land management.

Inception phase

National

Multi-stakeholder alliance

Tech4Nature Mexico alliance

Tech4Nature Mexico

This project, led by C Minds, the Secretariat of Sustainable Development of Yucatan (SDS), the community of the municipalities of Dzilam de Bravo and Dzilam Gonzalez in Yucatan, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Huawei, in collaboration with the Polytechnic University of Yucatan (UPY) and Rainforest Connection (RFCx), and with the advice and feedback of biologists with expertise in feline conservation, combined the knowledge of different institutions and individuals to create an alliance with environmental and socioeconomic impact, both locally and regionally.

The pilot carefully identified all relevant stakeholders. This includes non-profit organizations, government, academic institutions, private sector companies and local communities. Each stakeholder brought their unique expertise and perspective, contributing to the overall success of the project.

Working toward shared objectives is essential to align the efforts of all stakeholders. Collaborate with stakeholders to establish clear goals and common objectives that address the needs and aspirations of each. This process should translate the goals into a "common language" that is understandable to all, promoting strong understanding and commitment.

Inception phase

Multi-national

Installation of the technological infrastructure

Technological Architecture Implemented in the Project

IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation

The technological infrastructure is composed of two cameras along the nearby trail to monitor visitor flows, and a panoramic camera in front of the nest, which were installed in October 2022. The cameras are powered by solar panels and also have integrated mics that detect noise disturbances. Two GPS transmitters, installed in December 2022, are used to track the behaviour of for the pair of eagles. Data transmission from the cameras is carried out through point-to-point microwave antennas via a separate Internet line. The information is stored on the NAS and on Huawei’s cloud. The GPS units include a small solar power plate, and the data is transferred via radio frequency to the Move Bank cloud.

To enable the success of this building block, it is essential to count on the technical equipment (GPS trackers and cameras), a wireless connection to allow data transmission, and a storage system. Human capacity to know how and where to install the equipment in order to avoid disturbances to the species is also key, ensuring that the reproduction cycle of the species isn’t affected.

As in many experimental projects, the monitoring programme encountered technical challenges, mainly due to connectivity issues and the need to coordinate various systems and teams. Legal-administrative considerations, such as data use and installation permissions, are also essential when implementing this building block.

Concerning the GPS trackers, the programming of the transmitters according to different geozones makes it possible to optimise the reception of locations and improve the updating of the data for possible emergency inquiries. Besides, the double solar plate transmitter model placed on the female has proven to be more effective than the single plate model placed on the male during the months of less insolation.

The nest camera needs to be installed using and adequate distance to avoid disturbances while ensuring a good image resolution. In this case, the need for a higher-resolution device has been identified in order to make a good interpretation of the behaviour, identify the ringed individuals and their preys, as well as to implement the automation of alarms.

Inception phase

Local

Funded Projects

Following two funding calls, a total of 17 projects were selected. The projects represent a very wide range of different approaches and solution ideas for pursuing the Alliance's goals, depending on the respective context.

To increase the visibility of the projects and to foster knowledge exchange they are invited to present their ongoing work, intermediate goals and preliminary results to the Alliance community through posts on the website or at online events.

Sufficient funding is necessary to ensure long-term support and sustainable implementation of the project goals.

Continuous communication between those responsible for the project and the Alliance secretariat ensures the success of the project, the feedback of results to the community and thus added value for the community.

Adequate feedback from project partners can be challenging and requires good communication strategies.

Inception phase

Implementation

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

Subnational

By the Alliance supported projects

Working Groups

The International Alliance currently has 3 Working Groups, which are led by the members themselves and receive support from the Alliance Secretariat. Each Working Group is led by 1-2 chairs and the group meets every 6-8 weeks to ensure a continous work process.

We currently have the following Working Groups:

- Science Policy Interface (chair: Sue Liebermann, WCS)

Considering our core understanding of wildlife we want to infuse this understanding, based on scientific evidence, into international political processes.

- Transformative System Change: The Big Picture (chair: Alex D. Greenwood, IZW Berlin; Barabara Maas, NABU)

There are underlying fundamental obstacles to achieving the Alliances objectives and goals. Identifying and addressing these is the focus of this Working Group.

- Evaluation/Effective Interventions (chair: Craig Stephen, One Health Consultant)

The aim is to gather good practices on effective interventions from Alliance members to enable learning and knowledge exchange across sectors and regions.

The success of the working group depends on whether clear goals have been formulated, how committed and well- organized the chair is, how motivated the group members are and whether there is a continuous workflow.

Since most members already have very demanding full-time jobs, the time capacity of individual members may change over time. It can be challenging to ensure a good workflow and working atmosphere. Appreciation and understanding are of great importance in order to enable further collaboration.

Inception phase

Implementation

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Multi-national

Global

Working Groups

Governmental Consultation Facility

Process of the Consultation Facility

Alliance

The goal of the Consultation Facility is to provide context-specific multidisciplinary consultancy services from Alliance experts to governments/governmental institutions in countries with a high risk of novel diseases of zoonotic origin to prevent spill-over infections.

The expertise of more than 180+ member organisations and individual experts in the Alliance will be used to put together those interdiscplinary teams.

The Consultation Facility specializes on medium-term, primary preventive and context-specific government advisory services with concrete results in the context of health risks in wildlife trade and consumption along the entire contact and trade chain.

Effective and sustainable counseling requires thorough policy analysis/screening to identify suitable governments.

Existing political action or other political regulations regarding the intersection of wildlife and human health for example, are particulary helpful at the beginning of the consultation.

The facility was launched in December 2023. For this reason, the lessons learned will only be communicated in the course of 2024.

Planning phase

Inception phase

Implementation

Documentation and dissemination of results

Feasibility Study

A study on how the carbon market could potentially finance climate adaptation/mitigation projects.

Collaboration with researchers in the climate financing field and relevant governmental stakeholders.

The Indonesian carbon market is yet to be fully developed, with many uncertainties in the policy side. Nonetheless, feasibility study became a guideline for other initiatives who are searching for sustainable financing for their mitigation projects.

Although the findings were not fully conclusive, connections with the Government were established along the way to receive the necessary information for future implementation.

Pre-Training Survey boosting training effectiveness

The Blue Economy (BE) concept has become a central aspect of global and regional environmental policies. This is mainly reflected in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through Goal 14, which is to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development” (UN, 2017). Nonetheless, such concept is still new to Mozambique, and it became relevant to explore the different participants background on this topic.

Pre-training surveys helps to gather data that can inform how to run the training, how it’s delivered and what content it covers. To ensure training participants’ ownership of the program, a preparatory working group meeting was also convened, enabling potential participants to share their expectations and learning objectives with each other and to discuss key adaptations to be done. The results from the survey helped to make changes or improvements that maximized the results for the participants.

Objectives should be shared clearly from the very beginning of the process;
It is necessary to use the information from the participants to prepare a tailored training;
Facilitators should be flexible to attribute specific time to certain topics;
Exercises should be tailored to audience level and make them more culturally appropriate.

Human resources for rat training

While APOPO trains scent detection rats, we also train scent detection rat trainers and supervisors. Animal training knowledge, understanding of welfare and care, as well as leadership skills are required to usher rats through their training stages successfully. By investing in human capital, we can support our animals' progress more efficiently.

APOPO's core values include quality, innovation, social transformation, diversity, and solidarity. In line with that, the current project team is compiled of four women and three men, six of whom are Tanzanian. By embracing and fostering diversity, project development benefits from a wide range of experiences.

Motivated staff, capacity building, international exchange of new and emerging animal training and learning processes, critical thinking, willingness to learn, and teamwork.

Screening staff before hiring them as animal trainers should not only include their theoretical skills and qualifications but also explore whether they are comfortable handling a rat. Continued training and capacity building throughout improves trainer capabilities and allows upskilling internally. This in turn creates incentive, high motivation, and fosters integrity. Close attention should be paid to treating staff fairly and allowing equal access to opportunities and equity.

Through high representation of women on our team, APOPO also leads as an example. It increases visibility of women in science in communities and with partners we work with.