Monitoring | PANORAMA

Evidence-based mangrove restoration and reforestation

Preparación de plántulas de manglar

INECC

Los miembros de la comunidad preparan árboles jóvenes de manglares

INECC

Instalación de "chinampas": montículos de barro flotantes para plántulas de manglares

INECC

Distribución de plántulas de manglar a los humedales por miembros de la comunidad

INECC

By making an alliance with a local civil association with a permanent presence in the area, INECC was able to better focus human and economic resources on the reforestation of 25 hectares of mangroves and the 3km clearing of channels for the restitution of the water flows of the wetland.

Mangrove reforestation was carried out using the "chinampas" technique (1 x 1m floating mud mounds) which served as a platform for the optimum growth of mangrove seedlings.

This technique, previously used in other neighboring areas, includes an ecological monitoring phase as well as geo-referenced photographic monitoring points to identify the evolution of the monthly growth of the seedlings in each of the almost six thousand established chinampas.

In addition, the direct participation of the communities in the activities provided empirical knowledge about the particularities of the land, and essential labor to dig open, by hand, the channels. The combination of technical and empirical knowledge has created evidence for the ecological modification of the landscape: the establishment of the chinampas has elevated the topography of the site, and the hydrological flows have brought nutrients and oxygen, creating ecological niches that the species occupy to restore the trophic chain.

Permanent and committed support from local NGOs with experience in community-based social work and in-depth knowledge of the area;
Sufficient economic and human resources to be able to employ local communities to carry out rehabilitation work;
Sufficient experience and empirical knowledge to be able to implement the technique of "chinampas";
Available land under protection schemes, to carry out wetland management and conservation strategies.

Per-diem payments to community members as an incentive for taking part in adaptation project implementation (restitution of mangroves and hydrological flows) have been considered by some of the project implementers as a successful way of ensuring active participation, and can work well and augment marginal incomes. The risks of relying on this approach, however, is that the strategy becomes unsustainable if the source of money dries up and active community participation become predicated on the receipt of payments for participating.
Problems for mangrove systems can be exacerbated by climatic events such as tropical storms that destroy parts of the mangrove. However, equally serious chronic problems can be caused by upstream activities, such as a reduction in river flows, due to the excessive extraction of water for agroindustrial and livestock purposes, which increase the problems of salinity and pollution in the mangrove system.

Implementation

Monitoring

Local

The Local Agricultural Research Committee

Members of the CIAL and community members placing the sluice gates of the sedimentation basins and wetlands.

Instituto de Montaña

The Comité de Investigación Agropecuaria Local (CIAL) was established in 2000 and its members were chosen at a community assembly. The criteria established by the community members themselves to choose the local researchers were based on certain characteristics such as being observant, committed, responsible and punctual. The CIAL began with 16 members, both men and women. Its creation was based on the principles of Participatory Action Research (PAR). The CIAL and the IM initially carried out participatory research between 1999 and 2001 to recover pastures for cattle, starting with one hectare ceded by the community for this purpose and ending with 10 hectares thanks to the growing interest of the community members.

In 2010 the CIAL was reactivated with 24 members to carry out research under the name "Good Pasture, Good Water". In 2014 the CIAL was institutionalized in the community, being part of its organizational chart as one of its specialized committees and being included in the community's internal regulations. It is a very active committee, which is in permanent dialogue with its directors and with the entire assembly to report the progress of the research and its proposals, so that they can have the support for the necessary work through the communal tasks.

The commitment of its members (although some young people had to withdraw due to other obligations).
The support and backing of its community leaders.
The community's level of governance, which is reflected in: (i) its level of planning, the community prepared its Community Development Plan; (ii) the institutionalization of the CIAL in the community's organizational chart and internal regulations; and (iii) the management capacity of the community leaders, who obtained external support (e.g., heavy machinery) to implement the actions.

The process of institutionalizing the committee took much longer than anticipated, from its constitution in 2000 to its recognition in the statute as technical advisors to the community on pasture and water issues.
Empowerment and capacity building of committee members in the use of water quality monitoring equipment and data interpretation was key.
The initiative responded to a priority need of the community itself, namely water, responding to problems they have had since 1970. As mentioned by CIAL members, "we were always asking ourselves and other institutions why the color of the water and the smell and taste had changed and no one would give us an answer, until we were able to understand and improve the quality of our water" (Vicente Salvador).
It is necessary to prepare alternate representatives for the committee, since it demands a lot of time dedication, so some very empowered members left the committee due to their other obligations.

Delimitation and Management of the Bosques de Neblina and Páramos Private Conservation Area

Signage sign at ACP Samanga

NCI

Landscape of the Samanga Conservation Area

NCI

The Samanga Community has delimited part of its territory as a private conservation area. The recognition of a conservation area, through a Ministerial Resolution signed by the Ministry of Environment, is a modality to ensure the protection and sustainable use of natural resources and the services provided by the cloud forest and moorlands for the direct benefit of the Samanga community, and indirectly to all users of the middle and lower watershed. Thanks to the ACP, small projects have been managed to implement sustainable productive activities (to reduce the negative impacts on the forest and paramo) and to signpost the conservation area, which is now delimited on the ground and signposted. In addition, agreements have been reached in community assemblies to sanction people who cause damage or threaten the ACP.

Community leadership and organization for the fulfillment of agreements.
Commitment by the community to conserve the high Andean moorlands and forests.
Continued patrolling and establishment of sanctions to punish actions that threaten the conservation of the PCA.
Implementation of conservation and sustainable development activities.
Conservation agreements should be accompanied by sustainable alternatives that generate wellbeing and income for local families.

The community of Samanga had made communal agreements to control logging, burning and overgrazing in the forest and páramo (since 2000). This local interest and demand for conservation has been strengthened and formalized through the recognition of their private conservation area with a resolution from the Ministry of Environment (in 2013).
The ACP has meant a development opportunity for the community of Samanga, with ongoing projects in dairy products, reforestation, research on the ecosystem services of the forest and páramo, and a tourism proposal, among the main ones.
The support and accompaniment of local institutions is necessary to support the community in the management of the conservation area and in the generation of alternative proposals.

Monitoring

Local

National

Noticia sobre la creación del área de conservación privada Bosques de Neblina y…

Transparency, Accountability, Accuracy, Completeness and Third Party Independent Registry

At Porto Bonito Farm, the project promotes wildlife breeding, wild animals rehabilitation and releasing, recovering of fisheries, seed selection, nursery and planting of native trees species of local occurrence, farming of pollinators, rehabilitation of scenic beauty, environmental education and recreation for visitors, partners, participating companies, students and others. Porto Bonito was first approached in 2008 – it used to be a cattle ranch, and in 2012 the project started accepting participants. Staff is trained to measure, report and verify MRV the environmental credits being generated from management practices, as the forest carbon credits. The project promotes reforestation at grassland and degraded areas to restore biodiversity and increase carbon sequestration and storage, generating forest carbon credits. Those credits transferred to participating companies. All process registered independently at the Mato Grosso State Platform for Business with Environmental and Ecosystem Goods and Services (www.pnbsae.com.br).

Staff with capacities to develop MRV methodologies and local infrastructure allowing for the training of consultants and auditors. the existence of the platform for independent registry at Mato Grosso State. local infrastructure for project difusion and dissemination, facilities allowing for visitors to access the location and sites.

It is necessary to provide specific training and needed resources to make climate change a palatable theme to professionals and general public. we did various training sessions and participate at many different events over 5 years of activities implementation before reaching a level of common understading with the independent registry and having a smooth flow of documents and process. much attention is need on articulating and promoting adequate partnerships and investments must be done towards promoting joint initiatives, meetings, conferences and similar difusion and dissemination activities.

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

National

Prime Property Fraction of CSR program

Green Farm CO2FREE (www.greenfarmco2free.com.br) developed the prime property fraction concept to conservation, creating a CSR club for participating companies. With that approach at finance, it invests on providing ecosystem services to participating companies, including carbon, water, biodiversity, green marketing and others.

a prime property located within the buffer zone of a National Park, well preserved and large enough to allow implementing of large scale conservation and enhancement of ecosystem services to companies and other interested parties. CSR programs under planning, development or implementation phase by companies and other interested parties

Companies are willing to invest on CSR programs but they lack the adequate knowledge / skills to identify, amongs available opportunities, the ones with best results in terms of both, marketing and environment positive impacts. There is a major effort on marketing your own project and its benefits before reaching the right audhience, and the decision must come from high adminstrative levels. usually managers and other personal/staff tend to avoid participation on long term thrird parties project activities due to the sense of self=preservation (when the external agent is sucessfull it feels like the internal staff is no needed anymore). in order to avoid this we now look into interacting and letting the solution be designed by internal staff itself, making them project owners.

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

National

Mainstreaming integrative forest management

For the successful application of the approach, sustainable and integrative forest management needs not only to be piloted and practiced on the ground but also integrated into national strategies, development plans, and long-term forest management planning and monitoring. Consequently, it is equally important to work with forest tenants on the local level as to mainstream the approach on the national level.

The Join Forest Management approach has been anchored in the Forest Code of Tajikistan in 2011. This builds the legal basis of the implementation and accelerates the further dissemination to other parts of the country. Since 2016, a more integrative forest management is practiced for which an inter-sectoral dialogue has been established. This inter-sectoral dialogue facilitates to address environmental, economic and social challenges beyond the mandate of the forest agency. Forest monitoring and management planning are being strengthened through support to the forest inspection unit. Only if a forest management planning system and a forest monitoring structure are in place, an approach such as the integrative forest approach can be out scaled throughout the country and mismanagement, corruption, and wide-scale violations of regulations (e.g. grazing on forest plots) prevented.

The JFM approach follows a multilevel approach, targeting national, regional and local level which has proven to be necessary and consequently successful.

A theoretically sound solution can only be as good in practice as its underlying management planning and monitoring system as well as its political support.

Documentation and dissemination of results

Landscape perspective

Grazing on Forest Land

GIZ

Benefits of trees for disaster risk reduction

GIZ

By applying a landscape perspective to forest management, the ecosystem as a whole is considered. For this solution, a special focus has been given to biodiversity, climate change adaptation, and pasture management.

A diverse forest plot has multiple benefits for the forest tenant. Firstly, the tenant has a diverse harvest which contributes to food and nutation security. Secondly, species diversity reduces the risk of pests and increases the soil fertility. Thirdly, diverse forests provide a habitat for pollinators, which are crucial for fruit and nut trees.

Tajikistan is prone to disasters, further reinforced by overharvested natural resources and climate change having fierce impacts. Landslides and droughts are common phenomena but the frequency and intensity have increased significantly. Forest cover on slopes and along river banks are an important adaptation and disaster risk reduction strategy.

Further, livestock is frequently grazing on forest areas, as pastures are scarce and the limited land available overused and degraded. Forest grazing reduces ground cover, impedes the root system, and hinders natural forest regeneration. Therefore, grazing must be addressed together with the forest tenants and solutions identified that go beyond the prohibition of grazing in forests.

By applying a landscape perspective, a multitude of problems, difficulties, and risks to the community can be addressed. Consequently, the approach has gained in acceptance by the local communities as it takes environmental, economic and social challenges into account.

The experience has shown that political land delineations often do not correspond with ecosystem boundaries. Areas, assigned for re- and afforestation, do usually not cover a whole ecosystem but are part of a bigger ecosystem with which the forest area interacts and shares resources. Consequently, forest management needs to consider implications by and interactions with the wider ecosystem the forest plot is part of. As various land use types and land use rights interact in one ecosystem for which different ministerial bodies are responsible, the establishment of an inter-sectoral dialogue to foster coordination and cooperation of all involved actors at landscape level has proven to be successful. Within the JFM implementation in Tajikistan, a bi-annual exchange has been established, where practitioners, relevant ministries and local as well as international organizations exchange. This exchange platform is not only appreciated by partners but also helped to include the landscape perspective. Therefore, an exchange platform is highly recommendable.

Joint Forest Management (JFM) approach

Joint Forest Management (JFM) is a participatory forest management approach that allows the local population – either individuals or groups – to become involved in forest management and support the rehabilitation of degraded natural forests over the long term. These individuals sign a contract for the land use rights with the State Forest Enterprises for a period of 20 years, with the possibility for prolongation. This encourages the tenants to sustainably manage and rehabilitate their forest plot of usually 1-2 ha in size. In addition to the contract, management and annual plans serve as tools for forest management planning and for the monitoring of activities and results. They are developed jointly by the State Forest Enterprises and the respective tenant for each individual plot. Typical tasks specified in the annual plan are measures to protect the plot from livestock grazing, planting of trees, harvesting and pruning. Further, the annual plan specifies the harvest shares of the State Forest Enterprises and the forest tenant according to a fair sharing principle defined in the contract. The management plan, developed, for a 5 year period, specifies long-term goals, such as the installation of an irrigation channel or the diversification of the forest plot.

While land use rights in Tajikistan are typically given for a short period (usually for one single season), the 20-year contract with the State Forest Enterprises enables the tenant to develop a long-term forest management plan. The joint forest management approach has been first introduced in Tajikistan in 2006 and ever since gained in reputation. In 2011, the approach was formalized and anchored in the national forest code.

The experience has shown that for the introduction of JFM the support by external facilitators (e.g. field staff or a local NGO) is indispensable. Both contracting parties, forest tenant and State Forest Enterprise, need to have a clear understanding of their rights, rules, and obligations. Therefore, it is highly recommended to have experienced and skilled facilitators present in the field, who have a sound understanding of the approach and of the local context. Further, the facilitators need to guide the tenants as well as the staff of the State Forest Enterprises through the process of selecting a forest area, introducing the approach to the communities, selecting forest tenants, delineating the individual plots, concluding the contract, and developing the annual- and management plans. Further, the establishment of forest tenant groups has proven to be successful, especially since, in Tajikistan, community groups are relatively common. Jointly, the forest tenants perform activities such as harvesting, pruning or fencing.

Joint Forest Management Manual for facilitators, NGOs, experts – Documented exp…

Manual on the Savings Book Approach for afforestation

Monitoring of Azores bullfinch population and restoration success

Every four years the "Atlas of Priolo" is conducted, with 50 volunteers counting all the priolos in the world in one or two days. This Atlas allows a more robust estimation of the priolo population size.

Annually a census of priolo is conducted by a project technician in May and June, and in September a juvenile census is conducted in order to assess the reproductive success of the species. Every four years a winter census is also conducted. This monitoring allows assessment of the population trends of the bird and quick action if any problem is identified.

Native vegetation evolution is assessed in all the intervention areas annually, comparing the composition of random 10 x10 metre squares of vegetation between restored areas and control areas. New plantations are also monitored to assess their success and identify problems. When an intervention area presents other sensitive issues, such as proximity of water lines, new monitoring schemes, for example water analysis, are put in place in order to ensure success and safety of all the interventions.

Finally, socioeconomic impacts of the project in terms of investment and ecosystem services provision are also monitored.

European Commission funding through LIFE Programme;
Scientific support by an advisory board.

Good planning and regular implementation of monitoring actions is essential in order to obtain good and robust results;
Scientific support of monitoring actions is very important, however, and since actual conservation actions are a priority, this monitoring needs to be adapted to reduced availability of economic resources and time to conduct these actions. Sometimes, it is necessary to find simpler ways of obtaining the answers we need in order to continue working despite not being totally scientifically rigorous. This is the case of ecosystem services provision assessment, which is conducted in qualitative terms, with some quantitative and monetary valuation, when the required information is available.
Monitoring actions allow identification of best practices, redefining new interventions and improving efficiency, but they are also a good communication tool, allowing us to show the importance and success of the project and to present this to the general public. The Atlas do Priolo has become a great communication and engagement event.

Monitoring

Review phase

Local

Participatory Sustainable Tourism Planning

In 2010, the Regional Directorate for the Environment, the Regional Directorate of Tourism, the Regional Directorate of Forestry Resources, the Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds, the Azores Geopark, the municipalities of Nordeste and Povoação, other institutions, private touristic companies and local people started a participatory process in order to develop a Strategy and Action Plan to promote the Lands of Priolo as a Sustainable Tourism destination.

This process led to the definition of a first action plan for five years (2012-2016) with 55 concrete actions. By 2016 66% of the plan was fully implemented and up to 88% was at least started. In 2016 this action plan was evaluated and a new action plan was developed with 77 actions and new partner institutions. The private tourism companies could also actively participate in the sustainable tourism plan through their own commitments by signing into the Priolo Brand.

This sustainable tourism planning was awarded the European Charter for Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas.

European Commission funding through LIFE Programme;
Willingness to participate in the touristic management process by all stakeholders involved;
Diagnosis of tourism resources and sustainability issues.

This participatory tourism planning has been a continued learning process for all entities involved and it is still a work in progress in terms of creating an actual sustainable destination, however some important improvements have already been made;
Improving inter-institutional collaboration is vital in order to improve efficiency in developing a sustainable tourism destination, this might be the greatest achievement of this process;
Sharing knowledge between regional government departments, NGOs and tourism companies can enrich the decision-making process and help with finding more innovative and practical solutions for some governance and management problems;
Continuous monitoring of implementation and sustainability indicators is very helpful in order to ensure results;
Maintaining interest and involvement of all stakeholders is very demanding and requires constant attention and feedback. Also, it requires a good understanding of the motivation of each stakeholder, and some care in trying to deliver expected results as well as manage expectations in order to avoid disappointment.

Implementation

Monitoring

Local