Planning phase | PANORAMA

Community-based identification and validation of the restoration site

Local community on their way to the identified restoration site.

Noel Randrianarivelo

The identification and validation of the restoration site was carried out jointly with the local community to promote its adherence to the process. The regional forest service and technicians from the NGO Conservation International (CI) were also included to ensure the technical feasibility of the proposed site.

Local community elders, who know the historical, environmental and topographic context, are usually very good advisers for restoration site choice. They can indicate where degraded mangrove areas (inland) with some remaining plants can be found (the restoration site must have been a mangrove ecosystem in the past). These are usually suitable sites for reforestation/restoration.

The community should be the leading entity in the process, as they are very familiar with the local context and are the beneficiaries. They should have the right to manage the mangrove areas through a formal management contract, because ownership gives the responsibility and commitment to manage the site sustainably.

From a technical point of view, the following criteria are crucial:

Existing flood zone during low tides and present canals;
Soil type (muddy or sandy-muddy) and pH;
The salinity of the water must be brackish.

Local knowledge and participation is crucial to ensure the sustainability of the restoration sites. In our case, the identification of the restoration site without the knowledge of the local elders would have been much more difficult and time-consuming, as we are not familiar with the area and little information is available on some areas in Madagascar.

Planning phase

Local

Partnerships

AREECA project officials and government interacting with Gomeza Community and pupils at Gomeza Primary School, Ntcheu, Central Malawipartners

Taken by contributor who authorized use

Although Gomeza Community used Self-drive to restore the forest reserve, the community attracted attention from government and non-governmental organisations. The partnerships led to provision of technical capacity building to the community on sivicultural aspects. Other insitutions also supported the community in their vision. This led to reduced resource need per institution to work with the community.

Accommodating
Cooperation
Joint planning

Prevent the duplication of efforts by close cooperation and joint planning

Building trust and improved networking are key elements of starting partnerships

Ecosystem Discovery

www.sfsmw.org

We conducted a scoping baseline survey on how best to carry out our restoration efforts with our women in Kavuzi and Sanga

We have a founding team of experts in resource assessments and livelihood assessments.

Targeted interventions work and assist in dealing with the root cause of problems

Planning phase

Local

Youth engagement

Tree Nursery management

Yes

Youth centric approach

Leadership and capacity building of community members and school learners.

Engaging the youths is vital for sustainable development and build back better

Documentation and dissemination of results

Review phase

Entirety

Local

Self-help

Capacity building training

Yes

The project used locally available personnel and resources hence ensuring sustainability.

Strong local leadership from the community and primary school was the most important enabling factor.

Future belongs to the organised.

Documentation and dissemination of results

Review phase

Entirety

Local

Localizar los bosques secundarios y sus propietarios en el área de interés.

UBICACION DE UNIDADES DE MANEJO

CODEFORSA

El área de bosque secundario en Costa Rica, está identificada en el mapa desarrollado por SINAC en el año 2014, este mapa identifica los tipos de bosque para todo el país. Las propiedades donde se ubica el bosque, se identificaron por medio de los registros catastrales de las municipalidades de San Carlos y Los Chiles, que son información pública, se determinó quienes eran los propietarios de estas áreas de bosque.

Se visitaron los propietarios que tuvieran 10 hectáreas o más de bosque secundario, se les presentó el proyecto y se les planteó si tenían interés en participar, donde el aporte del propietario era facilitar el acceso al bosque para realizar una evaluación del estado silvicultural del mismo y posterior al análisis de los datos determinar el o los tratamientos silviculturales a desarrollar para consolidar el sitio como bosque, mejorar la estructura vertical y horizontal del mismo y a mediano y largo plazo obtener beneficios económicos del aprovechamiento de sus servicios ecosistémicos. En total se obtuvo anuencia de 14 propietarios de bosque para implementar las actividades del proyecto.

- Se contaba con información digital de las áreas de bosques secundarios a nivel nacional y regional.

- Se contaba con la normativa de ley aprobada para identificar los bosques secundarios a nivel de definición.

- La información pública de los propietarios de las fincas a nivel digital que poseen las municipalidades fue vital para localizar a los dueños de los bosques.

- La Región Norte del país tiene cultura forestal por lo que no fue dificil motivar a los propietarios de fincas en participar del programa de manejo de bosque secundario.

- A pesar que a nivel de mapas se tenga como bosque secundario áreas de cobertura forestal, las mismas siempre deben ser visitadas para verificar el uso, tiende a confundirse con plantaciones forestales en abandono o repastos con mucha presencia de árboles.

- Los bosques secundarios corresponden con áreas muy fragmentadas por lo que lograr un impacto grande requiere de mucho esfuerzo.

- Se deben tener muy claros los objetivos del proyecto a la hora de plantearlos al propietario del bosque para lograr llegar con el restauración adecuado donde el fin primordial es el mantenimiento del bosque en sus funciones ecosistémicas.

Planning phase

Inception phase

Local

Holding activities to build capability and improve awareness

The ABS project has been widely promoted throughout Guangxi, with about 50 promotional activities, 20 training sessions and related meetings, and more than 10,000 participants online and offline, to help with Guangxi ABS legislation and benefit-sharing.

These activities not only enhance the capacity building of relevant personnel, but also raise public awareness of biodiversity conservation and benefit-sharing.

Public awareness of - and public support for - program activities ensures success.

Planning phase

Inception phase

Implementation

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

Subnational

National

Conduct a baseline survey on biological genetic resources and related traditional knowledge

The project team investigated, collected, and summarized the protection, development, utilization, and benefit-sharing of 30 exemplar genetic resources in Guangxi, carried out case investigations and research on the development and utilization of traditional knowledge related to genetic resources of five ethnic minorities in Guangxi Zhuang, including Zhuang, Yao, Maonan, Mulao and Jing ethnic groups.

The establishment of a database for biogenetic resources and their related traditional knowledge in Guangxi, together with the Survey on the Status Quo of Biogenetic Resources and Their Development and Utilization in Guangxi and the Management Requirements, Guangxi Traditional Knowledge Case Study Report and Guangxi Traditional Knowledge Cataloging Report.

The provision of scientific guidance is required for the proper protection, development, utilization and sharing of biogenetic resources in Guangxi.

Improve the construction of the access and benefit-sharing system for biogenetic resources

Guangxi establishes a cross-sectoral coordination and cooperation mechanism and a stakeholder coordination mechanism. A management mechanism for access and benefit sharing of biogenetic resources is established under the comprehensive governance of the department in charge of ecology and environment and the supervision of the departments related to development and reform, agriculture and rural areas, forestry, etc. The project management is carried out at the provincial, municipal, and county levels so joint efforts can be made in ensuring the access and benefit-sharing of biological heritage resources.

Experts from 31 universities, research institutes, and other relevant units, such as Minzu University of China, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Guangxi University, were hired to form a provincial technical expert team to provide consultation and technical support for the access and benefit-sharing of biogenetic resources in Guangxi.

It is necessary to improve the construction of the access and benefit-sharing system for biogenetic resources.

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

Subnational

National

Collaborative and Comprehensive Training

WAB-Net brings together stakeholders from diverse sectors and backgrounds to participate in uniquely detailed and thorough capacity-building and hands-on trainings. Field teams consisting of ecologists, government officials representing health and environmental ministries, and students and academic faculty are trained to carry out research while keeping themselves and the bats safe. A bat ecologist will spend several weeks each year in the field teaching the team how to capture, handle, sample, and release bats with biosafety considerations woven throughout each step.

A bat ecologist familiar with the unique aspects of the taxonomic group and biosafety practices works in collaboration with regional project partners to design standardized field protocols and subsequently implements the field trainings in each country. This uniquely hands-on approach to training field teams ensures the standardization of field protocols across cultures and disciplines in the region.

WAB-Net serves as the central coordination point for these trainings across the Western Asia region. There is a wide diversity of stakeholders participating, including in their backgrounds and areas of expertise. WAB-Net facilitators learn from the individuals they’re training, creating more culturally relevant lessons. By bringing lessons from one country to another, WAB-Net can enable conversations and collaboration over areas of shared interest, furthering partnerships that would have otherwise been politically difficult to build.