Sand dams (some times called more general groundwater dams) store water under the ground. A sand dam is a small dam build above ground and into the riverbed of a seasonal sand river. Sand accumulates upstream of the dam, resulting in additional groundwater storage capacity. Similar to sand dam a subsurface dam obstructs the groundwater flow of an aquifer and stores water below ground level. Sand and subsurface dams are suitable for rural areas with semi-arid climate in order to store only seasonal available water to be used in dry periods for livestock, minor irrigation as well as for domestic use.

Benefits include:

• Storage of rain water in seasonal rivers
• Minimum evaporation since water is stored in sand
• Reduction of contamination by livestock and other animals since water is under sand
• Filtration of water flowing through the riverbed sand improves water quality

The campaign employs a multi-stakeholder approach by ensuring that relevant stakeholders including the relevant Government Ministries, Schools, Private Sector, Farmers, Media, PELUM Kenya member organizations and othe CSOs are involved in the campaigns as a strategy of enhancing sustainability of the project beyond the project period.

The project targets the wider public through mass awareness creation so as to raise awareness on the need to grow and eat organic foods.

Media is embraced to reach to the wider public through both electric and print media methods. This includes continuous update of PELUM Kenya’s social media sites with organic food and farming messages. The media practioners are also invited to cover and air the various activities.

It also targets to build capacity of small scale farmers to further embrace organic foods and farming for healthy environments and people. This is done through exchange visits to successful organic enterprises and organic exhibitions.

As a way of enhancing the spirit of networking within PELUM Kenya network, all the member organizations of PELUM Kenya in the focus areas are involved in all aspects of this project.

The Treverton Wildlife Area was developed as an educational facility.  Action Learning, Learning by Doing, Outdoor Education and Capacity Building educational processes where implemented to develop a biodiversity improved and enriched area. The facility allowed/allows learners to participate directly with the environmental projects ‘at home’ with projects for biodiversity. 

Learners actively conduct action learning projects which are either teacher driven (lower grades) or learner driven (higher grades) or a combination thereof to perform specific outcomes related to biodiversity rehabilitation. The projects are conducted under guidance with the emphasis being on education processes, youth empowerment and capacity building.  The improved biodiversity is not the primary motivation for the activities but rather an outcomes.

Outdoor Education programmes are conducted in the TWA with the purpose of individual growth, environmental interaction, mental health, outdoor skills, improve communication and decrease stress levels.

Capacity Building projects are conducted with educators in the region.  The teachers participate in activities within skills development courses related to biodiversity.  Teachers are then able to implement these activities with their own learners and in their areas.

A food forest is designed to be resilient towards environmental change in order to fulfill the goal of being sustainable. Resilience stresses the ability to 1) sustain the community when no external resource is accessible and 2) recover from disturbances such as climate change, destruction or vandalism.

The way resilience works is to a) maximize autonomy in water, nutrients, energy, and food and b) keep the environment and people healthy. The Beacon Food Forest is equipped with a rainwater collector and compost bins to store water and generate nutrients from onsite organic matters such as leaf litter, branches, and green manures. Although we do not have solar panels or wind turbines, our energy lies within the community who contributes their manpower. With the above, we can slowly accomplish food autonomy and sustain the local community.

Keeping the environment and people healthy is the key to allow for quick recovery. The Beacon Food Forest practices permaculture gardening to keep chemicals out of the land and the land productive at any time so that when faced with destructive events, plants may grow back within the shortest time frame.

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. 

Competence development of forest tenants and of State Forest Enterprises (SFE) is likewise an important element of integrative forest management.

On the one hand, training on forest management techniques is required either directly for the forest tenants, who are often new to forest management, or for the local forester and other employees of the SFE. The training includes silvio-cultural techniques, such as grafting and pruning, and management of fruit tree species. On the other hand, training on the rights and responsibilities of the two contract parties, the forest tenant, and the SFE is needed.

Additionally, a modular training for forest tenants and foresters to encourage a landscape perspective when planning forest management activities has been developed. Within these training modules, the tenants identify threats and vulnerabilities of their communities and learn how re-and afforestation can be a suitable disaster risk reduction strategy. Further, land use conflicts on forest land are addressed and the training provides a platform to exchange and identify solutions, e.g. regulating if, when and how much livestock can graze on forest plots. Moreover, forest tenants learn about the benefits of diverse forest areas and the benefits of planting and grafting local tree species.

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.

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. 

The formalisation of a co-management group provides a space for discussion that favors transparency in available information and in the making of specific decisions.

This space for dialogue with key stakeholders in the fishery, whose opinions are correctly validated by their constituent base, enables all stakeholders to work together in the design of a management plan.

This ensures that the measures that will be implemented to achieve sustainability will be respected by the users, since there is full knowledge of decisions and the reasons for taking one or another decision.

This work strategy provides stability and governance to the system.

In this case, it is the Crustacean Management Committee of the Province of Chiloé that must work on the design of a management plan for the Stone crab fishery. In Chile, the law recognizes this co-management instance as an advisory body to the Undersecretary of Fisheries and Aquaculture.

An urban food forest symbolizes the city's ability to be resilient regarding climate change and food security issues. Thus, this system must manifest resiliency in itself, with a minimal vulnerability (to diseases, environmental or governance issues) and a maximal autonomy (energy, nutrients, water resources).

The urban food forest relies little on external resources for water and nutrients. Rainwater is collected through a rainwater collection system and then reused to refill the pond, clean the tools, and water the plants. Deadwood, leaves, fruit peelings, or weeds are composted in several compost bins. They will be transformed into very good quality compost and be reused in the forest garden to provide the plants with all the nutrients they need.

The food forest is made up of "tree guilds" which includes several layers of vegetation who mutually collaborate and help each other to grow faster and healthier. For example, there will be nectar plants to attract pollinators, associated with nitrogen-fixing plants, ground-cover plants to protect from weeds. Therefore, the urban food forest is resilient to environmental fluctuations and needs minimal human energy to be maintained.