Enhance community's capacity to manage the environment, recognizing that over 80% of environmental issues occur in rural areas. This underscores the importance of upskilling and empowering them to improve environmental management.

The integration of sustainable agriculture and landscape management practices in land restoration efforts is crucial in conserving soil and water, promoting biodiversity, and mitigating climate change. This approach also improves livelihoods, enhances ecosystem services, and builds resilience. To achieve this, we conducted thorough assessments, engaged local farmers and other stakeholders, developed context-specific plans, provided training, monitored progress, and foster policy support. This ensures a holistic and sustainable restoration of degraded lands, benefiting both people and the environment, including water resources. It's important for the community to collaborate, contribute, and learn effective environmental management approaches to ensure the project's long-term sustainability and unsustainable agricultural practices.

Some community members had heard of success stories from elsewhere but were pessimistic, considering the unpaying efforts they had already put into restoring the area. Sensitization meetings were conducted regarding the hydrological restoration approach to ensure that the community was adequately included. Through VAJIKI CFA, the community was informed of the upcoming hydrological activity. Through the village heads, 30 communities participated in the hydrological restoration and monitoring training. 

Regular communication with the local community throughout the hydrological restoration project ensured ongoing involvement and support. This engagement helped keep the community informed, addressed their concerns and fostered a sense of ownership over restoration efforts.

This project was initiated against the backdrop of an existing community forest association (VAJIKI) that had expressed interest in the conservation of mangroves. The community had already been engaging in planting mangroves, but in this specific area, attempts had yet to bear fruit. Although no meaningful salt production took place, salt pans had earlier on been excavated in the area, resulting in the clearing of about 10 ha of mangroves. The site had since remained bare due to the extremely high salinity levels that hindered the recovery of mangroves even upon abandonment of salt production. 

Guiding the restoration efforts based on research and ecological principles ensured that the hydrological interventions were scientifically sound and ecologically appropriate. This approach involved applying research findings to address specific challenges related to water flow, salinity, and mangrove health.

During the project, the partners involved were different users of the Vanga mangrove, both directly and indirectly, and all depended on the existence of the forest to accomplish their uses. These include fishermen, beekeepers, dagaa processors, Vanga Blue Forest, researchers, Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, Kenya Forest Service and WWF-Kenya. This was necessary for successful hydrological restoration. This collaboration ensured that resources were shared, efforts were coordinated, and the restoration process benefited from diverse expertise.

Field-based training allowed community members to gain practical involvement and experience in the process of hydrological restoration. The community members to be engaged in the activities were identified through the village heads and VAJIKI CFA officials. Meetings were first held with opinion leaders in the village before extrapolating to the larger community. They then went through training, which was mainly field-based. The community was trained on general mangrove restoration and on how to create a (fishbone) network of channels in the degraded site to facilitate free and almost simultaneous flooding of the area. Hydrological restoration was trained in the field, allowing the community to observe and appreciate the baseline conditions and the modifications that could be made.

The project involved engaging the local community in a baseline survey to assess the hydrological conditions and the appropriate restoration approach. The survey aimed to gather information on water flow, salinity levels and mangrove health, which are necessary for designing effective hydrological restoration strategies.

A reference framework for the implementation of Social and Environmental Safeguards was implemented, based on the World Bank's operational policies, as well as on the national and international legal and regulatory framework on safeguards. Safeguards are defined as those actions taken to ensure that the environmental and social impacts derived from productive activities can be identified and mitigated through the implementation of good practices. These were designed as a risk mitigation management system, but also to increase the positive impacts of the subprojects implemented. The development of a framework for the implementation of the Safeguards component ensured that this component operated transversally in all actions and stages of the project. This promoted the implementation of specific strategies and actions at the subproject implementer level, under the principles and standards established for achieving social and environmental objectives. As part of the implementation of safeguards for the MDE Mexico Project, Environmental Management Plans (EMP) were designed to identify the mitigation measures that each subproject had to implement to avoid or mitigate possible negative social and environmental impacts associated with its productive activity, thereby enhancing the benefits of each initiative. Its construction was carried out in a participatory manner, together with the selected beneficiaries, as part of the process for the integration of technical proposals and planning documents for each subproject.

MDE Mexico designed a Monitoring and Evaluation System to measure its performance at different levels, which allowed reporting its results and lessons learned. This system was based on documentary evidence of the activities carried out during the implementation of the initiative, as well as on the information reported by project beneficiaries and the operation of the Information and Complaint Request System, linked to compliance with the project's safeguards. In this sense, the creation of mechanisms and tools to obtain first-hand information from the beneficiaries, under participatory and inclusive processes, was fundamental for its operation, for which the Subproject Monitoring and Participatory Evaluation System (SiMyEPS) was designed and implemented. This system brought together a set of principles, processes and participatory tools, so that the beneficiary groups themselves could measure their performance by monitoring, analyzing and reporting progress in the fulfillment of their activities and results. By documenting in this way the fulfillment of activities and objectives, the beneficiaries obtained relevant information to strengthen decision-making in their productive projects, improve their management and contribute to transparency.

In Mexico, there are barriers that hinder access to sources of financing for productive projects led by women and young people in the rural context, particularly those associated with land tenure and access to positions of participation, community and technical leadership. In addition, lack of access to training opportunities, limited experience, as well as technological and communication limitations, represent a major obstacle for these groups, not to mention the cultural aspects that are often incompatible with their involvement in community economic life. In this context, MDE Mexico addressed the social inclusion approach in a cross-cutting manner, through actions that favored the participation of women, youth and people without recognized agrarian rights or residents. The design of the Social Inclusion Window (VIS) made it possible to define specific financing strategies to facilitate the participation of these people and their inclusion in community development. These strategies resulted in an increase in the participation of women and young people in the identification and implementation of productive activities in forest territories.