Collaboration with Union des Terriens pour le Développement et la Protection de l'Environnement (UTDPE)
UTDPE is a local organization that brings together land chiefs and other customary authorities who must take part in the meetings where decisions are made.
Collaboration with UTDPE in site management has fostered a form of participatory management at the Nkuba site.
The members of the UTDPE are also representatives of the various stakeholder families in the area.
Existence of a memorandum of understanding defining stakeholders' rights
The existing memorandum of understanding defines the rights of community members with regard to site management. These include rights relating to access to the conservation premium, school scholarships, support for socio-economic resilience (agriculture, livestock, fish farming, etc.), field activities, access to the multiple-use zone, etc.
Respect for rights as defined in the memorandum of understanding has led to community involvement in all conservation activities initiated in the area.
With a view to respecting the various rights recognized to local community members, a Nkuba Conservation Area Committee (COCONCA) has been set up, bringing together both community members and the conservation area management committee, so that all stakeholders can participate in decision-making on site management.
Organization of cultural fairs and community assemblies
As an indigenous and community heritage area, Kisimbosa-Chamakasa benefits from a form of governance by indigenous peoples and local communities, in an inclusive and traditional way. Ballets and cultural fairs are regularly organized to showcase works of art, traditional dances and more. The community also has a museum for conserving cultural values and programs for passing on cultural knowledge to younger generations (Child-Nature program), etc.
Through these cultural fairs, community members promote the main cultural attributes present in the Kisimbosa-Chamakasa area. These attributes include mountains, streams and sacred trees. The cultural and spiritual values of nature around the various attributes include the traditional circumcision of young boys in areas set aside for this purpose, periodic communion with the ancestors, traditional rites and cultural dances, etc.
Organizing cultural fairs helps to promote cultural and spiritual values in the area.
Secure land tenure for the site by obtaining CFCL status
To secure its land tenure, the Kisimbosa-Chamakasa site was granted the status of a local community forest concession (CFCL) by Governor's Order N°01/223/CAB/GP-NK/2019 of April 11, 2019 allocating a forest concession to the local community of Bambuti Babuluko in the Bakano sector, Walikale territory.
Modalities for land use and resource extraction are traditional and defined in the site's simple management plan. The few disputes linked to site management or access to resources are managed within the Barza by the college of old customary elders, empowered to apply customary sanctions. The local management committee and the monitoring and evaluation committee are responsible for the day-to-day management and monitoring of the site.
Obtaining the status of a local community forest concession (CFCL) has enabled APAC to secure land tenure.
Community involvement and traditional resource management
Collaboration with ANAPAC and existence of a local site management structure (APACLI)
Agroecology Field School
Group of participants in the El Nogal Agroecology Field School.
GIZ/Fabiola Budde
Young people are trained in sustainable production techniques.
GIZ/Fabiola Budde
Participants discuss the importance of organic agriculture for the biosphere reserve.
GIZ/Fabiola Budde
The El Nogal Agroecology Field School arose from the need to create a space where women can learn and learn about the good practices implemented by their owners, but above all to empower them in agroecological production techniques that allow them to move from the conventional agrochemical production model to a more friendly and sustainable one. El Nogal is part of the group of Model Farms that PROCAMBIO promoted in the biosphere reserve, which are a productive unit that integrates good agricultural practices (GAP), where the family produces a diversity of agricultural, forestry and energy products to meet basic needs, while promoting sustainable development and applying measures to adapt to climate change.
Create an agroecological training center where women can be trained in agroecology, environmental resilience and climate change, among others.
Implement a training model for learning by doing, on organic fertilizers, biofoliars, soil recovery, native seeds and others.
The leadership of the owners of the Agroecology School has inspired students, producers and technicians from other organizations to become agents of change in a more participatory and sustainable biosphere reserve.
Creating learning spaces allows women to be empowered in conservation and agroecological production, as well as to become involved in the sustainable development of their communities.
The training processes not only generate competencies in the participants, but also self-confidence and agribusiness skills.
The Model Farms can be used as centers for the transfer of production methodologies with measures to adapt to climate change, such as soil protection, crop diversification, integration of agroforestry systems, agricultural production without the use of agrochemicals, production of organic fertilizers, among other adaptation measures.
Group of participants in organic fertilizer preparation workshop
GIZ/Fabiola Budde
Women produce solid organic fertilizers to be applied to different crops.
GIZ/Fabiola Budde
It is important to recognize the fundamental role of women in agriculture and rural development, as they are responsible for food production and household food security. However, they often face challenges and inequalities in access to resources, knowledge and economic opportunities. Given this reality, PROCAMBIO adopted a gender mainstreaming strategy to promote capacity building on various topics to all family members, in order to ensure women's participation in agroecological practices and provide tools to contribute to their sustainable livelihoods and empowerment.
Promoted the knowledge and application of organic agricultural practices in workshops and diploma courses.
Workshops were organized on mushroom production as an alternative for sustainable income generation.
Agroecological field schools were established for the training of women, as spaces for learning and generating livelihoods in harmony with the environment.
Despite the fact that women are responsible for the family gardens, cultural patterns limit their participation in training processes; therefore, the projects should include guidelines that encourage their inclusion in order to provide tools and knowledge on more sustainable production alternatives for women.
Women's participation is important in agriculture and generates pride and personal satisfaction among producers, as well as promoting the participation of young women as part of the generational relay in the biosphere reserve.
Agroecology promotes safe production for consumption, implements ecologically balanced, socially just and economically viable production systems, and is based on knowledge and appreciation of natural processes through the use of organic and sustainable practices that contribute to reducing the impacts of climate change.
Swearing in of the board of directors of the Women's Network.
GIZ/Fabiola Budde
Indigenous Women's Meeting.
GIZ/Fabiola Budde
The Women's Network of the Cacique Lempira Lord of the Mountains Biosphere Reserve (RBCLSM) emerged as a need for a group of women leaders and technicians from the Municipal Women's Offices (OMM) to involve women in the management of the biosphere reserve. It functions as an operational body of the biosphere reserve's Local Management Committee, developing activities that empower and involve women in natural resource management and sustainability. Another of the network's attributes is to strengthen not only the technical team of the municipalities on biosphere reserve issues, climate change and its link to their rights as women, but also women's groups organized by the territory's WMOs.
Increased impact on events, workshops and meetings that contribute to training on issues that affect women, such as migration due to climate change, as well as biosphere reserve management, indigenous women and biodiversity, among others.
Creation of a digital magazine to promote women-led entrepreneurship in the biosphere reserve.
The network has contributed to strengthening the leadership of young women as part of the generational relay, so that they can assume leadership positions in the management of the biosphere reserve.
Creating training opportunities for women allows them to become involved in agrifood production and contribute to the generation of family income.
Involve women in the different local organizations, allowing women to be inserted and participate with voice and vote in spaces that, due to the historical context, have been very masculine.
Revaluing the ancestral knowledge of indigenous women, who participate not only in the care of their families, but also in the care of common goods, i.e. water, soil and biodiversity.
Identifying mangrove restoration opportunities in three intervention regions
Through participatory Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM)assessments in Guinea Bissau’s three geographical zones, Cacheu, Quinara, and Tombali, TRI was able to identify mangrove restoration opportunities in ten sites (five in the Cacheu, two in Quinara, and three in Tombali) and confirm the 1200 ha of mangrove landscape to be restored during the project’s implementation. The ROAM processes, which took place between 2020 and 2021, included all parts of the community discussing what the village priorities are, especially in regard to rice farming, one of the main competing priorities for mangrove restoration. Additionally, the processes also facilitated the development of the definition of intervention zones and the initiation of mangrove and rice field restoration. The implementation of the ROAM assessments ultimately contributed to the development of the project’s policy tools such as the National Mangrove Law and National Mangrove Strategy by enabling the actors and stakeholders involved in mangrove landscapes to move away from singular sites and consider the landscapes as a whole. Providing community input into village priorities and what a buffer zone in the law should look like, localized information was able to help develop the national policies.
In order to conduct the ROAM assessments, TRI conducted trainings in November 2019, providing technicians with theoretical training in participatory territorial diagnosis tools. Guaranteeing those who were conducting the assessments were properly informed on the processes, TRI ensured the assessments adequately identified restoration opportunities and village priorities.
The ROAM assessments provided valuable lessons, including what restoration opportunities existed in the three landscapes, as well as what the various village priorities were. The participatory diagnoses also provided information on what buffer zones in the National Mangrove Law and National Mangrove Strategy should be designed. As rice production involves the use of mangroves, a buffer zone and process for negotiation over rice production and restoration is necessary for the sustainable implementation of mangrove policies. The ROAM processes further enabled the landscape approach to be applied to mangrove restoration and rice field rehabilitation and to define the overall restoration strategy at a national level. Ultimately, the implementation of the ROAM tools has enabled the actors and stakeholders in mangrove restoration to move away from singular sites and to consider the landscapes as a whole.
