Local | PANORAMA

Elaborate a Zoning Proposal and Restoration Plan.

The objective of this building block is to provide the technical teams with the technical parameters to identify the sites where restoration should be carried out and the selection of effective actions for ecosystem recovery.

Zoning requires: 1) identification of areas for natural and assisted recovery, 2) areas for reforestation with native and endemic plants, and, 3) areas with potential for environmentally friendly productive activities.

The proposal for restoration actions includes: 1) the selection of activities to be implemented for each zoned area, 2) the estimation of resources needed to implement the restoration activities, 3) the distribution of responsibilities according to the competencies and resources available to the interested parties, and 4) the time required to implement actions taking into account the scope and resources available.

The quality of the previous diagnoses, the experience of the technical staff that accompanies these processes and the active participation of the stakeholders, facilitates decision making and the most cost-effective selection of restoration activities at the intervention sites.

The ecosystem functions to be restored, as well as the ecological and social context, determine the type of activities to be chosen and the geographic area to be intervened:

Where opportunities exist to enhance biodiversity at the landscape level, activities should concentrate on sites located in or around protected areas or other forests of high conservation value.
Where degradation has led to ecosystem functioning failures, activities should be concentrated along riparian strips, steep slopes, etc.
Where opportunities exist to improve human well-being and, in particular, to support income-generating activities, priority areas should be appropriate sites for the production of high-value species.

Elaborate a Diagnosis on the State of Biodiversity and Socio-Economic Situation.

Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of the Dominican Republic

Flowchart of the Ecological Restoration Process in Dominican Republic

Ministerio de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales de Republica Dominicana

The objective of this building block is to provide technical teams with the biological parameters necessary to determine the current state of an ecosystem in order to determine the appropriate restoration measures to be implemented in that specific ecosystem.

The diagnosis of the state of the biodiversity is done by documentary review and field visits, where we perform: 1) identification of the site including the composition, structure, and different strata that make up the ecosystem, 2) description of the ecosystem services, 3) floristic composition, 4) diversity of vertebrate and invertebrate fauna groups, 5) presence of invasive species, and 6) identification of threats and degradation factors.

The socio-economic situation is carried out by documentary review and field visits, where the following is done: 1) identification of the current users of the site, 2) description of the productive activities carried out by the users, 3) clarification of the land tenure status of the site, 4) identification of local actors with presence in the territory, 5) identification of the potential local development with ecologically sustainable activities.

The sites should be referably of high national interest for the provision of ecosystem goods and services for the population and the conservation of existing Natural Protected Areas that are legally endorsed.
Have resources available for the incorporation of additional analysis such as GIS and other technological tools, which facilitate the delimitation and rapid characterization of the sites to have a first approximation of the general conditions.

The process can be demanding due to the level of detail and interdisciplinarity required. Therefore, it is necessary to plan the time, human and material resources that will be used for the documentary, geographic and field analyses.

Involve local stakeholders from the beginning to ensure the sustainability of the actions, take advantage of local knowledge and interest in the conservation of ecosystems for the benefits they obtain from them.

step-by-step implementation

the new site management approach will be implemented progressively, in stages. The corresponding deliverables will be proposed and discussed by the site's Scientific Committee and the Natura 2000 site's COPIL.

In order to gradually adapt an exemplary conservation management approach to combat habitat closure, specific studies have been carried out to assess the effectiveness of mowing and grazing, based on changes in vegetation and flora taxa since at least 2010. These studies were based directly on multi-taxon inventories carried out at regular intervals on the marsh. These elements are taken into account in the site's 2023 action plan.

Consequently, short- and medium-term management actions have been identified. In the short term, it is planned to carry out selective clearing and crushing of the overgrown areas (grazed area), with export of the cuttings. Similarly, it is proposed to maintain mowing techniques in the northern zone.

In the medium term, it is recommended to continue ecological monitoring of the conservation status of open environments (every 5 years), as well as monitoring of heritage flora and entomofauna.

Monitoring

Review phase

Local

concerted management

As part of the implementation of the new management plan, a scientific committee will meet regularly to discuss the development of the site and the state of conservation of the natural environment. The effectiveness of concerted, shared governance and management has been demonstrated on the site.

The Scientific Committee brings together experts who have worked on the site, as well as the relevant government and local authorities. It is thus representative of local, institutional and scientific players (also in the context of the site's classification as an APPB (Arrêté Préfectoral de Protection de Biotope).

The effectiveness of concerted, shared governance and management has been demonstrated. As a result, the site is currently involved in :

- work carried out by the Conseil départemental's own management team of 7 agents specialized in work on natural areas;

- work carried out by companies specializing in the management of natural environments, within the framework of public contracts with technical specifications adapted to work in sensitive natural areas (mowing equipment adapted to fragile soils in particular);

- monitoring of the work carried out and its effectiveness, through regular studies carried out by specialized firms, as well as sharing of information at meetings of the Natura 2000 "Basse Vallée du Loing" steering committee and the scientific committee for the Episy marsh.

Implementation

Monitoring

Local

landscape diagnosis and perception

Current management principles (such as late mowing for export) are considered favourable and should be maintained. In order to preserve the mosaic of habitats and landscapes of the low-alkaline peat bog (northern sector), management actions should be considered to contain the cladia that is advancing on typical low-alkaline mire habitats. Localized sprigging could limit the expansion of the Marisque. In addition, management practices need to be correlated and refined with the ecology and location of the heritage species present.

In order to provide a regular diagnosis of the state of health of the site's environments and landscapes, a number of measures are implemented:

regular inventories of vegetation and flora by the Department's service providers to assess the effectiveness of management measures implemented
implementation of a new management plan as of 2023, based on an adapted reference framework, to target the best management measures
creation of a scientific council in 2023, which will meet regularly to discuss the site's evolution

Ecological studies carried out on the site in 2022 and 2023 determined that the ratio of mowing to grazing areas (considering the northern and southern parts of the site) was balanced and conducive to habitat conservation and the maintenance of vegetation diversity. In view of this favorable result, the current split between mowing and grazing is maintained.

With regard to the grazed southern sector, and considering that the overall grazing pressure reflects a punctual trend towards progressive closure (grazing refusals, woody rejections), it was deemed worthwhile to undertake the following actions in the short term:

selective clearing of undergrowth and crushing of overgrown areas, with export of cuttings;
introduce rotational grazing and consider enclosing certain areas.

Lastly, we need to monitor the evolution of the woody cover to justify whether or not it is appropriate to carry out one-off interventions, which can be costly and time-consuming.

Implementation

Monitoring

Local

Identifying high-priority restoration opportunities and interventions through participatory ROAM processes

Through participatory Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM) processes, TRI was able to outline restoration potential by identifying high-priority restoration opportunities, noting feasible restoration intervention types, and assessing finance and investment options. Activities identified included promoting the production of ecological charcoal, developing a plant production sector, and constructing water points in restoration sites. TRI conducted these ROAM assessments in three pilot sub-national landscapes, Waza, Mbalmayo, and Douala-Edea, where local and national stakeholders have been engaged. Pre-validation workshops occurred in each landscape with representatives of government ministries, local council representatives, local community representatives, and community chiefs, while a final report explaining the findings of the assessments was finalized in October, 2021 through a national validation workshop that included representatives from government ministries, international organizations, as well as local representatives and chiefs. Once finalized, a leaflet with the main findings was shared with stakeholders to quickly disseminate information and ensure those who do not have access to the internet can understand the ROAM assessments.

An inclusive and participatory assessment process allowed for findings and recommendations to appropriately consider and represent all of the present and relevant stakeholders. Comprehensive stakeholder consultation meetings included traditional chiefs, heads of community development institutions, local council representatives, women and youth associations, and individual innovators. They covered the needs of restoration, best uses of local knowledge, existing experience gaps, and ongoing restoration activities.

Overall, the participatory ROAM processes provided information on FLR opportunities and options. Through the assessments, TRI Cameroon learned what the priority restoration areas are, which restoration intervention types should be prioritized, what the costs and benefits of the different restoration types are, what the finance and investment options for restoration are, as well as what strategies exist for addressing major policy and institutional bottlenecks in the three pilot landscapes. These findings also presented lessons to be learned around how FLR actions could be modified in implementation on the field and provided real from-the-field data that could be considered in the elaboration of policy tools. Additionally, as one of the first activities undertaken by TRI Cameroon, the ROAM assessments were part of the learning by doing process and provided insight in how the participatory process could be better done in other landscapes.

Implementation

Local

Capacity building and informed decision-making for the monitoring of species

Domain of the male Bonelli’s eagle according to GPS locations

IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation / Francesc Parés & Rafael Bosch

Domain of the female Bonelli’s eagle according to GPS locations

IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation / Francesc Parés & Rafael Bosch

The implementation of the technical architecture and monitoring programme has ensured the availability of a big database of information both of the species and its environment. Data availability is key to ensure that park staff (managers, rangers, technicians, etc.) makes informed decisions when it comes to territory and species management strategies. Besides, the local design of the monitoring programme and the parameters within it, has increased the capacity of the park staff not only to manage it, but also to improve it and eventually apply it to the monitoring of different species and even other phenomena.

It is fundamental to ensure a co-design process, so that park technicians are not only the beneficiaries and end-users of the solution, but are also able to own and self-adapt the monitoring programme. To that end, an initial diagnosis of the capacities of the staff needs to be done, followed by specific training targeting the weaknesses that have been identified.

Currently, camera data is stored within the cameras themselves and technicians have to access and download the data manually. In order to fully implement this architecture, it is desirable to integrate a dual data storage device using both the device’s storage and a cloud service. The goal is to complete this integration to allow for an automatic process that reduces the time allocated to the monitoring process.

Monitoring

Local

Implementation of Good Silvopastoral Practices

The objective of this building block is to provide livestock producers with the technical parameters to implement an optimal silvopastoral system, according to the characteristics of their productive unit and at the same time contributing to restore the ecosystem services of the site.

Good agricultural practices were implemented in three areas: 1) the animal and its management, which includes feeding, health and animal welfare; 2) environment and production, which includes soil, water and forage, as well as waste, manure and effluent management; and, 3) infrastructure for production, with facilities, equipment and tools for cleanliness and product safety.

To make producers aware of the benefits that the introduction of good silvopastoral practices can bring to their productive unit.
Train livestock producers with relevant and current content, accompanied by high quality professionals, with experience and demonstrable results.
Complement the training with technical tours, where the results of implemented measures can be observed, as well as testimonies of people who have benefited from the changes made.

It requires a high level of commitment from livestock producers, both in terms of technical preparation (participation in training and field tours), as well as in the improvement of the systems, compliance with plans and discipline in the continuity of actions while achieving the expected results.
To achieve a commitment of the participants, the training process must be relevant and pedagogically stimulating; this requires a good planning of the process, focused mainly on the duration, as well as on the quality of the training process.
All training material should be mediated and practice-oriented, so that the farmer can put it into practice without much difficulty.

Acoustic monitoring and analyses

Jaguar Spectrogram

Tech4Nature Mexico

The acoustic component of the project holds special significance, as it played a pivotal role in the automatic detection of over 138 species, with 95 of them being integrated into our pattern matching algorithms. This forms a robust foundation for the continuous monitoring of the region over the upcoming years, allowing us to observe how various environmental factors influence species presence

Our success in species detection was made possible through the data collected from the devices and the strategic partnerships we established, particularly with Rainforest Connection. Additionally, local experts played a crucial role in validating species presence.

The integrated passive acoustic monitoring combined with AI techniques allowed for the identification of 95 species. There is a positive correlation between species richness and low-canopy forest cover. Furthermore, the soundscape analyses revealed variations tied to different seasons and habitat types. However, the pilot encountered the challenge of limited training data for rare species. To mitigate this, we conducted multiple rounds of sensor deployment across various seasons.

Implementation

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

Arbimon dashboard

International Symposium

The symposium was guided by Foreign Affairs Office of Hainan Province, Department of Natural Resources and Planning of Hainan Province, Department of Ecology and Environment of Hainan Province, Forestry Department of Hainan Province; and supported by the big data lab of Research Institute for Eco-civilization, CASS, the research think tank of Research Institute for Eco-civilization, CASS, Institute of Zoology Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute for Carbon Neutrality, Tsinghua University, Advanced Interdisciplinary Institute of Environment and Ecology, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Hainan University, Hainan Normal University, Federation of Hainan Academicians, the Sanya Research Base of the Internation Centre for Bamboo and Rattan.

The two-day symposium focused on the theme of “conservation of the flagship species of tropical rainforests-gibbons” “conservation of tropical rainforests’biodiversity, and was held in a combination of online and offline activities.

On the occasion of the third anniversary of the establishment of the Hainan Institute of National Park and the 8th international gibbon day (24th October, 2022), the Forestry Department of Hainan Province, Wuzhishan municipai government, Hainan green island tropical rainforest public welfare foundation, and Hainan Institute of National Park co-sponsored the “2022 tropical rainforest international conservation symposium” themed “protecting tropical rainforest·realizing ecological values”, which was supported by Eco Foundation Global (EFG).

The Conference reached the following concrete results:

Signing of the GGN Charter (Global Gibbon Conservation Network Charter).
l Announcement of the establishment of the first GGN Secretariat at the Hainan Institute of National Park, and the global launch of the GGN Logo.
This is the first of China’s first five national parks, the first domestic conservation research organisations initiated the establishment of international organisations for the protection of cherished species protection, which is of historical significance.
Publish the Global Gibbon Network the declaration of conservation in the form of GGN joining hands with IUCN SSA, with the gibbon as the representative.
Introducing the List of Priority Species for Conservation in Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park with the case of KBAs, and officially releasing the List of Priority Species for Conservation in Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park.

Implementation

Local