The long-term presence and commitment of the Wildlife Conservation Society in the Mbe Mountains has been crucial for conservation success. CAMM lacks capacity and funding so WCS facilitated regular CAMM meetings and promoted necessary dialogue required between the nine communities. The presence of an independent NGO helped broker trust between the communities and to develop a common vision. A draft management plan has been produced and CAMM received support to work with the Boki Local Government to develop community bylaws for the Mbe Mountains. WCS has also helped to build the capacity of CAMM, mentoring them to develop their own funding proposals and with report writing and financial management. WCS is also assisting CAMM with the construction of a new headquarters.

A boundary has been demarcated around a central core area of some 100km2 within which there is no hunting or collection of forest produce allowed. A team of 14 community rangers were recruited by WCS from the nine communities to enforce community rules and regulations established by CAMM. These community rangers are employed by WCS and supervised by a resident WCS project manager. Daily patrols have reduced levels of hunting dramatically, and hunting is now much lower in the Mbe Mountains than in surrounding government-managed protected areas. Ranger patrols collect data using handheld devices that are automatically downloaded at the end of each patrol. Ranger morale and pride was developed and encouraged through training and provision of field equipment including uniforms.

The nine communities surrounding Mbe were helped to come together to form a single community organization to represent their interests and promote conservation. In the past, these communities have not always cooperated readily and there is some historic distrust and rivalry. The Conservation Association of the Mbe Mountains (CAMM) was created with a written constitution and officers elected to a General Assembly, Management Committee, Board of Trustees and a Technical and Supervisory Stakeholders Group. Regular CAMM meetings now promote dialogue and have improved trust between the nine communities. CAMM also represents local interests and perspectives when dealing with local and state government. WCS facilitated legal registration of CAMM in 2013 and is supporting capacity building of CAMM and construction of a headquarters.

Identification of the services and goods provided by mangroves to facilitate proper management and conservation across different sectors. This work was done by EEAA and NBSAP. Part of the evaluation was for example a biological study that was conducted on mangrove trees (height, volume, density, fruit production, and flowering period) proved that mangrove habitats are portrayed by high biodiversity.

Monitoring of the replanted seeds and seedlings to encounter the survival rate. Statistical analysis about survival rate in different places was conducted.

1. Reducing pressure over mangroves by reducing the impact on the original mangrove stands, putting a fence around replanted stands, cleaning of oil and solid waste pollution of the existing mangrove stands. 2. Taking seedlings and seeds away from impacted area and plant them into designated places. 400 seedlings were transplanted to the nursery side at Gharqana area in Nabq protected on 16/7/2006. After three and half years around 255 seedlings were still alive. The work was done by the staff of EEAA together with volunteering local people. The location was chosen by experts.

Participatory approach with local people about mangrove importance • Shoreline protection • Nursery grounds for fish and shrimps • Livelihood sustaining To make people aware of their dependence on the ecosystem.

For Wallasea Island, the public was largely content with creating new habitat in place of low-productivity agricultural land, but objected to the loss of farmland and potential impacts on recreation sailing, oyster fisheries and estuary processes. Another issue was the sense that past generations had worked hard to reclaim these areas from the sea and that this should not be reversed. However, according to the Environment Agency’s flood risk maps, the project estimated that hundreds of years of such reclamations had resulted in thousands of hectares along the Essex coastline that should be inundated. Extensive public engagement and consultation processes were thus carried out during the planning and inception phases of this project to gain understanding and support. Public engagement took place in the form of consultation events, talks to interest groups, site visits for key stakeholders, new updates for involved stakeholders, the establishment of a Local Liaison Group and the appointment of a public engagement manager in April 2010.

The Dartmoor Mires Project explores the effects of restoration work on degraded areas of high quality blanket bog, using experimental, low-key gully-blocking techniques to reduce erosion and promote regeneration of moorland bog vegetation. All sites selected within the pilot project are subject to erosion encroaching onto high quality blanket bog on peat up to seven meters in depth. To slow and ideally reverse peat loss, peat from within and immediately around the gullies is used to form small blocks across the gullies. Rainwater is held behind these, forming a series of small shallow pools enabling the water table to recover in previously degraded areas. This also protects the bog from being damaged where it is still in good condition. The pools provide ideal conditions for bog plants to naturallyr ecolonise. Only peat/peat turves are used to form the blocks within the gullies, ensuring a low impact, unobtrusive result. The aim is that all remaining unvegetated peat will be covered by water following rainfall. The performance of the peat-only technique was assessed and will continue to be monitored in the coming years to potentially encourage its application in other areas where similar erosion is threatening the blanket bog.

The scale of restoration and broad scope of stakeholders impacted by and interested in the Dartmoor Mires project lead to a diversity of often competing interests and highlighted the need to align those interests behind a shared goal and ensure a productive environment for maximizing the efficiency and effectiveness of the planning and implementation processes. The project thus utilized an inclusive partnership - the ‘Dartmoor Mires Partnership’ - to enable access to the necessary resources, expertise, experience and perspectives, secure a high level of commitment and aspirations from those involved, and ensure that a wide range of interests were considered as the project developed. The partnership also served to gather evidence to inform partners’ decision-making and planning for the future and draw out learning from this pilot for the benefit of the partnership and wider audiences. The partnership contained organisations with a range of different roles and responsibilities in respect to Dartmoor in general and the Mires habitat in particular. The project evaluation has shown that how a restoration project of this type is organised is as important to its success as the techniques it deploys on the ground.