The project team facilitated the development of the supporting documents  required to enhance the capacity of the network and finalize the formal registration as an NGO in Zanzibar. The documents developed included the operational manual and the strategic plan. In addition, the website was developed. A consultancy was paid to aid the network to take the necessary steps needed for the registration. 

National Mangrove Ecosystem Management Plan 2017-2027 provides for establishment of National and County Mangrove Management Committees to serve as advisory organ to inform Kenya Forest Service on the technical issues regarding mangrove management. The committees at national and in the five counties of Kwale, Mombasa, Kilifi, Tana River and Lamu, have been established and operationalized. Their membership comprise of technical experts for mangrove ecosystem relevant disciplines, including; Forestry, Fisheries, Wildlife, Water, Land, and Climate, and representatives of communities and Civil Society/Non-governmental organizations.

Following the mapping of the key actors in the WIO region, the consortium approached (confirm with Fidy or Modesta) the WIOMN on the eventual collaboration related to mangrove conservation. The need of the registration and capacity building were identified jointly. The needed activities were budgeted in the proposal.  

The IOC requires that all Olympic Forest Network projects “be developed and implemented in collaboration with the relevant experts and authorities.” All six projects that are currently part of the Network not only take this requirement into account but establish it as a corner stone of their implementation.

For example, the Papua New Guinea project involves a partnership between the NOC, local communities, the National Fisheries Authority, and the Conservation and Environment Protection Authority. The Slovenian project is partnered with the Slovenian State Forestry Company; the Spanish with the Ministry of the Environment and the Federation of Spanish Municipalities; while the Portuguese project has the technical support of the governmental Institute for Nature and Forest Conservation (ICNF) and the Abramud e Sentido Verde association. 

Requiring partnerships between NOCs and environment experts ensures that projects running under the Olympic Forest Network are as relevant and effective as can be with regards to nature conservation. Partnering with local experts and organisations also ensures that the Network can have meaningful impact not only on the environment, but also on the local communities where projects are run. Moreover, it facilitates local interest in, and ownership of, environmental work. 

While following the direction and guidance of the IOC, NOCs are best placed to design and implement projects complying with the IOC’s global standards at local level. This means that the IOC can support and promote environmental projects, while benefiting from expertise that the NOCs can provide in the local context through. This implementation method not only promotes local solutions to global problems, but also increases local ownership, empowers local communities, and promotes cooperation between sports, local environmental groups and indigenous peoples.  

In Brazil, for example, the “Brazil Olympic Committee Olympic Forest” project aims to restore a damaged part of the Tefé National Forest in the Amazon and is executed together with the Mamirauá Institute of Sustainable Development. Besides restoration, the project’s objective is to reinforce the sustainable use of the forest by the local community through planting key species such as Brazilian chestnut and açaí or providing training to the local community. 

Training and upskilling of local communities (on mangrove planting/rehabilitation) is one of the main objectives also of the Papua New Guinea Olympic Committee’s “Love Your Coast Project” where they aim to train “Love Your Coast Champions”, who are to lead small conservation projects in their communities

The use of scientific data and analysis provides a sound and sustainable basis to develop scenarios and provide information for the design of sustainable plans, projects and activities. Given specific knowledge may not be always a working tool, particularly when GIS and scenario and data analysis is referred to, it is important to ensure and to include the need IT and specialist that may build knowledge, capacities and awareness in all development and biodiversity practitioners.

For this the project supported the technical contribution of a specialist and developed a series of power point to explain and to train the beneficiaries on its use and on the use of the provided scenarios, as development and ecosystems-based planning tools.

For the integration of multi-sectorial data and multiple partners databases, as well as post action awareness raising efforts, IUCN mobilised its members, donor community, conservation actors and biodiversity and GIS specialists, around the Government technical group. Along the document development, several meetings were organised to ensure engagement and participation, with the focus on wider and qualitative data. The partnerships contributed for actors coordination, integration of several studies and the inclusion and the links to biodiversity components, particularly mangroves.

The exercise facilitated a joint and common voice on mangrove protection and status to the Nairobi Secretariat, to WIOMSA and furthermore to the integration on and support to the Global Mangrove Alliance and to the Great Blue Wall.

The exercise was complimented with a training of trainers MSP workshop that built capacities in planning specialist to integrate coastal and marine components into local development plans.

Green recovery measures which invest in ecosystem restoration and management (e.g. wetland restoration) offer opportunities for creating employment for local communities through surplus labour in the short-term while building medium to long-term resilience through healthy ecosystems. 

During the pandemic, with unprecedented challenges to lives and livelihoods, there was widespread economic and social disruption, with an increased risk of people falling into extreme poverty and further exploitation of available natural resources. In these scenarios, marginalised communities such as farmers, fishers and urban workers who had to return to their villages were most at risk of poverty, malnutrition, and disease.

Waged and self-employed workers were expected to rely on natural resources as market chains were affected by the pandemic. Moreover, wise use of natural resources was not a priority in this crisis and thus foreseen that ecosystems would be (over)exploited. Designing and implementing measures to restore ecosystems would therefore be useful not only to meet the immediate needs of the population, but also to safeguard future interests and build the economic, social, and climatic resilience of communities and other ecosystem dependants. 

With this in mind, two of the pilot sites (Bhitarkanika in Odisha and Point Calimere in Tamil Nadu) have implemented green recovery activities, which support direct wages through ecological restoration activities.

BioInvest works with the Investment Readiness Program to bridge the gap between enterprises and impact investors. This programme educates enterprises with three training packages on key techniques and tools to present companies attractively to investors. BioInvest also organises matchmaking events to bring companies and investors together.