The air is abuzz with them as our organization, Support Humanity Cameroon (SUHUCAM), has been helping implement beekeeping, tree planting and other sustainable means of livelihood across the region.

Beekeeping symbolizes more than honey production. It is a means for grassroots livelihoods, which is especially important in Cameroon due to the challenging economic situation, with 55 percent of the population living under the poverty line.

Land degradation and climate change make these economic issues worse, especially for women in the Mbororo community.  

SUHUCAM is an organization focused on building inclusive, self-sufficient and sustainable communities and a world where people live happily in harmony with one another and with nature. They inspire local action to restore local ecosystems and conserve biodiversity. Most importantly they do this while empowering local livelihoods to enact widespread change.

The creation of SUHUCAM and the GLFx Yaoundé chapter

SUHUCAM was founded in 2018 as a development and environmental organization. Our vision is to build inclusive, self-sufficient and sustainable communities and build a world where people live in harmony with one another and with nature. 

We were selected in December 2021 to host the GLFx Yaoundé chapter. It is currently operating in two Regions in the Northwest and Central Regions of Cameroon, but its flagship restoration project, the Bamunkumbit Integrated Community Forest (BICFOR), is located in the Ngoketunjia Division in the Bamenda ecological highlands of Northwest Cameroon. 

The BICFOR restoration initiative was launched in 2019 to restore the ecosystem and biodiversity functions of the degraded remnant montane forest of Bamunkumbit while enhancing the livelihoods of the local and Indigenous populations in adjacent communities.

Our restoration activities include tree planting, promoting natural regeneration, sustainable agriculture, alternative livelihoods support, capacity building and policy advocacy. 

So far, SUHUCAM has planted over 25,000 trees. Not only does this help reforest the region, but it also helps provide alternative livelihoods because many of the species they plant include kola nuts, avocados and oranges, which have high economic value. SUHUCAM has distributed these trees to over 500 smallholder farmers. 

Pairing sustainability with livelihood opportunities

The BICFOR restoration initiative is fully backed by the community. We have had over 300 community volunteers supporting the restoration initiative with 16 of them serving as permanent field volunteers.

When we launched the initiative, we primarily focused on tree planting. Two years later, we realized that the local population was losing interest in the restoration activities and the number of community volunteers supporting our work drastically reduced. 

They needed an activity to alleviate poverty and create economic opportunities within their communities. After organizing a series of sensitization and consultative meetings with local stakeholders, we initiated alternative livelihood activities to address economic and social demands, strengthening resilience and enhancing adaptive capacities to climate change impacts. 

We initially worked with 30 Indigenous Mbororo women. Women are the most vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis. Aside from being a minority group in Cameroon, they also depend entirely on natural resources for their livelihoods, living on hilltops with little access to basic facilities like education, health and potable water. 

Before our intervention, these women were not involved in any form of economic activity and had no voice in decision making in their communities. Only two of the 30 women had received any formal education.

Supporting Mbororo women

In 2023, we scaled the number of beneficiaries to 65 women from 65 households. We organized training workshops on organic vegetable cultivation, entrepreneurship, basic marketing and bookkeeping and donated farm inputs like hoes, cutlasses, wheelbarrows, sprayers and protective shoes and clothing. 

We set up a demonstration farm and engaged the beneficiaries in cultivating organic vegetables like carrots, huckleberry, cabbage and onion.

To ensure the sustainable and continuous self-determination of Mbororo women, we founded the Ma’ate Mbororo Women Common Initiative Group (MAMWO-CIG), the first formal grouping of women in the targeted communities of Awing, Bamunkumbit and Balikumbat. 

At the end of 2022, Jenabou Issah, the secretary of the MAMWO-CIG, expressed gratitude, explaining that the farms had been very beneficial to them. She used some of the vegetables to feed her family and sold the rest. 

In 2023, Mariama Isah, a member of the Awing community we work with, used the proceeds to venture into sheep farming. Today, she has three sheep.

“This year, I only cultivated cabbage and onion because there is a bigger market,” she says. “I made some profit, which I used to buy a sheep. I will continue using my profits to buy more sheep because they are easy to keep.”

Beekeeping brings hope to many

In 2023, we launched beekeeping activities primarily as an income-generating activity for the 16 volunteers supporting our restoration initiative.

This year, through the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) funded project titled: “Tree Planting and Livelihood Development to Restore and Manage Ecosystem Services in the Fragile Ecological Landscape of Bamunkumbit,” we have provided training and donated beekeeping materials to 30 women and young people from pastoralist and farming communities.

The objective of this activity is to help local communities earn a sustainable income that also benefits their natural environments. We also intend through this activity to incentivize and engage pastoralists and smallholder farmers in land restoration and environmental protection. So far, we have donated beehives, bee suits and smokers to three restoration groups. 

Participants were thrilled with the new skills and tools. Local bee farmer Ache Ernest, who had previously struggled with poor yields and unsafe methods, expressed his excitement: “Every year, I could harvest like 20 liters of honey. I sell a liter at XAF 2500 (USD 4.16). This was not enough to take care of my financial needs. I am very happy with this opportunity. I am going to engage more in beekeeping so that I can raise money and go back to school.”

Another farmer, Alot Christopher, shared similar enthusiasm: “I am very happy and grateful for these donations. With the bee suits and beehives, I will now harvest honey at any time of the day. I will also be able to monitor to know when my honey is ready for harvesting.”

Promoting agroforestry

We have also promoted climate-smart agricultural practices like agroforestry and provided capacity building. So far, over 500 farmers are integrating agroforestry practices in their farming systems with trees donated by SUHUCAM/GLFx Yaoundé. 

We have conducted training on the “Plants issues des fragment” (PIF) technique, an innovative approach for banana and plantain suckers multiplication through vegetative techniques. This will enable restoration groups to establish commercial nurseries with a focus on banana and plantain suckers to enhance food security in the Northwest Region.

Plantains and bananas are widely consumed and commercialized in these communities, but production has declined drastically due to disease, soil degradation and the climate crisis. 

To ensure that we amplify the voices of grassroots actors, we have grouped beneficiaries into three restoration groups: the Mbuanumbua Common Initiative Group, the Mayo Ma’ate Common Initiative Group and the Anushini Common Initiative Group.

In total, four restoration groups have been created, and all are now fully operational. 

Looking ahead

The long-term goal of these groups is to inspire grassroots restoration stewardship in the Bamenda Ecological Highland Area, create a beekeeping cooperative, and train members in bee product processing, packaging and marketing to access a larger market. 

We are also excited to create more opportunities in sustainable agriculture and the sustainable management of non-timber forest products. 

Through our initiatives, we enhance food security, reduce extreme poverty and strengthen the resilience of vulnerable communities. We help foster collaboration between pastoralists and smallholder farmers to mitigate conflicts between farmers and wildlife, boost the bee population and help reforest the region. 

We are committed to a greener, brighter future.

The post Alternative livelihood opportunities spread hope in Cameroon appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.

This is the guiding principle for GLFx Nairobi. Founded in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, in 2020, we are a knowledge hub and a community of individuals passionate about restoring Kenya’s landscapes. 

We have realized that knowledge sharing to foster behavior change must always precede environmental intervention. This has defined our approach to our latest project in the Oloolua Forest. 

Dubbed the lungs of Nairobi, the Oloolua Forest is an urban forest ecosystem that covers over 618 hectares across the outskirts of Nairobi.

The forest is a crucial biodiversity hotspot and wildlife refuge in the highly urbanized environment of the Nairobi Metropolitan Area. Gazetted in 1932 as two blocks of over 600 hectares, the forest has since been fragmented into eight blocks to give way to infrastructure projects including roads and the Kenya Standard Gauge Railway.

The forest faces the continued challenges of encroachment and land-grabbing for the development of high-value private homes. The Kenya Forest Service, which manages the forest, works alongside community forest associations and nonprofits such as Friends of Oloolua Forest to conserve and protect the forest.

With support from the Global Landscapes Forum’s GLFx network, GLFx Nairobi is currently carrying out a project aimed at restoring the Oloolua Forest with a specific focus on promoting community-based partnerships for ecosystem restoration. 

Environmental intervention programs often lean towards isolationism in conservation. This is the urge to fence off a threatened ecosystem and keep it free of human encroachment, in hopes that the system will recover.

While this approach has its place, particularly in critically endangered ecosystems, it falls flat in an urban landscape. 

In 2023, for example, at the height of a severe five-month drought, Maasai pastoralists drove over 10,000 herds of cattle into the Oloolua Forest in search of pasture.

While this in itself isn’t strange, as Nairobi is part of the ancestral home of the Maasai community, the cattle ended up destroying over 20,000 trees that had been planted through forest rehabilitation efforts.

The question then becomes: how do we marry the needs of the community and restoration efforts? 

Through the Restore Oloolua Forest project, GLFx Nairobi envisions the restoration of the Oloolua Forest through multi-stakeholder collaboration and using the forest in multiple ways such as promoting ecotourism, collecting firewood for community benefit and reliably sourcing water for local provisions.

Although deforestation is among the greatest sources of carbon emissions globally, cities such as Nairobi have not yet systematically incorporated integrated urban forest management and community support into their climate change agendas and policies. This project aims to flesh out what collaboration in conservation through engagement with all sectors would look like. 

We are driving this vision through a series of activities that address three central ideas: creating awareness to ignite community interest, capacity development to better channel existing interest, and promoting multi-stakeholder collaboration to magnify the impact of community efforts. 

We are mainly raising awareness in schools and religious institutions. GLFx Nairobi is actively training students in primary and secondary schools in tree selection, planting and maintenance as well as tree nursery development.

These students can then become ambassadors who take home and spread the information they acquire in school. We are currently working with five schools bordering the Oloolua Forest, where we have held training sessions on tree selection and planted over 500 trees. 

“The only way the community can remain consistently engaged in the forest’s restoration is if they can derive value from it,” says Christopher Mureithi, chairperson of the Ecotourism User Group at Oloolua.

We are aiming to develop and protect non-intrusive value chains in the forest ecosystem to benefit the local communities. This will be achieved through training workshops on forest and landscape restoration and value chain development for ecotourism, beekeeping and tree nursery forest groups. 

We also train people in social media and digital marketing to introduce these systems to new markets, as well as proposal writing and pitching to attract potential grants and investments into these activities. 

These workshops are designed to not only equip local residents and community representatives with production skills but also open up new markets and expand opportunities for financing. The workshops are targeting 300 members of the forest user groups with a series of training sessions over four months. 

After completing the awareness creation and capacity development workshops, our last activity will be getting everyone to sing the same tune.

Admittedly, this will likely be the most challenging part of the project. Different stakeholders have different interests and expectations of the forest and a delicate balancing act has to be achieved to adequately and sustainably meet all these competing needs. 

The work thus far hasn’t been without its challenges. It remains difficult to accurately determine the economic value of involving local communities in managing forest resources.

This in turn makes it challenging to quantify the effort and input value of the various income-generating activities – and thus how much benefit to the community is sustainable.

From pastoralist herders and wood fuel collectors to beekeepers and camp managers promoting ecotourism, we will need a streamlined value determination method to sustain long-term collaboration. 

Moreover, the Kenya Forest Service and Ngong Hills Metro Community Forest Association remain critically underfunded and under-resourced, which limits their ability to effectively carry out their mandates. Cases of illegal logging and unauthorized fencing off of sections of the forest have at times gone unnoticed for extensive periods.

Nonprofit entities such as Friends of Oloolua Forest have proven instrumental in plugging some of these holes, especially in pursuing litigation to stop fragmentation and development within the forest reserve. 

To address these challenges, GLFx Nairobi seeks to have the Participatory Forest Management Plan (2023–2027) formally recognized by Nairobi and Kajiado counties. The plan identifies management programs based on the forest resources available and how they will be managed by both the Kenya Forest Service and the Community Forest Associations to enhance conservation and promote community livelihoods. 

This participatory management plan will provide an acceptable framework upon which all conservation and related activities will be implemented to ensure that forests in the region are sustainably conserved and managed for the benefit of present and future generations. 

In their song “Glory” from the soundtrack to the movie Selma, American musicians Common and John Legend call for the combined action of the “wisdom of the elders and young people’s energy.” 

Restoring the Oloolua Forest, like most other significant undertakings in landscape restoration, cannot be done in silos. It is only by creating awareness in both younger and older generations about the value of landscape restoration that we will be able to preserve these ecosystems for generations to come.

The post Restoring the Oloolua Forest: Promoting community-based partnerships for ecosystem restoration appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.

• This September, discover the power of African knowledge and action.
• As the climate crisis disproportionately affects the continent, top African scientists and practitioners will convene to drive local solutions for a promising future.
• Meet remarkable local and international leaders working on just and multifaceted approaches to promote sustainable solutions across African landscapes.

Nairobi, Kenya (5 September 2024) – On 17 September, a collective of local, national and international stakeholders will gather to discuss transformative, locally-led landscape solutions to inform policies, build knowledge, and finance and scale up landscape restoration and biodiversity conservation across Africa.

The GLF Africa 2024 Hybrid Conference: Greening the African Horizon will feature leading experts and practitioners in tech and AI, climate, sustainable finance, food systems, social innovation and more, who are setting the continent on the road to a sustainable and prosperous future.

Take a glance at the GLF Africa 2024 lineup:

Ariane Hildebrandt, Director General at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) of Germany. She is responsible for global health, equality of opportunity, digital technologies and food security, including population policy, social protection, education, decent work, data and statistics, sustainable supply chains, water, circular economy, agriculture and rural development. Before she joined BMZ, she worked for the German Federal Ministry of Finance and the University of Würzburg, where she obtained her PhD.

Arnold Kipchumba, Director of Environment and Climate Action at MaMa Doing Good, an initiative of the First Lady of the Republic of Kenya. Arnold is a climate and environment professional passionate about building resilient and sustainable communities. He has extensive experience coordinating environment, natural resources, and climate change programs for the 47 county governments in Kenya, and has also designed, monitored and reviewed policies and laws related to those areas.

Benjamin Singer, Senior Forest and Land Use Specialist at Green Climate Fund (GCF). Benjamin supports the design of transformational projects and programs on forests, land use and ecosystems. Prior to this, he worked as a forest financing expert at the United Nations Forum on Forests where he supported countries in mobilizing financing for sustainable forest management. When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, he joined the UN Secretary-General’s Office to support the UN’s pandemic response on financing for development.

Betty Kibaara, Director in the Food Initiative at The Rockefeller Foundation, Africa Regional Office. She leads the Foundations investments in transforming food systems, including increasing access to nutritious foods through school feeding programs. Betty has a Master in Agricultural and Resource Economics from Colorado State University (U.S.) and a Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness Management from Egerton University (Kenya). She advances investments in regenerative agriculture through development of the frass fertilizers from insects.

Catherine Nakalembe, Associate Research Professor at the University of Maryland’s Department of Geographical Sciences and Africa Program Director for NASA Harvest. Her research focuses on developing remote sensing and machine learning applications for smallholder agriculture, early warning of food insecurity, and disaster assessment in Africa. Catherine is an award-winning scientist, earning recognition including the 2022 Highest Civilian Award: The Golden Jubilee Medal-Civilians of Uganda and the 2020 Africa Food Prize.

Charlette N’Guessan, Data Solutions and Ecosystem Lead at AMINI, an African deep tech company addressing data scarcity in the Global South by leveraging space technology and artificial intelligence. Charlette is also an AI expert consultant at APET, the African Union High-Level Group on Emerging Technologies, focusing on shaping the AI governance landscape in Africa. Among her numerous recognitions is being the first woman recipient of the Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation awarded by the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Éliane Ubalijoro, CEO of the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF). Born in Rwanda and raised on three continents, Éliane has a background in agriculture and molecular genetics. She serves on several boards and has been recognized for outstanding contributions to innovation, gender equity and sustainable prosperity creation. Éliane is a member of Rwanda’s National Science and Technology Council and Presidential Advisory Council, among others.

Elizabeth Mrema, Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). Elizabeth has served as Executive Secretary of the Secretariat for the Convention on Biological Diversity, as Director of the Law Division and the Deputy Director of the Ecosystems Division at UNEP, and as the Executive Secretary of the Secretariat for the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals. She has also worked with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the United Republic of Tanzania.

Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli, President/CEO of the ONE Campaign. Ndidi is an expert on social innovation, African agriculture and nutrition, entrepreneurship and youth development. She has over 25 years of international development experience and is a recognized serial entrepreneur, author, public speaker and consultant. Ndidi started her career as a management consultant in Chicago, New York and Johannesburg and returned to Nigeria in 2000 to lead the FATE Foundation, supporting young entrepreneurs to start and scale their businesses.

Susan Chomba, Director of Vital Landscapes at the World Resources Institute (WRI). A scientist with extensive research and development experience in Africa for more than 15 years, Susan leads WRI Africa’s work on forest protection and landscape restoration, food systems transformation and water. She is a member of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) and a global ambassador for the Race to Zero and Resilience under the UN High Level Champions for Climate Action.

Rose Mwebaza, Director and Regional Representative of UNEP Africa Office. She has served as the Director and Advisory Board Secretary of the United Nations Climate Technology Centre & Network (CTCN), the implementation arm of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Technology Mechanism. Among other roles, Rose is a Carl Duisburg Research fellow at the World Conservation Union (IUCN), a member of the UN Master Minds, and a founding member of the Network for African Women Environmentalists.

Youba Sokona, Honorary Professor at University College London. With over 40 years of experience addressing energy, environment and sustainable development in Africa, Youba has been at the heart of numerous national and continental initiatives. He was a Vice-Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) sixth assessment report. He also served as Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group III for the fifth assessment report after having been a Lead Author since 1990. Youba is a member of The World Academy of Sciences, among other associations.

Meet all of the speakers here.

GLF Africa 2024 will take place on 17 September 2024, online and in person at the World Agroforestry (ICRAF) Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.

Explore the full agenda here and register here. Learn more at bit.ly/GLFAfrica2024

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NOTES TO EDITORS

• Apply for a press pass to attend the conference online or in person in English or French
• Stay tuned for conference updates, read key messages from the GLF Africa 2024 themes, access conference images and learn more about the event in our newsroom
• For more information, please contact Kelly Quintero (k.quintero@cifor-icraf.org)

About the GLF

The Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) is the world’s largest knowledge-led platform on integrated land use, connecting people with a shared vision to create productive, profitable, equitable & resilient landscapes. It is led by the Center for International Forestry Research-World Agroforestry Centre (CIFOR-ICRAF), in collaboration with its co-founders UNEP and the World Bank, and its charter members. Learn more at www.globallandscapesforum.org.

The post Meet the visionaries: Leading innovators join GLF Africa 2024 appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.

• Leaders, experts and practitioners will convene on 17 September to discuss critical topics ahead of the year’s three COPs. 
• The GLF Africa 2024 Hybrid Conference: Greening the African Horizon will explore biodiversity, sustainable food systems, protecting rights and livelihoods, the role of technology in sustainability, and more.

Nairobi, Kenya (29 August 2024) – This September, the GLF Africa 2024 Hybrid Conference: Greening the African Horizon, hosted by the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF), will be the epicenter of knowledge and action on how the continent can pave a sustainable way forward for all of humanity.

Africa’s tropical forest and savanna landscapes are threatened by unsustainable land use practices and degrading at unprecedented rates.

Around 40% of Africans face climate change, increasing desertification and economic marginalization in the continent’s drylands and the Sahel.

Although African freshwater, marine and coastal landscapes have a projected value of $405 billion by 2030, they are threatened by degradation and water insecurity.

The continent’s challenges are significant, but so are its people’s talent and expertise.

Co-creating knowledge and driving action at GLF Africa 2024

On 17 September, thousands of in-person and online participants will gather for an enthralling experience, exploring Africa’s shifting landscapes through transformative locally-led solutions, insightful debates, workshops and cultural showcases.

Highlights from the conference agenda include:

• New frontiers of action – Join leading African and global thought leaders as they build a common understanding of how global climate, biodiversity and land challenges are all interlinked and how local landscape-level solutions can work in an African context.
• Effective ecosystem restoration to tackle global warming, biodiversity loss and food insecurity – Explore the publications and harmonized monitoring tools developed to help achieve the mission of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration – learn from good practices, success factors and lessons learned of the three African World Restoration Flagships.
• Harnessing the power of partnerships – Engage with experts on integrated landscape management approaches with examples from Kenya, Ghana, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, spanning landscape governance, financing models, innovative measuring tools and much more.
• Green tree commodities in Africa – Participate in a discussion with experts in the cashew and wood sectors about the prospects of the two commodities, including a continental look at financial flows, a multi-stakeholder approach to tree commodities, and policy and institutional frameworks guiding tree commodities in Africa.
• A green leap in the AI era – Explore two pivotal questions through dynamic debates and discussions. The first will focus on the choice between input-intensive agriculture and agroecology, while the second will examine the potential of AI for building sustainable, inclusive, and resilient agrifood systems.
• Restoring forest landscapes in Africa – Dive into the complex and multilayered fields of governance and action behind the impressive numbers of hectares to be restored under the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100); a conversation covering people as rights holders, their land and livelihoods.
• A transformative partnership platform for tree seed and seedling delivery systems – Contribute to the creation of a partnership platform to enable Africa-wide stakeholders to design practical interventions, as part of the Right Tree in the Right Place – Seed initiative, which aims to increase the supply of diverse, high-quality seedlings of native tree species to achieve Africa’s restoration targets.
• Women’s land rights – Gain insights into how securing land tenure rights for women can build resilience to the impacts of climate change and devise effective land use and control systems, enabling us to live in harmony with the planet.
• Community stewardship in action – Participate in the making of a call to action towards community-level action by emphasizing stewardship, local knowledge and rights and showcasing innovative, evidence-based, community-led landscape initiatives, considering how global policy decisions impact all of us – including local communities in Africa, who are all too often excluded from these decision-making processes.

Africa’s growing young population is a driving force for landscape restoration. Youth landscape leadership can be a major catalyst for positive change, challenging conventional norms and advocating for stewardship mindset and practices.

Some exciting youth sessions at GLF Africa 2024 include:

• Social juice for breakfast – Network with fellow young leaders, practitioners and scientists, as they share ideas, thoughts and experiences to build a mural of solidarity. With limited spots available, this session is by invitation only. Apply by 10 September – learn more in the session description on our agenda.
• A tapestry of policy: Can civil society unite the Rio Conventions? – Engage in this in-person, interactive workshop that brings together young and seasoned experts to explore how the three Rio Conventions – Climate Change, Biodiversity and Desertification – can work together to create real change.
• Beyond urgent solutions: How landscapes communities seed lasting change for people and nature – Alongside GLFx chapters and Restoration Stewards, delve into what local people value as the foundational components that need to be integrated into fund allocation and targets definition for grassroots restoration initiatives to achieve lasting impact.

We will also announce the winners of the 2024 African Youth Storytelling Contest, which brings together young creators from across the continent to share stories to inspire a brighter and bolder future for Africa. The top 10 entries will be featured at GLF Africa 2024 and on the GLF website and social media channels.

Explore the full agenda here.

Register here for Africa’s biggest conference on landscape restoration in 2024. Learn more at bit.ly/GLFAfrica2024

###

NOTES TO EDITORS

• Apply for a press pass to attend the conference online or in person here: English or French
• Stay tuned to the conference updates, check key messages about the GLF Africa 2024 themes, access the conference images and learn more on the event’s concept note at our newsroom
• For more information, please contact Kelly Quintero (k.quintero@cifor-icraf.org)

About the GLF

The Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) is the world’s largest knowledge-led platform on integrated land use, connecting people with a shared vision to create productive, profitable, equitable & resilient landscapes. It is led by the Center for International Forestry Research-World Agroforestry Centre (CIFOR-ICRAF), in collaboration with its co-founders UNEP and the World Bank, and its charter members. Learn more at www.globallandscapesforum.org.

The post GLF Africa 2024: Shaping the year’s debate on climate, biodiversity and land rights appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.

The Rainforest Alliance has been working with coffee and tea farmers in East Africa for more than 30 years to advance sustainable agriculture practices across vulnerable landscapes and watersheds. Rainforest Alliance’s vision for the region is to build and reinforce connections among farming communities, commodity companies, civil society organizations, and governments, and to promote sustainable production practices to benefit people and nature through an integrated landscape management approach.

The post The Rainforest Alliance’s work in East Africa appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.

The Rainforest Alliance is committed to helping the world meet both its climate mitigation and adaptation goals across farms, forests, and rural landscapes. Climate action at the Rainforest Alliance revolves around two core objectives: significantly reducing emissions in agriculture, forestry, and land use, while also fostering climate resilience and improved livelihoods for rural communities. The Rainforest Alliance approach puts rural communities and nature at the center of the solution. Explore how the Rainforest Alliance is working to build climate resilience and reduce emissions across farms, forests, and rural landscapes around the world, and discover how you can join us in our mission.

The post Climate solutions: rooted in nature, driven by communities appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.

The PILA geoportal

PILA supports the ILM process to make easy and fast use of relevant and reliable geospatial information at different spatial levels. This includes leveraging on existing global, regional, national and sub-national data through a dedicated geospatial platform. The PILA geospatial platform, is a web-based global platform targeting all 27 FOLUR countries and hosted in the FAO Earth Map tool from the Open Foris suite. It is meant to allow any user, without background in programming, to access and analyse remote sensing data with known accuracies on biophysical, socioeconomic and productive conditions (e.g. on productivity trends, land use change dynamics, tree cover loss, land degradation, restoration opportunities, etc.). The PILA geoportal leverages the petabytes of multitemporal, multiscale, multiparametric, and quasi-real-time satellite imagery and geospatial datasets from Google Earth Engine and other qualified sources. It also offers advanced analytical functionalities through a point-and-click graphical user-friendly interface, taking advantage of Google cloud services, and allowing quick environmental and climate data analysis as well as land monitoring over an area of interest.

The post Integrated Landscape Management for Transformative Food Systems appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.

Bonn, Germany (26 June 2024) – The Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) and CIFOR-ICRAF are introducing the Digital Campus, a transformative platform designed for landscape professionals, learners, educators and scientists. This innovative hub will convene learners in a learning experience to drive action toward sustainable landscapes through the latest knowledge, data and research. 

The Digital Campus offers a comprehensive, demand-driven learning experience for local actors and target groups. Later in 2024, it will continue to grow, offering a variety of learning experiences through calls for applications posted on the platform. 

The Digital Campus will feature needs-based and action-oriented learning journeys on integrated and inclusive approaches to governing and managing landscapes. By including case studies and project data from CIFOR-ICRAF, it will bridge the gap between online training and real-world impact. 

“Integrated approaches are widely promoted to tackle the world’s environmental crisis, but few are the opportunities for practitioners to learn how to apply these approaches. The Digital Campus aims to fill this gap by providing a learning space where practitioners can upgrade their knowledge and educators can create curricula to prepare their students to face the challenges of the future,” said Cora van Oosten, Director of Capacity Development & Education at CIFOR-ICRAF. 

By connecting digital content with local action, the Digital Campus aims to strengthen ties among diverse stakeholders and landscapes. It offers an interactive space to share experiences and insights and co-create knowledge. 

Addressing global challenges 

Drawing on the scientific expertise of CIFOR-ICRAF and the GLF’s extensive network, the Digital Campus will focus on nine core themes addressing current global challenges such as the climate crisis and biodiversity loss: 

To learn more about the Digital Campus, contact us here. 

                                                                                ### 

NOTE TO EDITORS 

For more information or to arrange interviews, contact Kelly Quintero (k.quintero@cifor-icraf.org). 

About the Landscape Academy  

The Digital Campus is part of the Landscape Academy, an initiative by the Global Landscapes Forum offering a wide range of opportunities to address global challenges, supporting professionals worldwide to apply landscape approaches effectively in their contexts. It serves thousands of learners, helping them expand their knowledge, connect with peers and shape their careers in sustainable landscape management. Learn more at https://academy.globallandscapesforum.org/ 

About the GLF 

The Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) is the world’s largest knowledge-led platform on integrated land use, connecting people with a shared vision to create productive, profitable, equitable & resilient landscapes. It is led by the Center for International Forestry Research-World Agroforestry Centre (CIFOR-ICRAF), in collaboration with its co-founders UNEP and the World Bank, and its charter members. Learn more at www.globallandscapesforum.org. 

The post Digital Campus: A transformative learning hub for sustainable landscapes appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.

The concept of FLR, articulated through the six principles of the Global Partnership on FLR, underscores the centrality of humans in the restoration process. Humans are integral to the social-ecological systems (SES) where FLR unfolds, influencing and being influenced by forest landscapes through emotional, political, cultural, economic, institutional, and behavioral interactions.

While governments and communities globally have committed to ambitious forest restoration targets, successful initiatives often hinge on understanding and integrating these human dimensions effectively. Yet, there remains a gap in understanding and practical guidance specifically addressing these aspects within the context of FLR.

Key messages

This joint report by IUFRO, WWF, SER, and UNIL addresses this gap by:

1. Exploring the diverse intersections between human dimensions and FLR.
2. Identifying crucial intervention points within human systems to facilitate FLR processes.
3. Providing practical guidance for practitioners, particularly ecologists and foresters, to integrate human dimensions into FLR initiatives.

For practitioners, academics, and decision-makers committed to enhancing FLR outcomes through a holistic approach that incorporates human dynamics, this report serves as a pivotal resource. Download the full report and explore deeper into its findings.

The post Human dimensions of forest landscape restoration appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.

About GLF Peatlands 2024

Peatlands cover 3-4% of Earth’s land but store a third of global soil carbon. Despite their importance, 12% are degraded, contributing 4% of human-induced emissions.

Degradation, driven by agriculture and forestry, causes environmental and social issues like fires and economic damage. Managing peatlands effectively requires collaboration across sectors.

The Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) Peatlands 2024 Hybrid Conference brought together global stakeholders to address gaps in peatland science, policy, and practice. Held alongside the UNFCCC Bonn Climate Change Conference, it explored peatlands’ roles in carbon storage, biodiversity, and water regulation.

Indonesia’s Peat-IMPACTS Project

Discover insights from Indonesia’s Peat IMPACTS project, aiming to enhance sustainable peatland management. Addressing challenges through governance strengthening, sustainable supply chains, and climate governance, Peat IMPACTS aligns with Indonesia’s NDC goals. This session highlights project outcomes and synergies with Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF) Indonesia and the International Tropical Peatland Center (ITPC).

Speakers

Dr. Sonya Dewi, Principal Investigator of Peat IMPACTS; Feri Johana, Project Coordinator; Regina Ariyati and Ir. H Adi Yani from provincial governments; and Dr. Agus Justianto, Director of Sustainable Forest Management in Indonesia.

The post 360 Degree Approach to Improving Capacity of Multiple Stakeholders to Manage Peatland Sustainably: Lessons learned from Indonesia appeared first on Global Landscapes Forum.