This session will share fundamental practices and skills needed by different actors to support progress in forest landscape restoration (FLR) on the ground. Those include: (i) sensitizing policymakers to the right mix of regulations and policies that need to be in place for local actors to successfully restore land, and for moving towards sustainable land management practices; (ii) preparing FLR facilitators to assist stakeholders in organizing the platforms for interaction, reconciling conflicting views, and planning FLR activities, as well as gathering information, linking actors and monitoring progress; and (iii) co-developing FLR and improvement measures with local actors.
Read more: White Paper
Array
(
)
Biochar has been widely reported to improve soil fertility, crop yields and to store sequestered carbon in soils. Furthermore, biochar producing ovens can be used for cooking at household level, which uses biomass much more efficiently than traditional fire cooking places. Therefore, biochar has the potential to contribute to restoration of degraded lands from two angles, by reducing pressure on woodlands as sources for fuel and by improving soil fertility. This session will reflect these aspects through case studies and will present lessons learned from successful interventions and obstacles on the way to promote biochar.
Read more: White Paper
Array
(
)
Take a virtual trip to the great savanna lands of East Africa—cradle of humankind, home to traditional nomadic pastoralists, and last refuge of some of the most spectacular wildlife populations on earth.
Join experts from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) including rangelands specialist Fiona Flintan, ecosystem ecologist Jason Sircely and gender scientist Renee Bullock to hear some ‘myth-busting’ facts about East Africa’s extraordinary drylands and dryland peoples, to discover why Africa’s rangelands are now in big transition, and to learn how we can best support local pastoral communities to continue their stewardship of these exceptional landscapes as they continually refine their adaptations to a changing physical, political and socio-economic climate.
Hear directly from East African pastoralists as they explain some of the major challenges they face. As agricultural ecologist Ian Scoones reminds us: ‘As we confront uncertainties in today’s complex and turbulent world, we could all learn from pastoralists, who continue to navigate uncertainties with deep knowledge and practised skill.’
Array
(
)
Building on practical cases from West, East, and Southern Africa, discussions in this session will explore community-led soil and land restoration that creates tangible benefits for communities and ecosystems by:
- Providing insights on inclusive knowledge-sharing models that enhance access to context-specific data and practical toolkits on soil and land restoration
- Highlighting community-led “social innovations” that help tackle structural barriers to equitable land rights and other governance challenges
- Showcasing entry points for win-win restoration approaches that incentivize private investments in the sustainable management of shared natural resources
We hope that the discussions will develop practical insights for restoration pathways that simultaneously address social, technical, economic, and institutional barriers to the sustainable use of land, water, energy, and other natural resources.
Related publications:
Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security
From the Bottom Up: Investment Guide for creating an enabling environment for sustainable land management
Systemic Challenges, Systemic Responses. Innovating Adaptation to Climate Change through Agroecology
Creating an Enabling Environment for Land Degradation Neutrality and its Potential Contribution to Enhancing Well-being, Livelihoods and the Environment
Final Decision on Land Tenure
Related websites:
Regreening Africa: A collaborative initiative to scale-up evergreen agriculture, using locally appropriate techniques including Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration.
Soilmates.org: A TMG Research project exploring social innovations to protect soils and empower people.
Read more: White Paper
Array
(
)
The session will introduce the new global Rangelands Atlas. To scale up dryland restoration and rehabilitation, science-based maps and data are essential. The Atlas includes a series of 16 sets of maps demonstrating how much of rangelands is key biodiversity or protected area, where threatened species are located, and what climate change impacts are predicted over the coming years. This is first of its kind of data. The maps show African countries that are at risk from climate change and where urgent action is required. Rangelands have rarely featured on international agendas. Just 10 per cent of national climate plans (as part of the Paris Climate Agreement) include references to rangelands; comparatively 70 per cent include references to forests. Although rangelands are known to play a key role in storing carbon, providing habitat for diverse wildlife and nature, and supporting the world’s largest rivers and wetlands, part of the reason they have been undervalued is the lack of definitive data on their extent and value. 54% per cent of the world’s terrestrial surface consists of rangelands, which are home to some of the earth’s most precious habitats and support the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people. This new data can equip policymakers to better manage rangelands, with major benefits for pastoralists, nature, and climate. We will discuss how rangeland restoration and improvement of data on rangelands must be made priorities in UN conventions and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, if drylands and dryland communities are to strengthen their resilience to climate change and other stresses and shocks.
For more information, visit the Rangelands Atlas website or download it directly here.
Read more: White Paper
Array
(
)
The Perspectives on Pastoralism Film Festival seeks to deepen understanding of how diverse peoples sustain their livelihoods from extensive livestock production.
The relationships between pastoralist people, animals and their food production systems reflect an intimate intertwining of culture, economy and ecology in harsh environments, such as Africa’s drylands, where the mobility of animals plays a key role.
Films of multiple genres – spanning documentary, narrative and experimental – made by pastoralists and/or about pastoralists offer different insights into issues important to pastoralists.
This first session starts with an introductory animation film (CELEP 2021). Then, we will feature the film UnderMining Uganda (Karamoja Development Forum 2017), which shows the negative impacts upon pastoralists in the Karamoja region 20 years since the start of industrial mining. This film explores the reasons why the industry is far from contributing to socioeconomic gains in this largely pastoral region. Worse, it is contributing to massive land grabs that are undermining the livelihoods of pastoralists and other inhabitants of the area. To contextualize the film, Loupa Pius from DADO – the Dynamic Agro-pastoralist Development Organization (DADO) Kaabong – will share his experiences and insights and will answer audience questions. He is also co-chair of the regional group in Eastern & Southern Africa supporting the International Year of Rangelands & Pastoralists (www.iyrp.info) that has been put forward in the United Nations.
A second edition of the Perspectives on Pastoralism Film Festival will be launched in 2022. And you can be part of it! New films may now be submitted using the link(s) below:
https://filmfreeway.com/PerspectivesonPastoralismFilmFestival
http://www.pastoralistfilmfestival.com/
http://www.celep.info/
Array
(
)
Young people in Africa are increasingly interested in being a part of the restoration movement – either by leading restoration in their landscapes, or by joining an existing restoration project. But it’s not always easy to identify which activities to join, or how to start your own project. In this session, jointly organized by Youth 4 Nature (Y4N) and the Youth in Landscapes Initiative (YIL), we will explore how young people across Africa are getting involved in restoration; how they started their journeys; the challenges they have faced; and the solutions they have found. Two young African leaders at the forefront of landscape restoration will share with us their inspiring stories, and explain how drylands are landscapes of hope – for communities and for nature.
Read more: Youth Participation at GLF Africa Digital Conference: A Wave of Opportunities
Array
(
)
