©FAO

For rapid identification and analyses of areas that are primed for restoration.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ (FAO) Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) held a two-day national training workshop on forest landscape restoration (FLR) for forest and farm producer organizations (FFPOs) in Ghana.

The training of trainer’s workshop aimed to raise FFPOs’ understanding of the landscape restoration process, the linkages between ecosystem services and livelihoods, and degradation and drivers in the landscape. These were seen to help participants identify potential impacts and benefit of and for their operations and communities, as well as actions that can be adopted by applying FLR tools  suited to their business interests.

Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM)

With more than two billion hectares of land identified to benefit from FLR, tools such as the Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM), are key to scale and accelerate landscape restoration action.

ROAM provides a flexible and affordable framework approach for countries to rapidly identify and analyse FLR potential and locate specific areas of opportunity that are primed for restoration. As a tool that supports landscape-level assessment and restoration of degraded landscapes, it has been applied in over half a billion hectares globally. It has equipped decision-makers and stakeholders with critical knowledge and evidence on where and how to implement restoration and sustainable land management actions for achieving the Paris Agreement goals, SDGs, Aichi and LDN targets. ROAM was developed by FFF partner, IUCN, and the World Resources Institute. "Members from the Ghana Federation of Forest and Farm Producers (GhaFFaP) find the ROAM approach very relevant for green recovery in building back better as the tool that will enable smallholder farmers to plan and integrate FLR activities that provide diversified livelihoods and build climate resilient landscapes” said Elvis Kuudaar, National Facilitator of Ghana for the FFF.

Adopting the ROAM process and its key elements as well as a ROAM roadmap during the training workshop were discussed to help FFPOs assess and prioritise FLR opportunities in their respective landscapes. To move the work forward, participants went through an interactive exercise on how to organise the work, establish a taskforce or a working group, and plan the next steps towards adopting their learnings.

Some 12 FFPOs in Ghana, including ten (10) women and fourteen (14) men, participated in the training workshop. These producers will be able to apply the training in their communities and develop work plan for restoration interventions.