The third meeting of the Global Steering Committee of the “Forest and Landscape Restoration and Sustainable Land Management in the Sahel” project, funded by the French Facility for Global Environment (FFEM), took place online on 10 December 2020. The project, approved in June 2017 with backing of EUR 1.8 million, is implemented in the Niger and Burkina Faso by FAO’s Forest and Landscape Restoration Mechanism (FLRM) together with national and regional institutions.

Its purpose is to contribute to the implementation of forest and landscape restoration (FLR) and sustainable land management (SLM) in three communes in each country to sustainably provide multiple social, economic and environmental goods and services.

The objective of the third Steering Committee meeting was to review the status of the national, regional and global work plans and confirm the project’s next steps and extension until December 2022. Among other issues, partners at the meeting discussed the year’s key achievements and the main challenges encountered during implementation in the Niger and Burkina Faso.

During 2020, impressive progress was achieved in the Niger. More than 200 hectares of half-moons were built on degraded lands in the partner communes and assisted natural regeneration (ANR) practices were disseminated over 374.2 hectares, with the support of ten pilot farmer leaders in each commune, who will continue championing agroforestry and ANR throughout their communities. FLR and SFM investments were also incorporated into the communal development plans (CPDs). The project faced some delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the state of emergency declared in the communes of Kollo and Soucoucoutane, but the mitigation measures implemented by the team prevented further negative consequences.

In 2020, achievements in Burkina Faso focused mostly on capacity development through the continued support provided by communal agents to beneficiary communes and the organization of exchange visits across communes on a variety of topics, including FLR and SLM practices as well as communal forests. Three further communal forests were identified by local stakeholders in collaboration with technical decentralized services, and dedicated windows for FLR and SLM were opened in communal budgets. Furthermore, several meetings, workshops, and field trips were held to strengthen ownership of the approach and improve coordination between partners. A Letter of Agreement was signed with ISESTEL (the Private Institute for Space Studies and Telecommunications), FPCDT (the Permanent Fund for Local Development) and the National Coordination of the Great Green Wall. The project also faced some difficult challenges, including complex implementation due to the context of early decentralization, the wide range of partners involved at multiple scales, and the health and security crisis.   

Steering committee members stressed once again how vital it was to have a global vision and adopt an integrated approach to support the resilience of ecosystems and communities and the sustainable provision of ecosystem services, especially in the context of the global crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Christophe Besacier (FAO) and Faustine Zoveda (FAO)