Update: The COFO WG on Dryland Forests and Agrosilvopastoral Systems and DSL-IP strengthen collaboration
Focal points from the Working Group on Dryland Forests and Agrosilvopastoral Systems of the Committee on Forestry (COFO WG) and the Sustainable Forest Management Impact Program on Dryland Sustainable Landscapes (DSL-IP) held a meeting on Monday, to strengthen their collaboration and support activities in DSL-IP countries.
The meeting was attended by the DSL-Impact Programme’s steering committee and the COFO WG’s focal points of the 11 countries where this Programme is taking place.
Fritjof Boerstler, FAO’s Senior Natural Resources Officer, led the meeting in which the WG’s focal points were able to get an update on the kick-off of the Programme on its diverse landscapes, and get familiarized with the knowledge materials that they will be using as a tool to scale up, scale out, scale deep, and remind countries of the child projects that they are a part of a bigger thing, it is key to switch from a “project-based focus to a programme-focus”.
The DSL-Impact Programme is embracing the complexity of the path ahead as they work to improve Integrated Landscape Management, Sustainable Land and Forest Management, promote Green Value Chains and apply innovative Knowledge Management while being gender-inclusive.
Members of the COFO WG present during this meeting confirmed their commitment to these activities and opened the floor to receive further feedback from the DSL-Impact Program Steering Committee on how they want to be supported, while also agreeing to provide their ideas taking into consideration the different Communities of Practice defined by the Programme. An overall cooperation spirit was felt in the call, as members decided to take on trimestral meetings to be updated on the Programme, coordinate efforts, and be able to take in all the information the most efficient way, as this new phase of their collaboration work begins.
The partnership between the COFO WG and DSL-IP goes back to the COFO WG’s inaugural session in 2019, when members acknowledged their role on the implementation of this GEF-7 Impact Program. The DSL-IP programme will build on existing networks and platforms to support progress towards Land Degradation Neutrality, with the aim of avoiding, reducing, and reversing further degradation, desertification, and deforestation.
The WG’s role is to leverage the convening power and deploy the policy setting of the Committee on Forestry (COFO) and the Committee on Agriculture (COAG), its Regional Forestry Commissions and Agriculture Committees, in order to facilitate the DSL IP Program implementation, ensure overall coherence, and drive consistent Program-wide outcomes on the ground.
The meeting solidified the WG’s commitment to providing a valuable programmatic approach to promote coherence and coordination among the individual country programmes operating across the dryland regions, as well as to its global component, and left the space to continue developing the Working Group’s role and Action Plan which were initiated during the DSL- Impact Programme’s preparation stage in 2020-2021.
Stay tuned for more updates on this alliance!