Abuja – During a workshop organized by FAO and the National Agency of the Great Green Wall of Nigeria from 19 to 21 January detailed plans were drawn for large-scale restoration efforts in West Africa.

The workshop, opened by the State Minister of Environment of Nigeria, gathered 30 restoration experts from 7 countries - Burkina Faso, Chad, Gambia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal – as well as the CILSS-Agrhymet regional center. 

Together they drew detailed plans for large-scale restoration actions in each of the countries, using plant-base solutions to increase land productivity, food security, to support income generation for communities and importantly to help mitigate and adapt to future environmental shocks and climate change. 

Central to these plans is the restoration approach, which puts communities at the heart of restoration efforts and starts with consulting the communities in order to identify their needs for useful plant species and preferences for restoration in support of their livelihoods. Other key elements of the approach include planting the right species in the right place, collecting quality native forest and fodder seeds for restoration and updating the GGW species database for gene pool traceability, reporting and for future uses of data and information. 

Experts also updated each other on progress made in restoration activities in the West Africa region and discussed methods and practices to restore degraded lands. At the same time, possible cooperation was discussed with the regional organization ECOWAS in the framework of the Forest Convergence plan, as well as with the Network for Gum Arabic and Resins in Africa (NGARA).

Workshop material:

• Agenda
• Action Against Desertification in support of the implementation of the Great Green Wall for the sahara and the sahel Initiative and south-south cooperationin ACP countries – Overview and Update
• Great Green Wall transboundary project achievements in Niger Republic
• Technical Workshop GGW for vegetation restoration - Report for Mali
• Modèle de restauration des terres dégradées à travers le projet transfrontalier «Grande Muraille» (cas du Burkina Faso)
• Global guidelines for the restoration of degraded forests and landscapes in drylands
• The Great Green Wall Programme - Nigeria
• State of preparedness for the restoration implementation in The Gambia
• Atelier Grande Muraille Vert sur reforestation – Sénégal
• Les expériences de restauration des écosystèmes au Tchad dans le cadre del’initiative Grande Muraille Verte
• Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
• FAO Monitoring & Reporting Tool
• Africa Great Green Wall - Technical approach to Restoration
• La Grande Muraille Vert - L’approche technique de la Restauration
• Approche analyse et developpement des marches (ADM) pour le développement durable d’entreprises communautaires de PFNL
• Strategic elements 2015
• Next steps planning 2016
• Some elements and key messages - Wrap-up

Media coverage

Daily Trust GGW: Minister tasks experts on community inclusion

The Nation EU’s 20 million euros for environment

Leadership Desertification: GGW trains 5000 farmers in forestry, natural regeneration

Leadership EU commits $20m euro to Great Green Wall programme