Sustainable Forest Management is only possible when stakeholders have access to accurate, relevant and timely data for informed decision making. The lack of data in Drylands is a well-known issue that remains largely unaddressed by research institutes and Governments alike.
To overcome this challenge, FAO and its Drylands Impact Program have developed an integrated set os tools and methodologies, well established and evidence-based, and capable of carrying out multi-variable assessments at various scales, and tailored them for the context of Drylands and for close alignment with the LDN conceptual framework. The Integrated Landscape Assessment Methodology (ILAM) is a multidisciplinary and cross-divisional flagship product of the GEF-7 Impact Program, supported by an active Community of Practice spamming six FAO technical divisions (Forestry Division, Land and Water Division, Plant Production and Protection Division, Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment, Food and Nutrition Division, and the Office of Innovation).
Module 1: Module 1: Land Characteristics and Prioritization (Qualitative) using Open Foris EarthMap
Module 2: Land Representation and Reporting (Quantitative) using Open Foris Collect Earth.
Module 2: Focused-Group Discussions and Multi-stakeholder Processes to:
- Land Degradation Assessment in Drylands (LADA): Rapid participatory land degradation (LD) assessment to determine the main types, extent, degree, rate and causes of land degradation; main groups of SLM/SFM practices implemented.
- Participatory stakeholder analysis, mapping and targeting tools.
- Capacity needs assessment.
- Rapid sustainable value chain mapping, prioritization and analysis.
- Indigenous Peoples and the Free, Prior and Informed Consent assessment (FPIC) assessments (when relevant)
Module 4: Household surveys using the ILAM/SHARP+ Survey to assess resilience, SLM, SFM and LDN-related indicators at farmer’s level.
The tools and methodologies applied were tailored to the needs of the DSL IP process, and in some cases translated into different languages, to capture complex issues at landscape levels (e.g., land degradation, value chain development, social structures) and to maximize the engagement and inclusion of national and local stakeholders.
The combination of the different tools and analyses allowed the application of resilience thinking (i.e., identification of risks, exposure and vulnerability levels) at different scales, comprising the adaptative and transformational change component. The combined analyses also applied the land-based approach to set the LDN baseline towards an informed land use decision making and monitoring the achievement of LDN, as recommended by UNCCD through the Scientific Conceptual Framework for LDN. The approach includes the stratification of assessment sites by land type, assessing land degradation issues along with its causes and drivers, measures to avoid and reduce degradation (such as resilience assessments), measures to protect restored or rehabilitated land from future degradation, and neutrality planning, among others (Orr et al., 2017).
The tools promoted the analysis of different socio-ecological systems to understand the root causes of land degradation (e.g., land use change, vegetation cover, management practices), the indirect drivers of land degradation (i.e., increases in population, poverty, land tenure issues) and the different types of populations relying on land and forest resources (e.g., indigenous groups, land-forest-livestock dependent households, women-men-dual decision makers).
Moreover, the integrated approach emphasized the involvement of potential beneficiaries (i.e., through MSG and household surveys) to assess the current state of their productive systems and their communities, and to identify priority variables for changing to a desired state of the system. Gender analysis was also included at multiple levels (excluding remote sensing) to account for differences in needs of men and women.
Seeing from Above
Learn More:
Earth observations and remote sensing products are becoming more and more abundant, accurate, and easy to access. They offer an excellent opportunity to quickly assess what is occurring in the landscape.
FAO has been in the forefront of development of tools for forest and land monitoring in support of its member countries. The Open Foris Initiative, support by multiple FAO and non-FAO projects, hosts state of the art tools and methodologies for data collection, data processing, data analsyis, and visualization.
The DSL-IP applied Open Foris Collect Earth and EarthMap to gather data and information in its ILAM application. Collect Earth focused on sampling approaches for land representation (IPCC 2006), leveraging on local expert knowledge and previous initiatives, like the Africa Open Data for Environment, Agriculture and Land (DEAL) and Africa’s Great Green Wall. EarthMap focused on the analsyis of existing remote sensing products that are relevant for the characterization of the landscape.
EarthMap is developed by FAO and build on Google Earth Engine. It is a powerful platform that combines a user-friendly interface with powerful statistics. Its direct links to Google Earth Engine ensures a vast array of layers and images are constantly being updated, expanded, and improved. Google and FAO began their partnership in 2015, signing an agreement on the sidelines of the Paris Agreement.
In the application of ILAM during project design, trends.earth was used for the mapping of land degradation using SDG's 15.3.1 approach.
In the DSL-IP, ILAM's stakeholder consultation component is disverse in scope and scale. Tailored multi-stakeholder group discussions (MSGs) were designed and facilitated by LDN/SLM specialists, Policy, Institution and Capacity assessment Experts, as well as the Value Chain (VC) Consultants with the support of the Enumerators, the national FAO office representatives, and relevant government focal points. It builds on yeats of FAO's expertise in capacity development and facilitation of multi-stakeholder processes.
Key clear goals were set for the MSGs:
- Validate and gather additional baseline data/information from the targeted landscapes
- To stimulate interaction between different stakeholders, raise awareness, reach common understanding about the intended project, as well as the current environment within which the projects will be implemented.
- Galvanize ownership and commitment across all stakeholders
- To identify key on-the-ground interventions to be integrated into the project and sharpen project targeting
- To select value chains the project will focus on and gather data for value chain assessment and feasibility of value chain development
Hearing the land users
Learn More:
Household surveys are an important tool to gather valuable data directly from the land users themselves. The DSL IP worked closely Plant Production and Protection Division to develop a customized version of the Self-evaluation and Holistic Assessment of climate Resilience of farmers and Pastoralists (SHARP) survey, which was deployed in six Miombo/Mopane countries. The survey was complemented with questions on the use of trees and forest products by the land users, as well the impacts of land degradation.
From the survey data, we learned that 85% of the respondents had trees in their farmland. Trees in and outside forests were the main source of energy (woodfuel), and were also used for construction, timber production, animal feed and medicines. Across the different DSL-IP landscapes, land degradation was mentioned by the land users as a key factor leading to reduced productivity.
Currently, the DSL-IP ILAM Household Survey is finalized and being applied in country projects in Southern Africa. The survey was custumized to include key elements to enable monitoring and evaluation and learning more about the characteristics of the project landscape communities.
Integrated Landscape Assessment Methodology (ILAM)
The DSL-IP continuously work to integrate and leverage on the data collected through ILAM, ensuring partners have the adequate data to better manage project implementation, monitoring, and evaluation efforts. ILAM is not static, and its development and refinement is a key component of the DSL-IP Communities of Practice.