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In May 2005, the Regional Community Forestry Training Centre for Asia and the Pacific (RECOFTC) by its Thailand Collaborative Country Support Program (ThCCSP) collaborated with 16 organizations (including the United Nations Development Program) to host a national conference titled “Participatory Monitoring and Assessment of Ecosystems: lessons learned in Thailand”. The conference was specifically aimed at facilitating the exchange of knowledge on participatory monitoring and assessment of natural ecosystems and the lessons each organization has learned to date. This document works as a summary of the National Conference held during 26 - 27 May 2005 at Kasetsart University, Bangkok.

In this fact sheet, we discuss the following issues: 1) What approaches have been used to achieve rainforest restoration? 2) What are the costs of these approaches? 3) What are the outcomes for biodiversity? and 4) How might ‘biodiversity-friendly’ rainforest plantings be designed and maintained?

The project aims at encouraging stakeholders to manage/restore Mediterranean woodlands to ensure a sustainable provision of goods and services by these ecosystems. To achieve the main aim of the project, several specific targets have been identified: Integrate climate change impacts in forest policies by providing information and tools related to forests vulnerability and adaptation capacities; • Assess the economic and social values of goods and services rendered by Mediterranean wooded ecosystems, to support decision-making processes and promote the integration among sectoral policies; • Improve governance of woodlands at territorial scale through participation of stakeholders in the conception and implementation of strategies aimed at reducing the pressures on ecosystems; • Optimize and value the mitigation function of Mediterranean forests with methodological tools to value local efforts of ecosystems protection/restoration; • Strengthen coordination and exchanges of experiences among stakeholders in the region: coordination and communication through the Collaborative Partnership on Mediterranean Forests (CPMF); • Promote the specificity of Mediterranean forests to the international community and particularly in the context of international negotiations on climate change.

Financed by the French Global Environment Facility (FFEM), the component 4 of the project “Optimizing the production of goods and services by Mediterranean woodland ecosystems in the context of global changes” aims to enhance environmental services provided by Mediterranean forest ecosystems through innovative financing mechanisms. The component focuses particularly on the Mediterranean forest importance for climate change mitigation under REDD+ (Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, including conservation, sustainable forest management and enhancement of forest carbon stocks).

This publication reflects the process and results of restoration activities carried out over seven years by the project Coastal Wetlands: Mangrove Conservation and Management, implemented in Godavari and Krishna wetlands by MSSRF with its field centre at Kakinada. Hence it will be necessary to make modifications as per the site conditions, mangrove ecosystem, tidal amplitude and topography of the area chosen for restoration. This publication is meant for foresters, field technicians, researchers and others interested in restoration of degraded mangroves.