BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Land degradation and loss of forests, exacerbated by climate change and unsustainable land use practices in Africa, threaten the vital ecological functions of the land, its productivity, food and water security, and resilience against climate change. There is large evidence that women are more severely affected by these factors. High population growth rates stretch national efforts in all sectors to the limit and beyond. Poor natural resources governance, little access to innovation and resources, and unfavourable policies prevent the partner countries from bringing forest and landscape restoration (FLR) to scale.

This programme, now entitled The Alliance for Restoration of Forest Ecosystems in Africa (AREECA) and funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Ministry of the Environment, aims at increasing the socioeconomic, ecological and climate-related benefits from large-scale FLR and will contribute to meet the country pledges made under the Bonn Challenge and AFR100.

IMPACT

The programme contributes to enabling a wider adoption and scaling up of more informed and evidence-based gender-transformative FLR approaches at the regional and national levels, as well as to improving the resilience of subsistence farmers and pastoralists towards the negative impacts of climate change.

OUTCOME

Stakeholders at the national, regional and local levels have increased economic, ecological and climate-related benefits from appropriately planned, large-scale FLR.