The fifth Advisory Group meeting of the Forest and Landscape Restoration Mechanism (FLRM) was held 4 October 2019 at FAO headquarters in Rome. This meeting, coordinated by FAO’s FLRM team, was intended to present and review the FLRM financial resource mobilization efforts, work plans, and common product and initiative development surrounding Forest and Landscape Restoration (FLR). This year, ten country delegations were phisically present and involved in discussing project implementation and planned activities on the regional, national and global scale: Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Guinea, Kenya, Lebanon, Madagascar, Morocco, Niger and São Tomé and Principe.

Several donors of the FLRM also attended this fifth Advisory Group meeting with both representatives of the Korea Forest Service (KFS), the French Global Environmental Facility (FFEM) and the International Climate Initiative (IKI) within the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU)

Session 1 assessed current and past activities from 2015 to 2019 and ongoing work plans supported by the FLRM. With initial funding from KFS and the Flexible Multi-Partner Mechanism (FMM), and additional financial resources from FFEM, IKI and GEF, FLRM is now providing support to almost 20 country partners in implementing their respective national Forest and Landscape Restoration initiatives. All country representatives recognized that there is a strong need to further land restoration efforts and ensure that the FLRM supports is key in accessing new funding mechanisms. New projects currently implemented by the FLRM (e.g. The Restoration Initiative, FLRM and Sustainable Land Management in Sahel and The Paris Agreement in Action: upscaling forest and landscape restoration to achieve nationally determined contributions) were also reviewed and used as positive learning experiences for future work plans.

Session 2 involved an interactive poster session where several country representatives took turns introducing their activities to fellow participants, welcoming questions and facilitating knowledge sharing. Countries reported that this was very helpful as it allowed them to compare their plans to others’ and discuss future work plans in small groups. Burkina Faso highlighted the importance of gender inclusivity on the local scale. Kenya reported how they plan to implement the sustainable management of their valuable natural resources, such as frankincense.

Session 3 highlighted innovative actions at the global, regional and national level. This includes partnerships between countries and organizations. For example, the Global Mechanism of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification draw attention on their efforts to build the capacity of local stakeholder with FAO Niger. Madagascar promoted AFR100’s support of South-South exchange, which facilitates knowledge sharing among countries. Lebanon also encouraged technical exchange as it helps spread useful tools that are not widely known.

The FLRM has supported this knowledge sharing dynamic by organizing webinars and creating an online Community of Practices promoting an effective and accessible way to access knowledge and technical exchange.

Session 4 looked to the future and gave representatives an opportunity to express what they would like to implement within the coming years. KFS expressed their interest in enhancing their partnership with FLRM, noting that the mechanism is “small but important”. The proposed outline for a new special FLR issue of the Forestry Department journal UNASYLVA, planned to be published in late 2020, was also presented and welcomed feedback. Finally, FLRM Project Coordinator Douglas McGuire gave his closing remarks and thanked those a part of FLRM for their dedication to the initiatives. 

This fifth Advisory Group meeting was a notable occasion for FLRM partners to express their concerns, successes, and plans in terms of land restoration. It was agreed that FLRM would take more steps to promote knowledge sharing among its partners and support cooperation between countries facing similar hurdles and those who have overcome them. The FLRM is committed to continuing to help its partners and optimistic about future results.

For more information contact: [email protected]

Yesenia Achlim (FAO)