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The purpose of this report is to assess the current implementation of forest and landscape restoration (FLR) in Africa. It presents the context for FLR on the African continent, highlights major FLR initiatives, and provides an overview of FLR in Africa at the start of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030). It identifies key challenges, opportunities, actors and processes, illustrated with some case studies. Data collection was both primary (interviews) and secondary (extensive desk research).The report contributes to tracking progress on the implementation of AFR100 and other FLR initiatives in Africa on the ground. It provides a baseline for [...]

The SFM Toolbox collates a large number of tools, case studies and other resources, organised in modules. It has been created to provide forest owners, managers and other stakeholders with easy access to those resources for the implementation of SFM.

The Kavango Zambezi (KAZA) Transfrontier Conservation area is home to a great diversity of ecosystems and landscapes. Each year, the area experiences large-scale migrations of megafauna. Whilst rural communities in the Mucheni (Zimbabwe) and Simalaha (Zambia) Community Conservancies have distinct cultures and local governments, they depend on hunting and fishing for both food and income. Community conservancies are legally-recognised, geographically-defined areas that have been formed by communities that have united to manage and benefit from wildlife and other natural ressources.However, communities’ livelihoods are threatened by erratic rainfall, poor soils, and human–wildlife conflicts. The SWM Project in KaZa is promoting a [...]

In order to achieve robust community-based sustainable wildlife management, six key components are needed. These focus on understanding the environments and the resources they contain, community rights, governance, management, and reducing rural dependency on unsustainable natural resource use. These components represent the minimum prerequisites for sustainable wildlife management actions. If one of these is missing, sustainable use is unlikely to be achieved. These components are as follows:     devolution of exclusionary rights     local-level management by a competent authority     social cohesion to manage as a community     effective governance systems     sustainable solutions for growth and increasing aspirations.     understanding the environment and its use The [...]

Bycatch – a term widely used to refer to part of the catch unintentionally caught during a fishing operation, in addition to target species, and consisting of the discards and incidental catch of vulnerable species – is considered one of the most important threats to the profitability and sustainability of fisheries, as well as to the conservation of the marine environment and ecosystems. Understanding the bycatch issue and adopting effective measures in order to reduce bycatch rates are essential steps towards minimizing the impacts on vulnerable species and ensuring both a sustainable fisheries sector and healthy seas.In the Mediterranean and [...]

Human population growth increases the demand for natural resources in many parts of the world. This has led to the degradation and fragmentation of wildlife habitats, with humans and livestock encroaching on natural habitats. Wildlife is increasingly competing with humans for limited natural resources resulting in an increase in human and wildlife conflicts (HWCs). These conflicts also contribute to the increased risk for emerging infectious disease transmission. FAO’s work on HWC is an integral part of the Wildlife and Protected Areas Management Programme, and it aims at contributing to the achievement of the SDG2 on Zero hunger and SDG15 on Life [...]

To meet global restoration needs and recover degraded forests and landscapes, adequate public and private investments are required to support restoration activities on the ground.The new FAO publication “Local financing mechanisms for forest and landscape restoration: A review of local level investment mechanisms” examines the pathways available to financing restoration for a positive local level impact.The document provides an in-depth study of how financial mechanisms can be coordinated to maximise the leverage of finance and the adoption of practices at scale across the landscape.By examining some of the accessible investment mechanisms and planning strategies, it aims to support discussions, thinking [...]

With climate change impacts already felt in the world’s drylands, there is an urgent need for action, at various scales and initiated by different stakeholders, to ensure the sustainability of food production and livelihoods in these regions in the coming decades. There is also the need to rapidly establish baselines, assess and start monitoring progress on sustainability, emerging as result of the action taken.To aid in this effort, this paper provides a short list of expected transformations (under each of the three sustainability pillars) for guiding the planning and implementation of policy, governance and practice-level actions. Gender and indigenous people’s [...]

This brief provides an overview of Climate Services (CS) and how they can be used to assess risk and optimize adaptation decision-making in the agriculture sectors.1 It highlights entry points to integrate CS across all elements of adaptation planning while acknowledging the challenges and limitations of using CS, particularly in the least Developed Countries (LDCs). The brief also discusses key considerations in using climate services for planning and provides technical guidance on dealing with the uncertainty and confidence of climate projections.

FAO completed its first assessment of the world’s forest resources in 1948. At that time, its major objective was to collect information on available timber supply to satisfy post-war reconstruction demand. Since then, the Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) has evolved into a comprehensive evaluation of forest resources and their condition, management and uses, covering all the thematic elements of sustainable forest management.This, the latest of these assessments, examines the status of, and trends in, forest resources over the period 1990–2020, drawing on the efforts of hundreds of experts worldwide. The production of FRA 2020 also involved collaboration among many [...]