The FLRM team provides training for projects at the national, regional and global level on green finance and bankable projects development, ecosystem services valuation, incentives, use of financial and market-based mechanisms to fund FLR activities, and coordination of different funding sources. Training also aims to illustrate the diversity of finance available for FLR activities and build capacity for project partners to integrate this knowledge in project design and implementation.

It also supports a Community of Practice (CoP) for Local Finance for Forest and Landscape Restoration. This online forum aims to facilitate the exchange of experiences between members, and build capacity and a network to enable practitioners to finance the implementation of FLR on the ground at landscape level.

The CoP provides a forum to share publications, case studies and experiences, hold discussions and highlight key events. As part of the CoP on Finance, FAO FLRM is working with the Landscape Finance Lab to deliver a series of learning challenges on key finance topics requested by CoP members. Through a practitioners’ lens, the learning challenges  share examples and knowledge on topics such as enabling environments for investment, valuation of ecosystem services, incentives and results-based payments (PES, REDD+), blended finance, finance for local impact, climate finance and development of bankable projects.

To expand its reach, the FLR team is developing on three e-learning courses on FLR and finance: Finance and FLR, Local finance mechanisms, and Developing bankable projects. It is also collaborating with ELTI to allow more participants / partners to access a course on FLR including modules on Financing Instruments and FLR and climate action.

The team provides support to develop project financial plans and access to diverse funding sources. Financial plans are linked to FLR/ROAM plans at community, project or national level. They aim to map existing funding, and identify additional investment requirements throughout the restoration process and opportunities to develop bankable projects or value chains. Work includes supporting cross-sectoral dialogues, technical guidance and the adaptation of existing National Forest Funds, banking or financing systems to enable investments specifically to access funds for FLR activities on the ground. It also includes inbuilding long-term sustainable financing such as PES, value chain development and bankable projects. (e.g. Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Fiji, Kenya, Pakistan, Niger, Philippines, Sao Tome e Principe, Central African Republic and Vanuatu).

Key elements within financial plans for FLR implementation supported by FAO FLRM finance team include:

• Value chain development to enable the sustainability of investments in restoration and to in-build mechanisms that increase the value of restored and sustainably managed land and forest. FLRM facilitates the mapping, analysis and valuation of existing value chains to identify potential business models and private sector partners, enhance and connect existing or develop new markets to bring greater economic benefits to communities. For example, development of cashew nuts value chain in Cambodia, Chilgoza pine nuts in Pakistan, Moringa in Niger and Karité in Burkina-Faso. (e.g. Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Guinea, Kenya, Morocco, Niger, Pakistan etc.).
• Market-based mechanisms such as Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) are useful funding schemes to provide incentives for FLR implementation on the ground. The team supports country partners to scope the feasibility of these mechanisms on the ground, identify key institutional partners, community willingness to accept and willingness to pay for ecosystem services provided, and develop road maps to support pilots and policy integration. (e.g. Cambodia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Regional Asia Pacific, Global).
• FLRM supports the operationalisation of National Forest Funds (NFF) through assessment of capacity and feasibility, and development of roadmaps to develop and enable NFFs to channel finance for FLR activities. (e.g. Lebanon, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sao Tome e Principe and Madagascar).
• Building the enabling environment that makes landscapes “ready for investment” in FLR is critical. Development of integrated financing strategies and mechanisms that blend different funding sources (public, private, development agency, civil society) to invest in FLR. The team also supports country partners to develop these innovative blended financial initiatives or Public-Private-Partnerships to fund FLRM projects. This includes developing capacities of stakeholders, clarifying costs and benefits of FLR, establishing marketplaces and developing risk mitigation measures. (e.g. Cambodia, Kenya, Burkina Faso, Niger and Central Africa Republic).

Bankable projects are essential to illustrate to investors that FLR projects can meet their investment criteria and risk return ratio. The FLRM supports country partners to develop bankable project proposals as part of their long-term restoration efforts through capacity building and identifying opportunities for business development.

The team supports partners to access climate funds available to specifically finance restoration activities, including the Green Climate Fund (GCF), Adaptation Fund, Landscape Degradation Neutrality (LDN) fund. This includes the development of proposals, capacity building on the role of these funds and how to access them, and facilitation of the development of partnerships for project implementation.  It has also developed a policy paper on the links between FLR and climate action, including climate financing mechanisms to support restoration activities on the ground for climate change mitigation and adaptation outcomes. 

The Economics of Ecosystem Restoration (TEER)

TEER is a multi-partner initiative to collect standardized data about the costs and benefits of ecosystem restoration worldwide. A global database on the costs of ecosystem restoration would be a precious resource for organizations, investors and governments in the field of restoration for planning purposes and as a basis for further analysis of the economics of restoration. Better information on the costs and benefits of restoration is also a key contribution to the socio-economic pillar of the monitoring framework currently in preparation in the context of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

All TEER products are the result of online and in-person consultations conducted with a wide range of partner organizations (see the full list of contributing organizations here) on the occasion of several meetings convened by the FLRM:

• November 2018 – initial presentation and discussion on the need of a cost and benefit database, objectives and expected outputs of the initiative.
• February 2019 – partners meeting at the FAO Headquarters in Rome: review of relevant past data and initiatives, and agreement on a variety of work packages and outputs with their lead partners.
• April 2020 – presentation of the Excel-based template for data collection and summary of feedback received and plans for the pilot phase.
• September 2020 – presentation of the results of the pilot phase, draft framework for data collection on benefits and structure of the database and user interface.
• March 2021- presentation of the V3 template for data collection, discussion of the benefits module and the data collection strategy.

The following documents are currently being developed and will be uploaded in the future:

• standard framework on benefits; and
• updated version of the template with benefits module.

All interested organizations and restoration project managers wishing to share their data by filling the template and contribute to the TEER initiative for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restorations are invited to contact [email protected].

Glossaries

For the data collection process involved in TEER, the methodological concepts are clarified in the glossaries and the guidance on intervention units:

• Glossary of land cover types
• Glossary of restoration interventions
• Glossary of benefits
• Guidance on intervention units