Although the last few years have been exceptionally challenging due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Restoration Initiative (TRI) encouraged its project teams to look beyond the immediate implications of the health emergency to the wider critical issue of land degradation.

In this context, TRI has steadily pursued its significant efforts to overcome existing barriers to restoration and generate substantial, much-needed benefits for food and water security, the climate, biodiversity conservation, job creation, and more.

Now that they are reaching the end of the third year of implementation, TRI partners have emphasized the need to learn from each other by sharing experiences, best practices and the challenges faced. In this context, they organized the TRI Knowledge Sharing Webinar Series in English and French from 9 February to 23 February 2022.

Three webinars were held with discussions facilitated by experts from FAO, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Participating countries presenting their findings included Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR), China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Pakistan and the United Republic of Tanzania, who addressed country-specific challenges, as well as the solutions that have proven to be instrumental in overcoming obstacles along the course of TRI implementation, such as ways to enhance communication between stakeholders. Other country-specific approaches included implementation of a carbon finance project and development of global IT to aid the promotion of e-commerce for multiple forest products. CAR discussed the common obstacle affecting all project teams: COVID-19. Despite the constraints of the pandemic, the country was able to carry out multiple stakeholder consultations with community members and landowners.

Countries highlighted the importance of engaging with all key stakeholders from the beginning of the project to ensure that they were fully involved in the restoration agenda and that local government actors could access the necessary capacity development and receive appropriate training and tools to further restoration efforts. China, DRC and Pakistan presented several achievements in terms of restoration returns and hectares restored, with DRC making specific reference to their community focus on nurseries and honey production.

Other common findings highlighted the importance of preparation and appropriate infrastructure as being fundamental to successful restoration efforts. Countries shared their experiences developing partnerships, working with local communities, gaining the commitment of people in the field and promoting narratives showing personal motivation and dedication to forest and landscape restoration strategies. Such efforts were highlighted by the Guinea-Bissau team, whose strong initiative involving local communities in restoration efforts has overcome issues such as a lack of technical skills. The United Republic of Tanzania discussed the importance of field engagement, presenting the successful participation of local NGOs in restoration efforts.

The TRI Knowledge Sharing Webinar Series provided an opportunity for countries to discuss their different approaches to TRI implementation, and through understanding their mutual successes and shared challenges, to unify their approach to implementing the most efficient restoration strategies possible to protect the natural systems sustaining all forms of life.

Recordings of the webinar series can be found below and may be supplemented with “The Restoration Initiative: 2020 Year in Review.”

Please access the first TRI webinar recording here.

Please access the second TRI webinar recording here.

Please access the third TRI webinar recording here.

For more information, please contact [email protected] or [email protected].

Caterina Marchetta (FAO) and Camila Mosier-Giovine (FAO)