Welcome to this latest edition of the FLR Mechanism newsletter. In this issue, we present outcomes from some events and processes that the FLR Mechanism has been supporting. These include:

• launch of the project “Forest and Landscape Restoration and Sustainable Land Management in the Sahel”;
• the first FLRM online forum “Innovative Approaches for Monitoring Forest and Landscape Restoration”;
• participation of FAO and the FLRM at the 2017 Global Landscapes Forum; and updates on the FLR work in Asian Countries.

With the launch of “Forest and Landscape Restoration and Sustainable Land Management in the Sahel” field-based restauration actions are enabled in three communes of Burkina Faso and three in Niger. Research will begin following an initial meeting, aim to provide scientific evidence concerning cost/benefits of FLR actions in the Sahel region.

The Online Community of Practice for FLR successfully hosted its inaugural webinar as part of the online forum “Innovative Approaches for Monitoring Forest and Landscape Restoration” in November 2017. The online forum attracted 422 participants from around the world and those who are working on FLR monitoring at all levels — from field projects to global issues — gave very positive feedback on the forum. Exchanges are continuing in the online community on the D-groups platform. Based on the positive outcome, FLRM plans to continue facilitating online learning and knowledge-sharing, and new FLRM communities of practices will consider other topics, such as finance.

The FAO presence during the 2017 Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) was very significant on several fronts: leading the organization and representing FAO at three events, contributing to the different pavilions and to the organization of two FAO-led discussion forums. The GLF provided participating countries with a good opportunity to connect, learn, share and act concerning the planet’s greatest climate and development challenges.

A regional training and workshop on FLR in Manila and Bataan, in the Philippines, drew participants from various parts of Asia to share experiences and lessons learned in implementing FLR initiatives in their home countries with the objective of improving the flow of forest ecosystem services and enhancing sustainable livelihoods for local communities and forest-dependent peoples through the restoration of environmental stability and productivity of degraded forests and forest landscapes.

Recently, the national Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has endorsed the Philippine National Action Plan on FLR, which is an effort to consolidate and promote landscape approaches in the implementation of forest restoration activities in the country. FAO has supported the development of the action plan and is assisting with implementation of FLR activities. In Asia, aside from the Philippines, FAO has promoted FLR as an approach to restoring and rehabilitating degraded forestlands in countries such as, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Lao PDR

FAO will continue to build on the momentum in the field of landscape restoration and will actively engage in supporting countries for FLR. More details of FLR activities can be found below. We appreciate comments and feedback.

For more information, please contact the FLRM team at [email protected].

Douglas McGuire

(Coordinator of the FLRM - FAO)