The Paris Agreement in action: upscaling forest and landscape restoration to achieve nationally determined contributions

State of implementation/results

• Project completed.
• Two new exchange visits between experts of the Mediterranean region were organised in December 2023 (Italy) and March 2024 (Morocco).
• The fourth regional capacity building workshop on “Monitoring tools available for forest and landscape restoration in the Mediterranean region” was organised at the EFI Mediterranean Facility’s premises in Barcelona, Spain, with collaboration of the Union for the Mediterranean, FAO National Forest Monitoring and FAO Forest Resource Assessment teams (06-11 November 2023).
• Main results of the project in the Great Green Wall for Sahara and the Sahel Initiative (GGWSSI) region were presented during the “Sixth Advisory Group and knowledge sharing event of the Forest and Landscape Restoration Mechanism” organised in Rome at FAO Headquarters from 09 to 13 October 2023.
• A workshop named “Knowledge sharing session on good forest and landscape restoration practices in the Pacific Islands” was be organized on 28 September 2023 in Darwin, Australia, in the context of the 10th World Conference on Ecological Restoration.
• At the occasion of the Twenty-sixth session of the Near East Forestry and Rangeland Commission (NEFRC) organized by the food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Amman (10-13 September 2023), Jordan, Lebanon, Turkiye, Tunisia and Morocco attended the side event “Restoration Initiatives in the Mediterranean Region: the Flagship program under the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and other initiatives” organized by the Secretariat of the Committee on Mediterranean Forestry Questions-Silva Mediterranea. Morocco and Lebanon presented the results of restoration initiatives at national level developed in the framework of the project.
• The regional capacity building workshop on “Management practices for the restoration of degraded Mediterranean forest landscapes” was held from 14 to 17 March 2023, in Hammamet (Tunisia). A total of 30 participants from Algeria, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey attended the event. It covered all the steps of the restoration process: from planning to monitoring, with a focus on practices like assisted natural regeneration and post-fire restoration.
• The FAO organized the Pacific Week of Agriculture and Forestry (PWAF) from 6 to 10 March 2023 in Nadi, Fiji. One session named “Pacific good practices in implementing and monitoring forest and landscape restoration - Enhancing resilience for people and nature” was held by the project on 6 March 2023.
• The Workshop on carbon benefits of forest and landscape restoration in the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative was held from 14 to 18 November 2022. A financial support was provided to ensure a strong participation of several delegates from Burkina Faso, Niger, Senegal and Mali.
• A study tour from Burkina Faso institutions and mayors to Niger was organized at the end of November 2022 to immerse oneself in the approaches to implementing FLR actions in each country and to visit sites restored by the project and discussed achievements in Niger.
• The exchange visits between Morocco and Italy were organized in collaboration with AIFM. The visits aim at sharing FLR experiences and know-how with a strong field component. Following a first visit in May 2022 in Morocco, four experts from Morocco travelled to Italy from 24 to 28 October 2022 for extensive field visit of the Italian Model Forest Montagne Fiorentine.
• The workshop ‘’Develop, adopt and transfer innovative solutions and actions to prevent and control wildfires’’ took place from 24 October to 27 October 2022 in Antalya, Turkey. This workshop was aiming to: (i) strengthen international and regional cooperation and coordination (building capacity on prevention, preparedness and response among networks); (ii) develop fire-resistant and fire-resilient forest landscapes (best practices on prevention, adaptation and post-fire restoration practices) and (iii) use and exchange technological developments and innovative approaches.
• The regional capacity-building workshop on carbon benefits of forest and landscape restoration and contribution to NDCs in the Mediterranean region took place in Montpellier, France, from 16 to 20 May 2022, co-organized by EFIMED and GIP ECOFOR.
• The Mediterranean forest pavilion at the World Forestry Congress (2 to 6 May 2022 – Seoul – Republic of Korea) was successfully organized in partnership with AIFM and the MMFN with more than 500 visitors during the four days of the conference in Seoul.
• The seventh edition of the Mediterranean Forest Week has been organised in Antalya, Turkey (21 to 25 March 2022), with a focus on ‘Forest and ecosystem restoration for the next generations’.
• The FAO Forest and Landscape Restoration Mechanism (FLRM) websites, both French and English, were updated to provide information on IKI project actions in Fiji, Philippines, Morocco, Niger and Lebanon (www.fao.org/in-action/forest-landscape-restoration-mechanism/our-work/countries/en/; www.fao.org/…).
• Five inception workshops (Fiji, Niger, Lebanon, Morocco and Philippines) and four national capacity building events or technical days (Fiji, Niger, Morocco and Lebanon) were organised.
• 1005 hectares are currently under restoration in Philippines on Bohol Island (400 hectares) and in Bataan region (605 hectares) with Assisted Natural Regeneration techniques and firebreaks.
• Two communal Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) plans ongoing in Lebanon in two communes of the Shouf Biosphere Reserve (Minicipality of Tannourine) and Bekaa Valley with 1500 hectares under grazing management plans.
• 400 hectares are currently under restoration in Fiji on Yasawas and Mamanucas Islands (with a first round of 114 hectares already achieved on the multiple islands). Income generations initiatives are ongoing with distributions of seedlings to local stakeholders and materials to beekeepers.
• 500 hectares are currently under restoration in Niger with 105 hectares already achieved during the reporting period and with nine small grants (for a total amount of 75000 USD) provided to groups/cooperatives within the targeted communes.
• 3423 hectares are currently under restoration in Morocco in the Maamora forest and additional sites are currently under identification around Ifrane National Park. The new management plan of the Maamora forest is adopted and will be implemented with both IKI funds and domestic resources.
• Four national policy frameworks and work plans ongoing in Fiji, Lebanon, Morocco and Niger.
• The workshop on green/climate finance in the Pacific (7 to 11 December 2020) was organized as a hybrid capacity-building workshop with both face-to-face sessions at national level and online/virtual sessions.
• An interactive map was created and is now available on the FLRM website. It displays specific project information with links to online project pages.
• Multiple articles on national work packages/regional achievements were prepared and published both in French and in English within the FLRM Newsletters.
• A communications network was established with the communications officers of Fiji, Morocco, Niger, Lebanon and the Philippines to strengthen the communications efforts.
• A French version of the FLRM website was officially launched in May 2020. This French website allows francophone partners (particularly partners in Niger, Morocco and Lebanon) to easily access the work plans funded by BMUV/IKI.
• The project team has been very active in supporting BMUV/IKI partners to propose side events, articles and posters for the upcoming XV World Forestry Congress, a key global event for all forestry practitioners. All proposed abstracts have been approved by reviewers for the Pacific region in November 2020. Three abstracts for articles have been approved by reviewers for the Mediterranean in November 2020. Two abstracts for articles related to the Moringa Value chain study and the implementation of Forest and Landscape Restoration (FLR) plans through the communal level in Niger have been approved by reviewers in November 2020.
• During the event “Tackling the climate emergency through nature-based solution: the role urban/periurban forests, restoration and REDD+”, held at UNFCCC COP 25 in Madrid (Spain), the Mediterranean outputs of the project and key results so far were presented.
• The article “Making green and climate finance accessible in the Mediterranean region” on the regional capacity building workshop held with BMUV/IKI support in Barcelona (Spain) in November 2019 is available on the IKI website.
• Regional workshops reports/proceedings, key recommendations and website links are sent regularly to BMUV/IKI on events organised.
• A communication plan was prepared by the project team to ensure relevant visibility of BMUV/IKI on the existing communications channels (websites, newsletters, leaflets, etc.) and to allow the exchange of information with the IKI communications team.

Latest Update:
03/2025

Further links

• Project newsletter registration