Taking root: locally driven forest landscape restoration

Forest and tree cover play a vital role in this process, as they filter and store water, help maintain water in the soil, recharge groundwater, and sequester carbon. However, forest degradation and deforestation are occurring all over the world. As the globe begins to better understand climate change, restoration initiatives are beginning to take root.

Local knowledge and perspectives

While restoration, prevention of deforestation, and forest degradation begin to be better understood, knowledge gaps persist, making it difficult to ensure the appropriate measures are put into place that do not negatively affect the resilience of plants, biodiversity, and climate change resilience. Local perspectives and knowledge of specific locations and areas are needed to unlock best practices for forest restoration.

SIWI and partners began a capacity building training programme for forest landscape restoration, called the Locally Controlled Forest Restoration (LoCoFoRest) in 2021. This five-year programme, funded by Sida, aims to scale up restoration while improving ecosystem services. With a focus on local community involvement and prosperity, the LoCoFoRest programme runs from 2021 to 2025 in Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republique of Congo, Ethiopia, Lao PDR, Nepal, Senegal, Thailand, Togo, and Vietnam. In the seven one-year course rounds, participants begin with a web course, followed by two weeks of intensive training in Sweden, and then work in their home countries with a change project to enhance sustainable and scalable forest landscape restoration.

Case studies in LoCoFoRest

Burkina Faso