On October 11th, 2023, ILC Africa had a side event on the sidelines of the Global Landscape Forum, focusing on safeguarding tenure security in the context of landscape restoration.
The event aimed to underscore the importance of locally led landscape restoration as a response to the impending unsustainability and the challenges posed by climate change. It served as an opportunity for key players in the land sector to exchange insights with partners and governments to advance a transformation agenda focused on local communities, institutions, and policy change.
The concept of locally led processes are increasingly being recognized in efforts to scale landscape restoration for their ability to include communities, networks, organizations, private entities, and governments in setting their own agendas, developing sustainable solutions, and bringing their leadership and knowledge for use in achieving those solutions.
“By focusing on resources at the community level, we can pave way for sustainable restoration efforts and a more holistic approach to land management.” – Isaac Tobiko, an indigenous people’s rights advocate from CLAN!.
“By focusing on resources at the community level, we can pave way for sustainable restoration efforts and a more holistic approach to land management.” – Isaac Tobiko, an indigenous people’s rights advocate from CLAN!.
Despite repeated appeals for the recognition and protection of indigenous peoples and local communities' land rights as part of climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts, their tenure security remains at stake. The engagement with communities in restoration processes should be from a point of Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).
Mary Mutemi, Project Manager at Green Africa Foundation, and a member of ILC Africa’s platform on locally managed ecosystems underscores the delicate balance between land rights and land restoration asking the crucial question: “On whose land do you want to undertake the restoration and conservation initiatives?"
Audace Kubwimana, the Regional Coordinator of ILC Africa, emphasizes the urgency of protecting and restoring land to address the current climate crisis effectively. He highlights that, “land degradation affects everyone but is especially detrimental to local women and youth who rely on the land for their livelihoods.” Recognizing the essential role of indigenous women and youth in ecosystem restoration, sustainable food systems, and community well-being, he asserts that, “there is a compelling case for their inclusion in indigenous climate actions and biodiversity conservation initiatives.”
Audace Kubwimana, the Regional Coordinator of ILC Africa presenting at GLF 2023.
“land degradation affects everyone but is especially detrimental to local women and youth who rely on the land for their livelihoods." Says Audace Kubwimana, the Regional Coordinator of ILC Africa.
Soil health is another prerequisite for landscape restoration. We frequently make demands on our soil through unsustainable land use practices while overlooking its importance. Dr. Leigh Ann Winowiecki, Global Research Lead for Soil and Land Health at CIFOR-ICRAF, advocates for adopting farmer-centered landscape restoration methods.
“It’s important that we begin to appreciate and value our soil. We have taken a lot from it, and now it’s time to give back. There is an urgent need for targeted investment in locally led and science-based landscape restoration.” She says.
Dr. Leigh Ann Winowiecki, a Global Research Lead for Soil and Land Health at CIFOR-ICRAF during her presentation.
We are in a climate crisis that is increasingly impacting the environment around us, and most severely, local communities who live on and from the land. The ILC Africa side event served as a platform to bring together stakeholders, scientists, local communities, and indigenous peoples to scale landscape restoration in attempts to mitigate the looming climate change.