EbA4UNgoals – Strategic EbA to address multiple goals of the UN: The example of forest and landscape restoration in Togo

EbA4UNgoals advances the strategic implementation of ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA), using the example of forest and landscape restoration in Togo. Capitalising on the country’s political will to expand forest cover and the ongoing “1 billion trees by 2030” initiative, EbA4UNgoals brings transformative thinking to forest and landscape restoration efforts through a multi-goal-oriented approach, addressing multiple global challenges simultaneously. The aim is to contribute through targeted forest and landscape restoration to the resilience of people and nature to climate change impacts, while simultaneously addressing disaster risk, land degradation, and biodiversity loss.

EbA4UNgoals strategises multi-goal-oriented forest and landscape restoration in the districts of Anié and Est-Mono, developing design criteria of where to plant which species and how. EbA4UNgoals will furthermore create an implementation plan to support and guide tree planting initiatives in the case study districts. Finally, the project will provide evidence for working with nature to address multiple global challenges, enhancing awareness on the role of forests for society and supporting the uptake of strategic forest and landscape restoration in the country and beyond.

Project Status

• Relevance of forests for local communities and valued native species understood through field visits and stakeholder workshops in all 5 municipalities
• Stakeholder community for co-development of strategy and implementation plan set up, including a platform with national focal points of the Rio Conventions and Togo’s reforestation program as well as strategic partnerships with regional women’s and farmer’s cooperatives
• Hotspots of challenges related to land degradation, biodiversity loss, climate change and disaster risk mapped
• Traditional FLR practices and protected ecosystem sites to guide implementation plan identified through focus group discussions, surveys, and botanical inventories
• Existing planning mechanisms, resources, and community aspirations for conservation and restoration action understood through a multi-stakeholder workshop with all 5 municipalities, nursery and community forest visits, and engagement with the Ministry of Environment, Forest Resources, Coastal Protection and Climate Change Togo

Project Achievements

1. Strategy for multi-goal-oriented forest and landscape restoration in Est-Mono and Anié developed
2. Criteria to inform the design of where and how to plant which tree species to capitalize on the most synergestic effects of FLR established
3. Webinar series for advancing strategic EbA in West Africa developed
4. Available resources and capacities for implementing multi-goal-oriented forest and landscape restoration in Anié and Est-Mono mapped
5. Roadmap for integrating EbA into local development planning co-developed
6. Publication on “Spatio-Temporal Dynamics and Future Projection of Land Use for the Sustainable Restoration of Forest Landscapes in the Central Plains of Togo” in Forests.