National Forest Landscape Restoration Strategy (2023 - 2033).

The National Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) Strategy is a comprehensive document aiming to attain sustainable forest landscape ecosystems that improve and support livelihoods, socio-economic development, and environmental integrity. Its focus is to develop forest landscape restoration enterprise opportunities that build and support rural economies, production, and markets, and satisfy the aspirations of landscape restoration and sustainable development. The Strategy adopts a holistic approach to reverse land degradation, emphasizing resilient landscapes and socioeconomic benefits such as job creation, income growth, biodiversity conservation, and climate mitigation and adaptation. The specific objectives outlined in the document are (i) restore deforested and degraded landscapes to meet the national target of 5.2 million hectares; (ii) enhance ecological services for improved water, food, and energy security; (iii) strengthen institutional capacity, coordination, and collaboration for sustainable forest landscape restoration; (iv) promote gender-responsive planning and implementation by strengthening community livelihoods for the sustainability of forest landscape restoration initiatives.
The Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) Strategy aims to achieve significant results across several key areas, directly contributing to environmental and socioeconomic improvements. These areas and the main interventions are (i) Increased Climate Resilience: The Strategy focuses on restoring soil fertility to boost agricultural yields and diversify farming systems, which will help farmers adapt to unpredictable weather patterns. It also aims to reduce the risks of landslides and flooding while supporting ecosystem-based adaptation. Ultimately, these efforts are expected to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture and increase carbon sequestration; (ii) Improved Food Security: By reducing soil and nutrient loss, the Strategy will restore soil organic matter content and increase the diversity and yield of crops. This will also enable more efficient use of agricultural inputs. The Strategy further aims to increase rural food availability and access by boosting the production of timber, fuelwood, fodder, honey, mushrooms, and other non-timber forest products. These products will serve as alternative income sources, directly contributing to the food security of rural communities; (iii) Increased Water and Energy Resources: The FLR Strategy will increase the supply of locally managed and sustainable sources of fuelwood. It will also decrease sedimentation in the catchments of hydropower infrastructure to boost energy outputs. By controlling erosion and reducing sedimentation, the Strategy will also protect and conserve water sources, leading to an overall increase in water yield; (iv) Biodiversity Conservation: A key goal is to conserve and restore biodiversity by protecting, accelerating the regeneration of, and restoring native ecosystems and threatened species across landscapes. This includes safeguarding critical ecosystems and their ecological functions; (v) Gender Equity and Equality: The Strategy promotes equity in the ownership of the means of production among women, men, and youth. It also aims to improve access to agricultural and forestry education, extension, and technical training for all genders, while facilitating access to finance for women, men, and youth in these sectors; (vi) Poverty Reduction: The Strategy seeks to reduce poverty by enhancing the sustainable management of land and water resources and strengthening coordination between the agriculture, forestry, and other relevant sectors. It will also focus on strengthening the value chains for forestry and agricultural products and fostering entrepreneurship, as well as introducing other sustainable, income-generating activities.
As an important tool, the Strategy aims to use incentives to reverse forest loss and land degradation. The main focus is on Incentives for Ecosystem Services (IES) as a way to provide a financial benefit for maintaining healthy, restored landscapes. The current challenge is that farmers and land users have little economic reason to adopt practices that support conservation. To address this, the Strategy proposes (i) Compensating Communities: It establishes Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) programs, where communities are paid for their conservation efforts, such as enhancing water availability or carbon storage; (ii) Creating a Legal Framework: The government must identify priority areas for restoration, clarify land use rights for local communities, and create fair systems for sharing the benefits from healthy ecosystems; (iii) Providing Financial Support: Incentives will include support for sustainable agriculture, investment in waste management, and ensuring secure land tenure to encourage long-term commitment to restoration; (iv) Removing Barriers to Access: The Strategy notes that funding for these incentives is often difficult for smallholders and local communities to access due to complex application processes and restrictive rules. A key part of the Strategy is to make these funds more accessible and inclusive to ensure large-scale, community-driven restoration.