A transformation is underway in the Mano River Union Transboundary Forest Landscape. Historically marred by deforestation and degradation, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone are experiencing a revival through the strategic initiatives of Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR). A buffer zone of protected areas of around 240 000 ha of degraded areas will be restored, which represents 3.2% of the collective total of degraded land that the three signatory countries have committed to restore by 2030, enhancing biodiversity, and improving local livelihoods in concert with the environment.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), in collaboration with the Global Environment Facility (GEF), has embarked on a visionary journey. Utilizing the Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM), these partners are meticulously planning and implementing restoration actions that integrate the needs of local communities and ecological priorities.
The urgency of this mission is palpable. Under the shadow of the Bonn Challenge, these nations have pledged to restore significant hectares of land by 2030. The statistics represent a commitment to future generations and a pledge to the planet:
Through the detailed work of national committees and consultants, the project has laid out a path that is both ambitious and achievable. For instance, Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR) and agroforestry techniques are lifelines to degraded lands, bringing back the forest canopy and interweaving the fabric of community dependence on these lands.
In the Diecke-Nimba region, strategies are tailored to harness the ecological potential of steep slopes through passive natural regeneration, transforming these areas into bastions of biodiversity and natural beauty.
Meanwhile, agroforestry initiatives in Gola, both in Liberia and Sierra Leone, integrate agricultural productivity with forest conservation, creating a sustainable mosaic that supports both human and wildlife populations.
Each restoration activity involves intricate planning, from the selection of tree species that are both indigenous and beneficial to the ecosystem, to the design of interventions that maximize ecological and social benefits. Community nurseries burgeon with seedlings that promise a greener future and local farmers are engaged as custodians of this burgeoning transformation.
Mano River Union actions show what can be achieved when international organizations, governments, and communities converge on a shared vision of restoration and how thoughtful interventions can address some of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time.
About the project
The Mano River Union Ecosystem Conservation and International Water Resources Management (IWRM) Project covers four countries: Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. The total area of the territory covered by the MRU is 751 450 km², distributed as follows: 71 740 km² for Sierra Leone, 111 370 km² for Liberia, 245 857 km² for Guinea and 322 462 km² for Côte d’Ivoire.
The project will be implemented in the Upper Guinea forest covering Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia, and Cote d’Ivoire to strengthen the management of transboundary natural resources for sustained ecological benefits and improved livelihoods for the forest adjacent communities. The project will play a transformational role in the livelihoods of the communities living in the forest area covered by the project, enabling them to benefit from the ecosystem while not threatening it.
For more information on the project, please contact the Regional Coordinator, Abdoulaye Doumbia [adoumbia@mru.int, doumbia1959@gmail.com], or visit the project website: http://mru.int/project-gef-iucn-mru/.
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