- Pioneering projects in Nigeria and Kenya are moving away from government-led land management to a more inclusive approach to address climate, biodiversity and socioeconomic needs.
- The participatory informed landscape approach (PILA) being employed in the Niger Delta and on Mount Elgon consider not just physical details like soil type and rainfall pattern, but also where people live, how they use the land, and their economic activities.
- This helps decision-makers choose actions that match local conditions and needs, aided by a multistakeholder platform to foster collaboration between government entities, private sector players, local governments, NGOs and community groups.
- PILA proponents say the approach marks “a shift from the old ways of doing things to a more integrated, evidence-based approach that considers the needs of both people and the environment.”
Across Africa, numerous ecosystems are under pressures degrading their ecological, economic and cultural value. The Niger Delta in the continent’s west and Mount Elgon in the east are two examples of regions facing deforestation, unsustainable farming practices, and the growing impacts of climate change. During the Global Landscape Forum Africa, which gathered 10,000 participants from 130 countries in a hybrid meeting in Nairobi and online on Sept. 17, one session examined a proposal to “creating a common vision for future landscapes.”
“Nigeria lost a staggering 178,000 hectares of primary forest and 1.33 million hectares of tree cover between 2001 and 2023,” or 440,000 and 3.29 million acres respectively, according to Nifesimi Ogunkua, climate change and Global Environment Fund (GEF) portfolio support specialist with the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization in Nigeria. This deforestation spree, he told people attending the session, released 724 million tons of CO₂ emissions and contributed significantly to global warming.
The ongoing deforestation is driven by overlapping factors, including smallholders expanding to cultivate both cash crops such as cacao and clearing new plots to grow food for their own use, and the expansion of industrial plantations of oil palm.
In the Niger Delta, known for its rich biodiversity, commercial plantations, subsistence agriculture and logging of timber for construction, as well as extensive damage caused by the oil industry, have ravaged rainforests and mangroves, leading to the loss of vital habitats and threatening the livelihoods of millions.
“We are witnessing the erosion of ecosystems, the extinction of species, and the degradation of natural resources,” Ogunkua said.
Ogunkua is working on a $79 million project funded by the GEF and others that seeks to restore nearly 19,000 hectares (47,000 acres) of degraded land and implement sustainable practices across 110,000 hectares (272,000 acres).
Central to the “Food Systems, Land Use, and Restoration Impact Program Nigeria Project,” or FOLUR, is a strategic initiative designed to address and mitigate these environmental challenges: the participatory informed landscape approach, or PILA, which is “designed to fit the unique cultural and ecological context of each area,” Laura Guarnieri, FOLUR-PILA coordination, integration and capacity development specialist, told Mongabay.
Guarnieri explained how the approach being tailored to the unique conditions in Nigeria’s Ondo and Cross River states. “We have customized PILA to address the specific cultural and ecological needs of these regions. This includes tailoring farm-level surveys to reflect the unique agricultural practices and environmental challenges, such as the local tenure systems and the crops like cocoa and palm oil,” she said.
For the project in Nigeria, the FAO’s team has mapped physical details like the types of soil and rainfall patterns, as well as assessed where people live, how they are currently using the land, and their economic activities. This helps decision-makers choose actions that match local conditions and needs.
Working across sectors
The key strategy under PILA is the creation of a multistakeholder platform, or MSP, to foster collaboration between government entities, private sector players, local governments, NGOs and community groups.
“For too long, we’ve seen fragmented, sectoral approaches to land use that don’t take into account the interconnectedness of ecosystems and the various pressures they face,” Guarnieri said. “An ILM [integrated land management] plan is about bringing all these elements together — agriculture, forestry, conservation — within a single framework.”
She said the challenge is getting different stakeholders on the same page. “It’s not always easy because government agencies might be thinking about long-term sustainability, while private companies are often focused on short-term profits. Meanwhile, NGOs and local communities are more concerned about social equity and protecting the environment.”
Guarnieri said the MSP is working well in Nigeria. “We bring everyone to the table to talk openly about their priorities. For instance, in Nigeria, we’ve managed to find a balance between the need for agricultural growth and the importance of conserving forests by getting everyone to work together and understand each other’s concerns.
“PILA is helping to assess land-use dynamics and identify the drivers of deforestation,” she added. “We’re using tools like Collect Earth to gather data and inform our strategies.”
The program’s success will depend on local authorities’ ability to develop and implement integrated landscape management based on evidence that’s accepted and supported by all stakeholders, Guarnieri said.
“We’ve seen how unsustainable agricultural practices have led to massive deforestation and ecosystem degradation. The ILM plan helps us to map out a sustainable way forward, using tools like geospatial mapping to integrate data on land use, environmental conditions, and socioeconomic factors. This allows us to identify the most effective strategies for both restoration and sustainable development,” she said.
“Ultimately, an ILM plan is about ensuring that economic development and environmental sustainability go hand in hand. It’s a shift from the old ways of doing things to a more integrated, evidence-based approach that considers the needs of both people and the environment.”
Africa-wide challenges
On Mt. Elgon, a mountain that sits astride the border between Kenya and Uganda, planners are applying the approach to a similar set of threats.
“Mt. Elgon is crying,” Anne Fidelis Itubo, a senior conservator with the Kenya Forest Service, said in an interview at the Nairobi forum. “The mountain is suffering because of the damage we’ve inflicted. The wildlife is in distress, and the ecosystem is breaking down.”
Itubo said this montane landscape has been severely impacted by illegal logging by both local communities and commercial entities seeking timber and agricultural land. Climate change has exacerbated the situation, leading to increased frequency of droughts and unpredictable weather patterns.
“These activities have degraded the mountain’s forests, disrupting the natural balance and posing serious threats to both wildlife and the livelihoods of local communities,” she said.
The forests of Mt. Elgon are vital for regulating water flow, supporting agriculture, and maintaining biodiversity, but their continued degradation is leading to significant losses, Itubo said. “Climate change is making an already difficult situation worse. The region is experiencing more frequent droughts and unpredictable rainfall, which are damaging crops and reducing water availability.”
In Kenya, PILA is part of an integrated landscape management project to conserve and restore the Mt. Elgon ecosystem, also funded through the Global Environment Facility. The aim is to restore 7,000 hectares (17,300 acres) of degraded land and improve local farmers’ and other users’ practices across 50,000 hectares (124,000 acres), including through the introduction of agroforestry and climate-smart agriculture.
The project on Mt. Elgon includes a strong emphasis on building resilience to climate change. With plans to produce 10 million seedlings for reforestation, the initiative aims to bolster the region’s ability to withstand the effects of climate change.
Finding new ways to work
The challenges in both Nigeria and Kenya stem from deeply rooted, unsustainable agricultural practices. In Nigeria, the expansion of cacao and oil palm plantations has led to widespread deforestation, while in Kenya, the government’s land management practices have historically been focused on agricultural expansion without sufficient safeguards for environmental protection. The impact on ecosystems like Mt. Elgon has been severe degradation.
“PILA is creating a new model for integrated landscape management,” Itubo said. “It’s about getting everyone — local communities, government, and the private sector — on the same page.”
In addition to addressing immediate challenges, planners in both countries are freshly focused on ensuring the long-term sustainability of these ecosystems. This includes promoting climate-smart agriculture, improving land management, and making sure that restoration efforts are economically viable and inclusive.
One of the key insights from the Global Landscape Forum was the importance of integrated approaches to landscape management. Historically, both Nigeria and Kenya have relied on sector-specific strategies, which often overlook the interconnectedness of ecosystems and the complex social, economic and environmental factors at play.
“We need to move beyond siloed approaches and adopt integrated landscape management,” Guarnieri said.
The success of the participatory informed landscape approach in Nigeria and Kenya could serve as a model for other regions. PILA projects in Vietnam, Brazil and Nicaragua are expected to launch soon.
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Banner image: Fetching water at Kapsambu village, Mt Elgon, Kenya. Image courtesy Infonile.
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