Award-winning restoration in Africa
“In 2024, we celebrated Regreening Africa’s designation as a ‘World Restoration Flagship’ and launched its second phase to great fanfare at COP16 in Riyadh.”
Landmark restoration of Africa’s green glory wins global accolade
Regreening Africa programme earns ‘UN World Restoration Flagship’ award
Across the continent, land degradation threatens food security, biodiversity, and livelihoods. But one initiative is proving that large-scale restoration is not only possible – it’s already happening.
Between September 2017 and March 2023, Regreening Africa, the Reversing Land Degradation by Scaling up Evergreen Agriculture Programme, successfully restored nearly one million hectares of degraded land in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, and Somalia. This milestone was achieved by leveraging sustainable community-centred and research-based agroforestry and land management practices which lay emphasis on both restoring landscapes and securing livelihoods.
Championed by CIFOR-ICRAF and implemented in partnership with CARE Nederland, Catholic Relief Services, Oxfam, Sahel Eco, and World Vision Australia, the initiative has already changed the lives of over half a million smallholder farmers. With investment from the European Union, the first phase of the initiative enabled the tackling of the challenge of delivering on global and regional commitments to land restoration through proven and effective approaches that were not only adaptable to local contexts. The solutions could indeed be accurately monitored, verified, and evaluated, as well as scaled to other contexts.
This ambitious effort couldn’t go unnoticed. It was recognized as a UN World Restoration Flagship – one of the world’s most outstanding examples of ecosystem restoration. Regreening Africa was one of seven outstanding initiatives which the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration described as the “world’s most successful examples of healing the planet.”
Chantal Marijnissen, Head of Unit of Environment and Sustainable Natural Resources at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships, calls 2024 a pivotal year for Regreening Africa: “We celebrated the programme’s designation as a ‘World Restoration Flagship’ and launched its second phase to great fanfare at COP16 in Riyadh.”
Photo caption
With over six years of operation, Marijnissen believes Regreening Africa has built up brand value and proven to be a great vehicle for restoration at scale, starting restoration on almost 1,000,000 hectares of land. “This is besides the very real impact this programme has had on community livelihoods across West and Eastern Africa. We are proud partners in this endeavour and look forward to collaborating on this until 2029,” she said.
With its sights set on restoring five million hectares by 2030, and thanks to its recent World Restoration Flagship status, Regreening Africa will receive technical and financial support from the UN – unlocking new opportunities to expand its impact.
As climate change accelerates, Regreening Africa serves as a powerful blueprint for large-scale restoration which brings together policy, practice, and research to create lasting environmental and economic benefits.
For policymakers, investors, and environmental leaders, it’s a call to action – and a proof of what’s possible when communities, science, and commitment come together.