Regreening Africa, an initiative lauded as one of “world’s most successful examples of healing the planet”, was honoured as a UN World Restoration Flagship by the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration in a gala event during UNEA-6.
“It is an honour for Regreening Africa to be recognised as a flagship alongside such highly regarded and impactful ecosystem restoration programmes from around the globe,” said Éliane Ubalijoro, chief executive officer of CIFOR-ICRAF, who accepted the award.
“Restoration is absolutely foundational to addressing the interlinked crises we currently confront as a global community. Celebrating achievements to date, and supporting initiatives to further scale what works, is key to enabling the kind of action that’s needed to make meaningful impact.”
Regreening Africa is led by the Centre for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) in partnership with CARE Nederland, Catholic Relief Services, Oxfam, Sahel Eco, and World Vision Australia, with investment from the European Union.
The initiative operated between 2017 and 2023 to engage with more than 600,000 households and bring over 350,000 hectares under restoration in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, and Somalia. Its approach was based on proven agroforestry techniques that were adapted to suit the needs of farmers under varying socio-ecological contexts.
Looking forward, Regreening Africa aims to bring five million hectares under restoration by 2030, in collaboration with local communities across Sub-Saharan Africa.
