Analysis and Evaluation of Afforestation and Landscape

Restoration Efforts in Drylands

Nora Berrahmouni, Paolo CeciGeneva - 08 July 2011

World distribution of drylands

Source: Millenium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005

Situation• 12 percent of drylands (636 million hectares) are

covered by forests• In Sub-Saharan Africa over 70% of the population lives

in rural areas and directly depends on forests• Fuelwood is burnt for 58% of all the energy used in

Africa• Overharvesting of forests, land clearance for agriculture

and overgrazing• Deforestation and forest degradation• Soil erosion and decreased water retention capacity• Decreased land productivity coupled with droughts• Desertification

Afforestation/reforestation in drylands: The champion countries

Country Total forest area

(m ha)

Planted forest area

m ha %Sudan 70 6.1 8.7Turkey 11 3.4 30.2Mexico 65 3.2 4.9Spain 18 2.7 14.7Chile 16 2.4 14.7

Source: Forest Resource Assessment 2010

Potential detrimental effects on water resources

• Tree planting in arid regions is primarily water-limited

• Droughts are a major constraint to forest growth

• tree planting projects could even reduce vegetation cover and diversity and increase water shortage severity

• Water use by planted forests is a controversial issue, in particular as regards unsuitable species

FAO field experience: some examples

• Nazinon (Burkina Faso)• Keita (Niger)• Prowalo (Senegal)• Forests & Food Security in Sahelian

Africa (Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Mali)

• Acacia Operation (Senegal, Sudan, Niger, Burkina Faso, Kenya and Chad)

• Nouakchott Green Belt (Mauritania)• Collaborative integrated watershed

management in Pakistan, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Morocco, Mauritania, etc)

FAO publications: normative guidelines

• Generic in nature• Policies, strategies, management options

• Target group: forestry decision -makers

• Droughts and water scarcity • Evaluate past success and

failure experiences• Landscape planning• Integration of socio-

economic and ecological dimensions of drylands

• Trade-offs between water use and environmental services and goods

FAO-led initiative: analysis and evaluation of afforestation and landscape restoration efforts

• Water use efficiency of different tree species and of native vs non-native forests

• Management of nurseries for plant species suitable for forest restoration in drylands

• Establishment of site-adapted planted forests for productive and protective purposes

• Potential contribution of planted forests to climate change adaptation and mitigation

• Data and information on costs and returns of forest investments

FAO-led initiative: analysis and evaluation of afforestation and landscape restoration efforts

• Desk study of selected field projects

• Field visits to GGWSSI countries

• Expert consultation in Turkey

• Report preparation

• Publication of lessons learnt about afforestation

and landscape restoration efforts in drylands

(illustrated by pictures, maps, boxes and case

studies)

FAO-led initiative: process and outputs