Women and Communities Leading the Way in Forest Landscape Restoration and Nature-based Climate Action
Who is best placed to lead the restoration of Africa’s forests and landscapes and how do we best support them?
The Alliance for Restoration of Forest Ecosystems in Africa (AREECA) explores this question, integrating traditional knowledge and participatory approaches, and placing women and community associations at the centre of forest and natural resource management.
AREECA puts into practice the principles of nature-based climate action by restoring and managing ecosystems to enhance biodiversity, safeguard carbon sinks, and strengthen community resilience. In doing so, the initiative not only reduces emissions from degraded land but also boosts nature and people’s capacity to adapt to climate change.
Community-Led Restoration Rooted in Tradition
The programme is guided by the understanding that restoration must be rooted in local leadership. The initiative builds on local knowledge, traditional structures, and inclusive decision-making to regenerate ecosystems and livelihoods.
Community-based natural resource networks combine ancestral and statutory governance to coordinate land and water management in Kajiado County, Kenya. Similar governance models have been adopted through local forest committees in Malawi and Umuganda (communal workdays) in Rwanda, supporting collective reforestation, agroforestry, and erosion control.
In Cameroon, sacred forests, governed by local councils and protected through customs and taboos, serve as sanctuaries of biodiversity and spiritual heritage. While access has historically been male-dominated, participatory spaces are beginning to open, allowing women to engage in resource use and advocacy for protection. AREECA serves as a platform to foster this participation and coordinate protection and improved management of these sacred forests.
Across the region, these community-led systems, which often blend traditional values with modern restoration knowledge, are managed by resource user associations, village elders, and increasingly also by women and young people. Their efforts ensure not only environmental outcomes but also lasting ownership and accountability.
Women Driving Climate Resilience
![[Translate to English:] Menschen auf einer Waldfläche, die aufgeforstet wird.](/legacy/_processed_/f/c/csm_20250512_Village_Block_Committee_monitors_67a23fda37.jpg)
Women are often the first to face the effects of environmental degradation and the first to act. Their leadership ensures that restoration efforts meet every day needs such as fuelwood, water, and food security, while also redefining local governance roles and strengthening social cohesion.
Across Kenya, women have emerged as key drivers of forest governance and land rehabilitation. In community-managed reserves like Entarara Forest, they coordinate tree planting efforts and organise awareness campaigns on sustainable resource use. Many have stepped into leadership positions within natural resource user groups, ensuring that women's voices and priorities shape land use planning and restoration outcomes.
Participation through taking on leadership positions
Farmer Field Schools provide another powerful platform, especially in Malawi, where women lead by example. They introduce conservation agriculture techniques, guide peer learning, and organise landscape restoration efforts. Their influence in these schools has helped ensure that restoration practices are tailored to local realities and that women’s voices shape agricultural planning and land use decisions.
In Rwanda, women-run cooperatives have become central to the local restoration economy: producing seedlings, managing nurseries, and offering agroforestry and soil management services to farmers. These businesses create employment, support livelihoods, and embed women’s leadership into every stage of restoration. Their continued engagement in monitoring and maintaining restored sites helps secure long-term success.
Together, these efforts highlight the transformative power of women’s participation in nature-based climate action. By combining environmental stewardship with entrepreneurship, knowledge-sharing, and governance, women are helping to shape more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable landscapes.
So, who is best placed to lead the restoration of Africa’s forests and landscapes?
Through sacred forests, farmer field schools, women-led enterprises, and participatory governance, the initiative shows that those who live closest to the land are best placed to restore it.
When trust is placed in communities, when women lead, and when traditional systems are respected and revitalised, restoration becomes more than an ecological effort: it becomes a pathway to agency, resilience, and shared responsibility. Nature-based climate action, in this form, grows from within.
About the AREECA programme
The regional programme works across diverse landscapes in Cameroon, Kenya, Malawi, and Rwanda, and is supported by the International Climate Initiative (IKI).
AREECA is jointly implemented by GIZ, IUCN, WWF, FAO, WRI, the World Bank, and AUDA-NEPAD, in strong collaboration with national and local partners to scale up Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) and unlock its climate, biodiversity, and socio-economic benefits.
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The IKI Strategy
The IKI wants to maximise its impact on climate action and biodiversity conservation. To this end, it concentrates its funding activities on prioritised fields of action within the four funding areas. Another key element is the close cooperation with selected partner countries, especially with the IKI’s priority countries.
