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• Assessment and determination of existing (sub)
regional partnerships, collaborations and linkages
between institutions at different levels and
evaluations of opportunities for adoption in the
new arrangements;
• Development or enhancement of policy frameworks
and other mechanisms to achieve the desired levels
of collaboration and partnerships; and
• Raising awareness among all actors of the
importance of new partnerships and collaborations.
It is also important to operationalize collaboration
and partnership arrangements to foster effective
implementation through:
• Consultations with stakeholders to reach
consensus on the most important approaches for
collaboration and partnership strategies;
• Developing guidelines for the implementation of
collaboration and partnership arrangements; and
• Creating or promoting an enabling environment
to facilitate the implementation of these
arrangements, including platforms, information
exchange and networking arrangements, as well
as regular dialogue and meetings to harmonize
positions in the implementation process.
Restoration of degraded landscapes
Many mountainous areas are under heavy pressure
from their large population densities, which has
resulted in excessive clearance of vegetation cover and
subsequent land degradation. The African highlands
are one of the key examples of large-scale deforestation.
However, efforts have been made to restore the forest
cover on many mountain slopes. This has been driven
by the desire to restore on-site productivity for the
benefit of local communities and a recognition that
restored forests will provide downstream benefits –
improved stream flow and reduced sedimentation.
Recently, reforestation has also been recognized as an
important adaptation measure against the impacts of
climate change. The benefits derived from restoration
to local communities are undeniable, through an
increase in the availability of forest products and
improved on-site productivity.
Interventions should seek to promote the restoration
of degraded landscapes in the mountain areas of East
Africa at the community, subnational, national and
transnational level, to enhance land and ecosystem
productivity. Possible actions include:
• A comprehensive assessment of both degraded
and restored land in order to determine priority
areas for restoration while learning from the
experiences of the restored landscapes; and
• Developing policies, strategies and guidelines on
restoration initiatives.
It is also important to build the capacity of all actors or
stakeholders to enable them to undertake restoration
initiatives, with possible actions as follows:
• Publicizing and popularizing the need for
landscape restoration initiatives in mountain
areas;
• Building the capacity of all actors for identifying
priority areas for restoration and methods to be
used, with an emphasis on collaboration and
partnership arrangements; and
• Promoting mobilization of resources for the
implementation of restoration activities.
Mount Elgon afforestation, Uganda