Learning talk:  Coastal and Terrestrial Ecosystem-Based Management

Summary

Ecosystem-based management uses natural systems, biodiversity, conservation and restoration to achieve climate goals.  

From 2024-2027 the GCF is committed to supporting developing countries conserve, restore or bring under sustainable management 120 to 190 million hectares of terrestrial and marine areas.  

This is the same size as Mali or the size of Mexico. It is large. How can the GCF achieve this?  

This IEU learning talk introduced evidence on what works at scale in restoring landscapes, from signals of success from GCF projects to global evidence covering coasts and terrestrial spaces.  

The presentations from a diverse panel of speakers acted as a springboard for a discussion on how GCF can further utilize trusted evidence, to inform programming and achieve the targeted results in the Strategic Plan 2024–2027.  

Discussion highlights

• 'We definitely need to think about an institutional setup, and we need to be ready to learn and to adapt along the way because evidence is coming, especially in recent years, more rapidly towards us. And  the project teams may not be aware of the most recent evidence.'
•  'We've been busy producing evidence, and guidance on coastal management. And we're keen to do more. So we've taken the literature and we combined it with people's experience as to what works. [What we need now] is to embed a test into practice.'
• 'The science [on ecosystems] has been growing. [However],  the marine sphere is lagging a little bit behind the terrestrial ecosystem. For terrestrial ecosystems, it's already much better known which interventions work and which do not, and also in the light of climate change.'

Learning outcomes

• Success of projects may depend on several factors, including institutional setup, investment case built on updated evidence, and planned implementation and adaptative management.
• Mangrove restoration efforts have been long-standing, with donor funding and efforts. However, these efforts were not effective due to the specificity of mangrove growth. Over the past decade, the community has become more aware of these issues, and projects are now more effective, incorporating native species and implementing better planning. 
• While there are impressive ongoing intergovernmental efforts to set comprehensive targets and indicators for biodiversity and ecosystem services, there is a gap in guidance as to how to achieve these targets.

Panelists

• Andreas Reumann, Head, IEU

• Prof. William Sutherland, University of Cambridge

• Lena Kern, Senior Marine Ecosystems Management Specialist, DMA

Moderator

• Wadee Deeprawat, Communications Consultant, IEU