Sustainable mountain development in East Africa in a changing climate

• 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

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