Main Issues
Land Degradation (LD) Strategy:
The program seeks to contribute to arresting and reversing current trends in land degradation in the Pacific, which is aggravated by deforestation and unsustainable land management particularly in the more mountainous areas and other landscapes with fragile soils that are vulnerable to soil erosion. Three of the LD Strategic Objectives are addressed by projects in the program in an integrated fashion (LD 1, 2, 3). An enhanced enabling environment in the agriculture and forest sectors with their attendant national policy and institutional reforms will be complemented by innovative SLM practices in the pilot demo projects building on earlier enabling activities in the PICs in support of objectives LD-1: Agriculture and Rangeland Systems: Maintain or improve flow of agroecosystem services sustaining the livelihoods of local communities and LD-2: Forest Landscapes: Generate sustainable flows of forest ecosystem services in drylands, including sustaining livelihoods of forest dependent people. In particular, the program addresses objective 3 (LD-3: Integrated Landscapes: Reduce pressures on natural resources from competing land uses in the wider landscape) by reducing barriers to cross-sectoral collaboration (through adoption of integrated tools, including land-use plans and hazard area designation from the forested and agricultural uplands down to the tidal lowlands that so often receive adverse impacts from upstream agriculture and forestry activities). The program fosters the promotion of integrated landscape management practices adopted by local communities building on lessons learned from community-based and participative interventions from the GEF/UNDP/UNEP Pacific IWRM Project. These demonstration initiatives run the gamut from investments in integrated watershed management through forest rehabilitation and conservation of degraded upland areas as well as conservation of riparian corridors and coastal/mangrove ecosystems.
Outcomes:
| Focal Area Objectives | Expected FA Outcomes | Expected FA Outputs |
|---|---|---|
| LD1 |
1.1: An enhanced enabling environment within the agricultural sector 1.2: Improved agricultural management 1.3: Sustained flow of services in agro-ecosystems |
National policies that guarantee small holder and community tenure security Types of innovative SL/WM practices introduced at field level Suitable LS/WM interventions to increase vegetative cover in agroecosystems |
|
LD2 |
Enhanced enabling environment within forest environments in drylands Improved forest management drylands Functionality and cover of forest ecosystems in drylands maintained |
National policies that guarantee small holder and community tenure security Types of innovative SFM practices introduced at field level Suitable SFM interventions introduced |
|
LD3 |
3.2: Integrated landscape management practices adopted by local communities |
Integrated land management plans developed and implemented INRM tools and methodologies developed and tested |
