1. Contribution of Silva Mediterranean Contribution of Silva Mediterranea to the Initiative on forestation and landscape restoration in drylands: Analysis, lessons learnt and operational guidelines Nora Berrahmouni and Walter Kollert Forestry officers nora.berrahmouni@fao.orgnora.berrahmouni@fao.org and walter.kollert@fao.orgwalter.kollert@fao.org

2. Issues to look at in the analysis and lessons learnt: Water shortage: an impediment for forestation and restoration efforts in drylands Water use by planted forests is a controversial issue, in particular as regards unsuitable species Efficiency of water use and application of efficient water harvesting systems Trade-offs between water use and environmental services and goods Landscape planning and management – Socio-economic and ecological dimensions of restoration – Stakeholders’ participation and governance needed for planning, designing, implementing, sharing benefits

3. Issues (continued) Selection, production and use of species (trees, shrub and grass species): diversity and adaptability to sites, ecological conditions and socio-economic needs Quality of seeds and management of tree nurseries Need enhancing natural regeneration through sustainable management and forests and range lands Financing sustainability Monitoring and evaluating the performance and sustainability and environmental and socio-economic impacts

4. The Initiative: Analysis and evaluation of afforestation and landscape restoration efforts Objectives Evaluate past success and failure experiences from relevant forestation and restoration programmes and projects Compiling and evaluating the lessons learnt Developing operational guidelines for the restoration of degraded forests and lands Focus Mediterranean type ecosystems Near East, West and Central Asia Sahel and other drylands countries in Africa Northern China and Latin America

5. Relevance International significance UNCCD: 10-year strategic plan and framework (2008-2018) UNCBD: International targets for restoration targets UNFCCC: Climate change adaptation and mitigation/ UN REDD+ programmes and projects High Regional Significance Silva Mediterranea : GTZ-Project on CC, Collaborative Partnership on Med Forests, State Of Mediterranean Forests Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative (20 countries)

6. The Initiative: Analysis and evaluation of afforestation and landscape restoration efforts Potential partners (ongoing contacts to confirm their interest): Government departments in charge of forestry, rural development and the environment Research Institutions and networks active in restoration work (including forest/tree seeds centres, CIFOR, IUFRO, ICRAF) Private and corporate investors in arid zone forestry Development and environmental NGOs active in forest restoration, rural development and conservation projects and/or community forestry; Members of international collaboration frameworks, such as the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF); the Silva Mediterranea Network; the Global Partnership on Forest Landscape Restoration; the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative; and the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership coordinated by the Botanical Garden Kew Development and cooperation organizations such as GIZ, IFAD, IUCN, UNEP and UNEP- WCMC, UNDP/ Drylands Programme Centre, AECID The afforestation and reforestation working group of CDM.

7. Expected outputs A field-tested and reconciled forest restoration monitoring tool for tracking performance and impacts Enhanced sharing and exchange of knowledge and best practices through: - A series of expert consultation and knowledge sharing workshops in dryland regions - Creation of an active partnership platform on best practices in forestation and restoration projects and case studies Comprehensive expert report compiling the lessons learnt and case studies (publication) Operational guidelines and a Road map for further steps

8. Where we are: key steps Drafting and testing a monitoring tool (ongoing) Mobilizing potential partners and organization to contribute to the analysis of lessons learnt based on monitoring tool (Feb-April 2012) In collaboration with Turkish Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs: organization of the first international consultation workshop (Konya, Turkey, May 2012) Draft report and comments (June-July 2012) Presenting revised report at COFO by September 2012 Finalization, editing, publication, launch (March/ April 2013)

9. World Dryland Zones Source: Millenium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005