The Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM)

KUZEE, MirjamInternational Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)Forest Landscape Restoration Assessments Coordinator

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Globally, two billion hectares of

degraded & deforested land could

benefit from restoration.

The Bonn Challenge is an important implementation vehicle for existing global commitments, including:

Through Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR)……

• Forests, because it involves increasing the number and/ or health of trees in an area with the objective to restore the area.

• Landscapes, because it involves entire watersheds, jurisdictions, biomes in which many land uses interact, often a mosaic of interdependent land uses.

• Restoration, because it involves bringing back the biological productivity of an area in order to achieve any number of benefits for people and the planet.

• It is a long-term process over large areas, but can produce short-term benefits.

…. the principles of Forest Landscape Restoration

Focus on landscapes

Restore functionality (forward-looking restoration)

Allow for multiple benefits

Leverage a suite of strategies

Involve stakeholders

Tailor to local conditions

Avoid further reduction of natural forest cover

Adaptively manage

….but about restoring degraded and deforested landscapes

Source: IUCN ROAM Guide

Degraded primary forest

Secondary forest

Permanent pasture

Intensive agriculture

Riverine

Degraded

…. the principles of Forest Landscape Restoration

Focus on landscapes

Restore functionality (forward-looking restoration)

Allow for multiple benefits

Leverage a suite of strategies

Involve stakeholders

Tailor to local conditions

Avoid further reduction of natural forest cover

Adaptively manage

BUT WHERE DO WE START?

One option is to use ROAM

ROAM is a methodology to identify and prioritize FLR opportunities at the national and subnational level – and much more....

Key aspects of ROAM

Stepwise, iterative, flexible and adaptable to national and subnational context

Brings people together to identify, negotiate, and implement FLR activities, that restore an agreed optimal balance of the ecological, social, and economic benefits of forests and trees, within a broader pattern of land uses

ROAM helps us to answers questions such as:

1. Where is restoration socially, economically and ecologically feasible?

2. What is the total extent of restoration opportunities in the country/region?

3. Which types of restoration are feasible in different parts of the country/region?

4. What are the costs and benefits, including carbon storage and ecosystem services, associated with different restoration strategies?

5. What policy, financial and social incentives exist or are needed to support restoration?

6. Who are the stakeholders with whom we need to engage?

7. What options exist to unlock finance for restoration?

8. How can we scale up restoration?

Based on best knowledge and best science.

• 17 countries committed 63.3 mhato Bonn Challenge

• 11 are carrying out ROAM to prioritize actions and investment for landscape restoration

• Country driven process – IUCN, GIZ, WRI, FAO, WB give support

• Capacity building via on-the-job training, learning, online course

FLR & ROAM in Africa

Evolution of Methodology

SCALE:

National (Rwanda, Costa Rica)State (Chiapas, Espirito Santo)Regional (Yucatan follows state jurisdiction, Burundi, Myanmar)District (Mozambique, Rwanda)Community level (Burundi)Watershed (Cambodia)

Objectives:

Food security (Malawi, Burundi)Livelihoods (Rwanda)Sustainable production (ORMACC)Carbon (FIP) (Mozambique, ORMACC)Nature reserves (Burundi, Cambodia, Mozambique)Biodiversity (Myanmar, Malawi)Resilience (Malawi, Uganda)Watershed (Cambodia)

26 Countries total – 36? ROAM processes

Key components of ROAM

Scoping FLR (drivers of degradation, objectives): inception WS

Stocktaking (what worked, what did not)

Stakeholder mapping

Data collection and mapping (best science, best knowledge)

Spatial data analysis and economic analysis

FLR opportunities and transitions identified

Validate results with stakeholders: validation WS

Develop FLR action plan and finance strategy

Some key outcomes of ROAM

Stakeholder participation, demand driven, ownership, capacity development

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Understanding degradation and drivers of degradation. Agreeing on the objectives for FLR, for example:

• Erosion control, sedimentation of rivers

• Resilience

• Food & water security

• Increase soil productivity

• etc

Defining the problem and restoration objectives

Habitat fragmentation + population density

Loss ecosystem productivity

Reduced carbon

sequestration

FLR Priority map M

ULT

I-C

RIT

ERIA

DEG

RA

DAT

ION

MA

PP

ING

Land use type AreaVerylow Low Medium High

Veryhigh

Intensive agriculture 68,551 1,545 5,729 21,630 15,178 22,732

Shifting agriculture 175,144 541 21,724 73,167 28,545 49,440

Silvopastoral 844,655 1,924 29,666 220,260 272,946 316,227

Mangroves 93,314 79,735 9,526 3,365 44 3

Plantations 310 29 26 82 85 52

High and medium altitude rainforest 86,754 10,228 65,132 8,277 2,900 214

Tropical dry forest 731,618 101,319 330,712 145,072 123,984 22,242

Lowland rainforest 26,484 1,888 16,542 3,069 2,167 2,808

Deciduous tropical forest 1,716,485 305,394 746,348 446,549 184,981 31,999

Wetlands 43,165 37,789 4,716 548 23 3

Total general 3,916,771 548,633 1,237,034 925,328 632,195 446,338

Land Degradation per Land Use (ha)

Agriculture Agroforestry

Poorly managed

woodlots

Well

managed

woodlots

Deforested land Naturally

regenerated

forests

technical interventions

Jan. 2006 Aug. 2006Silvopastoralsystems

Ref.: Zoraida Calle,2012

5.1 heads/ha; 4.1 L Milk/day/cow1.2 heads/ha; 1.7 L milk/day/cow

Sanchún, A. (2016) UICN.

technical interventions

After 3 years

IUCN, 2016

Rivers /streams without vegetation riparian forest

Uso actual

Área de

oportunidad

(ha)

Porcentaje Técnicas de restauración acordadas

Sabanas de pastos

naturales638.741 28%

Recuperación de cultivos perennes

tradicionales (marañón, cítricos, nancite,

Acacia magnum, Roble; coco, palma

(zona costera))

Tacotales 461.040 20% Regeneración natural e inducida

Vegetación

herbácea/arbustiva367.503 16% Regeneración natural e inducida

Bosque latifoliado en

regeneración65.570 3% Regeneración natural e inducida

Cultivos/pastos 94.627 4%

Sistemas silvopastoriles con árboles

forrajeros

Cambios tecnológicos y técnicas de

manejo

Cultivos anuales 15.329 1%Agricultura con buenas prácticas

Sistemas agroforestales

Important to consider, in the planning of restoration strategies, the respective benefits of

different restoration techniques in terms of supporting progress for Aichi targets

… restoration of 15% of degraded habitats... ?

Current land – use CO2

Restored land – use CO2

Potential impact FLR:> GDP 2% Campeche – 6% Yucatan, combined impact of increasing productivity and carbon storage (at a price of 4 USD/tCO2).

Contribution to NDCs

INITIAL INVESTMENT(USD/ha)

TOTAL COSTSat present value(USD/ha)

BENEFIT-COST RATIO

NET PRESENT VALUE (USD/ha/yr)

IRR (%) AVG. CARBON MITIGATIONt CO2e/ha/yr

Conservation agriculture(corn-soy-cedar) $ 2,468 $ 13,674 1.2 $ 126 65.2 35.71

Improved milpa system(corn-beans-pumpkin-cedar) $ 501 $ 10,319 5.8 $1,083 103.0 104.8

Commercial forest plantations(teak-corn-sheeps) $ 1,460 $ 15,354 3.0 $1,571 18.7 87.56

Silvopastoral system(cattle-leucaena) $ 12,993 $ 17,721 1.3 $190 43.0 33.95

Agropastoral system(sheeps-orange-apiculture) $ 4,534 $ 19,915 1.7 $594 16.9 11.81

Agroforestry rainfed (mango-banana-pumpkin-mahogany) $ 753 $ 17,572 1.9 $615 393.0 38.49

Agroforestry irrigated(cocoa-lemon-papaya-corn-beans-watermelon-teak-melina)

$ 3,658 $ 22,575 1.6 $674 34.8 28.14

Secondary forest enrichment (apiculture-pepper-achiote) $ 3,532 $ 34,573 1.3 $456 26.8 91.35

Access to ROAM materials

Download our road-test handbook on ROAM: www.iucn.org/ROAM

Use the clickable version of ROAM to navigate the phases online: http://www.forestlandscaperestoration.org/

See the animations of each phase as quick visual introductions: www.iucn.org/ROAM

Available in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Bahasa Indonesia.

Contact us at: flr@iucn.org to share your experiences with us

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