Through participatory planning and mapping exercises, the agro-pastoralist Itoh community conserves land around the Kilum mountain forest for grazing and agriculture. This forest fragment had previously been under threat from encroachment for timber harvesting and clearing for agriculture; it is the largest remnant of montane forest in the Bamenda Highlands of Cameroon's Northwest Province. The

Once on the brink of resettlement due to desertification, soil degradation and lack of water, the Abrha Weatsbha community in northern Ethiopia has reclaimed its land through the reforestation and sustainable management of over 224,000 hectares of forest.  Tree planting activities have resulted in improved soil quality, higher crop yields, greater biomass production, groundwater functionin

Aharam Traditional Crops Producers' Company works with socially marginalized rural producers to conserve biodiversity in the semi-arid Ramnad Plains of Tamil Nadu state. The initiative uses a producer group model focused on women and landless labourers to promote organic farming practices that improve crop diversity and agro-biodiversity. The group's work has aimed at reducing dependence on cot

The communities behind Al-Heswa Wetland Protected Area have successfully transformed a garbage dump into a functioning wetland ecosystem that provides a breeding site more than 100 migratory bird species, including flamingos. As a result, the Aden wetlands have grown into among the most important wetland ecosystems in Yemen and in the entire region. The community-managed protected area redirect

Created as a response to land degradation issues resulting from slash-and-burn agriculture, uncontrolled bush fires, and overgrazing, Amical Bè Ôko is a three-village initiative that focuses on the reforestation of the degraded banks of the Kpaya River with palm and fruit-bearing trees to improve local health, nutrition, and food security. Reforestation efforts have restored ecosys

Association Amsing was created by the villagers of Elmoudaa – an Amazirght (Berber) community located in the High Atlas Mountains – to address economic isolation, a lack of social services, and harsh climatic conditions.  The association has successfully regenerated degraded lands surrounding their village through a traditional land management practice called ‘azzayn’ which bans herder

Founded by local women in 2003, Asociación de Artesanas de Arbolsol y Huaca de Barro (AAAHB, Women Artisans’ Association of Arbolsol and Huaca de Barro) works to recover traditional methods of cotton production that are environmentally responsible and create positive socioeconomic change in Mórrope District, Lambayeque, northern Peru.

The association oversees the pla

Asociación de Trabajadores Autónomos San Rafael, Tres Cruces y Yurac Rumi (ASARATY, Autonomous Workers’ Association of San Rafael, Tres Cruces, and Yurac Rumi) brings together indigenous Quichua-Puruháe (Kichwa) communities in the central Ecuadorian Andes in the sustainable management of 8,000 hectares of montane grassland adj

Asociación para la Investigación y el Desarrollo Integral (AIDER, Association for Research and Integrated Development) is a participatory initiative that provides capacity building and technology transfer to enable community-based conservation of forest resources across Peru. By providing technical assistance to forest-based communities in both the humid tropical forests of centra

Equator Prize for Sustainable Land Management in Sub-Saharan Africa

Family farming and mushroom cultivation are the twin tools of Association des Pépiniéristes et Planteurs de Tône-Ouest (Association of Nursery Workers and Horticulturists of West Tône) in responding to the land degradation, low agricultural yields,

Equator Prize for Sustainable Land Management in Sub-Saharan Africa

Association Tchadienne des Volontaires pour la Protection de l'Environnement was developed to address land and resource rights for women, in response to drought, desertification, and land degradation, and focuses on training in ecosystem restoration, drought preparedness, an

Equator Prize for Sustainable Land Management in Sub-Saharan Africa

Developed in response to water scarcity, environmental degradation, declining agricultural yields and high rates of poverty, Association Zoramb Naagtaaba (AZN, Zoramb Naagtaaba Association) brings together 10 villages to restore degraded land through the reintroduction of tr

Capitania del Alto y Bajo Izozog (CABI, Captaincy of the Upper and Lower Izozog) represents more than 10,000 members of Bolivia's Izoceño-Guaraní people in a landmark co-management agreement in the country's Gran Chaco region. With technical support from the Wildlife Conservation Society, CABI negotiated with the Bolivian government for establishment of the 3.4 million-hectare Kaa

Centro Alexander von Humboldt (Alexander von Humboldt Center) operates in one of the driest regions of the country and one of the areas most susceptible to natural disasters: hurricanes, severe droughts, and fresh water shortages.  The organization provides local communities with training in sustainable water management and has drilled more than 40 fresh water wells and repaired 35 communi

Chibememe Earth Healing Association (CHIEHA) is a community-based initiative centered on the small village of Chibememe, in Masvingo province, Zimbabwe. Arising in response to habitat destruction and deforestation in the Zivambava Island forest and the Chibememe mainland forest, the organization’s work has been driven by the 17 households that make up Chibememe community. Its work has spr

After a devastating bush fire in 1973, the village of Ando Kpomey created a green belt buffer around its community that has grown into a 100-hectare forest.  A participatory management committee has been established to monitor the forest and its resources and to regulate its use.  The community authorizes limited resource extraction to meet livelihood needs – both timber and non

The Luangwa Valley region of Zambia is the setting for a pioneering initiative that is transforming the local economy and reducing human pressures on the valley's wildlife. Led by the Wildlife Conservation Society, COMACO has brought about substantial livelihoods and conservation benefits through a producer group model of collective learning, reaching more than 40,000 farming households with tr

The village of Saga, located south of Niamey on the banks of the Niger River, was the initial setting for an innovative experiment in converting a troublesome invasive species in the river basin into an economic opportunity for the local community. Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) has clogged local irrigation systems, limited navigability of the river, restricted access to local markets, a

Equator Prize for Sustainable Land Management in Sub-Saharan Africa

Fédération des Unions de Producteurs de Maradi Gaskiya (FUMA Gaskiya, Gaskiya Federation of Maradi Farmers Unions) is a research-driven initiative that is bringing agro-ecological options to smallholder farmers. Composed of 17 unions, 325 self-help groups,

For over 400 years, the grasslands in the Guassa area of Menz in Ethiopia's central highlands were governed under a communal management system known as Qero. In this system, elected headmen determined when and for how long local people could harvest thatch grass and graze their livestock. Following the 1974 revolution and the collapse of the Qero system due to agrarian reform, the Guassa area s

Equator Prize for Sustainable Land Management in Sub-Saharan Africa

Since 2001 Heiveld Co-operative has worked with small-scale rooibos tea farmers to provide organic and fair trade certification, as well as support with market access. In response to climate variability, farmers are cultivating drought-resistant varieties of rooibos. Collabo

The Shinyanga Soil Conservation Programme, better known by its Swahili acronym HASHI (Hifadhi Ardhi Shinyanga) ran from 1986 to 2004, with the aim of restoring the degraded Shinyanga region of northwest Tanzania. Christened the "Desert of Tanzania" in the mid-1980s by President Julius Nyerere, the region's miombo woodland had been decimated by decades of forest clearing (partly for tsetse fly e

Equator Prize for Sustainable Land Management in Sub-Saharan Africa

By equipping women with financial and technical resources to restore degraded lands and develop small-scale enterprises, Integrated Development in Focus is improving crop yields and local incomes. Women-led groups have planted three million trees and restored 350 hectares of

In 1993, the Government of Tanzania designated the Suledo Forest as a Central Government Forest Reserve, in an attempt to stem the overexploitation of forest resources in this 167,400-ha stretch of miombo woodland. This move, made without prior local consultation, resulted in the disenfranchisement of nine neighbouring forest-dependent Maasai villages.

These communities resisted the new

Equator Prize for Sustainable Land Management in Sub-Saharan Africa

Reaching over 10,000 small-scale farmers, Kasisi Agricultural Training Centre provides agricultural extension services, research, and support marketing local products to local farmers. Demonstration plots are used for hands-on learning and for agricultural research. The cent

This association of 27 village water committees located in the southern buffer zone of Honduras’ Pico Bonito National Park oversees the management of micro-watersheds and trains the local community in reforestation, conservation and the application of environmentally friendly technologies.  A primary focus is ensuring local access to potable water in a region prone to shortages. 

An organic farming cooperative developed to transition away from tobacco cultivation and chemical-intensive agriculture, Makoni Organic Farmers Association is an initiative of 450 farmers trained in organic farming. The association uses a three-pronged approach that includes capacity building; scaling of good farming practices in apiculture, mushroom cultivation, poultry rearing, and tree nurse

Pafuri Camp is a community-led ecotourism initiative in the northern part of the Kruger National Park that provides a wide range of activities, including game drives, night drives, walks and wildlife hides. Revenues from Pafuri Camp are used in both community development projects, as well as biodiversity conservation initiatives.

Pafuri Camp takes a participatory approach to ecotourism,

Equator Prize for Sustainable Land Management in Sub-Saharan Africa

A community wildlife management association of 22 villages, Matumizi Bora ya Malihai Idodi na Pawaga (MBOMIPA) Wildlife Management Area works with the 30,000 people living adjacent to Ruaha National Park on sustainable natural resource management and anti-poaching efforts. T

The Medicinal Plants Association protects and cultivates endemic species of medicinal plants in the St. Catherine Reserve in Sinai and aims to create livelihood alternatives for the area’s economically marginalized Bedouin population.  The reserve contains several unique and endangered medicinal plant species which have been threatened by overharvesting, collection for use as fuel, and overg

Mradi Wa Mfuko Wa Dhamana Ya Hifadhi Ya Mazingira Na Wamasai Jangwani (MWCT, Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust) preserves the wilderness, wildlife, and cultural heritage of the Amboseli-Tsavo ecosystem – an important migration corridor between two national parks.  The organization of Maasai communities has mitigated unsustainable practices such as overgrazing and water-intens

Equator Prize for Sustainable Land Management in Sub-Saharan Africa

Northern Rangelands Trust is a network of 26 community conservancies – which together cover over 25,000 km² of land in northern Kenya – driving a movement of community-based conservation that puts indigenous communities at the forefront of land management, w

With 912,000 ha of communal land, N?a Jaqna Conservancy combines the sustainable management of endemic wildlife and natural resources with the empowerment of Namibia's !Kung San people. (The symbols '?' and '!' represent distinct click sounds unique to Khoisan languages.) Established as a conservancy in 2003, the organization trains local !Kung San as wildlife managers, committee members, and g

Extreme weather and droughts have historically brought the Borena and Gabra pastoral tribes into conflict over pasture land, water, and natural resources. The Oromia Pastoralist Association (OPA) was created to facilitate the cross-border mobility of pastoralist tribes between Southern Ethiopia and Northern Kenya and is helping to address land disputes, resource conflicts, and the barriers thes

On the arid rangelands of the Marsabit area of northern Kenya, the livelihoods of pastoralist groups are subject to threats from overgrazing, land use change, social instability, and climate change. Pastoralist Integrated Support Programme (PISP), a local NGO, has worked since 1996 to increase the number of water points that can provide safe and reliable water for livestock and people, while st

This Maasai group ranch in the central Kenyan district of Laikipia has established an 8,645-hectare community-conserved area that balances the needs of local pastoralists with wildlife conservation and the operation of a lucrative eco-lodge. One of the pioneering and most successful of Kenya's Maasai-owned ecotourism initiatives, Il Ngwesi has served as a model for replication across the countr

In one of the most remote and poorest provinces in Afghanistan, the Rural Green Environment Organization is working with over 40,000 people across an area of 1,500 square kilometers and 90 villages to promote a model of community development that is based on peace building, environmental regeneration, sustainable livelihoods, and wildlife prot

Equator Prize for Sustainable Land Management in Sub-Saharan Africa

In response to high levels of poverty and unemployment this community of 13,000 people in the Lubombo Mountains decided to set aside more than 2,650 hectares of its land as a conservation area and ecotourism project. A tourism camp is managed by the community, with revenues

Shompole Group Ranch covers almost 62,700 hectares of grassland and savannah in the Magadi Division of southern Kenya. The Group Ranch, under the management of the legally-registered Shompole Community Trust, has 2,000 registered members representing around 10,000 Loodokilani Maasai dependents, and is legally registered to undertake wildlife conservation within its boundaries.

Since the

Swazi Indigenous Products is a member-owned natural seed oil enterprise that provides jobs and income to local women, while also protecting the ecosystems of the Lubombo region of the country.  Local women are supported to sustainably cultivate and collect wild marula, trichilia, and ximenia tree seeds.  The women-led initiative also runs a tree-planting program and offers environmental educa

Timu ya Rasilimali ya Jamii ya Ujamaa (Ujamaa Community Resource Team) works across northern Tanzania to help secure land and resource rights for pastoralist, agro-pastoralist, and hunter-gatherer communities, many of whom are negatively affected by the existence of the country's large protected areas. The group's approach has capitalized on Tanzania's village land legislation, which allow

Torra Conservancy, located on communal lands in the Kunene region of northwest Namibia, is home to more than 1,200 residents, living in small settlements scattered across the 3,493-km2 territory. In 1995, the conservancy began a search for investors to develop an ecotourism enterprise in the territory, represented by the Ward 11 Residents’ Association Trust in negotiations. An eco-lodge was c

Equator Prize for Sustainable Land Management in Sub-Saharan Africa

In the buffer zone of the Pendjari Biosphere Reserve in northwest Benin, Union des Associations Villageoises de Gestion des Réserves de Faune de la Pendjari (AVIGREF, Union of Village Associations for the Managem

One of the oldest non-profit organizations in the State of Palestine, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) supports Palestinian farmers to attain food sovereignty. UAWC works with farmers across Palestine, including vulnerable groups in remote and marginalized areas, to restore and conserve natural resources and rights to access these resources through four main program areas: land

Equator Prize for Sustainable Land Management in Sub-Saharan Africa

Utooni Development Organization uses the innovative, low-investment “sand dam” technology in the communities of southern Kenya. Over 80 self-help groups were formed and 2700 farmers trained in water management, food security, sustainable agriculture, tree plantin

Zan va Zamin (Women and Earth) was founded by a group of female activists to overcome the social and economic challenges resulting from the civil war in Tajikistan. The organization works to attain access to land for landless farmers, supports diversified farming methods, and promotes the conservation of biodiversity through responsible natural resource management. Over 2,000 farmers have recei

Zenab for Women in Development is a grassroots organization that has organized local women into a farmers union.  Started in 2005, the union has grown from 300 women in six communities to 3,000 women in 53 communities across Sudan.  Smaller cooperatives make up the larger union, each of which provides a platform for female farmers to improve agricultural productivity and to exchange environme