This publication is derived from a real life exercise in applying participatory vulnerability methods in 11 villages/barangays in the Municipality of Guinayangan , Quezon,

Every year, millions of dollars are spent on tree-based landscape restoration activities. Over the last five decades, there are few success stories of such interventions and even those do not match the anticipated objectives for which the resources were spent. News articles that announce planting campaigns of millions of seedlings are common. Despite all this, in many countries, vegetation cover has not improved due to poor seedling survival rate. This makes the return on investment low.

Wild foods significantly contribute to the global food basket, and food and nutrition security. Worldwide, wild food species form an integral part of local diets and their widespread assimilation into local food culture suggests an untapped potential to ensure easy availability and access to micronutrients for sustainable food systems. However, wild species are often overlooked within nutrition-related policies, and their levels of availability remain unknown.

Local communities currently have limited access to information and the diversity of planting materials that would allow them to diversify their production systems to cope with unpredictable weather and stabilize their livelihoods. There are currently limited and scattered mechanisms in place to share and increase the diversity of farmers’ varieties beyond the local level.

This guidebook explains how to develop and implement the Climate-Smart Map and Adaptation Plan (CS-MAP). Using participatory tools, CS-MAP serves as a guide for local communities to develop their own risk maps and adaptive plans, which cater to their respective local contexts.
The five key steps to develop the CS-MAP are: (1) define climate-related risks; (2) define the border of risk extents; (3) recommend adaptation plans; (4) modify climate-smart maps and adaptation plans; and (5) integrate outcomes at the sub-regional and regional levels.

In the midst of global change uncertainties, Indonesian spatial planning authorities are developing 20-year strategies. However, the lack of collaborative engagement of stakeholders and unclear methodology around using futures studies in addressing land management undermine such plans and affect environmental governance. A crucial question is how to link a future-oriented process with governance transformation processes, particularly related to land-use planning and management.

This policy brief — produced under the CGIAR Initiative on Asian Mega-Deltas (AMD) — emphasizes the urgent need for promoting inclusive governance in Bangladesh's agri-food systems to enhance resilience in the face of escalating climate risks. Although Bangladesh is transitioning toward climate-resilient agri-food systems, this shift faces challenges. There is notable variation among policies and interventions pertaining to food, water and environmental systems in their acknowledgment of socio-ecological interdependencies and representation of marginalized communities.

The convergence of the biodiversity and climate crises, widening of wealth inequality, and most recently the COVID-19 pandemic underscore the urgent need to mobilize change to secure sustainable futures. Centres of tropical biodiversity are a major focus of conservation efforts, delivered in predominantly site-level interventions often incorporating alternative-livelihood provision or poverty-alleviation components. Yet, a focus on site-level intervention is ill-equipped to address the disproportionate role of (often distant) wealth in biodiversity collapse.

We report on how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs), especially those who govern, manage and conserve their lands and waters. We explore the themes of access and use of natural resources, solidarity, decision-making, the role of governments and IPLCs in managing COVID-19, and the uptake of traditional medicine. These themes are explored through a global online survey in English, Spanish and French.

Participatory rangeland management (PRM) is a process building the capacities of local communities to better manage their lands, reduce natural resource conflicts, and build good governance. This film shown through the eyes of two local protagonists – one in Kenya and Tanzania – describes the PRM approach and how their communities are benefiting from it. A beautiful film highlighting some of the challenges that pastoralists face as well as solutions to overcome them.

The CGIAR Initiative on Aquatic Foods partnered with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research’s Water Research Institute (CSIR-WRI), the Fisheries Commission, and collaborated with local government departments and local communities to implement fish cage culture in selected small reservoirs in Ghana. This brief highlights the technical and institutional principles that were applied in these sites for inclusive and sustainable aquatic food production in the year 2023.

Locally led climate action has emerged as a critical approach to address the challenges posed by climate change at the grassroots level. As the impacts of climate change intensify, communities around the world face a wide range of vulnerabilities such as extreme weather events, water scarcity, rising sea levels, and disruptions to lives and livelihoods. In this context, locally led climate action emphasizes the importance of empowering local communities to take ownership of their adaptation strategies.