Local Action, Global Inspiration: Showcasing Community Champions in Restoration-Related Income Generation

How can we restore degraded lands while sustaining livelihoods?  

The answer lies in finding the right balance between ecological and socioeconomic outcomes — and at the heart of that balance are local communities. These are the people who know their landscapes best: they live on the land, protect it, and carry generations of knowledge and hands-on experience. They are the ones driving real change.  

Through Initiative 3: Community-based Ecosystem Restoration Mechanism of the Capacity, Knowledge and Learning Action Plan (CKLAP) for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, the FAO-led UN Decade Task Force on Best Practices is shining a spotlight on these local heroes and their powerful restoration stories. 

Initiative 3 aims to help communities bridge knowledge, finance, and capacity gaps so that restoration can thrive both ecologically and economically. 

Why Community Champions Matter 

Many local communities have deep knowledge of ecosystems, often passed down for generations. They know when to plant, when to harvest, and how to maintain ecological balance. But they often lack the technical, financial, or operational capacity to scale up restoration initiatives or link them with broader policies and finance mechanisms. 

This is where the identification of champion communities step in. These are communities that have successfully combined restoration with self-sustaining and/or income-generating activities, creating models others can learn from and adapt to their own contexts. 

As land degradation accelerates, empowering communities to restore their ecosystems while generating income is more urgent than ever. These champions demonstrate that restoration is not just about planting trees — it’s about strengthening the roots of communities that care for the land.

In Barakutuni Gram Sabha, India, Jisudan Disari explains how their traditions connect directly to the land:
“Water has saved and protected us. It is the environment and the forests which are saving us. So we consider these as our God. The culture we have, the traditions we follow, they are closely associated with the water, the forests and the land.”

By empowering champion communities and  sharing their stories, Initiative 3 ensures that restoration is both a local and global movement, where knowledge flows between communities and across continents. 

Meet the Nine Champions 

Nine outstanding community initiatives were selected from over 50 submissions for their proven success in linking restoration and livelihoods. These champions come from diverse regions and ecosystems, offering lessons that can inspire restoration movements worldwide.
 

Image showing map with locations of the nine community champions

 

Global Launch: Celebrating Community Champions 

The nine champions were officially launched during a global webinar on 18 September 2025, which brought together over 200 participants from around the world. The event featured community representatives sharing firsthand experiences on restoring ecosystems while generating income, showcasing how local action drives global impact.

Watch the recordings: English | French | Portuguese | Hindi

The enthusiasm and participation during the webinar highlighted a growing global commitment to community-led restoration and knowledge sharing across regions.

Figure 2. Screenshot from the webinar “Showcasing Community Champions in Restoration-Related Income Generation” held on 18 September.
 Image showing screenshot of webinar

During the global launch webinar, Zeni Diarra, Vice-President of the Women’s Cooperative in N’thyla, Mali, highlighted the link between restoration and women’s empowerment:

“We women can now contribute to our children’s education, buying them school supplies. Through building stone lines, assisted natural regeneration, and nutrition gardens, we have regenerated degraded land. Even though I am not literate, I am very committed, determined and love doing these activities. I am very happy and proud of this recognition. My message to other women is that we must not remain on the sidelines just because we are women. We are key players and have an important role to play.”

Similarly, Purnima Devi Barman of the Hargila Army in India demonstrates the power of collective action:

“When I started my work at that time I was alone. And there were 27 nests in these villages. When our community started working together, now we have more than 250 nests in these villages. The number increased more than I think ten-folds. That is the power of womanhood, power of communities.”

Rodrigo Junqueira, Executive Secretary of the Socioenvironmental Institute (ISA), working with the Xingu Seed Network, demonstrates the economic impact of the initiative:

“In addition to promoting the exchange and meeting of different knowledges, it is an opportunity to generate income while keeping the forest standing. Revenue transferred to collectors: R$ 8.5 million in 17 years.”

These stories are just a glimpse of the diversity and impact of the nine champions selected from over 50 submissions. Each community has developed unique approaches to linking restoration with livelihoods, offering lessons that can inspire restoration movements worldwide.

Learning and Sharing 

These champions are not keeping their knowledge to themselves. Their good practices — covering governance, equality, and restoration-related income generation — are now available on the Framework for Ecosystem Restoration Monitoring (FERM), the UN Decade’s official platform for sharing good practices and tracking restoration initiatives.

Explore their good practices published in FERM: 

What’s Next 

The journey doesn’t end here. The next phase of Initiative 3 (2025–2026) will focus on community-targeted knowledge exchanges through webinars, workshops, and in-person learning events. These activities will strengthen technical skills, connect practitioners, and inspire more communities to replicate successful restoration and livelihood approaches.

The first knowledge exchange will be a bilingual webinar (English and French) on 11 December 2025 (14:00–16:00 CET), focusing on Village Savings Clubs as a tool for ecosystem restoration and income generation.

Theme: Village Savings Clubs
Save the Date! Global Exchange – 11 December 2025, 14:00–16:00 CET
Local exchanges will follow in early 2026.

This exchange will draw on experiences from Champion Community in Kaffrine, Senegal, highlighting how local savings groups can strengthen financial resilience and support restoration-related livelihoods.

Get Involved 

  • Explore the champions’ practices in FERM and share their success stories to raise awareness.
  • Disseminate knowledge exchange opportunities through your networks.
  • Support local or global platforms promoting ecosystem restoration and sustainable livelihoods.
  • Advocate for policies that fund and empower local restoration.
  • Collaborate with initiatives like CKLAP Initiative 3 by joining future knowledge exchanges or related activities. 

To join, learn more, or support these efforts, contact the Initiative 3 focal points: 
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected] 

Image Credits: FAO/FERM

About the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 

The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030 , led by the United Nations Environment Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and its partners, covers terrestrial as well as coastal and marine ecosystems. As a global call to action, it will draw together political support, scientific research and financial muscle to massively scale up restoration. Find out how you can contribute to the UN Decade . Follow #GenerationRestoration.