A large number of countries recognize the role of forests in carbon sequestration and committed in their NDCs to protect forests, reduce deforestation rates, and restore forestlands. Few NDCs, however, make any specific commitments to how their forests will be protected or restored on degraded land. It is still unclear if governments will protect forests by expanding the protected estate, improving the management of existing national parks, helping communities safeguard the forests on their lands, or by taking other measures.

The eradication of hunger and poverty largely depend on how people, communities and others gain access to land. The livelihoods of many, particularly the rural poor including women, are based on secure and equitable access to and control over land and other natural resources. Land is a source of food and shelter; the basis for social, cultural and religious practices; and a central factor in economic growth.

The review was conducted with the aim to provide guidance for future engagement / investments, in particular in the context of recent AU declarations on agriculture and on land restoration by NEPAD, GEF, TerrAfrica, the Great Green Wall Initiative for the Sahel and Sahara (GGWISS), UN agencies and other donors.
This paper provides an abridged summary of the findings for easier access by country policy / decision
makers, agencies, development partners and donors, as a basis for informing future interventions for scaling-
up sustainable land management (SLM).