NAIROBI— Country and regional leaders and experts have increasingly highlighted the importance of strengthening ecosystem restoration efforts, emphasizing that achieving restoration goals depends on robust monitoring, reporting, and data-driven action.
This call was made during the Subregional Workshop on Biodiversity Monitoring and Reporting in relation to Target 2 of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 27 to 30 January 2026. The meeting was convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD), and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and with the technical support of the Society for Ecosystem Restoration (SER) and the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF).
Speaking during the opening session, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry of Kenya, Dr. Deborah Mulongo Barasa underscored the importance of translating restoration commitments into tangible, measurable outcomes. She noted that ecosystem restoration is central to addressing biodiversity loss, climate change, and sustainable development, but warned that progress cannot be demonstrated without credible monitoring and reporting systems.
“Restoration is about giving nature a chance to recover and in doing so, protecting livelihoods, securing water, supporting food production, and building resilience to climate change. But restoring ecosystems is not enough. We also need to be able to explain what we are doing, show what is working, and learn from what is not. The next few years will determine whether restoration commitments become reality or remain promises on paper,” said Dr. Barasa.
Echoing these sentiments, Chairperson of RCMRD Governing Council and Permanent Secretary Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Zambia, Patrick Mucheleka highlighted the value of subregional cooperation in delivering global biodiversity commitments. He observed that while countries face different ecological and socio-economic contexts, they often share common challenges related to data availability, technical capacity, and reporting requirements.
“Across our region, we all face similar challenges, land under pressure, ecosystems that are stretched, and communities that depend directly on nature for their livelihoods. We also share the same responsibility: to turn our restoration commitments into real action,” explained Mucheleka.
The Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Astrid Schomaker, in a video message, emphasised the critical role partnership play in addressing the multi-faceted planetary crisis of biodiversity loss and land degradation, climate change and pollution and waste.
“We need all hands on deck. The world needs a whole-of-government and whole-of-society acceleration in the implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework,” said Schomaker.
The workshop brings together policymakers and technical experts from 11 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa to accelerate the implementation of Target 2 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, ensuring that, by 2030, at least 30 per cent of degraded areas of terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine ecosystems are under effective restoration. The countries include Comoros, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, and Zambia.
The workshop also marked the official launch of Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development’s role as a Subregional and Technical Scientific Cooperation Support Centre, alongside the establishment of its Steering Committee. In this role, RCMRD will support countries in Eastern and Southern Africa to accelerate implementation of the KMGBF by providing coordinated scientific, technical, and data-driven support.
“With its new role as a Subregional Technical and Scientific Cooperation Support Centre, RCMRD is ready to support countries with the data, tools, and coordination needed to deliver on Target 2,” Dr. Emmanuel Nkurunziza, RCMRD’s Director General.
Strengthening and working through regional technical and scientific cooperation support centres is a core objective of FAO’s Target 2 Road Map. Through initiatives such as AIM4NatuRe (Accelerating Innovative Monitoring for Nature Restoration), FAO is supporting this and other centres as key entry points for coordinated, regionally grounded assistance to countries on ecosystem restoration monitoring and reporting.
The workshop also brought together participants from the other four Subregional TSC Support Centres in Africa including Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC), Ecological Monitoring Centre (CSE), Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS) and South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and representatives from the major groups including women, youth and indigenous people.
