The FISPER project is funded by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and will develop a guideline for Parties on the design of policy options that make ecological restoration and rehabilitation attractive in terms of financial inclusion, social protection and adaptive safety nets, and contingent finance and reserve funds. Based on a literature review and stakeholder engagement, the FISPER project will:
#1: Analyze the coherence between ecological restoration, social protection, financial inclusion, contingent finance and reserve funds to create a conceptual framework for the project and the policy guidelines;
#2 Identify policy options and pathways that reflect on social protection and financial inclusion and that are also suitable for ecological restoration (and vice versa) and of supporting case studies/tools;
#3: Validate identified pathwayswith a Focus Group Discussion to guarantee the applicability of the policy guidelines.
The guidelines will contribute to building synergistic effects between the ecological restoration, social protection, and finance sector. They should lead to the uptake of policies for equitable ecological restoration to support land users, especially vulnerable groups including, but not limited to, women, youth, and indigenous people. This should ultimately contribute to the inclusive implementation of ecological restoration to reduce the additional burden caused by the added cost of land degradation driven by climate change and human-induced activities and processes.
