Africa is home to some of the world’s most ecologically significant and culturally rich landscapes — and some of the most urgent restoration challenges. Habitat loss, climate stress, deforestation, and unsustainable land use are threatening ecosystems that millions of people depend on. At the same time, Africa is a young continent, and the energy, leadership, and deep knowledge of its communities are the foundation on which lasting restoration will be built.
Commonland works across Africa through landscape partnerships with locally rooted organisations, strengthening their capacity to lead holistic restoration and connecting them with each other, with funders, and with the systemic conditions that allow their work to endure.
The world's largest transfrontier conservation area, spanning Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Commonland partners with ten landscape organisations and convenes the Leaders Lab, bringing 29 leaders from 20 organisations together to build collective capacity for restoration at scale.
Community-led landscape restoration in partnership with Living Lands, working to restore degraded land while strengthening livelihoods in South Africa's Eastern Cape.
Namibia
Zambezi
The Zambezi region of Namibia is rich in wildlife, riparian forests, woodlands, rivers, and wetlands, and the associated rich biodiversity of these habitats.
Zambia
Kafue Greater Ecosystem
The Greater Kafue Ecosystem is home to many communities who live alongside wildlife, and depend on the water systems and biodiversity of the landscape.
Africa
Sebungwe, Zimbabwe
In northern Zimbabwe’s Sebungwe region, forest loss, overgrazing, and human-wildlife conflict threaten both nature and livelihoods. Together with local partner Wildlife Conservation Action, Commonland supports community-led restoration, sustainable grazing, and nature-based livelihoods that protect biodiversity and improve wellbeing.
Udzungwa-Kilombero, Tanzani
A globally significant biodiversity hotspot, the Udzungwa-Kilombero landscape connects montane forests, wetlands, and wildlife corridors. However, a growing population and land degradation threaten its fragile balance. Commonland is supporting Reforest Africa to restore and reconnect ecosystems – and the people who depend on them. Udzungwa–Kilombero: landscape context and pressures The Udzungwa–Kilombero landscape in Tanzania comprises […]
South Africa
Baviaanskloof - Langkloof
Local communities use business to restore a unique biodiversity hotspot and regenerate a city’s water supply.
In South Africa’s Langkloof region, Honeybush, a fragrant plant used to brew naturally sweet herbal tea, is emerging as a vital economic driver for the protection and restoration of the fynbos, a biodiversity hotspot found nowhere else on Earth.
The fynbos is under constant threat, not just from climate change, but from fast-spreading invasive species like pine and wattle. Managing and restoring this delicate landscape takes time, labour, and resources which many rural communities can’t afford without a stable income. Honeybush offers a solution. When harvested sustainably, it creates jobs, supports livelihoods, and provides a powerful economic incentive to keep the fynbos alive.
It’s not about looking at one farm or one area in isolation. It’s about implementing a coordinated series of interventions that work together across an entire landscape, ensuring the health of the catchment as a whole.
Liz Metcalfe, Living Lands
Commonland, 100WEEKS, and the Mansa District Land Alliance (MDLA) have launched a cash+ programme in Chembe District, Luapula Province – bringing 250 women across n ...
The Southern African Wildlife College (SAWC) and Commonland have joined forces in a new partnership aimed at scaling long-term, community-led conservation and restoration efforts across Southern Afric ...
Revitalising degraded land in Africa is a frontline strategy for mitigating climate change both at the local and the global level. Restoration efforts are not only crucial for local communities but pi ...
