Benin

100 ha hectares

The devotees of the Oro deity undertake reforestation initiatives aimed at expanding sacred forests through the planting of native species. These efforts are primarily concentrated in the regions of Sakt, Avrankou, and Ipil, located in southern Benin.This proces of ecological regeneration seeks to preserve the integrity of the natural sanctuaries dedicated to Oro while reinforcing both environmental and spiritual balance. Local communities are actively engaged to ensure the sustainable management of these areas, safeguarding their longevity and sacred function. Accelerated soil degradation: Urbanization, intensive agriculture, and deforestation lead to a rapid los of soil fertility. Climate change: Climate variations affect ecosystem regeneration and complicate restoration efforts.

50 hectares hectares

The organization plays an active role in preserving traditional knowledge and the spiritual connection with nature. The Dan Deity, associated with the earth, balance, and life, teaches us a profound respect for natural elements, especially in sacred forests, which are places of worship as well as refuges for biodiversity. Even though Divinit Dan's organization does not yet have a structured land restoration program, Divinit Dan is deeply committed to protecting sacred forests threatened by urbanization, intensive agriculture, and the los of spiritual landmarks. Through rituals, oral teachings, and community gatherings, The organization raises awarenes among the faithful about the importance of preserving these sacred spaces and restoring the degraded lands that surround them. Divinit Dan is currently developing a project aimed at restoring wooded areas around certain sacred forests in the Mono and Couffo departments, integrating traditional regeneration practices with modern approaches such as agroforestry. This project aims to reconnect faith, land, and community while educating young people about the importance of their spiritual and ecological heritage. The Faith4Land masterclas represents a unique opportunity for me to acquire the necessary tools to structure this initiative and give it a regional scope. The organization posses profound spiritual knowledge of the land, but the organization lack technical training, funding, and institutional support to translate this knowledge into concrete projects. Land pressure, unplanned urbanization, and the gradual los of cultural values also threaten the sacred forests of southern Benin, reducing their extent and ecological role.

800 hectares hectares

For the past two years, their organization, God Glory Agro Center, has been actively involved in land restoration initiatives in Benin, specifically in the Plateau Department, within the Ktou Commune. We've trained 500 farmers in agroecological practices that reduce carbon emissions. Their reforestation and conservation efforts have successfully restored and protected 800 hectares of key ecosystems (public, personal, and private lands). Between 2026 and 2028, the organization plan to enrich 700 hectares of the Kouvizoun community sacred forest, a site of significant cultural and ecological importance. We'll do this by introducing indigenous species such as Iroko (Milicia excelsa), African Mahogany (Khaya senegalensis), Lingue (Afzelia africana), and Kapok (Ceiba pentandra). This action will boost biodiversity and improve the functionality of local ecosystems. In parallel, the organization will strengthen the tree cover in public areas of Ktou city, specifically in 10 primary schools and 4 colleges, through a planting project of 50,000 seedlings. The chosen species include Flamboyant (Delonix regia), Mango (Mangifera indica), Indian Almond (Terminalia catappa), and Neem (Azadirachta indica). This initiative aims to create greener environments, provide shade, and raise awarenes among young people about the importance of trees and conservation. For agricultural producers on the periphery of community sacred forests, the organization will support them with 50,000 agroforestry seedlings such as Gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium) and Leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala). This support is crucial for soil conservation and to combat crop lodging, ensuring better resilience to climate hazards. Finally, the organization plan to strengthen the capacity of the current Young Christian Group (GJC) at the National University of Agriculture of Ktou on ecological charcoal production like slash-and-burn farming and the excessive use of chemical products. Changing these habits requires intensive awarenes-raising and support for local producers. Additionally, climate change is manifesting through extreme weather events such as prolonged droughts and torrential rains. These lead to agricultural production losses and increased human pressure on forest resources, including deforestation, charcoal production, uncontrolled fires, and unsustainable hunting. The costs associated with acquiring seedlings, training communities, and monitoring projects are often high, which restricts the scale and reach of their interventions.

Currently, through the Fungal Conservation in Sub-Saharan Africa project coordinated by their organization and hosted at the Faculty of Agronomy, University of Parakou (Benin), the organization is engaged in land restoration activities that incorporate ecological knowledge, community participation, and spiritual values. As part of this initiative, the organization has restored approximately 150 hectares acros 20 community forests located in the departments of Borgou, Donga, and Collines (northern and central Benin). These sites include sacred groves and culturally important forested areas threatened by overharvesting, shifting cultivation, and climate change. Their restoration approach emphasizes the use of indigenous species such as Afzelia africana, Isoberlinia doka, Monotes kerstingii, and Upaaka togolensis, which hold spiritual and medicinal value for many local communities. The organization works closely with faith-based actors, including traditional religious leaders and local churches, to integrate ethical land stewardship into reforestation and sustainable forest use. Currently, the organization is expanding this model to support women-led nursery initiatives and promote interfaith dialogues on environmental ethics, with plans to initiate new restoration efforts in the protected forest areas near Tchaourou and Ouss (central Benin). These activities include awarenes campaigns, capacity building for local youth and women, and participatory monitoring using community-friendly tools. The organization is also exploring opportunities to integrate fungi conservation with agroforestry systems, particularly in areas where forests are spiritually protected or culturally significant. The organization is strongly interested in enhancing their faith-based engagement in land restoration by The Faith4Land framework aligns perfectly with their vision of restoring degraded lands in a spiritually grounded and community-led manner. Many community members, including faith-based actors, lack adequate training in sustainable land use and ecological restoration techniques. Secondly, land tenure insecurity particularly affecting women and youth discourages long-term investment in land stewardship. Additionally, growing pressure from agricultural expansion, logging, and bushfires threatens reforested areas. Cultural and spiritual values that traditionally supported forest conservation are also gradually eroding due to modernization and shifting social norms.

Globally, out of 1.5 billion hectares of cultivated land, about 77 million hectares (5%) are affected by excessive salt content (R'him et al., 2013), 3.8% of which are located in Africa (Rahim-Guealia et al., 2017). In Africa in general and in Benin in particular, tomato, onion, pepper, lettuce, cabbage, carrots, African basil, common nightshade, crincrin, amaranth occupy an important place in the diet and are among the most cultivated and consumed market gardening crops. From previous work carried out on the effect of salinity on market garden crop production, the results revealed that there is significant variability in the salinity of irrigation water in their study area, as well Couffo, Mono and Zou have mild to moderate problems with salinity only in dry seasons respectively in the communes of Ifangni, Kloukanmey; Lokosa then Zogbodomey and Djidja. The departments of Plateau, Couffo and Zou have presented a reduction in their salinity parameters in the dry season compared to the rainy season in the communes of Ifangni (site of Tchaada), Dogbo (sites of Podav and Ahomey) and Zagnanado (sites of Zonon 2), respectively., from Ouinhi (site of Dasso Bossa) and from Cov (sites of Lahago and Tou). The resistance characterization work of cultivars from each of the ten (10) market gardening crops has been published. Climate change, which is based on the increase in the levels of NaCl in the soil and irrigation water of crops, then the abandonment of arable land in certain areas where the levels are too high and no longer allow the proper development of crops. On the other hand, their salinity test results on market gardening crops under greenhouses have been communicated to market garden producers regarding the use of resistant cultivars of tomatoes, peppers, onions, cabbage, lettuce, carrots, common nightshade, African basil, okra, crincrin. These tests must be repeated directly on the production sites for confirmation of the results.

Baptist Church of Allglta's church has not yet started land restoration activities. But the Christian teachings the organization share show the need to restore ecosystems and suggestions to church leaders would be welcome. For the moment I'm thinking of starting by raising awarenes of the concept, the biblical basis and the importance of ecological restoration by Christians. Then The organization plans to propose restoration actions to Baptist Church of Allglta's church during the national tree days in Benin (every 1st June). Their church is part of an association called the Union des Eglises Baptistes du Bnin, which brings together several hundred Baptist churches in the country. I'm thinking of extending these activities to all these churches so that they can get involved in ecological restoration through the Christian approach to biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration for livelihoods in Benin project. I'm also involved with the NGO SOS Biodiversity in the restoration of several ecosystems, including the classified forests of Benin. I'm currently part of the coordination team for two projects focusing on the restoration of ecosystems in Benin invaded by invasive alien species and the restoration of the Oum-Boukou classified forest degraded by human activities. These two projects are supported by the CEBios Programme of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. I'm thinking of building a bridge between Baptist Church of Allglta's church and the NGO to work closely together in the field of ecological restoration. As far The organization thinks that the concept of land restoration is not yet well understood and integrated into the mission of the church, even though there are many biblical bases for this approach in the Bible. The drafting of restoration projects and the search for funding for their implementation seem to be completely new aspects on which the leaders and members of their church need to be trained.

Their faith organization (OICD) is currently engaged in land restoration efforts primarily focused in Benin Republic in the central and the nothern region of the country (Dassa-Zoum and Parakou. One of their key initiatives is the Sacred Earth Reforestation Project, located in Dassa-Zoum, where the organization is working to rehabilitate degraded land through native tree planting, erosion control, and soil regeneration techniques. This project is carried out in collaboration with local communities, emphasizing ecological stewardship the organization has launched a pilot program in Parakou, which integrates permaculture principles with traditional agricultural practices to restore both biodiversity and sustainable livelihoods. These efforts are guided by their commitment to care for creation, grounded in their spiritual teachings that highlight harmony with nature and justice for future generations.These projects aim not only to restore ecosystems but also to foster interfaith collaboration and community empowerment. Restoration projects require us long-term investment and specialized expertise, which may be scarce. Erosion, compaction, and nutrient los hinder restoration efforts. Having local stakeholder support and participation is often challenging.