The Olympic Forest: a model partnership?

2021 is a critical year for tackling the intertwined crises of nature loss, climate change and poverty, and so far, encouraging pledges have been made. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration has launched, the G7 Nature Compact is signed, and the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the 26th COP to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are imminent. 

For those working in African countries already suffering from climate crisis impacts, urgency is everything. Now is the time to keep ambitions high and momentum strong. The need to break the vicious circle of poverty, land degradation and rising temperatures has never been more pressing, and prioritising holistic nature-based solutions is vital to the journey ahead.

The climate crisis has pushed up temperatures across the Sahel by nearly twice the global average. For those working in African countries already suffering from climate crisis impacts, urgency is everything.

The Olympic Forest, a new initiative of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) – in collaboration with IUCN Member Tree Aid– is one such initiative. Launched in June 2021, the project draws on Tree Aid’s experience tackling poverty and climate change in Africa’s drylands, and is inspired by the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect. The Olympic Forest will also contribute to one of the biggest and boldest climate solutions: Africa’s Great Green Wall.

Community planting of Kapok and Cassia saplings to protect the Daka River through a Tree Aid project in Kamborido, Yendi, Ghana. Photo: Tree Aid, 2019

An epic ambition

The Great Green Wall is an African-led initiative with an epic ambition; to grow a wide belt of trees, vegetation and fertile land across the Sahel. Originally envisaged as an 8,000 km band of trees, this ambitious project is now so much more, and has become a symbol of optimism for the whole region.

The climate crisis has pushed up temperatures across the Sahel by nearly 1°C in the last 30 years, almost twice the global average. In Mali and Senegal, where the Olympic Forest project is located, communities have seen erratic weather patterns with increased droughts and floods. This has led to a steady degradation of land and food sources.

In this context, the Great Green Wall is a beacon of biodiverse and sustainably managed land, providing nutritious food and green jobs for the millions of people living along its path. As a key partner, Tree Aid has been helping to drive the work to bring Africa’s degraded landscapes back to life, reclaiming the land for people. Now, it will help deliver the IOC’s inspiring Olympic Forest.

The project will work in 90 villages across Mali and Senegal, an area most acutely hit by the climate crisis, but least able to adapt, with ongoing land degradation pushing rural populations further into poverty.

Working with local communities and particularly women, the project builds local capacity to regenerate and sustainably manage forests and land. The locally-led and holistic nature-based approach aims to protect ecosystems, tackle structural inequalities and increase income to strengthen climate resilience.

Not just planting trees

The Olympic Forest is part of the IOC’s broader strategy to become climate positive by 2024. It complements the organisation’s commitment to reduce its emissions by 45% by 2030 in line with the Paris Agreement, compensate more than 100% of its residual emissions and use its influence to create and inspire climate action. This includes the IOC’s decision in March 2020 for all Olympic Games to be climate positive from 2030 onwards. 

The climate crisis is the biggest threat to all of our futures; and an Olympian challenge requires an Olympian response.

The Olympic Forest will involve the planting of approximately 355,000 native and diverse trees to sequester 200,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide across 2,120 hectares in Mali and Senegal – more than 100% of the IOC’s estimated residual emissions for the period 2021-2024. 

But it is not about planting trees and walking away.

Delivering the project on the ground, Tree Aid will use proven agroforestry techniques, land and resource governance, restoration and conservation to make the Olympic Forest a high-impact project which lasts. 

The project areas in Mali and Senegal face especially extreme challenges. Despite the importance of the sites as local sources for drinking water and agricultural activity, they are severely degraded, made worse by very low rainfall.  This is having a devastating impact on agricultural productivity, threatening the resilience of entire communities.

The project will support communities to manage their own land, so they are better able to reap the benefits of the environment around them in the most sustainable way. 

Robust monitoring will be established, working closely with local communities, and using GPS tracking and industry standard tree survival rate systems.

Naomie Keita holding up non-timber forest products in Bokuy-Mankoina village in the Segou region of Mali. Photo: Tree Aid, 2020

A powerful part of the solution

Neither Tree Aid nor the IOC believe tree-planting is the only answer to the climate crisis. But we do believe it can be a powerful part of the solution. 

Trees can help fight poverty, as well as storing carbon. Well managed forests improve soil fertility and prevent land erosion. Tree roots stop the ground being washed away in floods, while leaves provide protection from the harsh sun.

High-quality nature-based solutions, which build on the protection and restoration of ecosystems, can tackle the interlinked crises of climate, nature loss and rising poverty.

Trees also provide financial resilience to communities, so that if crops fail due to floods or drought, fruit, nuts and seeds from trees can be eaten or sold. 

To tackle the interlinked crises of climate, nature loss and rising poverty, we need urgent, integrated solutions. High-quality nature-based solutions such as the Great Green Wall, which build on the protection and restoration of ecosystems, can do just that. Keeping the focus on grassroots expertise, and community-led, designed and managed programmes will be crucial to their success.

The Olympic Forest offers real opportunity to show the potential of ‘responsible offsetting’ to support these efforts. This is a model we will be monitoring closely, with potential for scaling up in years to come.

Community members in Trakenien village in Mali walking through a river. Photo: Tree Aid, 2021

At this year’s G7 Summit in the UK, leaders signed the Nature Compact. This prioritised the role of nature in tackling climate change, and committed leaders to global targets and actions to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by effectively and equitably protecting 30% of land by 2030. Importantly, the Compact also commits to further investment in nature-based solutions, especially in Africa’s drylands through initiatives like the Great Green Wall.

We ask all IUCN Members to participate in the IUCN World Conservation Congress, and so call upon global leaders to prioritise the protection and restoration of nature.

There is fantastic scope for these goals to now be formalised by two key global negotiations: COP15 to the UN CBD (in October 2021) and COP26 to the UNFCCC (in November 2021). We ask all IUCN Members to participate in the IUCN World Conservation Congress in September 2021, and so call upon global leaders to prioritise the protection and restoration of nature in their commitments and actions at both upcoming COPs.

We, like many IUCN Members, want to see world leaders set ambitious targets, showcase strong international collaboration, and commit to bold domestic action.