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Company members at C4EcoSolutions and AfriCarbon reflect on the role of scientific research in scaling ecosystem restoration
After two decades of large-scale thicket restoration projects in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, the experienced team attributes their success to four foundational actions: (1) upscaling was underpinned by peer-reviewed science, (2) collaborative public sector...
Why do trees grow in savannas and not in grasslands?
C4 EcoSolutions staff and collaborators publish peer-reviewed findings showing that boron deficiency is a primary geochemical driver excluding trees from savannas in the Kruger National Park. Grasslands are treeless landscapes, whereas savannas are grasslands...
Spekboom thicket restoration in partnership with Reforest’Action
Anthony Mills, CEO of C4 EcoSolutions, describes the current upscaling of spekboom thicket restoration in the Eastern Cape.
C4 Chair Anthony Mills presents at prestigious Global Forest Summit in Brussels
On 24 March, C4 Chairman Anthony Mills presented at the Global Forest Summit in Brussels on his efforts to catalyse the restoration of 1.2 million hectares of desertified land in the Eastern Cape Province using the plant Portulacaria afra, commonly known as...
The art of science: C4 employee wins prestigious photographic award
In June 2021, Orms launched a photography competition on birding images to provide South Africa’s photographic community with a platform to display their finest work, showcase their unique creative expression while celebrating the splendour of birdlife. The...
C4 broadens expertise with new appointments
C4 EcoSolutions would like to welcome our latest team members: two interns Tinovonga Chimuka and Shweta Sunkur, and an HR manager, Robyn Erasmus. Herewith some more information about them: Tino In relation to the 4 Cs, I am passionate about communities. My ideal...
C4 appoints 12 new interns
Since 2017, C4 EcoSolutions has offered a unique internship programme to expand its dynamic team of experts to address the global climate crisis. The C4 internship annually seeks talented, motivated early-career professionals and graduates to join a programme...
Designing ecosystem-based adaptation projects: lessons learned from EbA South
The global project EbA South, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through its Special Climate Change Fund (SCCF), was officially launched in Beijing, China, in April 2013. Implemented by the United Nations Environment Programme and executed by the...
Regularly revisit the exit strategy for managing ecological infrastructure
Investments in ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA), which usually entails building ecological infrastructure[1], will generate benefits for society for decades. EbA projects funded by governments or donors typically run for 5 years, or at the most 10 years, and...
Sow the seeds of long-term research across multiple platforms and institutions
The benefits of EbA interventions involving the planting of tree seedlings tend to fully materialise long after the original donor-funded project has closed. This is because most tree species take several decades to mature. Policymakers and scientists requiring...
Hire professional scientific interpreters and conduct targeted joint research to ensure long-term South-South collaboration on the science of EbA
The EbA South project achieved considerable engagement between EbA practitioners, government officials and scientists from China, Nepal, Seychelles and Mauritania. Data, findings, ideas and experiences from a wide range of ecosystems were shared during field trips...
Quantify ecosystem goods and services in granular detail, and at a landscape scale, using state-of-the-art technology to heed international calls for urgent upscaling of EbA.
The EbA South project demonstrated that EbA interventions at the scale of hundreds of hectares are technically feasible in Mauritanian drylands and in Nepalese mountain forests, and at the scale of tens of hectares in mangroves, wetlands and riparian forests of the...
Develop EbA project budgets that take into account the complexity and time-consuming nature of constructing ecological infrastructure.
When the EbA South project was designed, it was assumed that government staff would have the time available and technical capacity to manage, over a period of five years, the implementation of relatively small areas of land – tens of hectares of degraded mangroves...
C4 EcoSolutions in 2018: the year in review
The ending of 2018 provided an opportunity for the team at C4 EcoSolutions (C4) to celebrate how far we have come and to recommit ourselves to the journey ahead. Last year was a good one for C4, primarily because we: i) visited 31 countries (Figure 1); ii) were...
From faeces to fuel: how innovative waste management is addressing disease, deforestation and climate change in Kenya
The 19th of November 2018 was World Toilet Day, an official United Nations observance day that intends to inform, engage and encourage people to contribute towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation[1]. Kenya-based social...
The under appreciated value of secondary forest for carbon and biodiversity
The clearing of primary forest for agriculture, urban expansion and industrialisation has increased across the tropics. In addition, marginal agricultural lands are being abandoned as communities seek more lucrative careers in urban centres. As a result, the...
A promising new technique for coral reef rehabilitation
Coral reefs are highly productive systems which form the cornerstone of livelihoods for coastal communities around the world. In Southeast-Asia the potential sustainable economic benefits from coral reefs amount to ~US$1.1–1.6 billion per year[1]. This economic...
A new generation of apps is needed to change the course of history
Humanity currently faces a crossroads[1]. In one direction, our planet warms beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius. In the other direction, our politicians, economists and scientists collaborate and innovate intensely to avert the warming. If we allow the warming to happen,...
The Kuzuko Thicket Restoration Project (KTRP)
The Kuzuko Thicket Restoration Project (KTRP) is planning to plant spekboom (Portulacaria afra) cuttings over 5,000 hectares in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Over a period of fifty years, the planted spekboom will sequester carbon and increase biodiversity,...
Building resilience of communities through an ecosystem-based adaptation approach
Rwanda is a small country with the greatest population density in Africa. Rural populations are largely dependent on subsistence agriculture and have few alternative livelihood options. Rwanda's dense population coupled with its dependence on agriculture has...
Pie in the sky: is global food security within reach in the face of a changing climate?
In 1996 food security was defined by the World Food Summit as follows: “Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active...
Attending the UNDP Conference on Climate Change, Food Insecurity and Resilient Livelihoods in Juba, South Sudan
I had the privilege of attending the UNDP conference on climate change, food insecurity and resilient livelihoods in South Sudan held in Juba from the 27th to the 28th of June. Representing C4, I presented on sustainable water management – a relevant topic for a...
Notes from the field: jackfruit in the Himalayas
Fieldwork is a great opportunity for C4 consultants to engage with those who benefit most from our projects – communities at project sites. As part of a mission for the SCCF-funded Ecosystem-based Adaptation through South-South Cooperation Project (EbA South) to...
Homegardens: a highly productive form of agriculture that can benefit biodiversity
Homegardening is a form of agriculture that has been practised for centuries in tropical and temperate climates. Each homegarden is unique, but in general they are small‑scale (~30 m2) and maintained by individual households. These gardens are places of innovation...
Catalysing ecosystem restoration for resilient natural capital and rural livelihoods in degraded forests and rangelands of Nepal
In Nepal, rural communities rely strongly on goods and services from healthy mountain ecosystems. The effects of climate change are of grave concern because they threaten the health of the ecosystems. Local communities in the mid-hills and high mountains are...