DAR ES SALAAM, Nov. 12 -- FOR communities depending on forests, farmland and other natural resources for their livelihoods, restoring degraded landscapes offers an opportunity to improve agricultural productivity, protect the environment and create new economic opportunities.

However, turning this opportunity into reality requires more than planting trees and rehabilitating degraded land. It also demands substantial financial investment, access to appropriate financing mechanisms and the capacity of local communities to manage restoration initiatives as viable economic ventures.

This is the challenge Tanzania is seeking to address as it moves to mobilise resources towards its commitment to restore 5.2 million hectares of degraded and de...