In late October 2026, as delegates gathered in Yerevan for the Convention on Biological Diversity's COP17, the International Union for Conservation of Nature offered a quiet but pointed reflection on a long-standing human question: how do communities live with a changing climate without losing the living systems that sustain them? Drawing on eleven Nature-based Solutions projects across Sub-Saharan Africa, its new report argues that restoring ecosystems is only lasting when the women and local people closest to the land are placed at the center of decisions and given the time and resources to
IUCN Report Draws Gender-Responsive Adaptation Lessons from 11 Sub-Saharan Africa Nature-Based Solutions Projects
Women in Senegal's Sine-Saloum delta are replanting mangroves.
Mark
Why does a report on 11 projects get launched at a major biodiversity conference?
Mimi
Because the projects are the evidence. IUCN is trying to show how big commitments like the Kunming-Montreal framework can turn into something concrete at community level.
Mark
The Sine-Saloum example stands out. What is happening there?
Mimi
Verónica Ruiz Garcia said women in Senegal's Sine-Saloum delta are replanting mangroves. She framed it as ecosystem recovery and risk reduction at once.
Luke
Worth noting that's one example offered in remarks. The material doesn't say whether it's among the 11 projects or what results it produced.
Mark
What are the four lessons, in short?
Mimi
Join biodiversity and climate action, centre people and rights, measure outcomes properly, and invest for the long term.
Luke
And those come from IUCN's own assessments against its own Global Standard. That's the author grading the work, so it isn't independent verification.
Mark
Does the report say how much was spent or how long the projects ran?
Luke
No. Funding and timeline aren't specified, so we can't say what the projects cost or how durable the results are.
Mimi
What it does offer is a way to ask better questions about quality, which matters to funders and implementers.
Luke
Fair. Whether COP17 or national plans actually adopt any of this is still unknown.
The Pulse
- Climate pressures are reaching coastal and rural communities faster than global agreements can translate into local protection.
- The report, launched at COP17, lands in the middle of negotiations over ecosystem restoration and biodiversity financing.
- IUCN is pushing for four priorities: joined-up biodiversity and climate action, women-led and rights-based governance, clearer impact monitoring, and long-term investment.
- Women replanting mangroves in Senegal's Sine-Saloum delta show the approach in practice, but sustained funding and national uptake remain open questions.
In late October 2026, as delegates gathered in Yerevan for the Convention on Biological Diversity's COP17, the International Union for Conservation of Nature offered a quiet but pointed reflection on a long-standing human question: how do communities live with a changing climate without losing the living systems that sustain them? Drawing on eleven Nature-based Solutions projects across Sub-Saharan Africa, its new report argues that restoring ecosystems is only lasting when the women and local people closest to the land are placed at the center of decisions and given the time and resources to see the work through.
On 21 October 2026, at a side event during the Convention on Biological Diversity's COP17 in Yerevan, the International Union for Conservation of Nature launched "Growing Resilience: Nature-based Solutions for Adaptation." The report gathers lessons from eleven projects across Sub-Saharan Africa, developed through IUCN's NAbSA initiative and assessed against the IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions. Partners in Canada's Partnering for Climate portfolio helped make the work possible.
The central argument is that good project activity alone does not produce lasting results. IUCN's Senior Climate and Resilience Manager, Verónica Ruiz Garcia, spoke of the women and local communities who restore ecosystems and strengthen coastal resilience. She pointed to women replanting mangroves in the Sine-Saloum delta in Senegal, work that restores nature and reduces risk at once.
From these experiences IUCN draws four priorities: integrate biodiversity and climate action around local conditions, centre people and rights through women's leadership and equitable governance, measure outcomes for biodiversity, resilience and well-being, and invest for the long term through durable partnerships and aligned financing.
For NGOs, funders and researchers, the report offers a way to judge the quality of this work rather than treating it as a generic activity. The source gives no funding figure or timeline. What remains to be seen is whether COP17 outcomes and national plans take up its guidance.
On 21 October 2026, at an event held alongside the Convention on Biological Diversity's COP17 in Yerevan, the International Union for Conservation of Nature launched a new report called "Growing Resilience: Nature-based Solutions for Adaptation." It collects lessons from 11 Nature-based Solutions projects carried out across Sub-Saharan Africa.
The report comes out of an IUCN initiative named NbS for Climate Adaptation: Monitoring & Impact Evaluation, known as NAbSA. It asks how gender-responsive approaches to Nature-based Solutions can strengthen climate resilience, protect biodiversity and support more equitable livelihoods. To answer that, it draws on project experience and on assessments made against the IUCN Global Standard for NbS. Project partners across Canada's Partnering for Climate (P4C) portfolio contributed to it, and the 11 projects were supported through that portfolio.
Nature-based Solutions are actions that use ecosystems to help societies adapt to climate change while also supporting biodiversity and human well-being. IUCN's position, in the report and in remarks at COP17, is that good project activities alone do not produce lasting results. It stressed locally led action, sustained investment, meaningful participation, and evidence of impact over time. It also placed the report within the wider COP17 discussions on implementing the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
The human face of the report was Verónica Ruiz Garcia, IUCN's Senior Climate and Resilience Manager. Speaking at COP17, she pointed to the role of women and local communities in restoring ecosystems and strengthening coastal resilience. Her example was the Sine-Saloum delta in Senegal, where women are replanting mangroves. She described the work as both ecosystem recovery and a way of reducing risk. IUCN added that community-led action should inform national plans, and that lasting impact depends on practical guidance, long-term financing and partnerships rooted in local realities.
From its assessments against the Global Standard, IUCN draws four priorities. First, integrate biodiversity and climate action, designing interventions around local ecological conditions and community needs. Second, put people and rights at the centre, which means strengthening women's leadership, inclusive participation and equitable governance of natural resources. Third, improve monitoring and accountability by measuring outcomes for biodiversity, climate resilience and human well-being, so that projects can learn and show their impact. Fourth, invest for the long term through lasting partnerships, sustained financing, and alignment between local initiatives and national priorities.
IUCN says these lessons bear directly on what countries are weighing at COP17: ecosystem restoration, inclusive governance, biodiversity monitoring and resource mobilisation. It also stresses the need for safeguards and quality as Nature-based Solutions are scaled up. Through NAbSA, the organization says, it and its partners are sharing evidence and building capacity for gender-responsive approaches, and it presents the report as a bridge between project experience and the question of how global commitments become durable resilience for people and nature.
For NGOs, grantmakers and researchers, the publication offers a framework for judging the quality and impact of this work rather than treating Nature-based Solutions as a generic activity. The source does not give a funding amount or a project timeline. What to watch is whether COP17 outcomes and national plans take up the report's guidance on community-led action, gender-responsive governance and sustained financing.
Notable Quotes
Women in Senegal's Sine-Saloum delta are replanting mangroves, work that is both ecosystem recovery and risk reduction (paraphrased).— Verónica Ruiz Garcia, Senior Climate and Resilience Manager, IUCN
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Climate & Environment