We strengthen our work through
Collaborating with universities and research institutes ensures the best outcomes for our projects and supports an evidence-based ecosystem restoration movement.
We’re always keen to hear about new opportunities for research collaboration. If your research focuses on our key themes we would be happy to hear from you.
Please write to us at research@weforest.org
Timeline: 2024 to 2027
Research partner: KU Leuven
Country/project: Zambia, Katanino
Tropical dry forests (TDFs) are losing ecological resilience caused by chronic environmental degradation. The crossing of critical environmental thresholds in these systems can potentially trigger abrupt ecological shifts (e.g. irreversible changes or collapse). These shifts may not only hinder forest restoration efforts but also jeopardize the wellbeing of forest-dependent human communities. This post-doctoral research project investigates regime shifts in TDFs from a social-ecological perspective and examines their influence on ecosystem restoration and community wellbeing.
Timeline: 2019 to ongoing
Research partner: University of São Paulo
Country: Brazil
Located at the University of São Paulo’s Itatinga research station, this project establishes a tree diversity experiment (MataDIV) and an observational eddy covariance flux tower (MataFLUX) built over restoration plantings for the first time.
MataDIV/MataFLUX investigates the relationship between tree diversity and ecosystem functioning. The effects of tree species composition, drought and soil fertility on carbon and water cycles are studied by measuring the carbon, water and energy ‘fluxes’ as the restoration forest grows.
This work will improve our understanding of how to optimise restoration approaches in Brazil’s Mata Atlantica (Atlantic Forest) in the face of a changing climate.
Timeline: 2025 to 2026
Research partner: Mekelle University
Country/project: Ethiopia, Desa’a
WeForest has been implementing restoration activities in Desa’a since 2018 including enrichment planting, Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR) and soil and water conservation interventions such as constructing planting pits, trenches, terraces, and percolation ponds to enhance soil stability and functionality, prevent soil erosion and promote water retention.
To evaluate the impact of these interventions on local water resources, WeForest Ethiopia is partnering with researchers from Mekelle University to measure soil water infiltration rates in permanent sample plots representing various intervention types as well as in control (‘no intervention’) plots. Researchers also sampled selected micro-watersheds to measure spring water discharge and water quality and carry out groundwater potential surveys in Desa’a for the first time.
Timeline: Brazil (Pontal) completed 2025 and Zambia Launching 2026!
Research partner: WildMon and IPÊ
Country/project: Brazil, Pontal and Zambia, Copperbelt
From 2021 to 2025, WeForest piloted the use of acoustic technology for monitoring biodiversity in restored wildlife corridors in Pontal, Brazil. We got some great results including recording a total of 219 species (including 205 birds), 3 mammals, 9 amphibians, and 2 insects. Over time, the soundscapes of restoration sites became more similar to those of native forests, indicating that restored areas are supporting richer and more complex biological communities.
Explore the results and listen to the species recorded in Brazil on the WildMon platform!
In 2026, WeForest will partner with WildMon to use acoustics for monitoring bird populations in Zambia’s Imanda Forest. Imanda Forest in the Copperbelt Province is a rare example of swampy ‘mushitu’ forest and is designated as an Important Bird Area. Collecting acoustic data on Imanda’s bird populations will enable WeForest and partners to track changes in biodiversity over time and inform conservation strategies.
Forest and Landscape Restoration (FLR) only succeeds when the people who live alongside forests have a stake in its outcomes. WeForest explores how FLR can strengthen food security, improve incomes, and build climate resilience for forest-dependent communities.
Timeline: 2024 to 2026
Research partner: Copperbelt University
Country/project: Zambia, Katanino and Copperbelt
Bokashi is an organic compost fertilizer produced by introducing microbes to accelerate the composting process. Although bokashi compost is widely promoted, there is no documented information on its effects on soil chemical properties and crop yield in Zambia. To be accepted and adopted by smallholder farmers in Zambia, bokashi compost needs to be shown to be productive and economical.
WeForest Zambia is partnering with researchers at The Copperbelt University to develop an optimised version of bokashi compost using locally available raw inputs which are accessible to smallholder farmers. WeForest farmers are being trained in how to make and apply the new bokashi compost to grow maize and cabbage. Researchers and farmers are working together to monitor the effects of bokashi on soil health and crop productivity.
Timeline: 2025 to 2029
Research partner: AfroGrow
Country: Ethiopia
AfroGrow is an EU Horizon funded project involving 25 partners working together to establish a network of agroforestry Living Labs across Africa. Aiming to create sustainable agroforestry systems to strengthen food security and support biodiversity in Africa, AfroGrow Living Labs are being established in Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal and Zambia. The Living Labs will act as hubs for research, knowledge exchange and innovation in agroforestry.
Learn more about this project on the AfroGrow website.
Timeline: 2024 to 2028
Research partner: Malawi University of Science and Technology
Country: Malawi, Mount Mulanje
In Malawi, the majority of households rely on fuelwood as their primary source of energy, placing immense pressure on already degraded forest resources. WeForest Malawi is partnering with Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) and Inter Aide to carry out multi-year research into the impacts of agroforestry programmes on fuelwood use dynamics in the Mount Mulanje landscape.
Journal articles, policy briefs and other publications authored by members of the WeForest team.
Picoli and Helsen (2024). Remote sensing framework for evaluating forest landscape restoration projects: enhancing accuracy and effectiveness. IEEE Geosciences and Remote Sensing Letters. Volume 21.
Maes et al. (2024). Explore before you restore: incorporating complex systems thinking in ecosystem restoration. Journal of Applied Ecology. Vol 61 (5) 922-939.
Berhe et al. (2024). Ecological study and forest degradation of the Waldiba Monastery woodland in Tigrai, Ethiopia. Discover Sustainability. Vol 5. 57.
Gidey et al. (2024). Population and conservation status of the endangered Dracaena ombet tree in dry Afromontane forests. Global Ecology and Conservation,
Volume 50, e02809
Cohen et al. (2022). Practitioner-researcher partnerships: perspectives from two sides of the same coin. SERNews digital magazine
Hishe et al. (2022). Recruitment credit cannot compensate for extinction debt in a degraded dry Afromontane forest. Journal of Vegetation Science
Hishe et al. (2021). Environmental and anthropogenic factors affecting natural regeneration of degraded dry afromontane forest. Restoration Ecology
Tamba et al. (2021) Stochastic simulation of restoration outcomes for a dry afromontane forest landscape in northern Ethiopia. Forest Policy and Economics, 125
Negussie et al. (2021). Continuous resin tapping for frankincense harvest increases susceptibility of Boswellia papyrifera (Del.) Hochst trees to longhorn beetle damage. Heliyon 7 (2), e06250
Badari et al. (2020). Ecological outcomes of agroforests and restoration 15 years after planting. Restoration Ecology 28 (5), 135-1144
Gidey et al. (2020). Population status of Boswellia papyrifera woodland and prioritizing its conservation interventions using multi-criteria decision model in northern Ethiopia. Heliyon 6 (10), e05139
Garcia et al. (2020). The global forest transition as a human affair. One Earth, 2, 417-428
ITTO Policy Development Series No. 24 (2020). Guidelines for forest landscape restoration in the tropics. International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), Yokohama, Japan
Eberhardt et al. (2019). Advancing the forest and water nexus: a capacity development facilitation guide. FAO, Rome
Negussie et al. (2018). An exploratory survey of long horn beetle damage on the dryland flagship tree species Boswellia papyrifera (Del.) Hochst. Journal of Arid Environments 152, 6-11
How to know it when we see it? A case for forest and landscape restoration quality standard. FLoRES, 2017
Ellison et al. (2017). Trees, forests and water: cool insights for a hot world. Global Environmental Change 43, 51-61
Gutierrez, V. (ed.) (2016). Management lesů a jeho význam pro vodu a klimatizaci krajiny. Vodní hospodářství, 2, pp. 24-25, Praha, Czech Republic, ISSN 1211-0760 (Managing Forests for Water and for Climate Cooling, Czech version)
van Noordwijk et al. (2015). Ecological rainfall infrastructure: investment in trees for sustainable development. ASB Policy Brief 47
Nature-Based Solutions (NbS)
The Paris Agreement & Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)
Forest and Landscape Restoration
Forest Restoration & Climate Change Mitigation Potential
The State of the World’s Forests
Global Carbon Budgets
Forests and water
Bio-acoustic monitoring
See which solution is right for you and get started today.
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