FAO and the World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT) will present the Decision Support Framework (DSF) developed within the GEF/FAO project ‘decision support for mainstreaming and scaling out Sustainable Land Management (DS-SLM)’ which provides guidance to countries on scaling up SLM. This links Land Degradation (LD) & SLM assessment tools at different levels which are embedded into the development of a strategy and action plan for mainstreaming, scaling up and out of SLM. The DSF is flexible, can be adapted to countries needs and offers, through its modular format, different entry points depending on countries’ gaps, previous activities and existing data. Implementing SLM at the landscape level implies that appropriate scaling up mechanisms are in place, considering ecological, institutional, socio-economic and cultural conditions.

Representatives from three to four project countries (tentatively Philippines, Colombia, Morocco, and Uzbekistan) and partners will showcase their experiences and processes established for scaling up and out SLM in specific landscapes. With their very diverse contexts, capacities and possibilities, the countries will present how they used LD & SLM assessments tools and created evidence to include into SLM decision-making processes, following the DSF. The country presentations will be followed by a panel discussion (with country representatives) on the challenges and opportunities of scaling up SLM in the landscape, during which also the audience will be invited to contribute.