Engaging Stakeholders to Mainstream Land Use Planning in Africa for Sustainable Development

With support from the United States Agency for International Development’s Africa Bureau, the Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group (ABCG) created a land use planning framework that strives to balance the interests of stakeholders who shape land use change¬–government, commercial sectors, communities and conservationists–to identify and then implement sustainable development strategies. ABCG members partnered with stakeholders to apply a participatory framework in four case study landscapes in sub-Saharan Africa and then incorporated recommendations into national to local planning processes. ABCG members also developed and facilitated a training course to mainstream the ABCG sustainable land use planning framework within government planning departments. This session will profile case study challenges and lessons learned from planning through implementation to stimulate a discussion on how to address outstanding challenges and a path forward for land use planning.