Forest Restoration and Climate Change in Armenia (FORACCA)

The FORACCA project, funded by the Swiss Development Cooperation, aims to support reforestation efforts on community lands, climate-smart forest management and climate-resilient development in Armenia. The project provides cutting-edge knowledge and targeted support for policy development and implementation at different impact levels. The project is structured in two components:

1. Public institutions, specialized NGOs, academia and private interest groups develop and implement sustainable policies and practices based on improved climate services and forest related knowledge.
2. Local communities initiate climate change adaptation measures and benefit from sustainable forest landscape restoration and agroforestry. 

The project is being implemented in close cooperation between the Forest Alliance, a consortium of Armenian NGOs advocating for afforestation and the protection and restoration of forest ecosystems lead by Shen NGO, the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO.

In the FORACCA project, WSL is working with partners from Switzerland and Armenia. We are taking a transdisciplinary approach and aim to develop innovative and localized solutions together with our partners and local beneficiaries. The goal is to provide cutting-edge climate-smart knowledge to strengthen climate resilience and sustainable resource management at the national and local level through inclusive processes. Additionally, vulnerability and poverty will be reduced through the promotion of multiple use forest management (including goods, soil, water and biodiversity conservation) and climate-resilient development.