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SDG Awards 2024

Finalist Profile

Welcome to the SDG Awards, a distinguished recognition program honoring the remarkable contributions of individuals, organizations, and initiatives in championing the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Finalist Profile

Green Environment and Climate Change Initiative

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GECCI
About Company
  • Company Type: Non-profit Organizations
  • Founded in 2021
  • Located at Nigeria
  • Employees: 11 – 50

SDG Awards 2024

Category - SDG 15 - Life on land
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Landscape Restoration: Restoring degraded landscapes through large-scale tree planting and agroforestry projects, which help increase biodiversity and improve ecosystem resilience.

➜ Landscape Restoration: Restoring degraded landscapes through large-scale tree planting and agroforestry projects, which help increase biodiversity and improve ecosystem resilience.
➜ Land Management: Prevent deforestation and land degradation, ensuring that ecosystems remain healthy and productive over the long term.
➜ Community Empowerment: Involving local communities in restoration efforts also provides livelihoods, supporting both environmental and social sustainability.
SDG_Icon 15

1. What is the local impact your organization has achieved regarding your selected SDG? (No Word Limit)

GECCI has made significant strides in contributing to SDG 15: Life on Land through our Eco-Restoration for Climate Action (ERCA) Project by focusing on reforestation and community empowerment in Anambra State, Nigeria. This initiative, funded by the Stiftung Unternehmen Wald and in partnership with the Forestry and Wildlife Department Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka (NAU), Anambra State, is centered around the restoration of 15 hectares of degraded forest land, aiming to enhance local biodiversity and contribute to Nigeria National Determined Contribution (NDC) targets. Precisely, our project aligns with the NDC targets by improving forest management and restoration to achieve a mitigation potential of 89 Mt CO2e per year. Local impacts include: 1. We have successfully raised 6,000 native tree species for reforestation. These species are currently in the nursery, receiving the necessary care to ensure their survival when transplanted into the field. The choice of native species was to maintain ecological balance, local climate solution, adaptability to the soil and ensuring long-term sustainability. 2. Conducted series of capacity-building workshops for the project community both in NAU (where we raised the seedlings) and Ebenebe community. Topics covered included Tree Nursery Establishment, Natural Restoration Techniques, Plantation and Protection, Climate Change Adaptation, Monitoring and Mapping Techniques, and the use of Forest Information Systems (FIS). The workshop and training sessions equipped the community members with the knowledge and skills needed to actively participate in and sustain the project. 3. We engage the eight villages in Ebenebe Community where one of five out of thirteen of the last remaining forest reserves in the state is located. The Nkachu-Ituku Forest Reserve is under threat from development, which have had severe consequences for the local environment and community that depend on it for survival. To address this, we organized a Climate Resilience Workshop to educate the Ebenebe community on the importance of forest conservation and the potential dangers of losing the forest land. Following this, we implemented an empowerment program that provided farmers with agricultural inputs to boost their yields and increase their income in practice of agroforestry, reducing the pressure to clear additional forest land for farming. 4. We initiated the establishment of Nature Lab in secondary schools where we have previously formed environmental clubs. The establishment of these tree nurseries was conceived to foster environmental stewardship among young people. It allowed them to participate in nurturing plants and understanding the importance of environmental conservation. The tree nurseries served as a practical laboratory and educational platform where they learnt about various plant species, their growth patterns, and the benefits each tree provide to the ecosystem. The Nature Lab project also helped them develop research skill as they monitor the growth and development of the tree species.

2. What is the global impact your organization has achieved regarding your selected SDG? (No Word Limit)

ERCA Project directly contributes to Nigeria's National Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement. The restoration of the 15 hectares of degraded forest land aids in carbon capture and storage, thereby contributing to the global effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The projected mitigation potential of 89 Mt CO2e per year from improved forest management and restoration practices aligns with international targets for climate stabilization, showcasing how localized actions can have far-reaching impacts. Secondly, our project promotes biodiversity conservation on a global scale through growing and planting 6,000 native tree species. This restores local ecosystems and also preserves species crucial to global biodiversity such as White-Bellied Pangolin (EN), African Wildcat (VU) -(IUCN) and so may tree species. The protection and restoration of these native species contribute to the global fight against biodiversity loss, a critical component of SDG 15. ERCA project helps maintain genetic diversity, which is vital for global resilience against climate change and environmental stresses. In addition, we share knowledge and best practices of the ERCA Project on the global scale. The capacity-building component within the project, such as training on Tree Nursery Establishment, Natural Restoration Techniques, and Climate Change Adaptation, was designed to contribute to the global exchange of knowledge. The experiences gained from this project has been adapted and implemented in other areas and states facing similar challenges, promoting global environmental stewardship and sustainable practices. The involvement of youth through environmental clubs and the Nature Lab Project also has significant long-term global implications. The education and awareness aims to empower them to understand and protect nature. We are raising generation of global leaders who understand the importance of conservation. These young leaders are poised to influence environmental policies and practices on a global scale, ensuring that efforts aligned with SDG 15 continue to thrive.

3. What is the scalability of your innovation and how do you plan to achieve it? (No Word Limit)

We will scale impact by acquiring the Ebenebe forest land and implementing sustainable management practices i.e. conservation, which will protect critical forest habitats, enhance carbon capture and stotage, and contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, aligning with Nigeria's goal to leverage nature-based solutions (NBS) for climate mitigation. This idea has worked in so many instances Like the Nigerian Conservation Foundation owned some of their forest land which helped in total control of the land and ensured it protection. On the international level, organizations like Mossy Earth, Eco-Tree International, HD Forest Germany, Stiftung Unternehem Wald, Ecosia, etcetera own forest which goes a long way in seeing to its total conservation. Equally, Nigeria NDC recognizes the need to enhance resilience and adaptation to climate change impacts, particularly in vulnerable communities. We will scale on this aspect by empowering communities to adapt to climate-related challenges through sustainable livelihood practices and ecosystem-based approaches. We will provide selected youths (as forest guards) from the villages training on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing technologies which will enable them to better understand and respond to environmental changes, thereby enhancing their resilience to climate-related disasters such as floods and extreme weather events. In her NDC, Nigeria recognizes the importance of engaging and empowering local communities in climate action efforts. Our proposed intervention aligns with this aspect in prioritization of community engagement and participation throughout the project lifecycle. Through capacity building, training programs on agroforestry practices for farmers and the establishment of a permanent community nursery for forest restoration, we empower the Ebenebe communities to become active stewards of their natural resources and important partners in conservation and sustainable development. We plan to achieve this by pursuing diverse funding sources, including grants from international and local environmental organizations, partnerships with corporations committed to sustainability, and government programs aligned with our initiative. We also plan to explore carbon offset programs, where companies can invest in our forest restoration efforts to compensate for their carbon emissions. This will provide a continuous stream of funding to support long-term forest management and community engagement initiatives. To be at the same pace with the global goals while achieving our national and local targets, we leverage modern technologies such as GIS and remote sensing, machine learning, and Internet of Things to enhance the efficiency, accuracy, and effectiveness of our conservation efforts in monitoring and mapping. Also, the FAO Open Foris (SEPAL) to facilitate flexible and efficient data collection, analysis and reporting. Integrating technology into our approach helps us facilitate early warning and decision support in forest management and conservation strategies. We will build and strengthen partnerships with local and international stakeholders, including environmental NGOs, academic institutions, government agencies, and the private sector. These partnerships will provide us with the necessary resources, expertise, and networks to expand our operations. We will also scale our impact by establishing more community nurseries, training additional forest guards, and expanding our capacity-building programs to other regions.

4. What is your organization’s unique strategy for using technology to achieve your selected SDG? (150 Words Limit)

Our unique strategy for achieving SDG 15: Life on Land is ecosystem carbon capture as photosynthesis provides the fastest known CO2 uptake rate. Technologically, we center on geo-tagging, combined with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and remote sensing. We currently deploy geo-tagging techniques to document and monitor the precise locations of our tree-planting projects. This allows us to track the growth of each tree and assess restoration progress in real-time, providing our funders and stakeholders with immediate and accurate information. As we scale, we plan to use drones for seed rain techniques as that doesn't require raising the seeds first in the nursery. On that, we will first use the principles of Analog forestry, which entails knowing the land and species that have thrived there in the past. We also plan to integrate advanced technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT) for continuous forest monitoring and machine learning for predictive analytics. Additionally, we'll utilize FAO's Open Foris (SEPAL) for efficient data collection and reporting.

5. What challenges did you encounter while working for your selected SDG, and how did you address them? (150 Words Limit)

We met these challenges on-ground. Conservation was perceived as an investment without immediate dividends. Some community members initially hesitated to support our reforestation efforts due to concerns about land use and economic impacts. We addressed this by conducting extensive community engagement sessions, highlighting the long-term benefits of forest conservation, and integrating sustainable livelihood programs, such as providing agricultural input for agroforestry, that directly benefit the local population. Funding was another significant challenge, limiting our ability to scale operations. However, we have remained resilient in the face of this challenge. We are still facing this hurdle, but we are determined to overcome it and continue our mission because we have not been able to acquire the forest land.

6. How did you engage local communities and stakeholders in your work, and what was their feedback? (150 Words Limit)

We conducted workshops on building climate resilience, sustainable practices like agroforestry, tree nursery management, and climate resilience, ensuring that community members understood the benefits of forest conservation and its link to climate change mitigation. For the students,, we established environmental clubs in schools to engage them and foster a culture of environmental stewardship. The feedback from the community and stakeholders has been overwhelmingly positive. The building climate resilience workshop was an eye opening session where the community members through the post workshop interviews highlighted their understanding of the link between forest land conservation, protection and climate change. The ERCA project participants appreciated the training. One of the participant highlighted that the training on Forest Information System was timely for his career while most participants appreciated the training on using mobile application in forest monitoring. Additionally, the economic benefits from sustainable practices, the educational opportunities for youth, and the increased awareness of environmental issues.

7. Which organizational skills and resources did you use to deliver goods/services without harming the environment or society? (150 Words Limit)

To sustainably deliver our services, we utilized a combination of strong project management, community engagement, and environmental stewardship skills. We applied strategic planning to align our goals with environmental and social values, ensuring that every step of our project, from reforestation, community training to agricultural input delivery minimized harm. Resource management was key, as we carefully sourced native tree species and materials locally, reducing our carbon footprint and supporting local economy. We also leveraged partnerships with local institutions and NGOs, which provided expertise and additional resources, ensuring that our interventions were both effective and sustainable. Capacity building was another crucial skill, as we trained community members in sustainable practices like agroforestry, forest farming, which equipped them to contribute to our goals while enhancing their livelihoods.

8. In your view what roles do businesses, governments, and civil society should play in achieving the SDGs, and how can they collaborate effectively? (150 Words Limit)

Businesses drive innovation, adopt sustainable practices, and conduct their corporate social responsibilities, aligning profitability with the SDGs. This can be seen in just transition, renewable energy, waste management, and forest and climate change business models for sustainability. Governments are responsible for creating and enforcing policies that support sustainable development, providing incentives for green initiatives, and ensuring accountability. Like forest laws, climate change policies, local community and Indigenous people's rights, etcetera. They should also support innovators and opportunities for nation building. Civil society serve humanity, acts as watchdog and advocate, raise awareness, mobilize communities, support businesses and governments, and holds them accountable. Therefore, Governments create enabling environments through policies, while businesses provide resources and innovation. Civil society ensures these efforts meet community needs and environmental standards.

9. What advice do you have for individuals or organizations aiming to create positive change and support the SDGs? (150 Words Limit)

For individuals and organizations aiming to create positive change and support the SDGs, my advice is to recognize that big things can start in small places so, start small, think big, and act strategically. Begin by identifying specific SDGs that align with your mission or personal values, and focus on tangible, local actions that can scale. Do not ignore the power of place based action because that would propel you to the big stage. Collaboration is key. Partner with like-minded local organizations, governments, and communities while seeking international partnership to amplify your impact. Ignoring this can bring frustration later as we must act locally to solve the growing SDG challenges. We must also recognize that all of us belong to a community whether rural, semi-urban and urban. Leverage innovation and technology to find sustainable solutions, and prioritize continuous learning and adaptation to overcome challenges.

10. How would winning this SDG Award help you enhance your impact and expand your project? (150 Words Limit)

Winning the EUTECH SDG Award would significantly enhance our impact and expand our project through providing visibility, resources, and credibility. The recognition would help us attract partnerships, enabling us to scale our reforestation and community empowerment initiatives to more communities and other states in Nigeria where we have a presence. Increased visibility would boost our ability to engage stakeholders, including government agencies, businesses, and local communities, fostering stronger collaborations and support for our work. The award would validate our approach, solidify our stance, and inspire confidence among potential donors and partners, which is crucial for securing the resources we need to replicate and expand our work. The platform i believe would allow us to share our successes and lessons learned, influencing broader environmental and social policies. Additionally, the award recognition would accelerate our efforts to restore ecosystems, combat climate change, and empower communities, aligning our work more closely with global sustainability goals.

11. What are your future objectives regarding your selected SDG? (150 Words Limit)

For SDG 15: Life on Land, our future objective is to scale our reforestation efforts, enhance community resilience, and integrate advanced technologies. We aim to acquire and restore 100,000 hectares of forest and degraded land solely for conservation purposes, expand beyond our current project area, and increase the number of native trees raised and planted. We plan to deepen community engagement by moving into other community in Anambra State and other communities in states where we have presence such as Delta State, Oyo State, etcetera. For schools, we will establish more environmental clubs in schools and engage them in conservation education, expand our capacity-building programs to empower local farmers with sustainable agroforestry practices and agricultural input for increased yield and profit for livelihood improvement. We also intend to incorporate advanced technologies like drone monitoring and AI-driven analytics to improve the precision and effectiveness of our conservation efforts. We also aim to secure long-term partnerships and funding to ensure the sustainability of our projects and initiatives and create a model for carbon offsetting.

The SIERA Awards are the next evolution of the EUTECH SDG Awards — expanding with new categories, greater global reach, and deeper impact.

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