The Moldova Soil Conservation Project focuses on restoring degraded lands across the country through wide scale reforestation efforts covering 20.3 thousand ha of previously degraded lands.

Nature-based Intervention:

The project focused on using reforestation and afforestation to repair degraded lands and vulnerable soils. This included the return of 20.3 thousand ha of previously degraded lands back into general production. The implementation of this program involved working with a network of 383 communities and 23 forest enterprises within the country. Over 60% of the project sites are owned by local communities and plating took place at 2,421 different project locations. The project also opens up use of the forests to sustainable timber harvesting and the harvesting of non-wood forest products in order to bolster local livelihood outcomes. In areas which are highly degraded the project utilized fast growing tree species such as Robinia pseudoacacia and Gleditschia triachantos to stabilize the soil and and once the landscape has recovered the species can be harvested and replaced with native oak and ash.

Overview of context and outcomes:

Moldova faces widespread risks from land degradation and soil erosion. More than 50% of the countries territory is located on land which has an incline making it vulnerable to erosion and gully formation. The erosion risk is widespread and more than 80,000 ha of land have been destroyed by the formation of 6,200 ravines. A goal of the project was to support Moldova’s commitments to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Changes (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol mechanisms.