The Commonland Annual Report 2023

June 2024

The Commonland Annual Report 2023 1

Restoring landscapes to create a brighter future on planet Earth.

Index 1

Preface

5

2

Foreword

9

3

Colofon

10

4 4.1 4.2

5 5.1 5.2 5.3

6 6.1 6.2 6.3

How to read our Annual Report 2023 Our Theory of Change Building a global proof of concept

11 12 14

How do we work and thrive together?

Strategic Intent How we measure impact The 4 Returns Framework

17 20 20 22

Impact in Landscapes 2023 in numbers Landscape Developments Landscape development & support India South Africa Spain The Netherlands Australia Where else do we work?

Tools in Landscapes

24 26 28 30 32 36 40 44 48 52 52

Impact on the System

58

8

Building the business case for holistic landscape restoration

61

9

Nurture and grow collaborative learning networks to tackle system barriers

64

10

Spark a mindset shift towards valuing healthy landscapes and ecosystems

73

11 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5

Commonland Organisation People & culture Governance Finance Balance sheet as of 31 December 2023 Statement of income and expenditure

79 79 82 84 85 86

12 12.1

Word of Thanks Funders’ Voices

89 91

6.4 6.5

7

Cover photo: Pratima Chandrawanshi can be seen roaming around in her flourishing kitchen garden, inspecting the cauliflower that has recently blossomed under her care, India.

Credit: Tesu Media Labs.

3

“In a world afflicted by conflict, war and suffering, there are so many initiatives that prove that we can do better as humans. We should all strive to play a role in fostering, supporting and scaling these endeavours.”

Bela Jankovich Chairman of the board

1 Preface

D ES P I T E T H E I N T EN S I F Y I N G C L I M AT E A N D B I O D I V ER S I T Y C R I S I S , with increasingly severe consequences

globally, there were also positive developments in 2023. International cooperation on biodiversity is more advanced than ever. COP28, focusing on the Climate Agreement, also made notable progress with its emphasis on accelerating climate adaptation and scaling up climate finance.

These agreements set the stage for the kind of largescale, coordinated action that Commonland and its local and global partners have been enacting over the past decade. Indeed, Commonland has spent the last 10 years developing precisely the community-led, landscape-based solutions that governments need to realise their top-down agreements – and achieve effective impact at scale.

Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to meet some of Commonland’s partners and witness firsthand their dedication to generating 4 Returns in their landscapes. Meeting them has taught me that, ultimately, restoring the Earth comes down to people - to us.

Let’s align our efforts and together build a world with healthy landscapes that foster resilience for all, guided by the 4 Returns Framework. I am confident this annual report will provide you with a lot of inspiration to do just this!

Bela Jankovich de Jeszenice Chairman of the board July 2024

This year also marked a significant transition for us: We welcomed Gabrielle Taus, formerly a leader in the education sector, as Commonland’s new Managing Director, taking over from Willem Ferwerda, who cofounded Commonland. Willem has been instrumental to putting holistic landscape restoration on the map, demonstrating the value and legitimacy of 4 Returns together with Commonland’s team and partners. He will remain at Commonland in a non-executive role as Founder, continuing to leverage his vision and knowledge to spread and scale holistic landscape restoration. In her new role, Gabrielle will spearhead the team through a transformative chapter in the organisation's evolution, further scaling its impact.

The board is excited to support her in shaping Commonland’s future.

Spain, 2022

In a world afflicted by conflict, war and suffering, there are so many initiatives that prove that we can do better as humans. We should all strive to play a role in fostering, supporting and scaling these endeavours. This is why Commonland focuses first and foremost on supporting local communities to drive forward holistic, large-scale landscape restoration.

Credit: Tom Lovett.

5

Everything begins with the basics, and in farming and ranching, it all comes down to the quality of the soil At Commonland, a team of passionate and driven individuals are committed to large-scale holistic landscape restoration across the globe. Their mission is to restore degraded soils, transforming them into the Earth's living lungs, providing a sustainable future for both people and nature.

Personal note from the Founder Reflecting on our work over the past 11 years, I am both grateful and humble. Humble because I recognise that only by working together can we break silos and demonstrate what is truly possible. Grateful because each of us contributes to the unstoppable movement of holistic landscape restoration.

This past year, it's been impossible to ignore the seismic events that have shaped our work in the restoration field. Among these, the COP28 in Dubai stands out as a significant milestone. Unlike its predecessors, COP28 emphasised nature-based solutions over technological interventions, signalling a crucial shift towards adaptation strategies.

Yet, amidst progress, the global landscape in the past year has been marred by conflict and geopolitical tensions. Wars rage on various continents disrupting ecosystems and threatening food production. These conflicts exacerbate the challenges we strive to address. While now passed, in 2023 the European Nature Restoration Law was continuously delayed and watered down due to competing interests within the food sector. While the momentum for restoration and regenerative agriculture grows from the ground up, it must contend with the corporate interests of an ecosystem degradation industry that persists in its destructive path.

In my transition away from my role as Chief Executive Officer, in 2024, I am heartened by the progress we've made and the momentum propelling us forward. Together, we stand at the precipice of a new era – one defined by a deep consciousness of our role on this planet and a shared commitment to its restoration.

I remain fully committed to supporting Commonland as Founder in the coming years, with deep gratitude for the ongoing support of Co-founder, Wijnand Pon. From 2024, my focus will shift towards supporting our new Managing Director, Gabrielle Taus. I will work on collaborating with the team on global policy influencing, fundraising, mentoring landscape partners, and inspiring future generations while taking up relevant board positions. I eagerly anticipate remaining engaged with you all for years to come, as we work towards our shared vision of creating a holistic landscape industry and making an even greater impact together in the next decade.

Willem Ferwerda - Founder June 2024

Wijnand Pon - Co-Founder

"Be positive and never be average!"

Despite these challenges, we've witnessed a shift from more traditional conservation approaches towards a holistic landscape restoration agenda.

While progress may seem slow, the evidence of environmental degradation is irrefutable, compelling both public and private sectors to action.

Due to all the above, I remain cautiously optimistic.

The trajectory of global efforts towards environmental conservation and restoration is positive. We're moving towards a future where the restoration of ecosystem functions and its services to mankind are recognised and valued, and where funding flows towards the preservation of our natural heritage. Now the pace of change must accelerate to meet the scale of the challenges before us.

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7

“At the heart of our work lies a commitment to inspiration the belief that by igniting connection and purpose, we can catalyse meaningful change.”

Gabrielle Taus Managing Director Commonland

2 Foreword

As I step into the role of Managing Director, I am deeply struck by the profound challenges we face as a society. It's evident to me that much of our struggle stems from a disconnection – from nature, from each other, and ourselves, as Otto Scharmer’s Theory U highlights.

My initial encounters with the Commonland team and our partners reinforced my belief in the power of collective action. I found a warm and driven team, dedicated to professional excellence and deeply committed to the organisation's mission.

Over the 11 years, Commonland has carved out a significant niche in landscape restoration, advocating for a holistic approach that recognises the interconnectedness of ecosystems, communities and economies. It is this commitment to holistic restoration that compelled me to take on this role.

I come to Commonland with a background in the education sector where the importance of a holistic lens to solving problems was paramount.

amplify our impact. We have accumulated valuable experience over the years, and now is the time to distil those insights into actionable strategies and scalable solutions.

At the heart of our work lies a commitment to inspiration – the belief that by igniting connection and purpose, we can catalyse meaningful change.

As we move forward, let us not only build upon our practical expertise but also nurture the collective spirit that drives us toward our shared vision of holistic landscape restoration.

Gabrielle Taus - Managing Director June 2024

Undoubtedly, the challenges we face at the intersections of biodiversity, climate change and land degradation are urgent and complex. However, Commonland's approach, rooted in holistic systems thinking and grounded in the empowerment of local organisations, offers a promising pathway forward. While the journey ahead may be daunting, I firmly believe that it is through this comprehensive approach that we can halt degradation and begin the vital work of restoration.

Yet, as we chart our course forward, we must confront the evolving landscape of our field.

Landscape restoration, once a niche endeavour, has garnered increasing attention in recent years.

As a pioneer in this space, Commonland must now redefine its role in order to contribute its strengths to the global restoration movement.

In my initial months with Commonland, I have been heartened to see the organisation engage in strategic reflection, realising the need to hone our focus and 8

9

3 Colofon

4 How to read our Annual

Report 2023

Within our Annual Report 2023, we delineate how our endeavours contribute to tangible outcomes worldwide according to our Theory of Change (ToC) (see page 11). Our ToC lays out how we work towards our overarching goal: to make holistic landscape restoration the new norm by bringing under restoration with our partners at least 100 million hectares of degraded landscapes by 2040.

Central to our work is empowering our partners to achieve the '4 Returns Framework' within their landscapes: inspirational, natural, social and financial returns (see page 20 for the full 4 Returns Framework). Additionally, we aim to contribute to shifting social and political systems to catalyse and spread landscape restoration globally.

This distinction is reflected in our Theory of Change, and in turn in how we structure this report, where we categorise our impact into two sections: 1) Impact within Landscapes and 2) Impact on the Wider System.

These dual areas of impact are mutually reinforcing: our actions aim to establish a positive feedback loop, driving the restoration of more landscapes over time, while simultaneously influencing broader systemic change.

Credit: Commonland.

This Annual Report is Published by Commonland Statutory name: Commonland Foundation Founded: 2013 Managing Director: Gabrielle Taus Chair Board: Mr. B.M.A. Jankovich Text: Commonland Team Editors: Claire Patterson & Lily Maxwell Design: Studio MINSK Website: https://commonland.com/about-commonland/ Email: Communications@commonland.com Address: Kraanspoor 26, 1033 SE Amsterdam Contact for funding inquiries: tessa.snaterse@commonland.com eva.cappon@commonland.com Founder: Willem Ferwerda

Farmer, Son Singh, is seen practising the "Kora Chadhai" by adding soil back to bamboo plants that were washed away by rain in order to regulate soil moisture and temperature, suppress the weeds, and improve germination and emergence.

Credit: Tesu Media Labs.

10

Strategising session at the Bioregional Weaving Labs Summit.

11

Our Theory of Change: Our vision is a world where communities, nature and business thrive together.

Our Theory of Change

Our 2040 goal: benefit 1 billion people in 1000 landscapes across 100 million hectares.

Articulating our impact Our Theory of Change showcases how our activities translate into impact in the wider world, helping us to meet our end goal: the restoration of 100 million hectares of land - with positive effects for communities - by 2040.

Our core work focuses on supporting our partners to create the 4 Returns in their landscapes. But we also work to create the enabling environment for more landscapes to be restored worldwide. That’s why, in our Theory of Change, we distinguish between impact in landscapes and impact on the wider system.

These two impact areas feed into each other: through our activities, we therefore aim to create a positive feedback loop that supports the restoration of more and more hectares over time.

In the coming years we will keep fine-tuning and improving our strategy, which means the Theory of Change is a living document. But for now, we are proud to present version 1.0.

We promote and accelerate holistic landscape restoration via our practical approach – the 4 Returns framework - that guides and connects restoration practitioners and engages funders, business and governments in large-scale, long-term landscape restoration.

We support restoration practitioners in 4 ways

We enable restoration practitioners to create Impact in Landscapes How partners create impact in landscapes

Leading to 4 Returns in the landscape

Return of Inspiration

Build landscape partnerships with 20+ year vision

Credit: Commonland.

Build a learning network

Increased connection to the landscape, motivating stewardship

Social Returns Monitor & learn for adaptive management

Create shared understanding

Enhanced livelihood opportunities and community engagement

Natural Returns Healthier ecosystems: soil, water, biodiversity

Take action

Promote holistic landscape restoration

Build landscape plan

Financial Returns Long-term economic resilience and prosperity for communities and business

Build evidence Create enabling environment

We enable Impact on the System, leading to systems change

Provide strategic and financial support

Build business case for holistic landscape restoration, with investable landscapes More long-term funding for holistic landscape restoration Nurture and grow collaborative learning networks to tackle system barriers Government and business policies accelerate holistic landscape restoration

Co-develop landscape solutions

More restoration practitioners apply holistic landscape restoration, creating 4 Returns in their landscape

Spark a societal mindset shift towards valuing healthy landscapes and ecosystems

Checking buds in South Africa landscape.

12

13

Building a global proof of concept

Western peat meadow

Netherlands

Sternberger lake district, Mecklenburg

Germany

Fläming, Brandenburg

Germany

County Waterford

Ireland

Wielkopolska Voivodeship

Poland

Adour Garonne Basin

France

Oltenia de sub Munte

Romania Altiplano Estepario, Murcia/Andalucia

Spain

Kabirdham district, Chhattisgarh state Thermenlinie Wiener-Becken

Austria

India

Mallorca, Balearic Island

Spain Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve

Mexico

Eastern Ghats, Andhra Pradesh Eastern Usambara Mountains

Tanzania

Kafue Greater Ecosystem

Zambia

India

Southwest

Australia

Baviaanskloof - Langkloof

South Africa

Kotahitanga mō Te Taiao

New-Zealand Find out more here 14

15

We are on a mission to restore 100 million hectares of degraded land by 2040 with our partners to create thriving ecosystems, economies and communities.

5 How do we work and

thrive together?

C O M M O N L A N D’ S S I N G L E P U R P O S E I S TO R ES TO R E D EG R A D ED L A N D S C A P ES AT S C A L E . As a not-for-

profit, we develop large-scale landscape restoration projects that boost biodiversity, mitigate climate change, promote regenerative agriculture, and revitalise communities. Working at the landscape level (minimum 100,000 hectares - an area roughly 10 times the size of Singapore or Paris) with a valued network of partners, we’re establishing new norms for holistic landscape management and restoration.

We choose to work on a landscape scale because this is the minimum ecological scale required to truly shift ecosystems back to health.

A short-term focus on profit per hectare has led to ecological degradation and subsequent economic decline in many of the world’s landscapes. Restoring ecological balance in landscapes unlocks benefits for multiple stakeholders - people, communities, businesses and nature alike - enabling thriving local economies.

With our partners, we aim to transform 100 million hectares of degraded landscapes - an area twice the size of Spain - by 2040, creating healthy places where people can live and thrive.

Our role in different landscapes Commonland as an enabler of restoration · Not directly involved in the landscape · Provide the knowledge, tools, network, and data management and influence others to initiate restoration

1000 landscapes with 4 Returns Framework

Commonland as a catalyst of restoration · Partially involved in the landscape · Support with landscape programme design, implementation and leveraging finance · Provide seed funding

Commonland as an co-developer of restoration · Highly involved in the landscape with a commitment of 20+ years · Provide finance, project implementation, monitoring & evaluation, knowledge & information management and more

Maikel Lara on his farm Credit: Gabriela Hengeveld.

16

50 landscape programmes with 4 Returns Framework

8 4 Returns landscapes

Diagram 1: Commonland’s three-scale approach: We act as co-developer, catalyst and enabler of landscape restoration.

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We operate at 3 strategic scales with landscapes (see Our Role in Different Landscapes graphic on page 21), ranging from financing and direct involvement to advising and guiding landscapes, to convening and stimulating a global learning community. The common thread throughout our landscape work is a practical framework that shifts systems from the ground up - the 4 Returns Framework - through which we’re creating a new balance between economy and ecology. This was coined in 2012, inspired by the 12 principles of the Ecosystem Approach, endorsed at the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of Parties 5 (UN CBD COP5) in 2000.

business models tailored to each landscape and connect local initiatives with funding and international markets. Working at the national and international levels with players across the food and land management system, we also influence global, national and regional policy debates to remove barriers to landscape restoration and enable healthy, prosperous landscapes.

In our wider work, we work across two levels - the landscape level and the wider systems level - to create systems change from the local to the global scale (see our Theory of Change on page 11). We draw upon the findings from the Global Land Outlook 2022 and contribute to multiple global sustainability, climate and biodiversity agreements and targets, including but not limited to the Sustainable Development Goals, the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, the UN Conventions on Land (UNCCD), Climate (UNFCCC) and Biodiversity (UN CBD) (Rio Conventions), and the recent 2022 Kunming- Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). Ultimately, our goal is to ensure humanity can live within planetary boundaries.

“Today we are taking this seed of knowledge and planting it in our village to wake up others so that everyone can come together for the protection of nature.”

Leader from the Mehligat Village, Chhattisgarh

To take on the ambitious challenge of restoring 100 million hectares, we focus on acquiring experience and proof of concept in the most relevant types of ecosystems.

We’re now engaged with partners in territories totalling 12.5 million hectares in Australia, Spain, The Netherlands, South Africa, India, Germany, Ireland, France, Zambia, Mexico, and many other places. Each one demonstrates that long-term change is possible when ecology, business, finance and community-led initiatives mesh together. Each landscape unifies what's best for the land and people with business model innovation, uncovering new livelihood and funding streams for local stakeholders while restoring local ecosystems.

Partnerships are essential to realising these objectives. With our partners, we are now establishing and facilitating a global network based on the 4 Returns Framework. Together, we aggregate the learnings and data across the three scales and feed these to the network.

Our overarching aim is to spark and enable continuous systems change, so that society, economy and ecology all move in alignment. To realise this agenda, we’re active both within and outside each landscape. We work with partners to facilitate restoration and stimulate global and regional learning networks to share local regenerative farming knowledge worldwide. We develop sustainable 18

“It is amazing what attachment to the land does and can bring.”

Victoria Gutierrez Commonland’s Head of Global Policy

Women from the Self Help group dispersing seed balls in the forest India.

Credit: Tesu Media Lab. 19

Strategic intent Our journey to 2040 is split into three-year roadmaps.

Our integrated roadmap has laid down our mid-term strategy objectives from 2023 to 2025. The roadmap for 2023-2025 sets out the key priorities we identified for the coming years, taking the 2040 strategy as a starting point.

We re-assembled and updated the roadmap based on developments in 2022 and according to the two key elements of our Theory of Change, making clear choices and building processes within the roadmap.

How we measure impact As you will see in this Annual Report, the roadmap is divided into two levels that make up our Theory of Change. 1) Impact on the landscapes and 2) Impact on the wider system.

At Commonland, we have a team dedicated to Monitoring, Learning and Evaluation (MEL) because we know that our work can only scale sustainably if we reflect on the learnings of our successes and failures. We also aim to use this information to cocreate an evidence base with those doing Holistic Landscape Restoration (HLR) on the ground.

In 2022, Commonland developed its first organisational Theory of Change (see page 10).

This Theory of Change serves as a foundational framework for articulating, assessing, and reflecting on our intended impact.

In 2023, we introduced tools to monitor the direct impact of Commonland, focusing on our support to landscape conveners, our efforts to cultivate a movement for Holistic Landscape Restoration, and our influence on policy, financiers, and businesses to engage in this movement. Each team within Commonland identified relevant indicators to monitor progress, regularly assessing "signals of change," and conducting yearly reflections on our desired impact.

In addition, we updated the indicators used by our landscape partners to measure their impact since 2018, particularly in terms of capturing the indirect contribution of Commonland to the 4 Returns Framework. Through collaboration with Wetlands International and the Landscape Finance Lab, we refined the 4 Returns Framework into themes and sub-themes relevant to our goals. This process led to the development of a more comprehensive and contemporary indicator menu, accessible on the 4 Returns Community Platform. This menu, continually updated based on feedback from practitioners, offers a range of indicators for partners and landscape practitioners to choose from in monitoring their progress.

The 4 Returns Framework: The benefits of a shared approach T H E 4 R E T U R N S FR A M E WO R K is a practical, systems-change framework used

by stakeholders to undertake landscape management and restoration in an integrated way. It supports parties with differing needs to work together to cocreate change. It enables farmers, conservationists, and local entrepreneurs and change-makers, among others, to develop a joint vision for restoring their local landscape that protects and heals nature, leads to regenerative business models, and builds resilient local economies and communities.

We call it the 4 Returns because it is designed to deliver ‘returns’ while reducing risks to all stakeholders, both within and outside the landscape.

The framework can be understood by bottom-up actors (farmers, indigenous people, local governments, entrepreneurs, and nature conservation groups) and top-down institutions (finance industry, business and governments).

Each landscape is divided into 3 landscape zones to identify where action is needed. 5 process elements bring (bottom-up) actors together around a shared vision - all parties commit to this vision for a single generation - or at least 20 years.

Moving forward, Commonland is committed to deepening our understanding of our impact, fostering a culture of learning and improvement, and generating robust evidence to support Holistic Landscape Restoration initiatives.

Credit: Commonland.

Return of Inspiration

Social Return

Natural Return

Financial Return

Giving people hope and a sense of purpose

Bringing back jobs, education and social connections

Restoring biodiversity and soils for healthy and resilient landscapes

Realising long-term sustainable income for communities

Commonland partners chatting at the Global Learning Fest.

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21

The 4 Returns Framework

Process 5 Elements

Impact 4 Returns

Landscapes 3 Zones

Time 20+ years

Our landscape restoration process consists of 5 elements.

Our landscape restoration framework delivers 4 types of returns to the landscape and its stakeholders.

For successful landscape restoration we distinguish, restore and connect 3 types of zones.

Successful systematic landscape restoration takes one generation, or 20 years.

Establishing a landscape partnership Reach a shared understanding

Return of Inspiration Opening people’s eyes to the possibility of a better future

Ensure effective implementation Develop monitoring and learning

22

Regenerating a landscape’s ecological foundation by restoring and protection of biodiversity within natural ecosystems such as wetlands, grasslands and forests

0

5

Natural Returns

10

15

20+ years

A minimum of 20 years, or one generation, is needed to successfully implement large-scale integrated landscape management.

Social Returns Creating jobs, businesses, networks, and social prosperity

Building a landscape plan

Natural Zone

Combined Zone Combining food, fibre and biodiversity productivity through regenerative agriculture, agroforestry and soil restoration.

1

Restoring the health, resilience and prosperity of landscapes

Economic Zone Financial Returns Realising long-term, sustainable, and local income

Delivering sustainable economic productivity with dedicated areas for activities that create value, typically concentrated in urban areas, infrastructure and processing.

2

3

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6 Impact in landscapes This section explores the impact we have had at the landscape level toward our goal to transform degraded landscapes into thriving ecosystems and communities through large-scale restoration projects. We aim to achieve this by implementing the holistic 4 Returns Framework with our partners. Through the implementation of the 4 Returns Framework, we aim to collaboratively deliver lasting ecological, social, and economic benefits and foster sustainable landscapes for future generations.

Credit: Commonland.

Living Lands partners in the field of the Bavianskloof, South Africa.

Credit: Commonland.

24

Spanish farmer, Christobal Sanchez, showing the herbs he planted on the side of his parcel of olive trees between his regenerative farm and his neighbours conventional farm.

25

2023 in numbers Return of Inspiration

Over 8,800 people participated in more than 170 events organised by the network of partners, gaining new insights and inspiration to restore landscapes.

There are now 690 farmers who have adopted improved practices. From running pilots to supporting large-scale regenerative transitions, our partners support and empower people to be part of a sustainable food systems transition.

Financial Return

9 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) align directly to the 4 Returns The 17 Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by all UN member states in 2015, acknowledge that an end to poverty and a better life for Earth’s peoples go hand-inhand with protecting our ecosystems. Building partnerships - from local landscape partnerships to global partnerships of funders, investors, policy and science - is key to making holistic landscape management successful.

Besides the SDGs, Commonland is a proud partner of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Launched in 2021, the Decade promotes the reversal of ecosystem degradation worldwide; it addresses climate change, as well as boosting job creation and food security (see 4.4).

Across the network, 65 business cases were in development in 2023, of which 53 have received investment.

Over €10 million was raised by our partners to fund landscape restoration.

Natural Return

Approximately 58,000 hectares of degraded land are under direct restoration.

More than 15000 hectares are under restoration in the natural zone, and 42800 hectares in the combined zone.

58,000+ tonnes of CO2 were reduced.

Note: the 4 Returns and impact numbers are measured by taking into account the aggregated data of the landscapes in Spain, the Netherlands, South Africa and Australia.

Social Return

More than 4000 people took part in the 59 learning networks managed and maintained by partners, enhancing the dissemination of knowledge to support local-led restoration movements.

Our partners supported more than 1800 jobs in 2023, which is an increase of 116% since 2022.

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Landscape developments Landscape impact reflections 2023 LO O K I N G B AC K AT T H E K E Y-TA K E AWAYS FR O M O U R PA R T N ER S’ WO R K I N 202 3

1. Organisational strengthening and focus – preparing for the next steps Many partners underwent significant internal development to enhance their operational capacity and strategic focus in 2023. This internal strengthening has proven essential in navigating the complexities of landscape restoration, enabling partners to execute their missions with greater efficiency and impact. Enhanced staff capacities and refined strategic approaches have positioned our partners to better address the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, notably those related to climate mitigation and adaptation.

2. Replicating the approach – our partners scaled the 4 Returns Framework beyond their landscapes Building on the groundwork laid in previous years, 2023 saw our partners not only expand their reach beyond their initial territories but also integrate their efforts more closely with regional and national initiatives. For instance, Fundación Aland rose out of the Alvelal association in 2023 exemplifying the success of Iberian-wide initiatives that grew from a landscape program.

Partnerships like Wij.land in the Netherlands also extended their collaborative efforts with other local networks, enhancing the collective impact on regenerative agriculture and community resilience. Similar processes occurred in South Africa, India, and Australia.

3. Strategic collaborations and learning – global networks to support landscape restoration The year also highlighted the strength of strategic collaborations with various stakeholders, including scientists, local governments, NGOs, and educational institutions. The Bioregional Weaving Lab Network, 1000 Landscape for One Billion People, Wetlands International, Landscape Finance Lab and other forums have facilitated a rich exchange of ideas and best practices, which have been instrumental in refining our approaches and strategies. Additionally, we joined the Impact Europe Network and became media partners with Earthed. These collaborations have enriched our partners with diverse perspectives and expertise, driving forward the mission to restore degraded landscapes with enhanced knowledge and resources.

4. Resilience against external pressures - the relevance of our work has never been clearer The increasing frequency of extreme weather events, coupled with economic and political instability, tested the resilience of our partners' work. Despite these challenges, the relevance and urgency of our work have never been clearer. The external pressures have underscored the importance of our efforts and have drawn new stakeholders to our cause, expanding our community of support and action. The proactive measures taken by our partners have mitigated some impacts, demonstrating the critical role of holistic landscape restoration in building sustainable and resilient communities.

Sierra Gorda, Mexico.

Credit: Commonland.

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Landscape development & support R EFL EC T I N G O N T H E P R O G R ES S M A D E since 2022,

the past year was characterized by building trust, consolidating interventions to scale, observing the ripple effects through the implementation of the 4 Returns Framework, and establishing a roadmap for 2025 to better integrate our activities internally.

In 2023, we revisited and refined our agreements with longstanding partners, aligning our collaborations more closely with our strategic vision to ensure mutual benefits. We consolidated our existing portfolio to strengthen relationships and establish a robust network of partners across Europe, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and the Americas.

You can visit a full overview of our expanding global network on the world map on page 12.

This consolidation was crucial for equipping our global network to confront the increasing external challenges—such as changing markets and climates—and in turn, maximising the effectiveness of our interventions.

restoration. These dynamic learning networks enabled our partners to collaborate and explore solutions to common problems in diverse contexts, further enhancing our collective impact and fostering innovative approaches to landscape restoration.

TO B U I L D E V I D EN C E that holistic landscape restoration works in various

These interactions highlight the critical role that Commonland plays in engaging with a global network to foster a deeper understanding and more effective implementation strategies. The commitment to continuous learning and adaptation is a cornerstone of our approach, ensuring that each project not only meets local needs but also contributes to global knowledge on sustainable practices.

Learning and knowledge exchange also advanced significantly in 2023. At the beginning of the year, a regenerative farmer exchange in Australia brought global partners together to share insights and strategies for implementing regenerative agriculture. Later, the Ashoka-led, Bioregional Weaving Lab Summit convened individuals from across Europe in Brandenburg to address challenges in implementing holistic landscape

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contexts, and increase the number of hectares under holistic restoration, we aim to support a diverse group of landscape partners in specific regional clusters around the world: notably in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Africa. This diversity is based on several factors, including but not limited to: geography, biome, type of landscape partner, cultural setting, or type of land ownership. When actively scouting for collaboration opportunities, we keep these factors in mind.

An important success factor for our work in different landscapes is our 'proposition' towards landscape partners: how do we add value to existing programmes and what is our specific role? As we work with landscapes for a minimum of 20 years, we spend on average 1.5-2 years exploring whether there is a “fit” with potential landscape partners before committing to a longterm relationship. This exploration is structured by our landscape onboarding process: the “landscape developer flow.” This “flow” is a phased approach for co-developing landscape restoration programmes with landscape partners (see diagram 2).

Changing weather patterns and drought in many of our partners’ landscapes underscored the relevance of our work, and for some partners, provided fertile ground to scale their approach.

After years of foundational activities, these partners began scaling up their initiatives to a national level. In Spain, the launch of Fundación Aland marked a significant step in extending the 4 Returns Framework across the Iberian Peninsula, while in the Netherlands, a new country-wide plan, co-initiated by Wij.land and others, was established to support the Dutch farming community in transitioning to regenerative farming.

These critical developments promise to offer key insights into scaling Holistic Landscape Restoration effectively.

In 2023, the impact of a blended funding approach became evident as partners in Australia secured public and private financing to empower the implementation of restoration activities and invest in new businesses. A total of AUD 11.7 million (approximately EUR 7.4 million) in blended finance entered the landscape to support landscape restoration, empower Aboriginal-led organisations, and develop sustainable livelihoods.

Highlight: Our landscape developer flow

Highlight our landscape developer flow PROTOTYPING PHASE

SCREENING

“In the 4 Returns network, people from diverse sectors unite, fostering connections fueled by a shared passion. It is within this network that extraordinary possibilities arise, echoing the essence of inspiration.”

SCREENING

SCREENING

3 - 6 MONTHS

12 - 16 MONTHS

12 - 16 MONTHS

2 YEARS

Phase 1

Phase 2

Phase 3

Phase 4

Assessing Needs and Fit with Commonland Strategy

Partnership Alignment: exploring potential collaboration

Landscape Alignment: development of landscape plan and execution of first activities

Becomes a Commonland Landscape: Expand scope to cover all aspects of a holistic 4 Returns Initiative

Diagram 2: Landscape developer flow

Gijs Boer Founder & CEO at Grounded

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Landscape

Kabirdham landscape, Chhattisgarh state, Central India Total work area (ha)

200,000+

The Kabirdham landscape covers more than 200,000 hectares, encompassing forested hills in the west, home to Gond and Baiga tribal communities, and plains in the southeast, where farmers grow mostly paddy and sugarcane. On average, these smallholders work on no more than two hectares per household.

Total number of stakeholders involved

50 Number of business cases identified or in operation

6 (NTFP aggregation; millet processing; lac cultivation; eco-tourism; mushrooms; tree & vegetable nursery); 10 self help groups are active in one or more of these business cases Working with Commonland since

2019

India IN TERMS OF CHALLENGES , the area faces a rapidly

Landscape partners

India

SAMERTH CHARITABLE TRUST

growing population, a decline in soil health and biodiversity due to unsustainable farming practices and forest resource extraction, as well as increasingly unpredictable weather patterns.

PRADAN

However, opportunities for regeneration are emerging. There is a growing movement working to localise forest resource management plans, promote community action, scale community engagement and expand agribusiness opportunities for agroforestry and non-timber forest products (NTFP), such as Mahua tree flowers.

Since 2019, Commonland has been working with the local government, local communities, and a diverse group of organisations to support balancing community well-being, nature conservation and sustainable economic development using the 4 Returns Framework.

What happened in 2022?

Empowering smallholder farmers and indigenous communities in Central India

Credit: Tesu Media Labs.

CHHAT TISGARH AGRICON SAMITI

FOUNDATION FOR ECOLOGICAL SECURIT Y

THE NATURE CONSERVANCY INDIA

NETWORK FOR CONSERVING CENTRAL INDIA

Building on the coalition of 7 partners (including Commonland), established in 2022, 2023 was marked by increased cooperation across the coalition, with partners adopting a longer-term focus in their programming and thinking on a landscape scale. The development of a Landscape Plan provided important clarity and partners found new ways to collaborate.

Professional Assistance for Development Action (Pradan) supported Samerth Charitable Trust - an NGO that works with marginalised groups through various initiatives - in the process of creating community forest management plans, the next step since community forest rights were transferred to the tribal communities. Samerth Charitable Trust directly applied tools for measuring groundwater developed by the Foundation for Ecological Security (FES).

Agricon - an NGO - and Samerth Charitable Trust also participated in each other’s trainings. The Nature Conservancy - India developed a report on the impact of the 4 Returns Framework in India, an important step for scaling landscape restoration to a national level.

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Agricon engaged proactively with the community in the economic zone. They launched an extensive campaign and ran events, reaching over 4000 people, including farmers and youth, through various training and engagement activities. This initiative not only promoted sustainable agriculture practices but also involved the younger generation in project implementation (see Landscape Highlight).

Experimenting with innovative ways to earn a forestbased income paid off in 2023: Samerth focused on sustainable forestry practices, which proved profitable for the local population. The introduction of nets to collect Mahua flowers replaced the cultural practices of cleaning the ground by burning, preventing wildfires. Nursery management and the first steps into marketing saal seed – an endemic seed used as a butter substitute – provided additional income. Restoration work in the natural zone provided close to a living income for 2000 households.

The growing financial opportunities from the forest even attracted thieves in the village of Newaratola.

Thieves stole half of the lac harvest – a type of resin harvested from a scale insect (Kerria lacca), that lives on certain indigenous tree species - from 20 farmers.

The community decided to share the profits from the remaining trees equally and set up a collaborative system to protect their lac production. This response not only restored hope but also spurred discussions on expanding lac cultivation and increased the willingness to experiment with new initiatives within the community.

Seedball festivals took place across 9 villages and more than 4300 people participated in events held across the landscape in 2023. Across the 19 villages, 32 self-help groups are active with more than 380 members. Group members engage with incomegenerating activities, and they also meet to actively talk about saving money and how to manage their activities.

Landscape highlight: Towards a new landscape-based partnership Agricon set the scene for a sustainable agriculture movement within the economic zone. The team ran an extensive campaign in 10 villages to promote the 4 Returns which resulted in registering 151 farmers and 521 youth to foster active participation in implementing sustainable agriculture.

Agricon organised 19 events to enhance awareness and promote sustainable practices, drawing more than 2,500 participants. Over 300 farmers received training on agricultural practices like soil health, pest management, agroforestry and seed treatment.

The team used technology effectively by sharing updates and training through WhatsApp and bulk SMS including practical advice on weather forecasts and farming techniques. This approach not only facilitated continuous learning but also ensured that farmers had timely information to optimise their sustainable agricultural practices. Through these efforts, 84 farmers adopted innovative, sustainable farming techniques across 64 hectares. Practices include direct sowing of paddy, improving soil health, using bio-fertilisers and bio-pesticides, measuring insect and pest diversity, and planting resilient varieties.

This work is supported by the Ikea Foundation.

Impact in the landscape Return of Inspiration Social Return

41 events were organized, with 4346 participants.

Credit: Tesu Media Lab.

212 landscape stakeholders adopted improved practices.

60 community groups were formed, through which 1127 people were reached.

Agricon managed 8 farming-focused groups, while Samerth managed 32 self-help groups and 20 community groups. The groups reach different segments of the population which is crucial to ensure the engagement of hard-to-reach community members within a landscape.

27 jobs were directly supported by the project.

Women from the Self Help Group in India planting saplings.

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Natural Return

123,6 hectares have been positively impacted (59 hectares for natural zones and 64,6 hectares for the combined zone) through sustainable production since 2020 and 30,5 hectares are actively restored, through planting trees and seeds, and removal of invasive species.

Financial Return

Around 2000 households were provided with an almost living income, with over 160.000 casual labour days offered through landscape restoration activities.

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Landscape

Langkloof - Baviaanskloof, South Africa Total work area (ha)

400,000 Total number of stakeholders involved

Actively implementing restoration practices on 30 farms and advising others in the region; working with over 11 local partners.

The Baviaanskloof-Langkloof landscape, located at the confluence of four unique biomes (Fynbos, Subtropical Thicket, Forest, and Succulent Karoo), boasts an incredible diversity of flora and fauna. The landscape also serves as a crucial water source for the 1.3 million inhabitants of Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) and nearby areas, via the Baviaanskloof, Kromme, and Kouga rivers.

Number of business cases identified or in operation

4 Working with Commonland since

2014

South Africa Landscape partners

T H E A R E A H A S FAC ED S E V ER E D EG R A DAT I O N due to

unsustainable land management, climate change, and invasive species. This has caused loss of vegetation, soil erosion, and water system disruption. Social issues also persist, as the Eastern Cape is among South Africa's poorest provinces.

South Africa LIVING L ANDS

THE BAVIAANSKLOOF BEWAREA NPC

Despite these challenges, opportunities exist. Since 2014, Commonland, in partnership with Living Lands and Grounded, has established three regenerative companies: Baviaanskloof Development Company (essential oils), the Honeybush Company (tea), and Baviaanskloof Bewarea (ecological rehabilitation).

These initiatives have implemented regenerative actions and built strong community ties, enabling efforts like invasive species clearing and soil erosion control to rehabilitate the landscape for the people and wildlife that live there.

What happened in 2023?

THE BAVIAANSKLOOF DEVELOPMENT CO.

Boosting biodiversity through ecological rehabilitation

The Baviaanskloof Bewarea team clearing 1,793 ha of invasive cactus species.

Credit: Living Lands.

THE L ANGKLOOF HONEYBUSH COMPANY

A diverse set of interventions can restore a landscape, but changing weather patterns and extreme climatic conditions are out of the influence of any restoration practitioner. After an extended drought, the recent rains have boosted the morale of farmers and teams on the landscapes. The impact of the rehabilitation activities conducted since 2020 by our 4 Returns local partner, Living Lands and Baviaanskloof Bewarea, across 13,200 ha can be seen – clearing invasive plant species, digging ponds and bunds, and brush packing. When it rains, the ponds fill with water that slowly seeps into the soil, recharging groundwater and preventing further soil erosion. The Baviaanskloof River is visibly flowing again for the first time in years!

Years of drought provided perfect conditions for the spread of Thistle cholla (Cylindropuntia pallida) an 37

invasive cactus from South America, which creates dense, impenetrable mats, out-competing native biodiversity and impacting agricultural production.

Clearing of invasive cactus in SA: During 2023, the Baviaanskloof Bewarea team cleared 1,793 ha of invasive cactus species! This helps the farmers that Living Lands works with immensely. Additionally, the restoration work provided 30 jobs and 25 casual labour days for local people in the landscape.

Living Lands conducted 6 trainings on a diversity of topics, including fire management, regenerative agriculture and sustainable harvesting. The training reached 76 participants from across the landscape, including farm workers, thereby supporting the dissemination of knowledge across the area. Living Lands also undertook a resource assessment of honeybush growing in the area to support sustainable harvesting of honeybush (see Landscape highlight).

the marketing and farmer support aspects of the Langkloof Honeybush Company (LKHBCo) and the processing capacity of IHPL. This merger is meant to lead to increased access to larger markets, ultimately allowing the HBCo to offer better prices to landowners and harvesting teams. The Honeybush factory was upgraded to increase efficiency meet food safety standards and align with the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI). The Honeybush Company harvested about 60 million tonnes of raw material from 8 out of the 14 collaborating farms.

Landscape highlight: Assessing the honeybush harvest Honeybush is a genus of some 20 plants (genus: Cyclopia), some of which are threatened species due to overharvesting, habitat loss, and other environmental pressures. The sustainable harvesting of honeybush therefore requires an understanding of how to maintain and sustain rather than deteriorate the honeybush population. This also demands a detailed assessment of how much honeybush there is in each area, as well as the harvest parameters.

Working together with the Khoi and San Councils – two prominent Indigenous peoples of South Africa - the Honeybush Company negotiated an access and benefit sharing (ABS) via a tribal governance structure that supports the interests of indigenous peoples. Next to supporting schools and a cultural centre, HBcO plans to implement a training program for indigenous peoples to participate in the sustainable harvest of honeybush.

In 2023, Living Lands was contracted to support the development of industry-wide policy tools related to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) for both the Cyclopia subternata and Cyclopia intermedia honeybush species. The team will create sustainable harvesting plans for landowners to develop an awareness of the total amount of available honeybush to harvest.

Amid a slow and steady recovery of the Honeybush market, the Honeybush Company (HBCo) finalised a merger with the Independent Honeybush Producers Langkloof (IHPL). This brought together

The work of Living Lands is an important step in supporting the sustainable harvest of honeybush and the development of activities in the combined zone, thereby strengthening the honeybush market and the local economy.

Credit: Grounded.

Impact in the landscape Return of Inspiration

3 sites in the Langkloof are open for local people in the landscape, like farmers, to visit and experience the effects of restoration and regenerative agriculture.

140 people, including conservancies, government officials and community members, were reached through 5 events run by Living Lands.

Social Return

Natural Return

Financial Return

The Honeybush Company provided 46 jobs in the landscape.

Living Lands provided 30 jobs and 25 casual labour days.

Honeybush is a genus of some 20 plants (genus: Cyclopia), some of which are threatened species due to overharvesting, habitat loss, and other environmental pressures.

13,200 hectares are now being restored.

In 2023, a total of 2,480 hectares, (most of which is in the combined zone) was reached by the Bewarea team, bringing the total number of hectares worked on since 2020 to 13,200.

The merger between LKHBco and IHPL gives HBcO access to larger markets that value sustainability and pay a premium for quality products. €390,000 mobilised in the landscape half from philanthropic and half from private investors.

Rain filling up the Baviaanskloof River after a period of drought. Credit: Living Lands

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39

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Landscape

Altiplano Estepario, Andalucia/Murcia, Southern Spain Total work area (ha)

1,000,000

Between the desert and forests of Southern Spain lies a transition zone – the Altiplano Estepario – a semi-arid steppe at the intersection of Spains' two southernmost regions, Andalucia and Murcia. Though the climate is naturally dry, agriculture is part of the way of life.

Total number of stakeholders involved

1000+ (farmers, association members, businesses and other stakeholders) Number of business cases identified or in operation

20+ Working with Commonland since

2014 - Commonland was a founding partner

Spain D ES ER T I FI C AT I O N , E X T R EM E C L I M AT E C O N D I T I O N S , A N D D E- P O P U L AT I O N are long-term trends that

Landscape partners

affect the area, while a recent drought and frost during blossom season have made the Altiplano Estepario an especially challenging landscape for local communities. Unsustainable land management practices have also reduced local biodiversity and climate resilience.

Spain

What happened in 2023?

AL AND

Creating a more regenerative future in the AlVelAl Territory

AlVelAl

"We’re working far into the future to create an ecological corridor that connects the territory. We revegetate the landscape not to create forests, but ecosystems."

Credit: Commonland

Fernando Bautista Expósito Biodiversity assessment and ecosystem restoration advisor.

The significance of landscape restoration in the Altiplano Estepario became critically clear in 2023 as severe droughts and extreme rainfalls hit the region.

Farmers experienced huge harvest losses, resulting in a price surge for olives. The lack of rain highlighted the relevance of AlVelAl’s work especially activities related to water capture – like creating swales and ponds – and restoring the hydrological functioning of the landscape.

Next to constructing 15 ponds across the natural zone, AlVelAl revegetated degraded areas by planting more than 50,000 plants – critical for restoring the hydrological cycle (for more information on zones check out our zoning graphic on page 39). Planting successes were observed with the sowing of holm oak acorns (38,000 sown in 2023) which resulted in a 75% survival rate. This led to an important lesson: planting holm oaks as acorns leads to a much higher survival rate than planting seedlings first raised in a nursery.

The AlVelAl membership grew to 513 in 2023, with 350 farmers in the network, as well as businesses, conservationists and government officials. There are now 216 farmers working on improved land management, which includes introducing green cover practices, compost, and integrated farming across an area of 13,500 hectares. Next to the 16 trainings organised throughout 2023, a major support for farmers 41

has been the shared machinery bank set up in 2022 with support from Funds de Roeper. This initiative has been particularly effective in engaging new farmers, allowing them to borrow specialised equipment and facilitating the adoption of improved agricultural practices.

AlVelAl hosted 9 events with a total of 946 participants in 2023. Notably, the second edition of the Rural Pride Festival in April 2023 was a resounding success, attracting around 500 participants (see Landscape highlight). Additionally, the "Manifesto for a Regenerative Territory" saw active participation from over 80 individuals across four days, drawing important new commitments from 15 town councils and laying the foundation for future regenerative actions. To inspire

younger generations, the Alliance for Regenerative Education developed a regenerative curriculum to bring education of regenerative practices into local schools.

Outside the AlVelAl Territory, the influence of the 4 Returns Iberian Peninsula Network grew with the launch of Fundación Aland in June 2023. There are now 6 landscapes with 9 landscape partners and 5 strategic partners including Alvelal and Commonland that form an Iberian Network, all of which are implementing the 4 Returns Framework across their diverse landscapes.

The launch of Aland is an important step towards spreading and broadening the impact of holistic landscape restoration across the Iberian Peninsula.

Landscape highlight: Rural Pride Festival In April 2023, the second edition of the Rural Pride Festival took place. More than 500 people joined the celebration of rural life and the event served as a platform for celebrating the rural world, focusing on its rich cultural and environmental heritage. Attendees engaged in a variety of activities including panel discussions on rural themes, workshops demonstrating traditional crafts, and educational initiatives like tree planting.

Local products also featured prominently, with tastings of regional oils and wines and a market for local products, showcasing the variety of local culinary traditions. The Rural Pride festival not only showcased the rural lifestyle but also played a crucial role in bringing the work of AlVelAl to new audiences, demonstrating holistic landscape restoration to empower rural communities and foster rural pride and identity.

Credit: Commonland.

Impact in the landscape Return of Inspiration

71 sites (art projects, pilots, demos, farms, etc.) are now available for people in the landscape, local people or tourists, to visit and experience the effects of restoration and regenerative agriculture.

Social Return

16 trainings on restoration and regeneration took place with a total of 403 participants.

216 farmers are now implementing improved management practices in line with regenerative agriculture. like covering the soil, reducing tilling, stopping the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, and digging ponds and swales to retain water.

Natural Return

Dancing at the Rural Pride Festival 2023.

13,500 hectares are now under direct improved management from farmers (combined zone).

1,009 hectares are now under restoration in the natural areas (natural zone).

Financial Return

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€1.040.277 finance mobilised (of which, 83% are from philanthropic funds).

43 locally run landscape businesses benefited from increased access to new markets and value chain infrastructure.

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Landscape

Western Peat Meadows, the Netherlands Total work area (ha)

125,000

Decades of intensification of farming and systemic water drainage in these Peat Meadows have resulted in biodiversity loss, increased carbon emissions and reduced income for local farmers.

Total number of stakeholders involved:

700 people, including farmers, entrepreneurs, nature, conservationists, financiers, and others.

Number of business cases identified or in operation

Total: 22 identified, of which 21 have been set up, including value chain entrepreneurs that promote business driven landscape restoration, payments for ecosystem services schemes, innovative financial service scheme, and one.

The Netherlands TO TAC K L E T H ES E C H A L L EN G ES , Commonland founded

Landscape partners

Wij.land in 2016, which became an independent landscape organisation in 2018. Wij.land works with Natuurmonumenten, the Dutch Society for Nature Conservation, applying the 4 Returns framework to restore ecological functions and promote sustainable farming in the landscape.

Working with Commonland since

2016 - Commonland was a founding partner WIJ.L AND

WILDER L AND

The Netherlands NATUURMONUMENTEN

With a network of more than 180 active farmers, nature organisations, companies, and citizens, Wij.land inspires, facilitates, and accelerates the transition to a regenerative Dutch peat meadow landscape through sustainable business models.

Despite the Netherlands being a global leader in agricultural exports, the pressure to maintain such high outputs has intensified the strain on landscapes and farmers alike, particularly with the need to reduce nitrogen emissions as mandated by new legislation. This regulatory pressure has resulted in a mixed response from farmers, with some moving towards regenerative practices, while others struggle with reduced motivation.

The overuse of fertilisers and pesticides has degraded soil health, compromising crop yields and farmer incomes. Additionally, systemic drainage practices have lowered soil water levels, leading to increased carbon emissions as water-depleted peat soils fail to sequester carbon effectively. The situation is further exacerbated by speculative increases in land prices.

Using inspiration as a driver to regenerate Peat Meadows in the Netherlands

“For us, it’s about finding a balance, we now farm extensively and don’t have to push our land anymore which makes for a more calm farming business, more in balance.”

A birds eye view of the Netherlands landscape.

Credit: Tom Baas

In response to these challenges, Commonland's initiative, the landscape partnership organisation, Wij.land, established in 2016 and becoming independent in December 2018, has worked diligently with a network of farmers, nature organisations, and policymakers to promote sustainable and regenerative farming practices in the Dutch peat meadow landscape. Wij.land applies the 4 Returns Framework, fostering a transition to regenerative agriculture through sustainable business models, practical knowledge, and strong community collaboration.

What happened in 2023?

Wilko Kemp Organic Farmer in the Western Peat Meadows

The year was one filled with changing external factors. Political upheavals, including the rise of the 45

BoerBurgerBeweging – Farmer Citizen Movement - in provincial governance and the unexpected cancellation of an agricultural agreement, caused significant uncertainty in agricultural policy and funding prospects, particularly impacting the nitrate crisis management. The end of the EU's manure derogation left livestock farmers grappling with requirements to pay for the removal of surplus manure, in some cases reducing pasture yields and thus creating a need to import and apply fertilisers, further straining farmer motivation.

However, within this climate, Wij.lands farmer network grew from 188 to 338 farmers in 2023, with 248 farmers actively implementing on average 3 projects per farm. One of the most subscribed projects is Wij. land’s improved soil management course which now covers 2,566 hectares of grassland, facilitated by targeted soil training and guidance.

Throughout the year, Wij.land hosted 79 inspirational meetings, drawing nearly 1,600 participants. Inspired by the UK regenerative farming festival Groundswell, Wij.land organised the first Boerendag – Farmer Day – bringing 150 farmers from across the landscape to discuss practical knowledge and ideas, and, importantly, learn from one another. Celebrating its fifth anniversary, Wij.land launched the Peatland Fund during a gathering of 150 stakeholders. This

initiative bridges financiers with landscape pioneers to fund innovative projects, including electric mowing and a theatre piece on agricultural transition.

New projects like Hollandse Lagen – Dutch layers – were established to examine the potential of bringing trees and hedges into the peatland landscape to support biodiversity, improve cow health and offer farmers additional crops. Learning sessions and planting days with volunteers supported the initial phases of this innovative project. Podcast walks in a project Tussen Mens & Land – Between people and land – explored new ways to connect people with the landscape.

The year also saw Wij.land bolster its advocacy and communication efforts significantly. The BoerenPerspectief Plan - 'Farmers' Perspective Plan' (See Landscape Highlight) - co-initiated by Wij. land, has been pivotal in securing long-term finance for progressive farmer networks throughout the Netherlands to offer social and economical support and guidance by a network of “buddies”, enhancing the transformative agenda of the agricultural sector. In 2023, organisational growth included the expansion of the Wij.land team to 18 employees, the introduction of new financial and marketing roles, and the appointment of Toos van Noordwijk as the new director starting February 2024.

Landscape highlight: Bringing in the farmer's perspective The BoerenPerspectief – or Farmer’s Perspective – plan is designed to support Dutch farmers in navigating the complex and multifaceted challenges of modern agriculture, particularly in the areas of environmental sustainability, economic viability, and compliance with evolving regulations.

The plan has already been endorsed by important governmental figures.

The nationwide initiative, developed in collaboration with amongst others BoerenNatuur, The Dutch Agriculture and Horticulture Organisation (LTO), the Boerenraad, and andTransitie Coalitie Voedsel, aims to complement top-down approaches to the agricultural transition strategies with a more bottom-up approach to supporting farmers. Through creating a network of regional hubs – built from existing farmer networks and agricultural collectives – the plan is to foster a supportive community where farmers receive both support from experts and This collaborative plan is an important step towards bringing the farmer’s voice into the political agenda and maintaining a dialogue between farmers and policymakers. Thus, contributing to the equitable and fair sustainable food transition in the Netherlands that works for all.

Credit: Tom Baas.

Impact in the landscape Return of Inspiration

79 inspirational meetings were held, attended by nearly 1,600, mainly farmers.

Social Return

Wij.land expanded its network from 188 to 338 farmers, with 248 participating in projects, averaging three projects per farm.

Wij.land organised the first Farmer Day where over 150 farmers from their network gathered.

Throughout 54 trainings, 1068 people were reached.

18 jobs were created.

Working with machinery in the Peat Meadows.

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Natural Return

Across more than 2,500 hectares of grassland, improved soil management is now under implementation (in the combined zone).

Financial Return

A cost-benefit analysis conducted on 45 dairy farms found that profitable revenue models are possible by implementing nature-inclusive agriculture.

Farmers received training and guidance on soil management, water management, grassland management, and introducing agroforestry layers in vegetation.

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Landscape

South West Australia Total work area (ha)

1,000,000+ Total number of stakeholders involved

The Southwest of Western Australia is globally recognised as one of the planet’s major biodiversity hotspots. This is due to its high levels of natural diversity, particularly for plants, marsupials and amphibians, together with high levels of threat to that diversity. It is one of only five Mediterranean-type ecosystems to be listed as globally significant.

300+ (farmers, association members, businesses and other stakeholders) Number of business cases identified or in operation

20+

Australia

Working with Commonland since

Landscape partners

T H E S T E WA R D S H I P A N D H I S TO RY O F T H E I N D I G EN O U S N O O N G A R N AT I O N is essential to the landscape of

Southwest Australia – where Noongar people learned to live in harmony with the land for more than 60,000 years as moondang-ak kaaradjiny, the carers of everything. Caring for everything is the principle that animates the mission of Commonland and our partners to regenerate this vital landscape.

2015 - Commonland was a founding partner

WIDE OPEN AGRICULTURE ( WOA)

Australia

CARBON FARMING FOUNDATION

THE NOONGAR L AND ENTERPRISE GROUP

Regenerating a global bio-diversity hotspot

SUSTAIN

Looking out across the West Australian Wheatbelt Credit: Wide Open Agriculture

REGENFARMING NEWS

REGENWA AND PERTH NRM

THE REGIONAL REGENERATION ALLIANCE (RRA)

IMPACT SEED

DANJOO KOORLINY SOCIAL IMPACT PROJECT AT THE CENTRE FOR SOCIAL IMPACT UNIVERSIT Y OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA (CSI UWA)

In early 2015, Commonland became a founding shareholder and partner of Wide Open Agriculture (WOA), Western Australia’s leading regenerative food company and the world’s first listed 4 Returns company with a market capitalisation of €30 million as of December 2022.

Since 2018, Commonland’s partnerships in the Southwest Australian landscape have expanded to include an ecosystem of partners with a shared ideal: economic development that puts people and land first. Challenges to this vision include climate change, decreased rainfall, and more frequent extreme weather, as well as industrial farming and shifting demographics.

Opportunities include strengthening regenerative agricultural practices, providing routes to market for regenerative produce and incorporating indigenous methods of caring for the land. Carbon farming and re-vegetation are also part of the solution mix.

What happened in 2023?

Nature restoration continued strongly in 2023 as Dirty Clean Food implemented a tree planting project of 75,000 tree seedlings on 105 hectares across four farms. On a property owned by Warren and Lori Pensini, a farm plan was further developed and executed, together with the Mulloon Institute, which involved building swales and implementing a rehydration plan for the landscape. The tree seedlings for the 2023 plantings came from the Boola Boornap tree nursery managed by the Noongar Land Enterprise (NLE).

Next to the Boola Boornap tree nursery – which employs 20 people (60% of which are Indigenous) – NLE raised $3 million AUD (€ 1,838,286) of government funding to support the development of a further four business cases. One of these business 49

cases involves experimenting with wattleseed - once a staple food source for Aboriginal people harvested from an endemic tree – to test the viability of potential products. An Aboriginal ranger program was also initiated to support land restoration activities – like fire prevention, seed collection, soil sampling, tree planting and monitoring. In 2023, NLE developed a 2024-2029 strategic plan with support from Impact Seed.

Wide Open Agriculture, through its Dirty Clean Food brand and platform, sourced regenerative products from 12 farmers covering 25658 hectares of regeneratively-managed land. Farmers who implemented regenerative practices like ground cover, planting multi-species crops or pastures, and introducing animals into farming systems found that their farms became more resilient to the drying climate and less predictable seasonal conditions.

raised $6.3 million AUD for the acquisition of the factory, and this increased lupin production capacity, providing the potential for WOA to source regenerative lupins from farmers in both Australia and Europe.

The RegenWA network managed by Perth Natural Resource Management (NRM) grew to 2113 people, industry groups and organisations, due to its reputation as a trusted source for evidence-based regenerative agriculture information and as farmers are turning to alternative farming practices because of rising food production costs. To support social enterprises in the region, Impact Seed secured $1.2 million AUD funding to establish an investment fund. The fund will generate impact by providing low interest rates and mobilising co-funding, to support new enterprises and empower regenerative businesses.

A major step forward for WOA’s Lupin production was the acquisition of Prolupin in Germany. WOA

Landscape highlight: Gondwana Link Gondwana Link is a large-scale conservation initiative in southwestern Australia aimed at reconnecting fragmented landscapes across a 1,000-kilometre area from the wet forests in the southwest to the arid woodlands and shrublands in the interior. This ambitious project focuses on restoring ecological connectivity and enhancing biodiversity by reestablishing natural habitats and ecological processes by bringing back Noongar culture and land management practices.

In 2023, funding was raised to purchase 3 properties, 2 of which are now secured. By acquiring properties, Gondwana Link provides a mechanism for land to be returned to traditional owners and express their culture. Gondwana Link also supports local initiatives in restoration activities, such as the local water catchment group, Wilson Inlet. Inspired by the restoration efforts across the Gondwana link, The Stars Descend showcased the importance of action through 5 contemporary dance performances, transforming how people see and care for the land.

Through working with their extensive network, around $10 million AUD of funding is being put towards restoration projects. Commonland started working with Gondwana Link in 2021 and will continue supporting them in their efforts for natural and cultural regeneration in the region.

Credit: Commonland.

Impact in the landscape Return of Inspiration

39 events were organised, with a total of 1820 participants, many from the RegenWA network.

14 farmers have now adopted regenerative agriculture and their products are available for consumers to buy through Dirty Clean Food.

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Social Return

9 in-person trainings were organised in total, reaching 116 people.

Natural Return

817 hectares were restored in the natural zone.

Financial Return

53 business cases are in development, and 43 have received investment.

Products from Dirty Clean Food are available in their online shop.

The RegenWA network grew to 2113 members.

Remnant vegetation on Noongar Boodja.

26585 hectares were restored in the combined zone.

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Where else do we work?

enhance biodiversity, carbon sequestration, and climate resilience.

Oltenia de sub Munte, Romania

economic challenges, depopulation, and climate impacts like soil erosion and drought. We work with local partners in this area to restore the ecosystem, support regenerative agriculture, (re)develop regional processing facilities, and revive local wetlands.

Size

63,550 hectares

Fläming Brandenburg, Germany

Partners

Size

Kogayon Association, Ashoka, Group Societe Generale

426,000 hectares Partners

Oltenia de sub-Munte in Romania, with its rich biodiversity and Buila-Vanturarita National Park, faces threats from natural resource exploitation and rural depopulation. The region is home to rich cultural and natural heritage and there is a big opportunity to develop long-term business cases in ecotourism, local products, and other services that revitalise the area. With support from Commonland and the Bioregional Weaving Labs Collective, Asociatia Kogayon is co-creating a regional development strategy for the landscape via a multistakeholder process.

Oltenia de sub Munte, Romania.

Europe Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain Size

364,000 hectares Partners

Save the Med, Arrels Marines, APAEMA, Cerai, Fundació Iniciatives del Mediterrani, Fundació Vida Silvestre Mediterrania, PermaMed Mallorca’s ecological balance and social cohesion are severely threatened by over-tourism and climate change. We support The Aliança Mar i Terra di Mallorca, which aims to unite local organisations to regenerate land and marine habitats, develop sustainable agriculture, and foster regenerative businesses. We collaborate with partners using a holistic, cross-sector approach to promote Mallorca’s unique environmental and cultural landscape in a way that revitalises the island's socio-economic and ecological resilience.

Wielkopolska Voivodeship, Poland The Adour-Garonne River basin in France faces significant environmental challenges due to conventional farming practices, which contribute to soil erosion, water scarcity, and pollution, particularly impacting the basin’s extensive wine production. The Bioregional Weaving Lab Collective, along with strategic partners including the French Agroforestry Association (AFAFS), are in a phase of evaluating their collaboration and entry point in this very large region.

Thermenlinie Wiener-Becken, Vienna, Austria Size

Lebendiger Lernort Arensnest, Klimapraxis, Baumfeldwirtschaft, Brandenburg, Germany, is a region grappling with climate-driven issues like water shortages and desertification. Our collaboration with local partners aims to solve regional challenges by fostering collective action and resilience. Through promoting sustainable land management practices, and entrepreneurship among local stakeholders, and seeking ways to connect and support such initiatives, we aim to improve the region's climate resilience and economic prospects.

County Waterford, Ireland

Size

137,100 hectares

Size

185,700 hectares Partner

Fundacją Gościnna Wielkopolska

Partners

GIY – Grow It Yourself, Ashoka Gościnna Wielkopolska in Poland, historically an area famous for land care, now faces biodiversity decline and pollution due to intensive industrial agriculture. The region struggles with water scarcity, impacting agriculture and drinking water supplies.

We support the local organisation, Fundacją Gościnna Wielkopolska, in improving the quality of life by restoring the rural landscape and safeguarding environmental resources.

County Waterford in southern Ireland, known for its majestic land- and seascapes, faces ecosystem threats from intensive agriculture and human development. A Bioregional Weaving Lab, formed with local organisations, is uniting local initiatives and communities to regenerate the environment and create a resilient regional food system.

123,000 hectares Partners

Landschaftspflegeverein Thermenlinie-WienerwaldWiener Becken, Ashoka, Blühendes Österreich

Sternberger lake district, Mecklenburg, Germany Size

125,000 hectares

Adour Garonne River Basin, France Size

11,765,000 hectares Partner

Association Française de Agroforestry (AFAF) 52

The Thermenlinie is a biodiversity hotspot near Vienna, facing threats from urban sprawl, intensive agriculture, and a decline in natural habitats like dry grasslands, wet meadows, and bogs. We work alongside local efforts that are taking place to transform the area into a ‘Nature Network Region’.

The ‘Nature Network Region’ aims to foster collaboration and co-ownership to collectively restore habitats and shift land-use practices that

Partners

Landschaftspflegeverband Sternberger Endmoränengebiet e.V, GC Pon Stiftung The Sternberger Seenland in northeast Germany, shaped by the last ice age and affected by largescale agriculture since the Soviet era, faces 53

The Greater Kafue Ecosystem, Zambia.

Africa Kotahitanga Mō Te Taiao, Aotearoa New Zealand.

Simalaha Community Conservancy, Zambia Size

180,000 hectares

Asia and South Pacific

Partners

Kotahitanga Mō Te Taiao, Aotearoa New Zealand

Eastern Ghats, Andhra Pradesh

COmON Foundation, Peace Parks Foundation, Simalaha Community Conservancy

Size Size

34,000 hectares

2,500,000 hectares Partner Partner

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) New Zealand The Kotahitanga Mō Te Taiao landscape faces significant challenges, including invasive plant and animal species that damage the local ecology; increased frequency of extreme weather events exacerbated by a lack of resilient natural infrastructure; highly modified and fragmented landscapes due to human impacts, including polluted rivers, estuaries, and lagoons; communities disconnected from each other and the landscape; and limited financial resources to address these issues. We are involved in the Kotahitanga mō te Taiao Alliance, which embodies the Maōri principle of Kaitiakitanga: a cultural system founded on the belief that people are nature’s guardians and are responsible for protecting the lands, rivers, and coastlines. This alliance consists of 17 iwi and government partners and collaborates to restore a diverse ecosystem across land and sea.

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Grameena Vikas Kendram Society for Rural Development Across diverse landscapes of hills, forests, and semi-arid plains, erosion is a prevalent problem in this region. Climate change and reduced rainfall have diminished ground cover vegetation, worsening the erosion. We support the Grameena Vikas Kendram Society for Rural Development (GVK Society), which works in the area to collaborate with local communities to promote natural farming and watershed management. By 2025, GVK Society aims to engage 25,000 households in regenerative agriculture and sustainable livelihoods across 1,000,000 hectares.

The Commonland African Improved Cookstove Programme, a collaboration among COmON Foundation, Peace Parks Foundation, and Commonland, introduces fuel-efficient stoves in Simalaha to reduce wood use and smoke exposure.

This initiative decreases greenhouse gas emissions, protects local health, conserves forests, and supports community development by generating carbon credit revenues, and reinvesting the revenue into local projects.

East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania Size

108,200 ha Partners

Grounded, Trianon, WWF Tanzania, and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Deforestation and landscape degradation are major threats to the East Usambara Mountains, a key biodiversity hotspot. A lack of economic and agricultural development, leading to poverty, has spurred forest clearing for agriculture, timber and

charcoal. Grounded and Commonland are working together with WWF Tanzania and TNC to help develop regenerative agribusinesses, connecting local farmers to premium markets and providing stable incomes, thus reducing deforestation and soil degradation. The partnership’s efforts focus on fostering multi-stakeholder collaboration for holistic landscape management, promoting sustainable spice production and conservation to support both biodiversity and local livelihoods.

The Greater Kafue Ecosystem, Zambia Size

6,600,000 ha Partners

By Life Connected, and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) The communities surrounding the Great Kafue Ecosystem live under the poverty line, with high unemployment rates and limited livelihood possibilities. Moreover, there is little technical assistance or capital to practise sustainable agriculture. However, The Greater Kafue Ecosystem is one of Africa's largest conservation landscapes and provides diverse habitats to a range of endangered and endemic species. Through a partnership with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Commonland, By Life Connected is piloting a Collaborative Management Partnership with local communities, NGOs, and government to enhance livelihoods, while managing resilient buffer zones that protect and support environmental conservation.

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Credit: Commonland.

Tools in Landscapes As a part of our work in education, we provide tools for restoration practitioners to use to enhance their work on the ground. Below are several examples of tools that were launched or further iterated in 2023. For more information on our efforts to spread the use of holistic landscape restoration through educative activities, please refer to the second half of the Annual Report, “Impact on the System”.

Miguel Flores walking in the Sierra Gorda, Mexico.

Americas Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, Querétaro, Mexico

North Central Rio Grande, New Mexico, USA Size

Size

360,000 hectares

383,560 hectares Partners Partners

Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda The Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve in Querétaro, Mexico, faces ecological challenges like deforestation and climate change, including forest fires exacerbated by significant drought. We support the Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda, a local organisation that has led efforts to preserve this rich ecosystem over the last 30 years through initiatives like education and community engagement, business development, and nature conservation, to restore and protect the biosphere reserve.

Western Canadian Prairies, Canada

New Mexico Healthy Soils, High Watermark LLC, Ecotone Landscape Planning LLC The North Central Rio Grande once supported resilient forests and supplied water to an important agricultural economy along the Rio Grande. The once-dense forests on the mesas have been decimated by ongoing wildfires and a general lack of active management and restoration practices.

Commonland is working with partners - including local organisations, producers and community members - to co-develop a vision to transform the degraded ecosystem and revitalise farming communities.

Cerro Castillo, Chile

4 Returns Diagnosis and Community Platform This tool, developed in collaboration with Wetlands International and Landscape Finance Lab, provides users with a comprehensive assessment of the 4 Returns within a landscape and the impact achieved thus far. Easy to use, the online 4 Returns Diagnostic Tool generates a detailed 4 Returns Diagnosis report upon completion. This report includes 4 Returns Diagrams that offer a clear visualisation of the landscape's strengths and challenges, enabling users to pinpoint potential focus areas. Tested in various landscapes across Namibia, Tanzania, India, Guinea-Bissau, and Mexico in 2023, the tool proved valuable for stakeholders at all levels of experience in landscape restoration. Whether newcomers or seasoned practitioners, users found the 4 Returns Diagnosis instrumental in integrating existing knowledge, fostering shared understanding, and identifying key intervention areas. Ultimately, the insights gleaned from the diagnosis can inform the development of a comprehensive 4 Returns Landscape Plan.

Size

61,500,000 hectares

Size

4 Returns Indicator Menu The indicator menu is an overview of indicators that were made to guide and inspire restoration practitioners in what and how they can monitor their impact. The menu identifies what themes and subthemes the 4 Returns entails, and for each theme, one or more indicators were selected and developed.

The five core landscapes have tested and used the indicator menu for impact reporting over 2023, and in the coming years, the menu will further be developed.

Find the menu here.

The Facilitation for Integrated Landscape Management learning module Developed the first version of the Facilitation for Integrated Landscape Management learning module.

With the 1000 Landscapes Partnership, we developed the first learning modules of the 1000 Landscapes curriculum: Introduction to Integrated Landscape Management, Facilitation for Integrated Landscape Management, Shared Vision, and Stakeholder mapping and identification. We piloted these with landscape partners in Europe, Africa and South America.

300,000 hectares Partners

Régénération Canada The Western Canadian prairies face local tensions and challenges arising from human development and industrial agriculture (livestock and cropping).

Rural communities are dealing with the challenges of reduced soil fertility, increased dependency on machines and chemicals, reduced profitability, and reduced resilience of farms and farming communities.

Régénération Canada and Commonland are exploring how they can play a role in the larger stakeholder field, promoting the adoption of regenerative agriculture as one of the solutions to these complex challenges.

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Partners

Benchmarks project for soil health

Rewilding Chile

In 2023 we helped to start developing a good indicator set with landscape stakeholders based on workshops with our partners on the ground; among the 26 case studies in total, we directly collaborated with Wij.land and La Junquera, a regenerative farm in the Atliplano. Going forward we will also be involved in advising on an appropriate system for measuring, reporting & verification (MRV) of soil health in Europe. This project brings together a pan-European consortium (29 partners across 13 countries) and has received €12m in funding from the European Commission to validate and further develop indicators for soil health and functions. Read more about the soil health project here.

In the Cerro Castillo in southern Chile, livestock ranching is ingrained in local culture and humanwildlife conflicts persist. Commonland is supporting Rewilding Chile to work on co-existence initiatives with the ranchers and other stakeholders in the areas surrounding the National Park, to make ranching more wildlife-friendly, while at the same time improving the efficiency and economic benefits of the ranches.

4 Returns Indicator Menu

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7 Impact on the System

2023 in numbers Education

C O M M O N L A N D A I M S TO C R E AT E SYS T EM I C C H A N G E and influence a global movement towards

5 guest lectures were given at educational institutes, reaching 300 students, and 150 other people.

3 Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) developed together with Rotterdam School of Management, about entrepreneurship for social change reached 18575 students over the past years. A third MOOC was launched in 2023, about competencies for entrepreneurship.

holistic landscape restoration in three central ways: 1. By building the business case for holistic landscape restoration; 2. By nurturing and growing collaborative learning networks to tackle system barriers; 3. By sparking a societal mindset shift towards valuing healthy landscapes and ecosystems.

4 modules were developed within 1000L, reaching a total of 10 developed modules. These modules were tested with 1000 landscape reps, with very positive feedback.

Through these aims, our work in learning, communication and policy disseminates information about best practices in landscape restoration, raises awareness about the importance of ecosystem health to societies and economies, and influences decision-makers to put holistic land management at top of the agenda.

9 Community of Practice sessions were organized, with in total 2130 online participants.

First part of the year, a Mountain trail was organized with 6 interested landscape partners, around the theme of landscape governance.

Membership of the 4 Returns platform has grown from 1,700 to 2,200 in 2023.

Credit: Commonland.

Communication

1.3 million people reached through Commonland’s digital channels.

2200+ people who viewed our publications.

30,161 new followers on social media.

Advocacy work

he ‘Landscape Finance’ publication was written and T launched in October, with 2023 305 downloads, and 2285 page views. he advocacy team internally (co) wrote two other T publications, and cooperated in 13 collaborative groups, like 1000 Landscapes, Impact Institute, IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management UNCCD and UN Decade.

The advocacy team presented on 10 international podia and events.

Fundraising

1 fundraising event was organized in Amsterdam, with 20 participants and very positive feedback (see highlight story ‘Lighting the Way for further context). he fundraising team presented on 4 podia and joined 7 T events as participants.

Brainstorm session at Bioregional Weaving Labs Summit.

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59

8 Building the business

case for holistic landscape restoration

Sparking landscape entrepreneurship through learning To deepen future landscape and business leaders' capacity to develop their entrepreneurial competencies and include the value of healthy ecosystems and landscapes in a sustainable 4R business model, we developed the third MOOC, called Entrepreneurial Competencies for Landscape Restoration (MOOC on the coursera platform) in collaboration with the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship. Our MOOC courses have amassed 18,575 students thus far over several years of enrollment. With ongoing enrollments to date, this course empowers participants to explore how business and management principles can contribute to large-scale landscape restoration efforts.

The role of carbon projects in landscape restoration

Research on honeybush in Langkloof, South Africa.

Credit: Commonland.

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As part of landscape finance, the Voluntary Carbon Market plays a crucial role in financing restoration activities. Our recent event series titled the Carbon Learning Fest provided a platform for enthusiasts to explore the intersection of carbon projects and landscape restoration. Across three sessions, internationally renowned carbon experts and Commonland colleagues discussed cutting-edge monitoring, reporting, and verification technologies aimed at enhancing carbon sequestration and GHG emission reduction within landscapes.

During the learning fest, we delved into various topics: • Continuous Monitoring of Improved Cookstove Projects: Cindy Musangi Musyoki, Lize Kok, and Nathan Gachugi examined how improved cookstoves contribute to ecosystem restoration and discussed the transformative potential of continuous monitoring in landscape restoration.

• Advanced Monitoring Reporting and Verification (MRV) For Soil Carbon: Kilian Walz, Tom Davies, Avni Malhotra, Dorn Cox, Soufiane el Khinifri, and Dr. Tessa Sophia van der Voort explored advanced measurement solutions that shape the future of soil carbon monitoring.

•

eyond Carbon: Diverse Credits for Landscape B Restoration: Hicham Daoudi, Mariana Sarmiento, Tim Coles, David Meyers, and Richard Diggle examined alternative financing options, including biodiversity credits, beyond carbon finance.

Commonland African Improved Cookstove Program Additionally, to bolster investment in communal 4R projects, the Commonland African Improved Cookstove Program issued 58,143 carbon credits for the Simalaha Community Conservancy. We've also made significant strides in various regions, including Spain, India, South Africa, the Netherlands, and Australia, to advance carbon projects, despite encountering challenges such as financial feasibility and economic viability. Some of our successes in our 2023 Carbon work include: • A feasibility study focused on carbon benefits from improved agricultural land management in partnership with EsferiCO, AlVelAl, and financed by the 4R partnership programme with Wetlands International and Landscape Finance Lab in the Altiplano region of Spain.

• In the Netherlands, a greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting model was further developed and a feasibility study was conducted by the carbon team in collaboration with Wij.land assessing greenhouse gas reduction benefits from natureinclusive livestock farming on drained peat soils in the ‘Groene Hart’.

• In Australia, a feasibility study conducted for an Improved Agricultural Land Management project in the western Wheatbelt revealed insights that favoured the Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme as the better choice for establishing carbon credits and supported the decision for the future direction of our partner Carbon Farming Foundation.

Through our ongoing efforts and partnerships, we remain committed to driving positive change through building the business case for successful landscape restoration worldwide.

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Highlight: Towards Financing Large-Scale Holistic Landscape Restoration in Europe In December, the policy brief Towards Financing Large-Scale Holistic Landscape Restoration in Europe: Recommendations for EU Policy Actors to Attain Inspirational, Financial, Social and Natural Returns led by Commonland and co-authored by a coalition of 19 international organizations and partnerships including the Gold Standard, The Nature Conservancy, EIT Climate-KIC, World Resource Institute, Carbon Disclosure Project, and the 1000L Initiative was published. This policy brief offers recommendations for EU policy actors and governments interested in innovative approaches to financing nature alongside local socio-economic and well-being needs, whilst achieving the necessary European Green Deal targets such as those laid out for climate and biodiversity. The publication presents an investment concept called “Landscape Finance'' as a financing approach for supporting holistic landscape restoration that can be structured (in time and space) to implement activities that lead to healthy, resilient ecosystems.

Since its launch in December, the policy brief has received a lot of interest from policy actors across governance levels. With 362 downloads recorded within the first month, it has garnered attention from a diverse audience spanning policy and government, academic research, NGOs and business. Its launch at COP28 in Dubai captured the attention of about 40 policy actors and nongovernmental organizations during a special session where the publication was the featured topic. A panel discussion with colleagues from the European Commission, World Resource Institute, EIT Climate-KIC, Clarmondial, IKEA, EcoAgricultural Partners, and Rainforest Alliance provided an invaluable opportunity to disseminate the report's findings and recommendations to key influencers and thought leaders, fostering dialogue and collaboration towards shared sustainability goals.

‘‘With up to 40% of land globally considered degraded, we urgently need to redirect subsidies away from activities that encourage further environmental damage and towards those, like holistic landscape restoration, that generate benefits for nature and people.’’

MEP César Luena Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialist & Democrats, European Parliament, Rapporteur for the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 Initiative Report and the Nature Restoration Law

PHILANTHROPIC & GRANT FINANCE

COMMERCIAL BLENDED INVESTMENT CAPITAL

CONCESSIONAL OR HIGH-RISK IMPACT CAPITAL

MULTI-STAKEHOLDER LANDSCAPE PARTNERSHIP

Harnessing diverse stakeholders for landscape restoration demands flexible, long-term process funding, primarily grants, from government and philanthropy, with increased public and private funding essential for delivering holistic outcomes at scale.

ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION & AGRICULTURAL BIODIVERSITY

EARLY-STAGE SUSTAINABLE BUSINESSES

SCALING UP SUSTAINABLE BUSINESSES

AGRICULTURAL LAND & BIODIVERSITY

ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION & LANDSCAPE CONNECTIVITY

Transitioning to regenerative agriculture practices thrives in financially incentivised settings, bolstered by pro-restoration policies and incentives and blended finance mechanisms including public concessional capital or guarantees.

Ecological restoration activities are funded by philanthropic and grant finance, alongside subsidies and tax benefits. Where benefits can be monetised, for example though carbon or biodiversity credits, concessional or highrisk impact capital may also play a role.

EARLY-STAGE SUSTAINABLE BUSINESSES

SCALING UP & TRANSITION OF SUSTAINABLE BUSINESSES

Initial grants catalyse innovative start-ups, paving the way for high-impact investments, supported by pro-restoration subsidies and tax benefits.

Mature business expansion through conventional investment, benefiting from a history of proven concept and risk mitigation.

Concessional finance may be needed to support existing businesses through their transition to sustainable practices.

GREY AND GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE

ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION & ECOSYSTEM SERVICES

Commercial and blended investment structures fund grey and green infrastructure and associated natural systems, supported by incentives through subsidies and tax benefits and/or public guarantees.

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SUBSIDIES & TAX BENEFITS

Wetland restoration activities funded through grants and high-risk investment capital from corporates whose supply chains benefit from the ecosystem services provided by healthy wetlands supported by public concessional capital or guarantees.

Envisioned future scenario when the landscape finance framework has been implemented in a landscape. Funds flow from funding sources, partly through the landscape partnership and into example activities within the landscape. See Figure 4 for illustration of how capital flows change over time and where this scenario fits in.

Note: This is an illustration of how funding for HLR could operate. The proportions of the different types of finance are approximations of what we would expect to see – they are not based on actual figures. (Attribution: Lear, E, Bertels, JS and Ferwerda, WH)

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9 Nurture and grow

collaborative learning networks to tackle system barriers

Commonland believes that to effectively restore landscapes worldwide, it's crucial to work together and learn from each other. We focus on creating networks where people can collaborate and share knowledge to overcome challenges and share best practices. By doing this, we aim to break down barriers and make landscape restoration efforts more successful globally.

4 Returns Community of Practice- online platform The 4 Returns Community of Practice is a collaborative online community of individuals and organisations dedicated to advancing the principles and practices of landscape restoration. The 4 Returns Platform is the online space where these individuals meet to share knowledge, experiences, and best practices related to achieving "4 Returns" from landscape restoration initiatives. These returns include restoring natural capital, generating social capital, fostering inspiration and learning, and creating financial capital. Members of the community of practice engage in various activities such as workshops, webinars, and knowledge exchange sessions to collectively work towards the common goal of holistic landscape restoration.

insights across the network. To achieve this aim, we convened an overall total of approximately 2,130 participants for webinars on topics that explored how local communities can most benefit from cookstove initiatives, soil management, and biodiversity projects.

The 4 Returns community in numbers.

18,919 members from 190 countries.

386 events run and 53 courses published.

173 tools for use on the platform and 114 stories to read.

An example of this work was an event held online to explore the impacts of restoration efforts on local communities in sub-Saharan Africa. Speakers Jessica Ruijsch, Ishani Sonak, and Ogeli Makui shared their perspectives, shedding light on the intricacies of satellite observations for measuring the impact of restoration work, the Maasai people’s perspectives, and how to use community-driven data to assess the impact of landscape restoration initiatives.

Credit: Commonland.

To further share learnings from practitioners in the landscape restoration space, the 4 Return community platform hosts resources such as articles. Some articles frequently engaged with from the past year explore the topics of: • From scaling solutions to creating resilience at scale • 5 characteristics of a resilient system • Scaling in the context of a landscape partnership To further expand the knowledge base of our existing Community of Practice group in 2023, the 4 Returns platform hosts expert-led discussions on crucial and timely themes in the landscape restoration sector. These conversations aimed to foster a dynamic exchange of best practices and amplify 64

Check out the 4 Returns platform here

Bioregional Weaving Labs summit.

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Credit: Commonland.

Co-creation and landscape partnerships: 4 Returns Labs What is a 4 Returns Lab? Developing a trust-based landscape partnership and a shared understanding among multiple stakeholders is the first step in any landscape restoration project.

4 Returns Labs is a process of bringing together people across a series of workshops such as Urban Living Labs or System Change Labs. These facilitated processes aim to shift mindsets and foster collaboration around a shared vision.

We use the 4 Returns Labs at three levels: within landscapes as part of the 5 elements; between different landscapes within one region or continent as part of a “cluster” of landscapes; and as a

catalyst towards transformative system change at (cross)national or continent level with partners like governments and financiers. 4 Returns Labs aim to develop a shared understanding and identify common intentions, motivations and barriers to restoration across different landscapes. In doing so, a 4 Returns Lab becomes a “Space of Belonging” an inclusive space where stakeholders can deepen their relationship with themselves, with those around them and with nature. Various participatory approaches facilitate spaces of belonging such as Theory U, developed by Otto Scharmer, a senior lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in America and the Presencing Institute.

Read more about Spaces of Belonging.

Presenting ideas at the Global Learning Summit.

The 4 Returns in Practice: a guidebook for holistic landscape restoration To share best practices and learnings from the past decade of collaboration making the 4 Returns approach to holistic landscape restoration a reality, we created a digital resource called The 4 Returns Guidebook, launched in 2023 with a print book coming in 2024.

Through years of experimentation and fieldwork, we've gleaned valuable insights into what strategies thrive in certain environments and which ones fall short. While we understand that every landscape is unique, many of these lessons offer broader applicability. By sharing the lessons of our collective experience in this guidebook, we aim to accelerate the progress of all (potential) restoration practitioners worldwide and amplify their impact in their landscape restoration efforts. The guidebook is based on the experience of our landscape partners and has been enriched with additional knowledge, tools and methods developed in our partnership with Wetlands International and the Landscape Finance Lab. Each section in the guidebook provides an accessible overview of best practices. For those seeking a deeper understanding and practical guidance, a 66

wealth of additional tools, examples, stories, and resources are readily available to facilitate further exploration and application of the concepts in realworld scenarios. Topics in the guidebook are vast, including creating a shared vision of a landscape, impact measurement in landscapes and policy influencing.

4 Returns guidebook The 4 Returns guidebook contains 17 chapters of hands-on guidance for holistic landscape restoration based on the 4 Returns Framework and a range of tools and methods.

Read the 4 Returns guidebook 67

“It is way easier to act in a network than by yourself.”

Here’s how we took our 4 Returns Labs forward this year:

The Netherlands In the Netherlands, one of two key European landscape “clusters” alongside the Iberian Peninsula, we are fostering sustainable practices and resilience in the agricultural sector. We aim to support and scale restoration efforts by facilitating learning and action between landscapes. In 2023, we secured significant funding from Adessium Foundation and Gieskes-Strijbis Fund for our program Tomorrow's Harvest ('Oogst van Morgen'), which is also attracting co-financing from regional governments and other players, doubling our capital and amplifying impact.

Discussions with the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature, and Food (LNV) for long-term financing are underway, demonstrating our commitment to sustainable growth.

Beyond financial support, we support four Dutch landscapes and have established a thematic lab on 'regional food systems,' commissioned by top sectors and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. We are working on creating a learning network of 10 landscape labs across the Netherlands, supported by the Dutch Bioregional Weaving Lab and in collaboration with initiatives like Wij.land. By fostering collaboration and knowledge-sharing, we aim to maximise impact and drive meaningful change at scale.

To navigate the complexities of transitioning the Dutch rural landscape, we prioritise strategic collaboration with partners like Tomorrow's Harvest Youth Lab, Transition Food Coalition, The New Compass, and 'Gebiedsgewijs’ (The Netherlands Centre for Support for Transition in Rural Areas).

These partnerships enable us to leverage diverse expertise and resources, enhancing our ability to create lasting positive change.

Asia Pacific As part of the sensing phase in the Asia Pacific region, we participated in two important regional gatherings in 2023 where we were joined by various practitioners and landscape partners from Australia and India.

The first, the U-ecology gathering, brought together 35 Theory U practitioners working in their countries and fields of practice throughout the Asia Pacific to sense the region’s current reality as well as emerging future possibilities. Participants from across Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Japan, New Zealand and China were in attendance.

The second, the Regenerative Landscapes gathering, brought together 26 people working towards holistic regeneration of landscapes in the Asia Pacific to share their work and intentions.

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Gabriela Poiană Program Coordinator at Asociația Kogayon

To achieve this, Bioregional Weaving Labs are being established in 10 European landscapes to build capacity and catalyze multi-stakeholder partnerships, mobilizing at least 100,000 changemakers per landscape.

In 2023, the BWL program restructured its governance and support pathways, adding a sixth pathway for European-level system change. Ashoka and Commonland continued their support, the Presencing Institute refocused, and the BWL Theory of Transformation was co-created. Six BWL Weaving Teams facilitated workshops with key stakeholders in five bioregions (France, Ireland, Romania, Germany, Austria, and Spain).

2023 Progress in BWL Landscapes:

• South-East Ireland: The Weaving Team organized an event to explore new funding models for communities and landscapes, focusing on food systems, agricultural methods, community-led initiatives, and change-making capacities. About 50 people participated.

• B randenburg, Germany: The team conducted 40 in-depth interviews with landscape actors across six sectors and analyzed these through a workshop. A key finding was the need for a weaving mechanism to connect existing regenerative activities.

• Thermenlinie-Vienna Basin, Austria: A co-sensing workshop with 45 stakeholders discussed how to reconnect people and nature and address ecological crises. This led to a list of project ideas for the region.

• O ltenia de sub-Munte, Romania: The team organised the Firefly Festival, the first Romanian festival based on local resources and focused on involving the local community around a vision.

At the gathering, participants from Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, the Philippines and China discussed the future potential for regenerative landscape management in the region.

Africa After learning from our experiences working with long-term landscapes and expanding our partnerships in Europe, Commonland took the next step, and began our work in Africa in 2023, adopting a more strategic approach, titled Plan Africa. Plan Africa delineates our goals and strategies for the next seven years. Our objective is to collaborate with local landscape partners and cultivate strong partnerships in the region to promote holistic landscape restoration. To accomplish this, we are establishing promising partnerships with organisations such as the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the Peace Parks Foundation, Maliasili, and the Southern African Wildlife College (SAWC). In addition, we are building strong landscape partnerships in exciting landscapes such as Coutada 5 in Mozambique, the Eastern Usambara Mountains in Tanzania, and Makuleke Community Landscape in South Africa.

Credit: Commonland.

Bioregional Weaving Labs (BWL) What is the Bioregional Weaving Labs Collective?

The Bioregional Weaving Labs Collective, a partnership between Ashoka and Commonland, aims to mobilize and support 1 million changemakers by 2025 to restore, protect, and regenerate 1 million hectares of land and sea in Europe, with significant impact by 2030.

Meeting of the Bioregional Weaving team in Berlin November 2023.

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Highlight story: The power of learning communities The BWL Collective, with over 25 international organizations, convened from November 19 to 23. Eighteen Bioregional Weaving teams from across Europe met near Berlin to exchange knowledge and co-create action plans. Through workshops, field visits, and discussions, participants explored the critical role of "weaving" in scaling landscape restoration efforts and fostering cultural change.

Key Insights: Weaving is Essential for Scaling: Collaborative efforts are necessary for restoring ecosystems, requiring local communities, businesses, and politics to work towards a shared vision.

D iverse Systems Needed: Solutions must be culturally specific and locally led, as landscapes are unique.

Cultural Change is Crucial: People are the drivers of change, and integrating culture is key to long-term restoration.

Bioregionalism Counteracts Polarization: Common spaces for connection and trust-building can counter extremism.

New Landscape Finance Approaches: Farmers need better investment frameworks for regenerative agriculture to support landscape restoration.

Workshop at Bioregional Weaving Labs Summit, Germany.

Credit: Commonland.

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10 Spark a mindset

shift towards valuing healthy landscapes and ecosystems

At Commonland, we recognise that shifting societal perceptions and attitudes towards the value of healthy landscapes and ecosystems is foundational to the success of our restoration efforts globally.

Without a collective understanding of the importance of landscape restoration and its multifaceted benefits, securing support and resources for the vital work of restoring landscapes is not possible. In 2023, we focused our efforts on shifting mindsets through publishing policy pieces, convening stakeholders and leading the conversation through multimedia.

By cultivating a deeper appreciation for the interconnectedness of ecosystems and human wellbeing through these efforts, we lay the groundwork

for transformative change on a global scale.

Our policy work aims to facilitate systemic transformative change that prioritises holistic landscape restoration. Our policy work involves convening powerful alliances that can advance the landscape approach and the use of the 4 Returns Framework in landscape management. We work with landscape restoration experts, practitioners and policy actors to integrate holistic landscape restoration into policy and regulatory frameworks to help achieve environmental, economic, social and climate goals. Working closely with partner organisations, we aim to ensure our combined voice is heard by policy institutions and actors worldwide.

Credit: Commonland.

Presenting at the COP28, Dubai.

Credit: Commonland.

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Landscape Finance expert Alejandro Diaz presenting at the Bioregional Weaving Labs Waterford Finance Event.

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Building bridges for inspired action: On landscape restoration and social alliances In 2023, a peer-reviewed paper authored by Commonland and colleagues from the Presencing Institute, the Blekinge Institute of Technology, Radboud University and the association AlVelAl “Building bridges for inspired action: On landscape restoration and social alliances” was published in Ecological Solutions and Evidence.

The paper contributes to the stakeholder engagement debate by considering how multi-stakeholder partnerships, in particular social alliances (long-term partnerships that are inclusive and heterogenous in nature, sharing goals, resources and motivation for driving restoration actions), can be operationalized and activated to support landscape restoration initiatives. Inspiration, the collective creative force connected to the land, shared identity or history, is thus both the result of and contributes to sustained strong local stakeholder engagement and landscape partnerships. The paper draws on experiences in the AlVelAl landscape restoration initiative, to highlight the transformative impact of participatory approaches.

Key Insights:

Lighting the way

• Participatory approaches are linked to landscape restoration success, but not all participatory approaches are created equal. Engagement approaches that invest in transformative stakeholder and governance processes can create the right conditions for long-term LR commitment.

• The AlVelAl landscape restoration initiative in Spain illustrates how collective action can be activated through inspiration, trust and hope, which, in turn, can be cultivated through the application of social schemes designed to support inclusive stakeholder engagement processes and programmes.

• Collective agency and inspiration matter for activating and sustaining landscape restoration actions and outcomes. Multi-stakeholder partnerships that speak to human agency, inclusivity and trust between actors can help create a deeper shared meaning, a place-based sense of belonging that encourages cohesive landscape stewardship.

Our efforts to raise awareness of why holistic landscape restoration is vital to protecting the planet we call home, and inspire partners who work in the global landscape restoration movement informed the event “Lighting the Way”.

Social Alliances Multi-stakeholder Partnerships Stakeholder Consultation Feedback Monitoring

Light engagement Short-term involvement Top-down approach

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Partnerships Dialogue Collaboration Trust Governance

Dialogue Collaboration Trust Governance Addressing disparity & conflict

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

Dialogue Collaboration Trust Governance Addressing disparity & conflict Human agency Group identity Inspiration

Strong engagement Long-term investment Bottom-up approach Strong commitment Heterogeneous and inclusive Strong governance & agency

The impact of the event reverberated long after its conclusion. A post-event survey revealed that over 62.5% of participants left feeling hopeful, while 50% reported feeling inspired and 37.5% expressed a heightened sense of connection. Additionally, attendees departed feeling informed, emotional, excited, and imbued with positive energy—a testament to the event's success in fostering meaningful engagement.

Evidence-based communication about hope

• Keynote at the expert workshop ‘Making People Part of Ecosystem Restoration in Europe’, Bonn, organised by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, November • Bellagio meeting High-Level Advisory Group, Regen10 • Keynote speaker at Earthed Summit, October • Tropenbos Expert workshop ‘In search of locally owned solutions’, Driebergen, Netherlands, November • Public Summit sessions with ProSocial covering governance principles and tools, November • Expert meeting on Regenerative Agriculture definitions and frameworks hosted by Regen10 and Ikea Foundation in Bellagio Italy, November • UNFCCC COP 28 side-event organised by Commonland, Climate-KIC, Rainforest Alliance and EcoAgricultural Partners ‘ Towards Financing Landscape Restoration’ in Dubai, UAE, November

To continue to provide a positive message of evidence-based hope for landscape restoration practitioners, Commonland and our partners produced diverse online campaigns and content in 2023. The goal of these campaigns was to raise awareness of the need for landscape restoration and engage people to grow the global restoration movement. In 2023, Commonland and our partners secured media coverage in many high-profile media outlets, such as Mongabay and Revolve; we also experimented with new digital communications tactics to draw more people into the landscape restoration sphere. Our social media audiences grew by over 40% while engagement in our online content remained way above average, demonstrating a growing public interest in landscape restoration and sustainability.

Looking ahead, Commonland remains committed to driving positive change through meaningful collaboration and stakeholder engagement. By continuing to advocate for policy recommendations and promote the importance of landscape restoration, we aim to catalyse a global movement towards vibrant, sustainable landscapes for generations to come.

Keynotes, Panels, Conference and Expert Workshops: • Panelist on a high-level panel on biodiversity titled "Restoring Biodiversity: Can societies and ecosystems live in a healthy relationship?" at the EU Green Week conference organized by the European Commission, June • Panelist at the Corporate Investments in Forestry and Biodiversity event in New York • Panelist at the International workshop on benefit, cost and risk sharing organised by the University of Sunshine Coast, Australia. October • Food day Rockefeller Foundation during UN CLimate week, September

"What kind of impact do I expect to see in 5 years?

I hope to see more farmers implementing green cover and installing large hedgerows and biodiversity islands in the crop margins.

That would be really encouraging!"

Laura Núñez Álvarez AlVelAl 75

Publications: • Dudley, N., Baker, C., Chatterton, P., Ferwerda, W.H., Gutierrez, V., Madgwick, J., (2021). The 4 Returns Framework for Landscape Restoration.

UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration Report published by Commonland, Wetlands International, Landscape Finance Lab and IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management • Bertels, J. et al. (2023). Towards financing largescale holistic landscape restoration in Europe.

Recommendations for EU policy actors to attain inspirational, social, natural and financial returns. A policy brief published by Commonland, The Nature Conservancy, Gold Standard & Climate-Kic. • Gutierrez, V., Ploeg, P., Bajraktari, F., Thomson, G., Visseren-Hamakers, I., & Roth, D. 2023.

Building bridges for inspired action: On landscape restoration and social alliances.

Ecological Solutions and Evidence, 4(1).

• 1000 Landscapes for 1 Billion People. 2022.

A Practical Guide to Integrated Landscape Management. Washington, DC: EcoAgriculture Partners, on behalf of 1000 Landscapes for 1 Billion People.

Highlight story: Resilient Food Stories - Altiplano Spain The restoration of land necessitates a consideration of its inhabitants.

In 2023, the Resilience Food Stories team embarked on a journey through the Altiplano Estepario Landscape, documenting the narratives of individual members of the AlVelAl collective who are practising both traditional and innovative farming methods. These stewards of the land implement sustainable farming approaches tailored to the unique characteristics of the landscape, aiming to mend the past and secure a prosperous future for generations to come.

Individuals like Santiaga Sánchez Porcel, an organic farmer and vice-president of AlVelAl, understand that regeneration transcends mere agricultural practices; it encompasses the well-being of local communities. For generations, people have been leaving the region in search of better opportunities elsewhere.

"How do we regenerate ourselves?" questions Santiaga. "Not only through regenerative agriculture but also by nurturing the self-esteem of those whose parents urged them to pursue education and urban life for greater prospects."

Rejuvenating landscapes and preserving biodiversity necessitates more than ecological initiatives; it requires the revitalization of rural pride and the promotion of traditional customs to bolster collective self-esteem and underscore the significance of rural livelihoods.

Media: • Article: "Battling desertification: Bringing soil back to life in semiarid Spain" by Mongabay • Article: "Regenerative Agriculture: Rethinking Sustainable Farming" by Revolve • Article: "Desertification in Spain" by Resilience Food Stories • Article: "We must tackle global risks in an integrated way – here’s how" by World Economic For (WEF) • Case study: AlVelAl’s flagship case study with Forest International and ETH Zürich and Crowther Lab

By actively engaging with local inhabitants, we can integrate their wisdom, experiences, and aspirations into restoration endeavours, ensuring a more inclusive and sustainable outcome.

Explore the full story on the Resilience Food Stories platform here.

Credit: Ruud Sies and Hanneke van Hintum, Resilience Food Stories.

Explore box: our 2023 reach in numbers No. people reached through Commonland’s digital channels: 1.3 million+.

No. people reached via earned media coverage: 700K+.

Santiaga Sanchez, Regenerative Farmer and VP of AlVelAl.

No. people who viewed our publications: 2200+.

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11 Commonland

Organisation

People & culture Culture, Inspiration and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Commonlands Culture programme kept a living conversation about what we stand for moving throughout the year. Culture Day is a part of this programme and is the annual vibrant celebration of our organization's values and traditions. This year our culture day provided an opportunity for team bonding and reflection on our shared goals and aspirations.

In addition to our Culture Day, we brought together colleagues for inspiration sessions that aimed to ignite curiosity and bring forward new insights from experts. One of the highlights of our inspiration sessions was a visit to the Fruitmotor in the Betuwe region of the Netherlands. This experience offered insights into sustainable agriculture practices and inspired us to explore new ways of integrating environmental stewardship into our work.

We were honoured to host our Advisory Council member, Pavan Sukhdev, a renowned scientist, international banker, and environmental economist at our inspiration sessions. His expertise and passion for sustainability left a lasting impression on our team, motivating us to pursue innovative solutions to global environmental challenges.

Collaborating with the project team, we organized a series of impactful Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) sessions. These sessions aimed to foster a more inclusive workplace culture and promote understanding and respect among our diverse team members.

contributions and wish them success in their future endeavours. In 2023, we said goodbye to: Amber Donkervoort, Rutger Bults, Jasper Bertels and Tom Lovett.

Our internship program was a valuable source of talent and fresh perspectives. In 2023, we had the pleasure of working with three dedicated interns: Ashleigh Campbell, who transitioned into a fulltime role after completing her internship/graduation research. She now serves as a Landscape Developer with a focus on GIS in early 2024. We also worked with Johan Scharmer, Lotte Henk Crombag. These interns made meaningful contributions to our projects and brought enthusiasm and creativity to our team.

Technological advancements One of the significant milestones for our organization was the successful implementation of Salesforce, specifically the Non-Profit Cloud. This technological advancement streamlined our operations and enhanced our ability to serve our mission.

Another important development was the introduction of a new employment contract. This update reflects our commitment to ensuring fair and equitable employment practices for all our staff members.

Credit: Commonland.

Team expansion We warmly welcomed several new additions to our team in 2023: Amber Donkervoort, Cindy Musyoki, Sol Slattery, Shekhar Kolipaka, Claire Patterson, Luke Naylor-Perrot and our new Managing Director Gabrielle Taus.

Commonlanders at Global Learning Summit.

Credit: Commonland.

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While bidding farewell to departing team members is always bittersweet, we express our gratitude for their

Commonland colleagues at Culture Day 2023.

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Meet the 2023 team

Division by gender

Division by age group 60+ (2) 21-30 (10) 51-60 (7) Male (15)

Female (25) 41-50 (7) 31-40 (14)

Division by age group 13-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 60+ 0

5

10

40

80

EMPLOYEES

Age division in percentage by gender 13-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 60+ 0 MALE

80

20

60 FEMALE

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Governance Members of the board • Mr. B.M.A. Jankovich – Chair • Ms. L.E.M. Vet - Vice Chair • Mr. J.H.W. Loudon - Secretary, executive board member • Mr. G.L.M. Van Hengstum - Treasurer • Mr. M.J. Heineman - General member • Ms. S.J. Lohmann - General member • Ms. C. Van Asselt - Executive Board member • Founding Patron: Mr. W. Pon Ambassador: Mr. D. Liu

Leadership In 2023, Commonland was led by Willem Ferwerda (CEO and Founder) and Jeroen Voorhuis (COO), and a management team consisting of Laurens Gomes and Jim Mackintosh, Co-Directors Landscape Development & Support. Simon Moolenaar, Director Knowledge, Education & Innovation, and Mariken van den Boogaard, Director Development & Communications. On December 1st 2023, Gabrielle Taus was appointed as Managing Director, entering a transition phase with Willem Ferwerda, to fully take over executive management from May 1, 2024 and continue full-time as Founder.

Advisory Council The International Advisory Council acts as our knowledge centre. Members are asked to join based on their expertise, long-standing commitment and personal experience with system change. Members are frequently asked to give their advice on technical and political issues.

Advisory Council members: • Mr. Zamba Batjargal • Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart • Mr. Jesús Casas Grande • Mr. Luc Gnacadja • Mr. Mike Jansen • Mr. Nanno Kleiterp • Mr. Geoff Lawton • Mrs. Jane Madgwick • Dr. Mantang Cai • Dr. Charles Massy • Mr. K.H. Moon • Mrs. Meiny Prins • Mr. Robert Reibestein • Mr. Herman Rosa Chávez • Prof. Dr. Rui Li • Dr. Sara Scherr • Mr. Wouter-Jan Schouten • Mr. Mehmet Serdar Sarýgül • Mr. Pavan Sukhdev • Dr. Pita Verweij • Dr. Daniel Christian Wahl • Mr. Jonathan Wates • Prof. Dr. Herman Wijffels

A message from our Ecosystem Ambassador, John D. Liu Throughout my career, I have explored the intricate workings of ecosystems and humanity's profound impact on them. Over time, I came to recognise a critical flaw in our current economic system. Our conventional economic theories have historically valued transactional economics—the buying and selling of goods—as the primary measure of wealth. This approach insists that to increase wealth, societies must continually extract more resources, manufacture more products, and engage in more commercial activities. However, there's a fundamental issue with this perspective: it overlooks the intrinsic value of natural systems.

True wealth doesn’t lie in the material products people buy, but in the functionality and health of our ecosystems, which offer us clean air, water, and fertile soil.

Recognising this is fundamental towards laying the foundations for an economy that benefits all life is what makes Commonland Foundation and its global network of partners so powerful. Their work - based on the 4 Returns Framework – highlights that an economic model fit for our planet must be based on intrinsically valuing, and nurturing ecological systems. This is done through holistic landscape restoration.

And yet, implementing landscape restoration as a solution requires a radical shift in how we think about and organise our societies. We need to embrace collective intelligence, recognising that our fates are interconnected. The growth of Commonland’s network over the last 10 years is a testament to the role the 4 Returns Framework plays in fostering that collective intelligence.

Communities around the world use the 4 Returns as a lens, a language, and a framework to collectively envision a future where valuing nature comes first. The 4 Returns brings people together, sparks discussion, creates networks and leads to new collaborations. It allows people to question the status quo and implement the practices that will make the visions of an ecologically rich world a reality.

Together, we can rewrite our economic models and societal norms to create a world where nature and humanity thrive in harmony. We can work collectively to recognise what true wealth is, and how functioning ecosystems help us all to thrive. This isn't just an environmental imperative; it's a moral one. So, let's come together to ensure that our planet remains vibrant and life-supporting for generations to come.

Credit: Diane van der Marel, Re-Generation.

John D. Liu Ecosystem Ambassador Commonland Foundation Founder Ecosystem Restoration Camps Movement

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Finance Commonland was founded in March 2013.

Grants and subsidies financially support Commonland, which generates revenue from missionrelated advisory activities to third parties. In 2019, the COmON Foundation expanded its contribution into a multi-year agreement to cover structural and development costs. In December 2021, the COmON Foundation informed Commonland of extending the funding contract to 2025. In 2022, the COmON Foundation granted an additional Capacity grant to fund additional capacity growth for 5 years.

Commonland is a beneficiary of the Nationale Postcode Loterij (NPL), the Dutch Postcode Lottery, whose grants have covered development costs in four core landscapes. In February 2021, Commonland and NPL extended their agreement by five years. In March 2023, Commonland received €12 million from the NPL to restore 10 million hectares of land worldwide with (local) partners. Supported by this grant (via the NPL Dream Fund), Commonland will educate local changemakers to facilitate landscape restoration programmes worldwide and scale up existing landscape restoration projects.

Balance sheet as of 31 December 2023 (after result appropriation) In India, with funding from the IKEA Foundation, Commonland works to address natural forest regeneration and the long-term, sustainable commercial supply of agroforestry products from smallholders and large-scale farmers. Also, the IKEA Foundation funds the Knowledge, Education and Innovation activities of Commonland. In November 2023, IKEA Foundation amended its contract with Commonland with an additional EUR 546,988.-.

In 2017, Commonland’s management adopted a policy of making a provision of 50% against the book value of project loans made to partner organisations after recognising the typical uncertainties of start-ups.

Also, the management agreed to take no further equity positions in partner organisations. The management’s best estimate on 31 December 2023 was to continue the policy of a 50% provision on all project loans. The only exceptions are 100% provision on the project loans to Baviaanskloof Development Company and Habitat AOVE. The Board of the Commonland Foundation looks forward to the coming years with complete confidence.

31 December 2023

31 December 2022

ASSETS Fixed assets

Tangible fixed assets (1) Other fixed operating assets

Financial fixed assets (2) Participations Investments

696.731 368.893

110.327

151.414 207.400 401.078

1.065.624

608.478

Current assets

Receivables (3) Current accounts participating interests Other receivables

2.004 386.092

380.495 331.526 388.096

712.021

Cash and cash equivalents (4)

19.199.956

5.992.091

Total assets

20.764.003

7.464.004

31 December 2023

31 December 2022

EQUITY AND LIABILITIES Credit: Commonland.

Reserve and Funds (5) General reserve 368.361 Continuity reserve 1.750.000 Earmarked funds 4.865.123 6.983.484 Current liabilities (6) Accounts payable 315.546 Grants received in advance 12.893.491 Taxes and premiums social insurance 150.770 Other liabilities 420.712 13.780.519 Total Equity and liabilities

20.764.003

0 1.500.000 3.775.590 5.643.951 227.897 1.128.696 128.150 335.310

1.820.053 7.464.004

Commonland at the Double Nature Summit organised by Climate Cleanup in The Netherlands.

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85

Statement of income and expenditure Allocation (10) Income (7)

Real 2023

Particular individuals

Budget 2023

2.000

Earmarked reserve: Tangible fixed assets 4 Returns Academy Strategy reserve

Real 2022

0

1.000

Real 2023

Budget 2023

0 0 0

0 0 0 0

Income lottery organizations Income other non-profit organizations

1.135.531

900.000

8.369.684

996.145

8.166.000

Earmarked funds: COmOn Foundation 4 Returns Facility Fund De Roeper Foundation

6.620.611

881.284 -6.751 215.000

9.507.215

9.066.000

7.521.611

Other income

10.000

10.000

25.000

Total income

9.517.215

9.066.000

7.531.611

Other reserves: General reserve Continuity reserve Total

-34.206 -50.902 -50.902 0

0 0 0 1.089.533

Sum of proceeds raised

-368.361 488.520 0 17.339

0

0 250.000 0 250.000 0 1.339.533

Real 2022

0

505.859

368.361 0 368.361 505.859

Expenditure (8) Spent on objectives: Landscape, Development & Support

4.910.275

5.262.840

4.329.400

Knowledge, Education & Innovation

739.832

942.504

760.316

Carbon Strategy

428.138

585.954

230.191

6.078.245 1.716.303

6.791.298 1.767.191

5.319.907 1.294.923

Management and administration

582.865

822.511

497.787

Total expenditures

8.377.413

9.381.000

7.112.617

Result before financial income and expenditures

1.139.802

-315.000

418.994

Impairment financial fixed/current assets

208.061

0

114.069

Interest and similar expenditures

-8.330

0

-27.204

1.339.533

-315.000

505.859

Fundraising

Result of financial income and expenditures (9)

Balance of income and expenditures

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“True wealth doesn’t lie in the

material products people buy, but in the functionality and health of our ecosystems, which offer us clean air, water, and fertile soil.’’

12 Word of Thanks As this annual report has shown, we’re all in this together for the long term.

Thanks to the continued trust and long-term support of our funders, landscape and institutional partners, and our Commonland colleagues, we’re able to invest time and resources to build the relationships that lead to large-scale, durable impact. We deeply appreciate your support and commitment. Thank you!

John D. Liu Commonland ambassador

The Board of Commonland Foundation We would be nowhere without the efforts of our 4 Returns landscape partners and their network of local partners on the ground - including but not limited to: In South Africa: Living Lands, Baviaanskloof Development Company, The Honeybush Company, Baviaanskloof Bewarea, and SAHTA; In Australia: Wide Open Agriculture, Dirty Clean Food, Danjoo Koorliny, Centre for Social Impact University of Western Australia (CSI UWA), The Noongar Land Enterprise Group, RegenWA and Perth NRM, Regenfarming.news and the Carbon Farming Foundation, Impact Seed, Gondwana Link, Katie Stubley, John Stubley, Justin Wolfgang, Ezra JacobsSmith, Oral McGuire; In New Zealand: The Nature Conservancy; In Spain: Aland Foundation, AlVelAl Association, AlVelAl Foods, Almendrehesa, and Habitat; and on Mallorca Save the Med Foundation, Arrels Marines, FSVM, APAEMA, PermaMed, Tramuntana XXI, CERAI, and Lara Cifre; Anthony Pralle;

Detail of Lupin Flower Credit: Wide Open Agriculture.

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In The Netherlands: Wij.land, Wilder Land, the network of Tomorrow's Harvest (Voor de Oogst van Morgen, Commonland’s Dutch programme) and the partners in the regions including De Fruitmotor, Mas Newen, De Vlier, Yes&More, Eemlandhoeve, the Dutch youth lab (‘Voor de Oogst van Overmorgen’), Akademie van Plaats, Transitie Coalitie Voedsel, Gebiedsgewijs, Het Nieuwe Kompas, and Aardpeer, De Plaatsen, Ashoka Netherlands, and countless more;

In India: Samerth Trust, Samerth Charitable Trust, Chhattisgarh Agricon Samiti, PRADAN, Foundation for Ecological Security, The Nature Conservancy India, Conserving Central India; In Germany: in Sternberger Seenland: Landschaftspflegeverband Sternberger Endmoränegebiet e.V, Koepon, GC Pon Stiftung, Naturpark Sternberger Seenland; and in Brandenburg: Lebendiger Lernort Arensnest e.V.; In Ireland: Grow It Yourself (GIY); In Sweden: OTAG AB and Fjällbete (Swedish Savory Hub); In France: AFAF (Association Française d'Agroforesterie); In Austria: Landschaftspflegeverein ThermenlinieWiener Becken; In Zambia: The Peace Parks Foundation (PPF) and the Simalaha Community Conservancy (SCC); By Life Connected; In The Philippines: the Netherlands and Philippines Red Cross, Green Releaf Initiative; In Mexico: Grupo Ecológico Sierra Gorda; In Romania: Asociația Kogayon; In Tanzania: WWF Tanzania; In Namibia: WWF Namibia; in Poland: Gościnna Wielkopolska, Dorota Metera, Waldemar Fortuna; In Romania: Asociația Kogayon, Romania ; Aliança Terra i Mar, Mallorca; In Canada: Régénération Canada; In The United States: New Mexico Healthy Soils Initiative; in Chile: Rewilding Chile; and in The Galapagos: The Charles Darwin Foundation Huge thanks also go out to our global and regional partners and collaborators, all those helping to drive forward the landscape restoration 89

movement worldwide, including but not limited to: Ashoka; Bioregional Weaving Labs; Global Partnership on Forest and Landscape Restoration (GPFLR); Wageningen University & Research (WUR); Erasmus University, Rotterdam School of Management (RSM); NOVA School of Business & Economics; Economics of Land Degradation (ELD) Initiative; World Economic Forum (WEF); World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD); United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD); United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); Peace Parks Foundation; The Nature Conservancy (TNC); The Global Landscapes Forum; Wetlands International; Landscape Finance Lab; 1T.org (World Economic Forum); The Dutch Physical Environment Consultative Council of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (OFL); Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality; Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management; Netherlands Province of North Brabant; UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration; Society for Ecological Restoration Europe; World Resources Institute; ETH Zurich; European Federation for Hunting and Conservation; Climate Catalyst; Gold Standard Foundation; Fundación Global Nature; Astrid Vargas (Inspiration4Action); Care Nederlands; Climate-KIC; all partners involved in the European Soil Health BENCHMARKS Project; all partners involved in the publication for Towards financing large-scale holistic landscape restoration in Europe.

Recommendations for EU policy actors to attain inspirational, social, natural and financial returns: Convergence; Carbon Disclosure Project; Impact Institute; SLM; KOIS; Colibri Catalyst; Integrity Global Partners; YesAndMore; Systemiq; Universitat Bern.

We are proud to be a founding partner of the 1000 Landscapes for a Billion People initiative and thank our core partners for their trust and commitment: Eco Agriculture Partners, Rainforest Alliance, Conservation International, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Landscape Finance Lab and Tech Matters. Commonland is also a proud member of IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature; the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management (IUCN CEM) has been supportive from the start.

And last, but not least, we give unbounded thanks to our funders - the wind in our sails - notably The COmON Foundation, The IKEA Foundation, The Dutch Postcode Lottery, Corien Botman & Stichting De Roeper, Stichting Huijskes-van Doorne Fonds, Fondation Philanthropique Famille Firmenich, Gieskes-Strijbis Fund, Adessium Foundation, VASS Dealercouncil, Stichting Thalatta, Triodos Foundation, Rainforest Alliance, Move House of Mobility and all the generous individuals who donated to Commonland and its partners in 2023.

Credit: Living Lands.

Funders’ Voices “At the IKEA Foundation, we recognise that our well-being and the wellbeing of our planet is intrinsically linked to how we interact with and care for our landscapes. By working together through long-term partnerships and taking a holistic approach to landscape restoration we see opportunities to help foster biodiversity, mitigate climate change, ensure food security and improve livelihoods for the many people.”

Priya Motupalli Programme Manager, IKEA Foundation

“Humanity has degraded 2 billion hectares of healthy soils. It’s not too late to turn the tide. If we jointly restore enough hectares, we can face climate change issues with more comfort. Large-scale holistic landscape restoration paves the way to a more balanced world in which we eventually should not take more from nature than nature has to offer us.

This can be achieved through a collaborative effort. We acknowledge it is complex and it takes time, but it can be done.”

John Loudon COmON Foundation

“Thanks to the participants of the Postcode Lottery, we can support Commonland in their mission to restore landscapes worldwide. Healthy ecosystems are crucial for our climate and our future. We are pleased that in addition to our annual support, we have also been able to donate a Dream Fund contribution of € 12 million. This contribution will help Commonland restore 10 million hectares of degraded areas, creating lasting change for generations to come.”

Marieke Rodenhuis Head of Charities National Postcode Lottery

“Our children and grandchildren are far better off inheriting a green and cool planet rather than family wealth. So, I am grateful that with this fund we can contribute to a necessary systems change to put our society back in balance with nature.”

Corien Botman Philanthropist and impact investor

Baviaanskloof Bewarea team with their brush cutting equipment.

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Kraanspoor 26 1033 Amsterdam The Netherlands T +31 20 811 66 03 info@commonland.com commonland.com