Monitoring Locally Led Land Restoration at Scale

This case study examines the verification of land restoration results for the Support for Women in Agriculture and Environment (SWAGEN) project in Uganda. Funded by TerraFund and monitored by the World Resources Institute (WRI), the project aimed to restore the Rwoho Central Forest Reserve through community-led tree planting. The document highlights the discrepancies between self-reported planting data and AI-powered satellite verification, using the experience to refine monitoring methodologies for forest restoration at scale.

• SWAGEN aimed to restore 200 hectares of forest and farmland by planting 222,200 trees to repair the ecosystem and create income sources such as honey. The project reported employing 22,224 people, with youth making up 80% of that total and women accounting for 10,182 jobs.
• There was a significant gap between SWAGEN's self-reported progress and WRI's independent verification. While SWAGEN reported planting 199,649 trees (90% of its target) and claimed a 98% survival rate, WRI's AI-powered analysis of satellite imagery detected a net increase of 71,122 trees, which is only 36% of the projected target of 195,656 surviving trees.
• WRI identified three primary reasons for the discrepancy between reported and verified results: the project likely overestimated survival rates and planting density per hectare; native saplings grow slower and are often hidden under the tree canopy, making them invisible to satellites; and some planting occurred outside the submitted geospatial boundaries.
• Despite the target shortfall, WRI considers the project a successful example of community-led restoration because every analyzed geospatial polygon showed an increase in the number of trees compared to the start of the project.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Monitoring Locally Led Land Restoration at Scale. https://www.wri.org/monitoring-locally-led-land-restoration-scale/swagen

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Monitoring Locally Led Land Restoration at Scale. n.d. https://www.wri.org/monitoring-locally-led-land-restoration-scale/swagen.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Monitoring Locally Led Land Restoration at Scale |url=https://www.wri.org/monitoring-locally-led-land-restoration-scale/swagen |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendmonitoring, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Monitoring Locally Led Land Restoration at Scale}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/monitoring-locally-led-land-restoration-scale/swagen}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }