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This case study examines the restoration of 500,000 hectares of woodland in the Shinyanga region of Tanzania between 1986 and 2004. The restoration was achieved through the HASHI program, which revived the traditional Sukuma practice of 'ngitili' (enclosures) to combat desertification caused by large-scale cash-crop cultivation and inappropriate land use.

This guide explains how to use Collect Earth mapathons—an open-source tool combining satellite imagery and local knowledge—to monitor tree-based restoration. It details an 8-step implementation process and provides case studies from El Salvador, Ethiopia, India, and Rwanda to illustrate how the tool tracks tree cover and land-use changes against specific restoration targets.

Degraded lands account for over 20% of forest and agricultural lands in Latin America and the Caribbean, with 300 million hectares of degraded forests and 350 million hectares of deforested land. Landscape restoration is proposed to address pressures from the growing agriculture and forestry sectors and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.