Restoration Techniques: Community Engagement Guide for TerraFund Projects

This article introduces the Community Engagement Guide for TerraFund projects and explains how to use it during implementation. The guide is designed as a practical, field-based resource to support effective engagement with communities throughout restoration activities.

What this guidance covers 

Community engagement is essential to successful restoration. TerraFund projects take place in landscapes that are already used and managed by communities, meaning restoration activities must be clearly understood, locally supported, and sustained over time.

This guidance focuses on how to engage communities during project implementation, building on initial engagement conducted during proposal development. It provides step-by-step direction on how to:

• Introduce the project and align with communities and local authorities 
• Organize participation in key activities such as nursery establishment and planting 
• Ensure clarity around land use, roles, and expectations 
• Support correct application of restoration practices in the field 
• Strengthen long-term adoption, maintenance, and monitoring of trees 

The guide emphasizes that engagement is not a standalone activity, but an essential component of how restoration work is carried out day-to-day.

What this means in practice

Using this guide effectively will help ensure that:

• Communities understand and support restoration activities 
• Trees are planted correctly and maintained over time 
• Land use conflicts are minimized through early alignment 
• Training leads to sustained changes in practice 
• Restoration outcomes are more likely to last beyond the project 

Access the full guide

Download the Community Engagement Guide (attached in PDF format below) to access detailed, step-by-step instructions and field-based examples for each stage of implementation.

Share your feedback and questions

Once you have downloaded and reviewed the full guide, please share any questions, comments, or concerns you might have about this module in our feedback form here!

Byline

Content Lead  

Ange Kalitanyi, Lead Project Manager & TerraFund Liasion, VIA Foundation, Rwanda

Course Director 

Thacien Munyamahame, Capacity & Community Learning Manager, Restoration Finance, Rwanda 

Isabel Harrington, Capacity & Innovation Manager, Restoration Finance, USA

Reviewers 

Joan Kimaiyo, Monitoring, Reporting and Verification Data Associate, Kenya 

Jackson Ndera, Portfolio Manager, Restoration Finance, Rwanda 

Claire Shapiro, Product Specialist II, TerraMatch, USA