The Challenge: restoring common lands, rebuilding communities
At the very core of every thriving landscape is a vibrant community. Yet, across vast stretches of Africa, common lands— collectively owned by communities —face severe degradation. Decades of overuse, exacerbated by a changing climate, have led to widespread desertification, plummeting soil fertility, vanished biodiversity, and critically, the breakdown of social cohesion. Communities find themselves embroiled in rising tensions over dwindling resources, where traditional restoration efforts often fall short because they neglect the human element.
This isn’t merely an ecological crisis; it’s a deeply human one. Restoring these complex, shared ecosystems demands more than just planting trees. It requires rebuilding trust, fostering cooperation, and establishing robust shared governance. This is where the profound expertise of Hommes & Terre comes to the fore.
Learn about Hommes & Terre directly from Gilles Vanermen, Head of Project Development, in the brief video below:
Hommes & Terre’s expertise: a people-first, nature-always approach
Hommes & Terre, a leading non-profit organization, was founded on a deep understanding: that landscape restoration is fundamentally inseparable from restoring the communities that depend on these lands. Unlike conventional models, their approach begins not with machinery or seedlings, but with dialogue. Their unique methodology unfolds across three interconnected, equally vital dimensions:
1. Ecological Restoration:
- Directly combats desertification and soil erosion.
- Revives soil fertility and vital water retention.
- Restores native vegetation and boosts biodiversity.
2. Social Cohesion:
- Facilitates community-led governance over land use decisions.
- Fosters consensus on restoration goals and sustainable resource management.
- Provides essential training and capacity-building for long-term, local stewardship.
3. Economic Resilience:
- Introduces and promotes regenerative agriculture techniques.
- Supports income-generating activities intrinsically linked to restored landscapes.
- Strengthens local economies against the shocks of climate change.
This holistic, community-led model showcases Hommes & Terre’s unparalleled expertise in creating solutions that are both ecologically sound and socially just, laying the groundwork for enduring resilience.
The Imperative of transparency: how explorer.land amplifies impact
Operating large-scale landscape regeneration projects, often spanning thousands of hectares across multiple African countries, presents a significant challenge: how do you demonstrate tangible, verifiable impact to a global network of funders, investors, and stakeholders? Promises aren’t enough; visible proof is paramount.
This is precisely where explorer.land’s set of tools become indispensable, transforming how Hommes & Terre communicates their successes and builds trust.
“explorer.land is a way to really show to investors and funders that we are doing work on the ground, it’s not just a nice presentation, there is real stuff going on.”
Gilles Vanermen, Hommes & Terre
explorer.land’s suite of digital tools empowers Hommes & Terre with:
- Unrivaled transparency at scale: Interactive maps visually display project boundaries, restoration zones, and real-time updates. Users can virtually explore landscapes, seeing exactly where work is happening, what progress looks like, and how interventions are evolving over time.
- Authentic ground truth storytelling: Field teams directly upload geolocated photos, videos, and reports, making change tangible. Compelling before-and-after visuals powerfully convey the impact to funders, partners, and the public, building a narrative backed by real-world evidence.
- Visual impact monitoring: By combining geospatial data with compelling storytelling, explorer.land allows Hommes & Terre to convey restoration success in an easily digestible format. Live updates on hectares restored, species returning, and soil regeneration efforts provide critical, up-to-date metrics.
- Robust trust building: A transparent, publicly accessible platform like explorer.land is crucial for securing confidence and fostering long-term partnerships with donors and investors. This digital accountability drives continued funding and expands the reach of Hommes & Terre’s vital work.
Real-world impact: stories from the ground
The collaboration between Hommes & Terre and explorer.land reveals powerful transformations on the ground:
In Senegal: Community-led governance models have successfully revived severely degraded common lands. Through agroforestry and targeted soil regeneration, arid zones are becoming productive landscapes, with women’s cooperatives emerging as key stewards of the land. Explore the project on the map
In Mali: The restoration of vital grazing lands has dramatically improved livelihoods for pastoralist communities. Regenerated watersheds have reduced historical conflicts over scarce water resources, and robust soil health recovery has led directly to increased food security. Explore the project on the map
Across these diverse landscapes, it’s not just nature that’s bouncing back. It’s people – reclaiming agency, dignity, and prosperity, deeply tied to the health of the land they share.
Measurable outcomes: a blueprint for regenerative futures
Hommes & Terre’s deep expertise combined with explorer.land’s transparent technology delivers quantifiable results, setting a new standard for sustainable development:
- Ecological Gains: Thousands of hectares restored, significant improvements in soil fertility and water retention, and a clear resurgence of native vegetation and biodiversity.
- Social Gains: Strengthened community governance over shared commons, a measurable reduction in land-use conflicts, and hundreds of individuals trained and empowered in effective restoration techniques.
- Economic Gains: Creation of new, sustainable income streams through regenerative agriculture, enhanced resilience to climate-related risks, and revitalized local markets driven by ecosystem-based production.
- Digital Impact with explorer.land: Dozens of restoration sites mapped in real-time, providing visual archives of progress accessible to anyone, anywhere. This tangible proof of impact is driving increased funding, solidifying trust, and enabling the replication of successful models globally.
Building a regenerative future
The collaboration between Hommes & Terre and explorer.land powerfully demonstrates that technology and on the ground work are powerful allies in the fight for a regenerative future. Community wisdom guides where and how restoration happens, while digital tools like explorer.land visibly show the world that it’s working. Together, they forge a model that is inherently scalable, transparent, and profoundly grounded in human connection.
Hommes & Terre does more than just restore landscapes; they restore hope. They meticulously rebuild the invisible threads of trust, cooperation, and shared purpose that bind communities and ecosystems together. With explorer.land, their inspiring story is no longer hidden – it is vividly visible on the map, on the ground, and in the lives of those whose futures are being regenerated, hectare by vital hectare.
Learn more & connect
- Learn about the power of transparent monitoring with https://explorer.land
- Discover Hommes & Terre‘s transformative work.
- Explore their projects live on the map