RECLAIM — Restoration & Livelihood Transition

Restoring landscapes and livelihoods

RECLAIM is GetCare’s integrated approach to restoring degraded landscapes and strengthening livelihood pathways, with a particular interest in communities affected by mining-related land degradation.

The challenge

Ecological degradation can compromise soils, water, biodiversity and agricultural productivity. In mining-affected landscapes, households may also depend on extractive activities for income, making restoration inseparable from the question of viable economic alternatives.

The approach

• Begin with community participation and clarity about land rights, needs and priorities.
• Assess ecological conditions, suitable restoration approaches, environmental risks and legal permissions.
• Explore agroforestry, soil recovery, native species and productive post-restoration land use.
• Link livelihood transition to functioning agricultural, enterprise and market opportunities.
• Develop governance arrangements for long-term stewardship and monitoring.

Current development context

Programme engagement has included discussions with communities and landholders in the Wassa landscape of Ghana’s Western Region and exploration of potential demonstration sites. Such engagement is an important foundation but is not equivalent to completed land restoration.

Programme safeguards

Any field intervention depends on appropriate legal and technical assessment, environmental and social safeguards, land-access agreements, community consent and responsible monitoring.

Science and implementation

RECLAIM has strong potential for interdisciplinary research in landscape ecology, livelihoods, land governance, mine-land transitions and investment design. GetCare seeks collaboration that connects sound science with practical, locally supported restoration.

Explore related work

Explore where we work ↗, our programme outcomes ↗ and the RETS approach ↗.