Events Seminar with J-WAFS Visiting Scholar Khalil Walji
March 19
Laying the Groundwork for Global Restoration: Capacity Needs and Technical Barriers Across the Restoration Continuum
Walji will explore the practical constraints countries face in implementing large-scale ecosystem restoration, with particular attention to the role of productive landscapes in sustaining food systems and water security. Drawing on work under the Global Biodiversity Framework’s Target 2 and Integrated Landscape Management initiatives, the seminar will examine how restoration is not a binary shift from “degraded” to “restored,” but a continuum of recovery, where agricultural lands, rangelands, forests, and agroforestry systems can progressively rebuild ecosystem services.
Date: Thursday, March 19, 2026
Time: 4:30 - 5:30 p.m. ET
Location: MIT Campus -- Room will be emailed to registrants. This is an in-person event. You MUST use an MIT email address to register, or an email address from a university or organization in the greater Cambridge and Boston area.
Khalil Walji is a global practitioner-scholar working at the intersection of ecosystem restoration, integrated landscape management, and sustainable food systems across the Global South. From 2021–2026, he is serving as Deputy Coordinator of the EU-funded Landscapes For Our Future (LFF) programme at CIFOR-ICRAF, advancing integrated landscape approaches through multi-stakeholder engagement, adaptive governance, and learning-oriented practice. Trained as a soil scientist with an interdisciplinary background, his work focuses on translating systems-level theory into practice in complex landscapes where food security, biodiversity, and livelihoods intersect.