Restoration Era is teaming up with communities in Senegal to restore their forests to protect the Sahel and sub-Saharan Africa from the expansion of the Sahara. Communities are losing the ability to do agriculture as their once useful soil is turning to sand. Coastal communities are seeing the fish and shellfish supply go down which is causing emigration.

The mangrove projects are on Senegal's West coast. Senegal is one of only two countries that are a part of the Great Green Wall initiative that have mangroves. These mangroves create a barrier from storms that effect inland vegetation. The mangrove projects will include the reforestation of red, white, and black mangroves. Red mangroves are the primary species in these estuaries that are needed for reforestation. The mangroves were degraded through deforestation for building material and firewood. The mangroves create the habitat necessary for fish to lay their eggs and shellfish to live in. Without the mangroves people's fishing livelihood's will disappear. Restoration Era is providing jobs to the local communities to restore their forests which addresses the short term need of having income today to provide for the communities wellbeing and the long term solution is addressed through the restoration and conservation of the ecosystem that supports these communities.

Inland, in the Sahel the forests have been degraded through unsustainable practices and climate change for many years. Restoration in the Sahel can be difficult and expensive, but some amazing people have dedicated their careers to figuring out how to best restore the Sahel and much of it has to do with assisted natural regeneration (ANR). For these projects Era is working with communities to set aside a designated space for new forest to restore the land. The first step is to create a barrier for the new forest to be able to take root. Grazing animals have little to eat off of so they tend to eat the saplings if the area is not protected. Then seeding of pioneer species can be done to get the new forest started. Agroforestry species and ground crops will be grown among the new canopy to provide agricultural communities with the basics needed to support their livelihoods.