This initial screening study aims at identifying regions where vegetation recovery has been particularly strong or weak. The identifyed areas will then be targeted for closer study. The overall goal of the project is to restore degraded West African ecosystems and improve rural livelihoods. The project targets the West African Parklands, which are integrated tree-crop-livestock systems. T he Parklands span across the whole of the Sahel and their ecosystem services support over 40 million people. However, the Parklands are believed to be rapidly degrading in many areas, undermining the natural resource base on which the population's livelihoods ultimately depend. There is urgent need to quantify the degree, extent and causes of ecosystem degradation and to systematically target policy and management interventions to address them while improving human well-being.