The SGP-OP7 focusses on community involvement and participatory governance as essential tools in accomplishing biodiversity conservation, mitigation of climate change and decreasing the area of land that is degraded. The programme also increases the awareness of local communities with respect to their available as well as vulnerable natural resources and ecosystems. On the other hand, community involvement can directly reduce the level of poverty in the community through the direct and indirect benefits that can be received from engaging in such community efforts.

Learning and implementing better and effective practices can increase the capacity of the environment in which a community is located. This can be seen through the programme's centrality in engaging the community in energy efficient solutions such as the creation or maintenance of a community biogas plant that controls carbon emissions. The programme includes various activities such as training through SHGs that can allow the locals to engage themselves in alternate livelihood activities. Other activities include plant breeding, seed banks, and exchanges that not only bring the community together as a whole but also improve the ecosystems around them. The involvement of different stakeholders in these efforts is quite essential in order to ensure the smooth functioning of these efforts. A multi-stakeholder approach is thus adopted by the SGP wherein several Community Based Organizations or CBOs and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are included at different levels of the functioning of the SGP. They incorporate skill building, capacity development, upscaling, and energy efficient activities in an inclusive manner so as to achieve the maximum benefits from the programme.