During the 24th session of the Committee on Forestry (COFO 24) and the World Forest Week events at FAO headquarters in Rome 16 to 20 July 2018, FAO’s Forest and Landscape Restoration Mechanism (FLRM) organized a side event titled ‘Introduction of the first publication from the GPFLR and other key restoration initiatives’. The event was aimed at fostering broad engagement in scaling up FLR efforts to meet the Bonn Challenge and Aichi Biodiversity Targets.

Tim Christophersen, Chair of the Global Partnership on Forest and Landscape Restoration (GPFLR), opened the event with an introduction to the first joint publication of the GPFLR, ‘Restoring forests and landscapes: the key to a sustainable future’. With over 3.2 billion people impacted by land degradation and 2 billion hectares worldwide suitable for forest and landscape restoration, the pledges made to the Bonn Challenge and New York Declaration on Forests amount to a total of 350 million hectares to be under restoration by 2030.

Despite the huge estimated net benefits if those pledges are met (valued at USD 9 trillion), the challenge is enormous and the investment needs are substantial. This publication comes at a time where joining efforts across stakeholders will be critical for success. It will enable all GPFLR members to speak with one voice and increase advocacy aimed at high-level decision makers. In particular, the publication highlights the importance of private investments into FLR, proposes core principles for FLR, and aims to generate inspiration through selected case studies. The publication was launched 29 August 2018 during the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) in Nairobi.

The COFO side event was also an opportunity to introduce to a broader audience The Restoration Initiative (TRI), a thematic programme funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) under its sixth replenishment cycle. TRI will provide support to 10 countries throughout the world: Cameroon, Central African Republic, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Myanmar, Pakistan, São Tomé e Príncipe and Tanzania. All projects are structured around four main components, which address the critical dimensions for successful restoration to take place at scale: policy development and integration; implementation of restoration programmes and complementary initiatives; engagement of institutions and financing partners; and, knowledge, partnerships, monitoring and assessment.

Douglas McGuire, Coordinator of the Forest and Landscape Restoration Mechanism (FLRM) at FAO, highlighted FAO’s ongoing support for the upcoming launch of five projects, and FAO’s vision of how the global knowledge component of TRI will benefit countries. Adriana Vidal, Forest Policy Officer at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), presented its work in four countries and the role of IUCN in coordinating TRI.

Pascal Martinez, Global Environment Facility (GEF) Secretariat, introduced the new GEF cycle and its global impact programme: Food Systems, Land Use and Restoration. To address the root causes of deforestation, this new programme focuses on comprehensive land-use planning for sustainable and integrated landscapes. The programme aims to achieve a transformational shift, based on efficient and effective value chains, deforestation-free commodity supply chains and expanded areas of land restored. Countries will be prioritized to benefit from this global programme according to various financing criteria, including: potential of the project to generate global environmental benefits; its contribution to wider national/sub-national strategy; public-sector support; private-sector involvement; potential for achieving large-scale change, and; ability to catalyse innovations generated in technology, policy, governance, financing and business models.

For more information contact: [email protected]

Hyunjung Abigail Kim (FAO)