New, open-source maps, developed by a team of scientists and FAO experts, show where degraded lands and forests could be restored to help fight climate change, but only if countries act quickly and develop realistic targets.

The model, profiled in the 5 July issue of Science magazine by authors from FAO and ETH Zurich, has identified nearly one billion hectares for potential forest restoration.

A recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggests that increasing the world’s forest cover by one billion hectares will be necessary to help limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050.

The map of global biophysical potential for restoration is based partly on reference data collect using Collect Earth, developed under the FAO Forestry Department Open Foris initiative and assessments of climate, soil and terrain. It serves as a global, multi-dimensional snapshot of tree cover which has helped researchers to locate 0.9 billion hectares of land which could be restored.

The FAO Forestry Department works with governments and researchers to bridge the gap between academia and policy makers and makes scientific methodology easily accessible through platforms such as Open Foris and SEPAL. The openly-accessible map of tree carrying capacity is being integrated into these platforms and can serve as a benchmark to help countries adjust their restoration targets to leverage the great potential which global forest restoration holds to combat climate change.

For more information, click The global tree restoration potential, IPCC report on global warming and Open Foris.