During the Thirteenth Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) Europe Conference “Restoring Nature, Reconnecting People”, which took place in Alicante, Spain, on 5–9 September 2022, the Committee on Mediterranean Forestry Questions, Silva Mediterranea, held a workshop entitled “Flagship programme in the Mediterranean region – United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration” to discuss the Mediterranean region’s World Restoration Flagship proposal under the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021–2030 (UN Decade).  

Based on a bioclimatic definition of Mediterranean forests, the Mediterranean region has more than 25 million hectares of forests and about 50 million hectares of other wooded lands. Numerous threats, including the effects of climate change and population growth, challenge their persistence and future, resulting in degradation of the forest ecosystems. 

In 2017, at the fifth Mediterranean Forest Week in Agadir, Morocco, ten Mediterranean countries endorsed the Agadir Commitment, with the aim of establishing a new Regional Mediterranean Initiative on Forest and Landscape Restoration to prevent, halt and reverse these degradation processes and restore at least 8 million hectares of degraded land and ecosystems in the Mediterranean region by 2030. 

The twenty-fourth session of Silva Mediterranea in Antalya, Türkiye, in March 2022, focused on the important issue of implementation and progress five years after the adoption of the Agadir Commitment. The topics discussed included restoration activities that are being promoted and implemented in the region, the integration of restoration in national and regional targets, and the total area currently under restoration or restored.

Assessing the restoration activities being promoted and implemented in the region was a key element in being able to submit the Mediterranean region as a restoration flagship initiative under the UN Decade. 

Restoration flagship initiatives are identified as the best (or most promising) examples of successful ecosystem restoration that countries or regions would like to obtain global recognition for, to inspire other countries and regions to scale up successful restoration efforts.

During the workshop, an assessment of the restoration activities promoted and implemented in the Mediterranean was presented, with a focus on Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Türkiye, which endorsed the flagship together with the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), the Mediterranean Model Forest Network (MMFN), the International Association of Mediterranean Forests (AIFM) and the Lebanon Restoration Initiative (LRI). 

Lebanon presented case studies on post-fire restoration. In Lebanon, wildfires are one of the major causes of land degradation, both in forests and on agricultural lands. 

Morocco showed how restoration interventions taking place in complex socioeconomic and cultural contexts and often with hardly any social acceptance or support, should aim to establish a participatory approach as part of sustainable forest management. 

Tunisia stressed how the co-management and preservation of forest landscapes could help identify ways of adapting to climate change and mitigating its effects. 

Türkiye showed several examples of good practices in restoration and rehabilitation activities, which produce carbon benefits, explaining that several laws had also been adopted to increase the forest area and tree wealth, and protect environmental values. 

The workshop was attended by approximately 20 people, including academics and experts in the restoration field, and private sector representatives. The event was recorded and is available to SER members. 

Giovanbattista de Dato