On 16 and 17 May 2017 FAO’s Forest and Landscape Restoration Mechanism and partners organized the inaugural Forest and Landscape Investment Forum (FLIF) in Kigali, Rwanda. The event brought together 250 participants, project developers and business champions from ten African countries and investors from all over the world in a marketplace for effective forest and landscape investment opportunities.

The ambitious restoration goals set by the global development agenda require large investments. According to a recent publication by FAO and the Global Mechanism of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, between USD 36-49 billion of investments are needed every year to achieve these goals. But investments in forests and landscapes are unevenly distributed worldwide - while most are made in Latin America, only one percent are in Africa.

Feeding into the global development agenda, specifically SDG 15, the Bonn Challenge, and African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100), this dynamic event promoted a broad spectrum of investments in forests and landscapes for environmental, social, economic and financial returns.

“The importance of promoting a broad spectrum of investments in forests and landscapes in East Africa can’t be underestimated,” said Douglas McGuire, Coordinator of FAO’s Forest and Landscape Restoration Mechanism.  “We can no longer afford to miss out on funding opportunities. There is so much talent and enthusiasm out there, and it is our hope that this event will make those important connections between project developers and investors that until now have been missing.”

Stimulating lively debate on business opportunities and challenges in agroforestry and forestry, FLIF offered a unique platform for exploring the potential of finance to enhance livelihoods, protect the environment and ensure food security benefits.

The forum also provided a springboard to advance a Forest and Landscape Investment Platform for Africa with the aim of catalyzing and increasing investments in forest and landscape restoration and land degradation neutrality in the region. Such a regional platform would ensure systematic and long-lasting communication between project developers and investors, in particular under the framework of the AFR100 initiative.

Over the two days, FLIF hosted a wide-range of debates and discussion forums and, beyond that, a booth exhibition and targeted side-events to facilitate further dynamic interactions between participants.

More information on the outcomes of the FLIF are available on the FLIF report accessible here