1. Current momentum for restoring deforested or degraded land

Worldwide, more than two billion hectares of land are degraded and offer opportunities for restoration.² This represents an area larger than South America. Land degradation is the persistent decline in the provision of goods and services that land provides. It affects the wellbeing of at least 3.2 billion people, drives species extinction, and intensifies climate change and mass human migration. A report of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) estimates that land degradation costs the global economy as much as USD 4.5 trillion a year, while economic benefits of restoration efforts represent an estimated USD 84 billion a year.³

Restoration initiatives aim to achieve the best possible compromise between meeting both conservation goals and the needs of communities in deforested or degraded land. Restoration activities can include: (a) forest restoration for biodiversity recovery, such as for wildlife conservation, environmental protection, eco-tourism or to supply a variety of forest products to communities; (b) agroforestry, where trees are grown together with crops and/or animal production systems; or (c) restoration of degraded or abandoned agricultural lands to increase productivity and reduce the risk of conversion of neighbouring forests. These activities could advance national priorities such as food security, rural development and job creation while contributing to the achievement of international climate change, biodiversity and land-related commitments. Restoration programmes and initiatives, along with improved land management, could provide over 30 percent of the cost-effective emission reductions needed by 2030 to keep global temperature rise well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels.⁴  

Global and national communities have made strong restoration commitments by embracing ambitious targets. In 2010, parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted Aichi Target 15, which aims to restore at least 15 percent of degraded ecosystems by 2020. In 2011, the Government of Germany and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) launched the Bonn Challenge.⁵  The Challenge is a global effort to restore 150 million hectares of deforested or degraded land by 2020. In 2014, the New York Declaration on Forest announced the restoration of 350 million hectares of deforested or degraded land by 2030.⁶ The Bonn Challenge 2.0 endorsed this pledge in 2015. Furthermore, SDG 15 target 1 aims to ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems and their services by 2020. 

A number of regional initiatives support these global targets. These include the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100)⁷ and Initiative 20x20⁸ in Latin America. In 2007, in the Asia-Pacific region, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation adopted the ambitious goal of increasing forest cover by at least 20 million hectares by 2020.⁹ Furthermore, many tropical forest countries made significant national-level commitments in their national REDD+ strategies and NDCs to promote restoration of deforested or degraded land as a key climate change mitigation and adaptation measure. The corporate and finance sectors are increasingly committed to restoration, through their engagement in and support to zero-deforestation supply chain initiatives. 

2. Governance challenges limiting restoration initiatives 

While commitments to restore deforested or degraded land are on the rise, stakeholders are struggling with several challenges to effectively implement restoration initiatives. At the centre of these challenges are land-use governance and institutional factors. These include:

• lack of inclusive land-use planning
• unclear resource and tenure rights
• lack of clarity in legal frameworks and definitions 
• limited coordination and cooperation within and across land-use sectors and levels of governance
• limited stakeholder information and participation
• inadequate investment and incentives

In addition, restoration of deforested or degraded land could benefit from increased coordination with initiatives and programmes affecting land use, such as FLEGT, REDD+, and zero-deforestation supply chain initiatives. These initiatives use different incentives and approaches to address land-use governance challenges. Therefore, increased learning, coordination and integration in relation to the planning, implementation and monitoring of these initiatives are required to achieve the SDG and NDC targets. 

3. Inclusive land-use planning is essential to successful restoration

Many tropical forest countries have identified the lack of land-use planning as an important driver of forest loss and land degradation. This shortcoming is due to the absence or poor implementation of land-use planning policies and laws, the lack of reliable and accessible data to inform land-use planning, or divergent stakeholder views and interests on competing land uses.

Land-use planning creates the preconditions to achieve land use that is environmentally sustainable, socially just and desirable, and economically sound. It also facilitates the identification of areas suitable for restoration. It assists in clarifying land uses and rights, namely who has the right to own and access land, to use and cultivate resources, and receive monetary and non-monetary benefits. Land-use planning also reduces long-term investment risk. 

Multistakeholder approaches to land-use planning can help reconcile stakeholders’ diverging interests, overcome governance challenges, and consider local communities’ access and use rights. In the past decade, the experience of the forest sectors of several tropical forest countries in constructive, robust and effective multistakeholder processes has grown. 

An example of such multistakeholder processes are the FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs).¹⁰ These are bilateral trade agreements between the European Union (EU) and tropical timber-producing and exporting countries. FLEGT processes have increased stakeholder engagement and transparency in the forest sector. They have also led to the establishment of structures and mechanisms for effective participation. Countries could build on this multistakeholder experience to carry out inclusive land-use planning. Such planning would facilitate the identification of areas suitable for restoration and the implementation of restoration activities in the interest of relevant stakeholders, including local communities. 

In countries where FLEGT and REDD+ processes have made little progress so far, or are inexistent, stakeholders could grasp opportunities provided by high-level commitments such as the SDGs and NDCs. These commitments can provide restoration activities greater national visibility, and promote dialogue around land-use governance challenges. 

In the context of their REDD+ processes, several tropical forest countries are undertaking efforts to collect information regarding the legal status of land, land cover, customary rights, biodiversity and carbon values, and much more (Box 1). As REDD+ countries move into the investment phase, supported by bilateral and multilateral donors, increased investment might become available for land-use planning. By collecting such information and supporting sustainable and inclusive land-use planning, these REDD+ and other processes provide opportunities for, and complement, the restoration of deforested or degraded land.

4. Clear and respected tenure rights ensure the sustainability of restoration initiatives

Clear and respected tenure and resource rights are fundamental to identifying right holders entitled to plant and benefit from the restoration of deforested or degraded land. These include the rights and responsibilities of individuals and communities to trees, forests or land under statutory or customary law. Without clear use, access and tenure rights, there is reduced incentive for communities and smallholders to undertake any form of sustainable land management. Tenure security also facilitates right holders’ access to finance and investment that could support restoration efforts. Restoration initiatives are expected to be more successful when they focus on areas with clear rights to land and resources, or when coupled with efforts to enhance and enforce tenure and resource rights.

Initiatives such as FLEGT and REDD+ processes put efforts into recognising and clarifying tenure, along with strengthening the enforcement capacity of government agencies. However, more needs to be done in combination with new approaches and initiatives to make substantial progress. This calls for enhanced collaboration among FLEGT, REDD+, zero-deforestation supply chain, restoration and other processes affecting land use. This collaboration would step-up action to overcome political, institutional and technical barriers for secure tenure and resource rights. 
 

Elders inspect recently planted trees in Ethiopia.

Source: WRI

5. Scaling up restoration requires clear policies and legal frameworks

Many tropical forest countries have taken up restoration commitments in their NDCs or REDD+ strategies.¹² This provides a framework for stakeholder engagement and the implementation of restoration activities in some countries (see box 2). Nonetheless, much effort is still needed to translate these restoration commitments into concrete policies and action plans. 

A first step is the clarification of policies, legal frameworks and the definition of key terms, such as restoration, abandoned land, deforested land and degraded forest land. These efforts make clear what can or should be done, by whom and how, on deforested, unproductive and degraded areas. Such a clear legal framework, policies and definition of key terms are vital to the implementation of restoration initiatives. However, only a few tropical forest countries have explicitly embedded restoration conditions and requirements in their legal frameworks. 

The effective enforcement of legal land-use frameworks that prevent (illegal) forest conversion for commodity production brings various benefits. It can drive agricultural commodity producers to expand and intensify their activities on degraded rather than forested land. It can also create incentives for sustainable land management and restore vital ecosystem functions.  

6. Creating incentives for restoration through markets and trade

A combination of technical support and regulatory, financial and fiscal incentives is required to deliver restoration objectives and change the behaviour and practices of actors. A solid business case for restoration of deforested or degraded land should mobilise and encourage actors towards sustainable activities, while lowering the risk of investment by the private sector. It needs to provide enhanced livelihoods, increase food security, create jobs and ensure a diverse yet productive and resilient ecosystem.

REDD+ offers opportunities to increase technical capacities and catalyse reforms through investment and result-based incentives. Private sector interest in restoration has been limited until recently. However, the growing number of zero-deforestation supply chain commitments provide incentives for restoration through the development of such supply chains and the promotion of related trade and financial investment. These commitments increase demand for sustainably produced commodities. They provide market incentives for supply chain actors, including smallholders, to improve their production practices. These include sustainably intensifying production, expanding into degraded land rather than converting forests, or introducing agro-forestry techniques. Some corporate zero-deforestation commitments tolerate forest clearance (after cut-off dates) when compensated by restoration of an equivalent area. These commitments thus make restoration of deforested or degraded land part of a sound agro-business model. Corporate and financial sector investments in zero-deforestation production and supply chains could therefore become an important new source of funding for restoration.

The promotion of timber from restored areas and plantations could generate similar market incentives for restoration. By promoting trade in legal timber from restored areas, FLEGT could generate regulatory and market incentives for the restoration of deforested or degraded land. Therefore, responsible markets and trade in timber and agricultural commodities play an important role in supporting the transition to sustainable land-based activities.

Agroforestry systems are land-use systems where trees are grown together with crops and/or animal production systems. They have shown to be effective restoration models and can provide long-term, diversified income and security for smallholders.¹⁴ Moreover, some agroforestry models are based on innovative partnerships between smallholders or local communities and corporate actors or financial investors. These create win-win situations combining improved livelihoods, restored and productive landscapes, and responsible commodity sourcing (see Box 3). 

7. Transparency and participatory monitoring to track progress and increase accountability

Greater levels of transparency allow citizens and other stakeholders to hold government officials and non-state actors accountable. Making relevant data available to the public is an important first step in achieving accountability through improved transparency. This increased transparency and accountability will be crucial for the sustainability of restoration initiatives over time.

Various initiatives, such as the FLEGT and REDD+ processes, generate and share information on land use and land-use activities (see Box 4). For restoration initiatives to succeed, stakeholders could build on these valuable experiences to regularly share documents. These documents can outline the duties and responsibilities of various restoration actors, the terms and conditions for carrying out restoration or the benefits accrued from restored areas. This information would be available to all relevant stakeholders, including civil society and indigenous peoples.

The involvement of non-state actors in monitoring activities improves access to information, transparency and accountability while nourishing multistakeholder dialogue. Such independent monitoring also plays a critical role in tracking progress and linking local aspirations with national and global restoration goals. 

Independent monitoring for forest law enforcement and governance exists in several tropical forest countries. Non-state stakeholders get involved in monitoring of forest law enforcement and infractions, thereby improving forest governance and sector credibility. Deforestation drivers are often located outside the forest sector. To effectively address this challenge, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo have recently explored ways to expand independent monitoring beyond forest governance to broader land-use issues. These include inconsistencies in land-use planning and land allocation, which often hinder restoration. To support the implementation of restoration initiatives, independent monitoring could look at: (a) provisions in existing legal frameworks; (b) the commitments made by governments under the Bonn Challenge or by private companies; and (c) whether these legal requirements and commitments are enforced on the ground or what is hampering implementation.