WRI’s new report, Roots of Prosperity: The Economics and Finance of Restoring Land, aims to help governments and other decision-makers to leverage financial resources and develop effective policy to scale up forest and landscape restoration. The report draws on research and case studies from around the world, revealing that restoring degraded land has the potential to deliver up to thirty times the initial investment in benefits. It discusses the seven barriers to finance for restoration and outlines policies and financial mechanisms that will unlock capital.

Press release

• NEW REPORT:  ROOTS OF PROSPERITY: The Economics and Finance of Restoring Land – World Resources Institute – Embargoed Until 9am CET on Tuesday 19 December

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) will release the Barometer Spotlight Report 2017, a new report tracking progress on an ambitious global effort to bring 150 million hectares of degraded and deforested land into restoration by 2020 and 350 million hectares by 2030. The report provides a snapshot of progress on the Bonn Challenge, with an emphasis on efforts underway in Brazil, El Salvador, Mexico, Rwanda and the United States.

Launch of the IUCN Bonn Challenge Barometer of Progress Spotlight Report 2017

Launch of the IUCN Bonn Challenge Barometer of Progress Spotlight Report 2017 – Run of Show

Presentations (PDFs):Radhika Dave,Felix Rurangwa,Leslie Weldon, 

The field of forest landscape restoration (FLR) is quickly gaining traction now that national commitments to restore degraded lands under the 2011 Bonn Challenge have reached upwards of 160 million ha. While the growing literature on FLR and associated methodologies being proposed emphasizes the importance of including stakeholders in decision making and implementation, local communities in hilly and mountainous regions often face particular challenges. The papers in this Special Issue of the International Forestry Review shed light on some of the approaches incorporated in FLR design and its outcomes in cases from China, Ethiopia, India, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. These include direct subsidies or PES, land distributions and devolution of resource rights, engagement of communities in participatory management, and other approaches. Taken together, the studies in this Special Issue bring together a range of insights into the diversity of approaches favouring the implementation of FLR, particularly in sloping landscapes, under varying social and ecological conditions.

Resources

http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/cfa/ifr

SPECIAL ISSUE – FOREST LANDSCAPE RESTORATION: Exclosures as forest and landscape restoration tools: lessons from Tigray Region, Ethiopia

Authors: E. BIRHANE; T. MENGISTU; Y. SEYOUM; N. HAGAZI; L. PUTZEL; M. MEKONEN RANNESTAD; H. KASSA

Appeared or available online: November 9, 2017

SPECIAL ISSUE – FOREST LANDSCAPE RESTORATION: A segregated assessment of total carbon stocks by the mode of origin and ecological functions of forests: implication on restoration potential

Authors: P.R. NEUPANE; A. GAULI; T. MARASENI; D. KÜBLER; P. MUNDHENK; M.V. DANG; M. KÖHL

Appeared or available online: November 9, 2017

SPECIAL ISSUE – FOREST LANDSCAPE RESTORATION: Change in land use and ecosystem services delivery from community-based forest landscape restoration in the Phewa Lake watershed, Nepal

Authors: K. PAUDYAL; H. BARAL; L. PUTZEL; S. BHANDARI; R.J. KEENAN

Appeared or available online: October 25, 2017

Developers of landscape projects have a hard time conveying complex project stories in a compelling way. The ProjectExplorer integrates cutting-edge presentation technologies to tell the story on an interactive web map with up-to-date project information like georeferenced multimedia elements, such as 360° aerial panoramas, pictures, and videos. The accessibility of information and the spatial context create a new level of transparency.