Diverse partners convene at COFO 27 to discuss innovative pathways towards forest landscape restoration

Panel members gathered at FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy. Photo credit to Maria Valbuena Pérez, FAO Forestry Division. 

The side event, held on July 24, 2024, was organized by IUCN and FAO, with participation from representatives from diverse countries, including Germany, Canada, Thailand, and Türkiye, as well as representatives from notable environmental organizations, including UNCBD and the GEF. Titled “Empowering communities, restoring landscapes & conserving ecosystems: Diverse partnerships, innovative results,” the panel discussion highlighted innovative work being done to address the urgent issues facing forests. 

Forest loss and degradation threaten the wellbeing and livelihoods of communities the world over, while also contributing to biodiversity loss, climate change, and the weakening of ecosystem services. Addressing these challenges necessitates integrated approaches and collaborative efforts involving local communities, governments, and stakeholders. Forest landscape restoration (FLR) offers an adaptable solution for mitigating these impacts and enabling conservation of ecosystems. However, FLR implementation faces technical, legislative, and policy hurdles that must be overcome to meet the need for action on the ground. Confronting these challenges necessitates collaboration between diverse partners and stakeholders, tailoring of innovative solutions, and direct involvement of affected communities in the restoration process. 

Strong partnerships are critical to achieving targets 

In the spirit of highlighting the need for robust partnerships to address forest issues, the side event commenced with the signing of an official agreement between IUCN and FAO to improve the reporting process for Target 2 of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). Signed by Chetan Kumar, Global Head of the IUCN Forest and Grasslands Team, and Zhimin Wu, Director of the FAO Forestry Division, this agreement is a critical step towards streamlining reporting for multilateral environmental agreements. “IUCN and FAO aim to transparently share data and work together to reduce reporting burdens for countries,” said Zhimin Wu. “In signing this agreement, we aim to support our partner countries in more harmonious reporting.” 

For this agreement to succeed, forest experts are working hard to develop the tools and platforms countries need. IUCN’s Restoration Barometer and FAO’s FERM are two such tools which allow countries to report on their progress towards the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Bonn Challenge, among other commitments. “We’ve created quite an ecosystem of support for the UN Decade and the CBD parties to be able to track their own progress at different scales—local, sub-national, and national,” noted Julian Fox, Team Leader for the FAO Forestry Division’s Forest Monitoring and Data Platforms Team. “We’ve really leveraged all the latest innovations to try and help countries set strong targets, area-based targets, and then be able to measure their progress against those targets.” 

Yet robust data must be accompanied by targeted country support to achieve GBF Target 2 and, more broadly, to resolve the most pressing ecological challenges confronting forests and their biodiversity. “The common baseline we can name [for the GBF’s targets] is that all of them, especially the quantitative targets, have increased ambition compared to the last decade,” Jamal Annagylyjova, Forest Biodiversity and Ecosystem Restoration Officer for the UNCBD Secretariat, pointed out. “This means we have to do more in less time.” CBD is providing this targeted support through the development of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs) and the Target 2 Resource Manual. 

“It’s really important, this partnership on the Restoration Barometer, because it brings together biodiversity, climate action, and the Sustainable Development Goals,” says Ruth Irlen, Policy Officer for Forest Conservation and Sustainable Forest Management for Germany’s Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. “That’s what we are supporting from the Ministry for the Environment of Germany: better collaboration and synergies across the Rio Conventions.” Indeed, the panel discussion highlighted the many ways IUCN and its diverse partners are working together to leverage these synergies to restore landscapes and maximize positive outcomes for people and nature.  

Countries and local communities as restoration leaders and innovators 

Ambitious restoration action is happening at many scales, from the international to the local level. At the side event, speakers elaborated on their efforts to restore ecosystems and support communities, particularly within countries. 

The International Model Forest Network (IMFN), for example, is an initiative that emphasizes community-first sustainable forest management. With over 60 Model Forests residing in more than 35 countries, IMFN represents the world’s largest network dedicated to sustainable natural resource management at the landscape level. By emphasizing a partnership-based approach to natural resource management, IMFN and its Regional Model Forest Networks (RMFN) ensure that large-scale community forests consider the interests of all stakeholders and prioritize practical solutions that balance forest conservation, economic development, and community well-being.  

“Over the last several years, we’ve been funding increased activity through some of the International Model Forest Network areas to promote restoration, put more hectares under restoration plans, and to increase training and education for local people, particularly women and girls, on forest management and issues related to the landscape,” explained Monique Frison, Director General of the Canadian Forest Service’s Trade, Economics and Industry Branch, a division of Natural Resources Canada, which is the IMFN Secretariat. The Model Forest governance structure, in particular, offers a framework that incorporates all stakeholders, ensuring decision-making is inclusive and sustainable long-term. This builds resiliency within ecosystems, while also showcasing a scalable model which other communities can emulate. 

In Thailand, the Ngao Model Forest exemplifies these principles. With consultative and technical support from RMFN-Asia, this community forest is focused on fostering climate resilience, sustainable livelihoods, access to finance, and equitable inclusion of women and youth. Thailand is one of six countries which constitute RMFN-Asia, with two more in the region having recently requested to join. “The Model Forest is both a place and a process,” said Preecha Ongprasert, Director of the Thailand Office of Forestry Foreign Affairs and Chair of RMFN-Asia. “We include the Model Forest concept in over 12,000 community forests across [Thailand], covering more than one million hectares.” The number of countries and hectares included in these initiatives are projected to grow, further contributing to the region’s contributions to restoration and sustainability targets. 

Another country implementing ambitious restoration solutions is Türkiye. Through its World Mediterranean Flagship, Türkiye is employing innovative planning and monitoring frameworks to address multifaceted challenges. “The main aim of this flagship is for countries and the region to scale up successful restoration efforts, attract global attention and investment, and act as a basis for joint learning,” explained Eray Ozdemir, General Directorate of Forestry for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of the Republic of Türkiye. 

To reach the country’s restoration goals, Türkiye is administering several innovative programmes focused on issues such as wildfire, desertification, land degradation, and natural resource use. These initiatives focus on targeted impact and cross-cutting themes, while also contributing to international environmental goals—especially the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, which runs through 2030 and strives to halt the degradation of ecosystems while enhancing people’s livelihoods, counteracting climate change, and stopping the collapse of biodiversity. 

Policy coherence is needed to support action on the ground 

Despite the many forest restoration efforts gaining traction, key obstacles threaten their success. Lack of policy coherence within and across countries is a major challenge driving forest loss. Addressing this absence is fundamental to ensuring the success of the many initiatives outlined at this side event and COFO 27 more broadly. “It’s about an all-of-government and cross-sector approach: outlining financial resources, creating an institutional framework, eliminating perverse incentives,” explained Pascal Martinez, Senior Climate Change Specialist at the Global Environment Facility (GEF). “There are different strategies to combat this lack of policy coherence, and we are testing it in our new [Amazon, Congo and Critical Forest Biomes GEF-8 Integrated Program].” 

To promote a more integrated and coherent approach to forest conservation, the GEF has adopted a new “Strategy on Forests,” with the overarching goal to maintain, preserve, and restore the integrity and functioning of forest biomes, primarily in tropical areas. Primary forests represent a priority within this strategy due to their unique ecological value. This priority is exemplified in a new Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) joint initiative aimed at strengthening primary forest conservation through partnership enhancement and coordination of support. Through this initiative, IUCN, FAO, and the GEF will work with partners to raise the visibility of primary forests and their values and to promote policy coherence to conserve these ecosystems. 

Ultimately, this side event demonstrated the powerful impacts that strategic partnerships, knowledge sharing, and innovation can have on efforts aimed at restoring and conserving the world’s forests. “Dialogues such as this strengthen our partnerships and lead us closer to finding solutions to restore, conserve, and protect ecosystems,” emphasized IUCN’s Chetan Kumar. By drawing attention to and amplifying restoration challenges as well as opportunities, IUCN and its many partners will continue to bridge gaps, facilitate dialogue, and support community and ecosystem wellbeing around the world. 

View the full side event on FAO’s website. 

This article was authored by Katherine Poe, Programme Support Associate, Forest and Grasslands Team, Centre for Conservation Action, IUCN.