Forest landscape restoration (FLR) requires a long-term commitment from a range of stakeholders to plan the restoration initiative collaboratively and see it through successfully. This is only possible when the people involved – whether they are landholders, indigenous groups, government entities, non-governmental organizations or other crucial actors – come together to define common goals and monitor progress toward those goals.

When development impacts a broad landscape and causes the loss of multiple ecosystem services, decisions about which of these impacts to offset must be made. We use industrial oil-palm developments in Kalimantan and quantify the potential for restoration to offset oil-palm impacts on carbon storage and biodiversity. We developed a unique backcasting approach combined with a spatial conservation prioritisation framework to identify priority areas for restoration offsetting.

The protection and revival of degraded and deforested land is the need of the hour. In order to tackle the issues that arise as a consequence of degradation and deforestation, principles of forest landscape restoration are being globally promoted. The Bonn Challenge is a global effort to bring 150 million hectares of deforested and degraded land into restoration by 2020 and 350 million hectares by 2030. The government of India made a Bonn Challenge pledge to bring under restoration 13 million hectares of degraded land by 2020 and an additional 8 million hectares by 2030.

Biodiversity is inherent in forest landscape restoration. As global initiatives like the Bonn Challenge and New York Declaration on Forests inspire nations to pursue sustainable landscapes and economic growth, on the ground, biodiversity binds people and nature to their shared future. Restoring ‘forward’ to meet current and future landscape challenges requires novel approaches and nature-based solutions. Restoration has the potential to generate billions in economic returns and to mitigate many of the effects of humaninduced climate change.

The Bonn Challenge is a global effort to bring 150 million hectares (Mha) into restoration by 2020 and 350 Mha by 2030. Underlying the Bonn Challenge is the forest landscape restoration (FLR) approach. The Bonn Challenge is a voluntary, non-binding initiative launched to advance the restoration movement and in recognition of the importance of forest landscape restoration for meeting national priorities and international commitments. To date 47 contributors have pledged more than 160 Mha to the Bonn Challenge.

Forest landscape restoration (FLR) provides an opportunity to transform degraded lands into productive landscapes that yield numerous ecological, economic, and social benefits. Many countries have made large-scale commitments under the Bonn Challenge, a global effort to bring 150 million hectares of degraded and deforested land into restoration by 2020 and 350 million hectares by 2030. Achieving this commitment requires decision-makers to address the diverse ecological, sociopolitical, and economic factors that impact restoration efforts at different scales.

This report presents the results of the National Forest Landscape Restoration Assessment (NFLRA) for Malawi. The NFLRA process was launched in February 2016 by the Minister of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining in close collaboration with government departments in the Ministries of Agriculture, Water and Irrigation; Lands; Local Government; Finance; Gender and Social Services; and other concerned stakeholders.

The Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM)1 was developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the World Resources Institute (WRI) to assist countries in identifying opportunities for forest landscape restoration (FLR), analysing priority areas at a national or sub-national level, and designing and implementing FLR interventions. FLR is the long-term process of regaining ecological functionality and enhancing human well-being across deforested or degraded forest landscapes.

The degradation of forests is a threat to both the functioning of ecosystems and the well-being of human communities. Nations have for several years grappled with the challenge of finding ways of restoring forest landscapes that suit the ecological constraints of particular sites as well as the socio-economic circumstances of the landowners or land users, and ensure resilience under various future uncertainties. Forest landscape restoration is a feasible option through which these challenges can be addressed.

This document provides information on how implementing forest landscape restoration (FLR) at the jurisdictional and national level can offer countries a way to recover degraded forests and bring back key forest ecosystem functionalities in a way that will increase biodiversity levels in a landscape while contributing to achieving several Aichi Biodiversity Targets.

Forests are essential for human survival and well-being. They harbour two thirds of all terrestrial animal and plant species. They provide us with food, oxygen, shelter, recreation, and spiritual sustenance, and they are the source for over 5,000 commercially-traded products, ranging from pharmaceuticals to timber and clothing. The biodiversity of forests—the variety of genes, species, and forest ecosystems—underpins these goods and services, and is the basis for long-term forest health and stability.

The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2015 (FRA 2015) development began in June 2011 when the FRA Advisory Group discussed the FRA Long-Term Strategy and its implications for FRA 2015. The design process involved users, national correspondents and experts from a wide variety of technical backgrounds.