Reviving Land and Restoring Landscapes Policy Convergence Between Forest Landscape Restoration and Land Degradation Neutrality
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Reviving land and restoring landscapes Policy convergence between forest landscape restoration and land degradation neutrality Leah Gichuki, Rens Brouwer, Jonathan Davies, Adriana Vidal, Mirjam Kuzee, Chris Magero, Sven Walter, Pedro Lara, Christiana Oragbade and Ben Gilbey INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE Supported by: Supported by: based on a decision of the German Bundestag based on a decision of the German Bundestag Reviving land and restoring landscapes Policy convergence between forest landscape restoration and land degradation neutrality Leah Gichuki, Rens Brouwer, Jonathan Davies, Adriana Vidal, Mirjam Kuzee, Chris Magero, Sven Walter, Pedro Lara, Christiana Oragbade and Ben Gilbey The designation of geographical entities in this book, and the presentation of the material, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IUCN or the partner institution concerning the legal status of any country, territory or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of IUCN, UNCCD or its partners institutions. The authors are grateful to Graciela Metternicht, Ermias Betemariam and Peter Saile for their thorough review of the final manuscript. Published by: IUCN, Gland, Switzerland Copyright: © 2019 IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non-commercial purposes is authorised without prior written permission from the copyright holder provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of this publication for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without prior written permission of the copyright holder. Citation: Gichuki, L., Brouwer, R., Davies, J., Vidal, A., Kuzee, M., Magero, C., Walter, S., Lara, P., Oragbade, C. and Gilbey, B. (2019). Reviving land and restoring landscapes: Policy convergence between forest landscape restoration and land degradation neutrality. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. viii + 34pp. ISBN: 978-2-8317-1991-7 (PDF) 978-2-8317-1992-4 (print) DOI: https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.CH.2019.11.en Cover photo: iStock 904833344 Layout by: Scriptoria: www.scriptoria.co.uk Printed by: Nikhil Offset Available from: IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Forest Conservation Programme (FCP) and Global Ecosystem Management Programme (GEMP) Rue Mauverney 28, 1196 Gland, Switzerland Tel +41 22 999 0000, Fax +41 22 999 0002 [email protected] www.iucn.org/resources/publications This report is printed on Rendevouz Super White Fine, made from wood fibre from well-managed forests certified in accordance with the rules of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Contents List of boxes, figures and tables ....................................................................................................iv Foreword ........................................................................................................................................v Executive summary ........................................................................................................................vi Abbreviations ................................................................................................................................viii 1 Introduction to land degradation and landscape restoration .................................................... 1 1.1 Land degradation and restoration ..................................................................................... 1 1.2 A synergistic view of land restoration across the Rio Conventions .................................... 3 1.3 Methodology .................................................................................................................... 6 2 Restoration as an environmental priority ................................................................................... 7 2.1 Land health as the foundation of sustainable development ............................................... 7 2.2 Responses from LDN and FLR commitments to land degradation ................................... 8 2.3 Synergies between the LDN framework and the Bonn Challenge ................................... 13 2.4 Aligning FLR commitments and LDN .............................................................................. 13 3 Analysis of synergies between LDN and the Bonn Challenge ................................................ 15 3.1 Opportunities and challenges to achieving landscape restoration ................................... 15 4 Investing in landscape restoration ......................................................................................... 20 4.1 Investment phases and investors in FLR and LDN .......................................................... 20 4.2 Analysis of investments in LDN and FLR ........................................................................ 21 4.3 Challenges and opportunities for financing LDN and FLR ............................................... 22 5 Capturing synergies to advance landscape restoration .......................................................... 24 5.1 Alignment between the Bonn Challenge and LDN .......................................................... 24 5.2 Priority actions for reviving land and restoring landscapes .............................................. 26 References .................................................................................................................................. 27 Annex 1: Project investment examples based on review of the 13 countries in this analysis ......... 30 Annex 2: Reviewed documents and sources ............................................................................... 34 iii Reviving land and restoring landscapes List of boxes, figures and tables Box 1 Côte d’Ivoire restoration interventions ............................................................................ 17 Box 2 Institutional coordination in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana .................................... 18 Box 3 Tracking FLR progress across the world: The Bonn Challenge Barometer of Progress ...... 19 Figure 1 Proximate and underlying driving forces of land degradation ............................................ 2 Figure 2 Principles of forest landscape restoration ......................................................................... 3 Figure 3 Intertwined challenges and objectives of the Rio Conventions .......................................... 4 Figure 4 Countries with land degradation neutrality target setting reports, Bonn Challenge commitments or both ............................................................................. 6 Figure 5 The relationships between SDG targets and Target 15.3 on Land Degradation Neutrality ............................................................................................. 7 Figure 6 Contribution of FLR to SDGs ........................................................................................... 9 Figure 7 LDN reports that include investments in restoration and sustainable land management ........................................................................................ 10 Figure 8 LDN reports that include response actions for forest, agriculture and grassland ............. 11 Figure 9 Principles of LDN and FLR ............................................................................................. 14 Table 1 Comparison of LDN and Bonn Challenge commitments in 13 countries ......................... 16 Table 2 Major sources of FLR and LDN finance .......................................................................... 21 iv Reviving land and restoring landscapes Foreword The Sustainable Development Goals will continue to influence global development policy in the coming decade, prompting a need for ever greater financial support and political will to achieve the 17 goals. Among these, Goal 15 on the sustainable use and management of land resources embodies a major shift in the way the international community responds and manages land degradation. Four years after its adoption, Goal 15 continues to inspire positive change in global land and landscape restoration efforts, now embodied by the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021–2030, declared by the United Nations General Assembly in March 2019. This is expected to accelerate and further mobilise action and resources to massively scale up restoration, build resilience and reduce vulnerability, while responding to the ever-pressing challenges of sustainable development. This international backing and momentum have the potential to deliver and even surpass global restoration commitments by 2030. The Rio Conventions (the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, UNCCD; the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC; and the Convention on Biological Diversity, CBD) have together championed the political impetus for restoration. Countries have already begun taking the steps towards protecting, sustainably managing and restoring their degraded lands, by committing to national, regional and global initiatives. Country commitments towards the achievement of land degradation neutrality (LDN), a target of Goal 15 and the Bonn Challenge, both by 2030, are two such examples. More than 120 countries have voluntarily engaged in the process of setting national targets to achieve LDN, with the support of the UNCCD, and 56 countries and subnational jurisdictions