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Outcome Statement Outcome Statement 01 Connecting Communities: Accelerating action for a sustainable world 19-20 December 2017 - Bonn, Germany globallandscapesforum.org Coordinating partners Funding partners Global Landscapes Forum Connecting communities: Accelerating action for a sustainable world. 02 Outcome Statement 03 The Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) entered a new and offered solutions to the most pressing era in December 2017 when it successfully launched challenges facing landscapes. Another 70,000 people its next five-year phase, centered on building a from 114 countries engaged online during the two worldwide movement to connect and engage one days of the Forum, with 42 million others joining the billion people around sustainable land use. conversation via social media. The inaugural meeting of this ‘new’ GLF was held Convened by a multi-sector consortium of global from 19-20 December at the World Conference actors on landscapes, the GLF in Bonn featured four Center in Bonn, Germany, where the movement interactive plenaries, 18 informative ‘Discussion will take up residence over the next five years. With Forums’, 30 dynamic ‘Landscape Talks’ (modeled after the generous support of the German Government the fast-paced TED Talks), five ‘thematic pavilions’ – via the Ministries for the Environment, Nature (clustered exhibition booths), four ‘Launchpads’ Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) (press conferences), an award ceremony and various and for Economic Cooperation and Development networking and side events. More than 80 host (BMZ) – the GLF will host an annual gathering in organizations participated in the GLF, contributing Bonn from 2017-2022, to check in on progress to a diverse agenda structured around the GLF’s five throughout the year on making a difference to major themes: Restoration, Finance, Rights, Food and communities and landscapes around the world. Livelihoods, and Measuring Progress. Co-created by the Center for International Forestry The GLF is nourished by major global research Research (CIFOR), UN Environment and the World partnerships. Among them is the CGIAR Research Bank in 2013 at the UNFCCC Climate Conference, Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA) the GLF has long established itself as the world’s — the world’s largest research-for-development largest gathering on sustainable landscapes. Since its partnership focused on the contribution of forests, inception, it has organized seven global summits in trees and agroforestry to addressing climate change, Warsaw, London, Paris, Lima, Marrakesh, Jakarta and improving food security and fostering sustainable most recently, Bonn. landscapes. At the most recent summit in Germany, more than FTA provides science, knowledge and an evidence 1,000 people from 104 countries – including world base to feed into discussions between stakeholders leaders, environmental activists, celebrities, youth, at the GLF, so they can learn about the latest in policymakers, Indigenous groups, researchers, science, and consider how that science can be scientists, media and more – collectively addressed integrated into different institutional and policy frameworks to incite tangible change on the ground. Key Outcomes 1,026 >104 86% 52% >42 Million people participants countries potentially reached through Twitter of surveyed of surveyed participants found participants the event to be of indicated that their joined online host organizations good or excellent involvement in convened in Bonn quality, allowing via livestream 81 the event spurred >70,000 (YouTube and them to learn and or will spur them participants share knowledge to action around Facebook Live) around landscapes landscapes Global Landscapes Forum Connecting communities: Accelerating action for a sustainable world. 04 OPENING PLENARY We face complex challenges Solutions require knowledge, and if we try to solve them by and knowledge starts with looking sector by sector- look- good data. Therefore, research ing at forests, looking at agri- should not be viewed as an ex- culture, looking at cities - we pense, but as an investment in are not going to solve them. our common future. Our only hope is to look at the whole picture – the landscape H.E. Ameenah Gurib Fakin approach. President of Mauritius Robert Nasi Director General, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) Minister Barbara Hendricks of Germany’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) concurred. To meet the current challenges, she championed the following actions: Make the land-use sector the focus With these words, Robert Nasi, CIFOR’s Director of global efforts, agree on effective measures, and be General, set the tone for the Forum. Distinguished willing to make compromises and trade-offs. guests in the plenaries that followed rose to the challenge, highlighting numerous opportunities and Stefan Schmitz of Germany’s Federal Ministry of synergies in the pursuit of protecting and improving Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) sustainable landscapes. ventured further, with a proposal that “the future of humankind will be decided – first and foremost – in The President of Mauritius, H.E. Ameenah Gurib rural areas”. Both Hendricks and Schmitz agreed that Fakin, stressed the urgency for sustainable a platform for exchange would be fundamental landscapes, noting that humanity’s very existence to achieving progress, emphasizing that the GLF is intimately and inextricably linked to the would play a decisive role in facilitating dialogue and environment. While she acknowledged the ongoing creating and pooling relevant expertise, which is decline of biodiversity, a growing human footprint urgently required. and the unpredictable climate, she recognized that sustainable landscape management represents a significant opportunity – provided that the complex interdependencies of environment, culture and economy within landscapes are recognized. Outcome Statement 05 We need to put evidence There is nothing wrong with based data into the hands creating a profit from the of finance ministers, so that development of sustainable they know what the cost of landscapes, what is wrong is environmental degradation is. profiting from the ongoing We need to show proof that it depletion of the Earth’s is possible to restore land and resources. that it can be done in a cost effective way. Erik Solheim Executive Director, UN Environment Karin Kemper Senior Director for the Environment and Natural Resources Global Practice, World Bank UN Environment Executive Director Erik Solheim In addition to underlining the need for urgency, revisited the theme of cross-sector dialogue, urging Karin Kemper, Senior Director for the Environment environmentalists to broaden their perspective. and Natural Resources Global Practice at the World In order for sustainable landscapes to be viable, Bank, emphasized the need to recognize the he suggests that their management be linked to significant economic gains to be made from job creation. He highlighted the need to engage halting deforestation and degradation activities. a diverse range of stakeholders, including local For one, demand for timber products is expected communities, the private sector, and faith-based to quadruple by 2040. Moreover, recent research groups; namely those groups already displaying shows that the incorporation of trees in landscapes their capacity to rally others for change. increases crop yield and food security significantly, and mitigates disaster risk. Given this context, Kemper encouraged enhancement in three key areas to speed-up and scale-up action for landscapes: information, innovation and incentives. Global Landscapes Forum Connecting communities: Accelerating action for a sustainable world. 06 KEY MESSAGES Despite the rich diversity of stakeholders and as women and youth actively engaged, so that they issues presented at the GLF, there were striking can inform – as opposed to being solely impacted commonalities across the various sessions by – the intervention. and side events. While they do not represent consensus across the entire Forum, the messages Restoring ecosystems and below, categorized under the GLF’s core themes, reappeared frequently, and summarize several key ecosystem services will come challenges and opportunities in moving towards with economic and social more sustainable landscapes. benefits at the local and national level. Lina Pohl Restoration Minister of the Environment, El Salvador Unsurprisingly, given recent global commitments, restoration featured prominently on this year’s GLF FLR activities should therefore be holistically co- agenda. 13 out of the total 18 Discussion Forums designed with continuous moderation, such that the identified restoration as a relevant theme. Topics diversity of actors, and their specific roles, knowledge probed included: Which ecosystems to prioritize and motivations, are well understood and utilized. and at what scale? What strategies to adopt? How Co-development of the process can help clarify the to build capacity to undertake restoration? Below, roles of government and the private sector, and we highlight several key pre-requisites, challenges identify accessibility to markets – factors considered and opportunities for Forest landscape restoration fundamental to progress. Finally, it was proposed (FLR), as identified across the various GLF Discussion that if issues related to rights, tenure and governance Forums. were more openly expressed prior to implementation,