“African countries and their partners need to continue to scale-up their efforts in forest and landscape restoration as a viable solution to climate change and building forward better in response to COVID-19, while also protecting their natural capital. “Extending well beyond tree-planting, forest and landscape restoration is an all-encompassing approach to returning trees and forests to landscapes where they have been lost and is of great benefit to sustainable food production, building resilience and disaster risk reduction,” said Nora Berrahmouni, Senior Forestry Officer, FAO Regional Office for Africa and one of the Review’s lead authors. High-level political support and access to finance are also crucial.ĭifficulties with longer-term finance, land tenure and property rights are major challenges along with insecurity and conflict, lack of technical capacity and restricted access due to poor infrastructure. The Review identifies local ownership and stakeholder engagement as fundamental factors for success. Most of the projects assessed in the Review have a strong climate change dimension, aiming at not only sequestering carbon, but also creating jobs, reducing the vulnerabilities of rural people to food insecurity and helping them adapt to climate changes. “This review of current approaches and exploration of emerging opportunities is key to accelerating restoration efforts.” Through its roadmap for development, Agenda 2063, the African continent commits to ecosystems restoration by protecting, restoring and promoting sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably managing forests, and combating desertification,” said Dr Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, Chief Executive Officer, African Union Development Agency-NEPAD, in his Foreword. “The urgent need to reverse these negative and devastating trends has prompted African leaders to commit to the restoration of the continent’s ecosystems. “Degraded forest landscapes intensify the effects of climate change and are a barrier to building resilient and prosperous communities when 60 percent of Africans depend on their land and their forests.” “Despite our efforts, every year more forest disappears, costing the continent a 3 percent loss of GDP,” said Abebe Haile-Gabriel, FAO Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa in the Review’s Foreword. The Review of Forest and Landscape Restoration in Africa 2021 is a joint analysis carried out by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD and presents the successes so far and the remaining difficulties and opportunities across the continent in restoring land degraded by conversion and forest clearance, overuse of natural resources, urbanization, drought, and other factors. Africa’s drylands are very vulnerable to climate change and their restoration is a priority for adaptation and building resilient and sustainable food systems.

While the overall trend is moving downward, net loss of forests is still increasing in Africa with 4 million hectares of forest disappearing every year. Up to 65 percent of productive land is degraded, while desertification affects 45 percent of Africa’s land area. With the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration underway, review finds successes and many challenges ahead to restore Africa’s degraded lands and improve livelihoodsĢ9 September 2021, Accra – The first ever stocktake of restoring Africa’s forests and landscapes, launched today during Africa Climate Week, shows that more needs to be done to fully tap the enormous opportunity for the continent to return land to sustainable production, protect biodiversity, and shield livelihoods in the battle against climate change. New review finds slow progress in restoring Africa’s degraded lands, urges greater efforts for climate action

Forest landscape