Bringing together leaders of a growing global movement, GLF Bonn 2019 broke new ground with its commitment to changing the narrative on rights. From cutting-edge issues concerning land tenure to promoting Indigenous rights, the GLF conference freely and openly explored the challenges and contributions of Indigenous Peoples.

Almost one-quarter of the world’s land area has been degraded over the past 50 years because of soil erosion, salinization, peatland and wetland drainage, and forest degradation. The resulting damage, in terms of lost ecosystem goods and services, costs the world an estimated US$6.3 trillion a year.

During the Bonn Challenge 3.0 high-level meeting in Brazil in March 2018, El Salvador indicated its intention to seek the proclamation of the “UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration 2021 – 2030”. This concept note sets out the context, rationale and purpose of this initiative. The distribution of this concept note is intended to reach the international community including governmental and non-governmental actors, UN agencies, and civil society.

Join us in Bonn on June 22–23 alongside the inter-sessional climate talks where the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) will focus the world’s attention on the fundamental importance of rights to address the current environmental crisis. In accelerating action toward creating landscapes that are productive, prosperous, equitable and resilient, the GLF is building its reach to 1 billion people across the world.

From May 8-12, the world’s leading experts on climate change will gather in Kyoto, Japan, 22 years after the signing of the Kyoto Protocol, the first legally binding treaty to cut greenhouse gases. Scheduled to coincide with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) plenary meetings on the “2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories,” the upcoming Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) conference will attract 300 delegates with tens of thousands more engaged in interactive online sessions and guest video addresses around the world.

Over the past several years, commitments and pledges on ‘no deforestation, no peat, no exploitation’ (NDPE) have been made throughout the Indonesian palm oil sector, primarily in response to pressure from NGOs and the public. The NDPE pledges aimed to transform an industry with social and environmental challenges into one that works for people, nature and business.

The outcome statement for GLF Bonn 2018, featuring the key insights and takeaways from the event that took place December 1-2.

Constructive critique. This book provides a critical, evidence-based analysis of REDD+ implementation so far, without losing sight of the urgent need to reduce forest-based emissions to prevent catastrophic climate change.

REDD+ as envisioned has not been tested at scale. Results-based payment, the novel feature of REDD+, has gone untested. International funding (both public and private) remains scarce, and demand through carbon markets is lacking.

The Mau Forest Complex forms the largest closed canopy forest ecosystem in Kenya and is an asset of great national and regional importance. The complex supports a wide range of environmental services crucial for the socioeconomic development of the region. Despite its critical importance in sustaining current and future economic development, the forest has been adversely affected by extensive illegal, irregular and ill-planned settlements, in addition to illegal forest resources extraction.