Recent developments have seen forest landscape restoration (FLR) become widely recognized as an important means of not only restoring ecological integrity at scale but also generating additional local-to-global benefits. This handbook presents the Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM), which provides a flexible and affordable framework for countries to rapidly identify and analyse FLR potential and locate special areas of opportunity at a national or sub-national level.

Bush encroachment is a matter of growing concern in the semi-arid regions of Namibia. Locally adapted, long-term solutions for land restoration must be elaborated. It is crucial that local scientists are empowered to map and monitor the degradation process themselves, our authors maintain.

Accurate biomass estimation is critical to quantify the changes in biomass and carbon stocks following the restoration of degraded landscapes. However, there is lack of site-specific allometric equations for the estimation of aboveground biomass (AGB), which consequently limits our understanding of the contributions of restoration efforts in mitigating climate change. This study was conducted in northwestern Ethiopia to develop a multi-species allometric equation and investigate the spatial and temporal variation of C-stocks following the restoration of degraded landscapes.

Every year in Africa, nearly 3 million hectares of forests are lost and sixty five percent (65%)
of the land is affected by degradation. An estimated 3 percent of GDP is lost annually from
soil and nutrient depletion on cropland. This places forest loss and land degradation among
the key challenges facing Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA). Exacerbated by climate change and
poor management of agricultural lands, forest degradation threatens the water supplies and
ecological functions vital to all SSA economies. Rural smallholder farmers and households

Due to recurring droughts and severe overgrazing, Jordan’s dry rangelands are exceptionally prone to degradation. Establishing both restoration and sustainable rangeland management practices are crucial to reverse the negative impacts on the ecosystem. However, a primary estimate of the native baseline’s water and sediment fluxes is essential to properly target a sustainable transition from degraded to a potentially revegetated landscape status.

Healthy soils are essential for productive and resilient agricultural systems. They are also increasingly recognized as a means to mitigate climate change risks. While solutions for restoring degraded soils and landscapes do exist, improved knowledge and tools are needed to enhance their impacts over time and at scale. WLE has assessed the impacts of various land restoration initiatives and developed a range of tools to better tailor and target investments and interventions to local contexts.

In the United States 20% of privately owned rangelands are vulnerable to accelerated soil loss. Estimated annual costs of direct and indirect damage caused by soil erosion in the United States is $27 billion dollars. More than 50% of Asia and 70% of Middle Eastern rangelands are degraded. Exact estimates of economic costs and total area degraded is unknown; however, costs may be significantly higher than in the United States due to the extent of degradation/desertification in these regions.

The aim of this policy brief is to describe current and historical conflicts over rights to land and natural resources within and surrounding protected areas in Rwanda. We examine the roots of contested claims between citizens and the State and offer some potential avenues for resolving these conflicts in ways that consider both the priorities of the Government of Rwanda and the rights of local communities that depend on protected area resources.

Marrakech, 11 November 2016 – A new report launched today by the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) reveals the crucial role the world’s drylands play in buffering the negative impacts of climate change, land degradation and drought. 

The study’s findings offer the most compelling quantitative evidence to date of the unparalleled role that forest peoples have to play in climate change mitigation, reinforcing the critical importance of collective tenure security for the sustainable use and protection of the world’s tropical forests and the carbon they sequester.