Restoring tropical forests from the bottom up

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 355; no. 6324; pp. 455 - 456
• Main Author: Holl, Karen D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Association for the Advancement of Science 03.02.2017; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Brazil; Carbon; Carbon sequestration; Climate; Colombia; Conservation; Deforestation; Environmental restoration; Environmental Restoration and Remediation; Forests; Land use; Landscape; Landscapes; PERSPECTIVES; Restoration; Sequestering; Sustainability; Tropical environments; Tropical forests; United Nations; Venezuela; Water; Water supply
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.aam5432

How can ambitious forest restoration targets be implemented on the ground? Recent initiatives at regional, national, and global scales have called for unprecedented levels of forest restoration to counteract decades of rapid deforestation ( 1 , 2 ). Thus far, 30 countries have committed to restore 91 million hectares (ha) of deforested landscapes, an area the size of Venezuela, by 2020; at the 2014 United Nations Climate Summit, a global target of 350 million ha was set for 2030 ( 1 ). These bold targets are motivated by diverse goals, including conserving biodiversity, sequestering carbon, improving the water supply, and sustaining human livelihoods ( 2 , 3 ). How can these challenging targets be met, given competing land uses and limited funds for restoration?