Author: Mariam Titus George

1. Global Reforestation - Drivers of success and failure
Mariam Titus George
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13/12/2020

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Proportion and distribution of global forest area by climatic
domain
2020
Source: UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (UN FAO)
Top countries for forest area
% Total cover, 2020
GLOBAL FOREST COVER BY TYPE AND TOP 5 COUNTRIES BY
FOREST AREA

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Global annual forest area net change
million ha, 1990–2020
Direct causes of Deforestation
 Agricultural expansion is the single biggest cause of
deforestation, usually for conversion to arable land for
crop and livestock farming
 Wood extraction includes logging and wood harvesting
used for domestic fuel or charcoal
 Infrastructure expansion
 Increasing urbanisation requires the expansion of
cities and urban areas for which surrounding
forests are destroyed
 Expansion of roads or other infrastructure that is
required to meet increasing economic activity
leads to deforestation
Source: UN FAO; Press Search
GLOBAL ANNUAL DEFORESATION AND CAUSES OF
DEFORESTATION

4.  United nations driven initiatives
• One of the main aims of the UNFCC (United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change) is
reducing deforestation
• REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and
forest degradation) as part of the UNFCC incentivises
countries to combat deforestation
§ Zero deforestation policies
• Legislative triggers set up by individual nations to
combat deforestation locally
 Reforestation programs by nations and corporations that
seek to undo the effects of deforestation by planting more
trees or forests
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Measures against deforestation
Source: Press Search
NOT EXHAUSTIVE
Focus of following slides
EXAMPLES OF MEASURES AGAINST DEFORESTION

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Global reforestation
million ha/annum, 1990–2020
World's largest reforestation efforts
Usambara Biodiversity
Conservation, Tanzania
Aims to preserve biodiversity in the East
Arc Mountains
Copaíba, Brazil
Aims to bring back biodiversity to one of
the most endangered and biodiverse
biomes in the world
Ketrawe Agroforestry, Bolivia
Aims to restore forests lost to agriculture
by planting trees between fields
Source: UN FAO; Press Search
ILLUSTRATIVE
GLOBAL REFORESTATION AND EXAMPLES OF
REFORESATION PROGRAMS

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Revegetation
method
Relates to the choice of processes used in reforestation, the right choice of
which may lead to success or failure e.g. direct seeding or hydroseeding
Socioeconomic
incentives
Includes incentives offered to farmers, corporation and indigenous population
for the promotion of reforestation in certain regions e.g. subsidies
Forest protection
mechanisms
Relates to protection of forests enforced by law or other government
mechanisms to forests and/or reforested areas
Sustainable
livelihoods
Large groups of people rely on forests for their livelihoods, reforestation
programs should consider sustainability for these groups to be successful
Diversification of
funding and
partnerships
Broad based partnerships are required to drive reforestation that can meet
the needs of all groups of society and the environmental sustainability
Source: Press Search
REFORESTATION – SUCCESS FACTORS

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Environmental
research
Failure to adequately understand environmental characteristics of reforestation
sites may lead to adverse effects on the site and failure of the program
Contradictory
goals
The goals of reforestation programs must be clear and beneficial to all those
involved. Failing which, such programs cannot effect long term benefits to the
environment
For instance the Bonn challenge (Germany) aims to plant 350mn trees by
2030, however most of these trees are likely to be cut for paper production
Undiversified
funding sources
Funding for reforesations programs from one source or group of sources limits
the achievement of multiple benefits as required of reforestation
Undervaluing
natural forests
Natural forests have complex ecosystems that can store much more carbon
than plantations. The prevalance of monocultural plantations in place of
natural forests hampers the success of reforestation programs in the long run
Source: Press Search
REFORESTATION – DRIVERS OF FAILURE

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