<p>Planet imagery — including all new and historical mosaics — are no longer available on GFW as of April 1, 2025. For more information on this change and an overview of the other satellite imagery already available on GFW, please <a href="https://gfw.global/3RlGb6f">read our blog</a>. We would also love to know more about how you use imagery &#8211; <a href="https://gfw.global/3G0z9BL">please complete our short survey</a>.</p>


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<p>The Spatial Database of Planted Trees (SDPT) is a global, living database of planted forest and tree crop boundaries aimed at differentiating planted trees from natural forests. The next version is in development, and we are seeking recommendations for planted forest or tree crop data sets that could strengthen the database &#8211; <a href="https://gfw.global/4ijTAb1">fill out this form</a> to share your input. Your feedback will help enhance the database on GFW and ensure it evolves with the best available data.</p>


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Forest Insights

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restoration

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Katie Reytar

Victoria Rachmaninoff

René Zamora-Cristales

Peter Potapov

Tree Cover Is Still Declining Overall in Latin America, but New Data Shows Where It’s Coming Back

New analysis from WRI and UMD shows that while Latin America lost more tree cover than it gained from 2015 to 2023, restoration progress is being made.

Tree Cover Is Still Declining Overall in Latin America, but New Data Shows Where It’s Coming Back | Forest Insights | Global Forest Watch Blog

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Brazil

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Jefferson Ferreira-Ferreira

Luciana Alves

Carlos Leandro de Oliveira Cordeiro

Miguel Calmon

<p>In 2022, Global Forest Watch (GFW) in partnership with <a href="https://landcarbonlab.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Land & Carbon Lab</a> <a href="https://www.globalforestwatch.org/blog/data-and-tools/new-gfw-tree-cover-gain-net-change-data/">released new tree cover gain data</a> from the University of Maryland that shows <a href="https://www.wri.org/insights/tracking-global-tree-cover-gain" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">where and how much land has gained tree cover globally</a> between 2000 and 2020. This data set provided much-needed information to complement data on tree cover loss, revealing a more complete picture of forest change dynamics.</p>



<p>We’ve <a href="https://www.globalforestwatch.org/blog/data-and-tools/new-gfw-tree-cover-gain-net-change-data/">now added a new dimension</a> to the gain data showing not just the cumulative change between 2000 and 2020, but also how much tree cover was gained in the intervening five-year periods — 2000-2005, 2005-2010, 2010-2015, and 2015-2020. Data from these intervals provides valuable information on the global trajectory and pace of gain, which can help us better track the extent to which tree cover is coming back. This can include gain resulting from <a href="https://www.wri.org/forest-landscape-restoration-principles" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">forest landscape restoration</a>, which typically involves a variety of strategic interventions that lead to increased tree cover across the landscape.</p>



<p>While we now have a better global picture of tree cover gain, the data captures a wide variety of forms of tree cover, from industrial scale monoculture of Eucalyptus and oil palm — which are not typically considered forms of restoration — to regenerating natural forests. This means that though the data does include gain resulting from forest landscape restoration, it is difficult to identify or measure the success of restoration investments and interventions using the tree cover gain data alone.</p>



<p>Some contextual data, such as mapped plantations from the <a href="https://www.wri.org/research/spatial-database-planted-trees-sdpt-version-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Spatial Database of Planted Trees</a>, can provide additional information that can help users distinguish gain in plantations from more natural forms of tree cover gain. However, local information — such as geographic information on where and what type of restoration activities are taking place — is the most useful for interpreting what is actually occurring in different locations and whether it would count toward <a href="https://research.wri.org/gfr/forest-targets-tracker" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">achieving global targets</a>.</p>



<p>In this blog, we explore a few such examples in Brazil where we see areas of gain, but that represent very different scenarios for what is happening on the ground.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Tree cover gain data can capture restoration successes</h2>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><em>Landless Rural Workers Movement supports forest regeneration in Pará State</em></h3>



<p>The Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) is a national social movement in Brazil that focuses on agrarian land reform, seeking to achieve a self-sustainable way of life for rural poor in the country. It is the largest rural network of smallholder farmers in Latin America, supporting more than 450,000 families.</p>



<p>In 2004, MST began occupying the Abril Vermelho settlement in Pará State, an area of 6,668 hectares that had previously been used for oil palm monoculture and belonged to a bankrupt palm oil company. The land was then designated for agrarian reform and became a rural settlement. Today, Abril Vermelho has more than 300 families <a href="https://www.wri.org/insights/amazon-restoration-brazil-agrarian-reform-settlements" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dedicated to producing food with sustainable practices</a>.</p>



<p>When MST arrived, the land was degraded including an unbalanced insect population, poor soil quality and deteriorated water springs. MST first planted small crops of beans, corn and manioc. Over the years they experimented with several management practices to improve soil productivity, cope with pests and improve water quality and quantity. The settled families practiced agroecology, an approach focused on the recovery of native vegetation through the elimination of oil palm production areas, allowing the forest to regenerate.</p>



<p>The main practice in the settlement today is agroforestry, where food crops are introduced in the regenerating forests, or native tree species are planted among food crops.</p>



<p>The tree cover gain data captures the successful restoration efforts that resulted from forest regeneration and native tree species planting. The data shows that the landscape of Abril Vermelho gained a total of 1,981 hectares between 2000 and 2020, with the vast majority (89%) of the new tree cover gained between 2000 and 2010, corresponding with when MST began occupying and settling the area.</p>



<div class="flourish-embed flourish-chart" data-src="visualisation/20025052?163031"><script src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/embed.js"></script><noscript><img decoding="async" src="https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/20025052/thumbnail" width="100%" alt="chart visualization" /></noscript></div>



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<p><em>Blue pixels show the tree cover gain in the Abril Vermelho settlement area.</em></p>



<p>Forest restoration and assisted natural regeneration in the settlement became part of MST’s program “Plant Trees – Produce Healthy Food” launched in 2020, which aims to plant 100 million trees all over the country. Besides being a significant contribution for their agroecology practices, this initiative is a strong contributor to Brazilian restoration goals and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Future updates to the gain data combined with local information will help to visualize and measure the impact of this initiative.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><em>Restoration of ecological corridors gives hope to black lion tamarin population in São Paulo</em></h3>



<p>In the Pontal do Paranapanema region, located in the western corner of São Paulo state between the Parana and Paranapanema Rivers, a project to save the endangered black lion tamarin evolved into a landscape-scale restoration project that has successfully restored thousands of hectares of forest cover to support the lion tamarins’ habitat. Once thought to be extinct, the population of black lion tamarins has recovered significantly, largely due to the landscape-scale restoration in and around the only forests where they are known to exist.</p>



<p><a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsos.200939" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">A combination of factors</a> and collaboration across several sectors led to the successful restoration of the region. These factors included scientists and researchers educating local farmers about conservation and agroforestry, agreements with government to include conservation area in land titles for newly settled farming communities, and coordination among local farmers and researchers to set aside certain areas to create forest corridors that allow the tamarins and other wildlife to move freely between the larger forests of Morro do Diabo State Park and the Mico Leão Preto Ecological Station. Brazil’s forest code, which obligates landowners to reforest riparian areas, created an incentive for reforestation of these corridors, and funding for the restoration activities was secured through dozens of organizations via voluntary carbon markets.</p>



<p>The tree cover gain data shows the results of these efforts for forest recovery. The Pontal do Paranapanema landscape gained a total of 2,476 hectares of tree cover between 2000 and 2020 with nearly three-quarters of that gain occurring after 2010, which reflects the dedicated efforts of the community to reforest the ecological corridors that began in 2012.</p>



<div class="flourish-embed flourish-chart" data-src="visualisation/20025099?163031"><script src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/embed.js"></script><noscript><img decoding="async" src="https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/20025099/thumbnail" width="100%" alt="chart visualization" /></noscript></div>



<p>The tree cover gain data also shows the results of restoration across the ecological corridors connecting the Morro do Diabo State Park to the Mico Leão Preto Ecological Station.</p>



<iframe loading="lazy" width="670" height="490" frameborder="0" src="https://www.globalforestwatch.org/embed/map/?map=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%3D%3D"></iframe>



<p><em>Blue pixels show the tree cover gain in forested corridors between the forests of Morro do Diabo State Park, the Mico Leão Preto Ecological Station, other patch forest and the Paranapanema River.</em></p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Not all tree cover gain is restoration</h2>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><em>Production forests dominate the landscape in Southern Bahia state</em></h3>



<p>Southern Bahia in eastern Brazil is known for its diverse ecosystems and agricultural practices. Though one of the main agricultural activities, growing cacao, uses agroforestry systems, the region has also been a significant hub for cultivating eucalyptus over the past few decades. Eucalyptus is a non-native species that is used in manufacturing pulp and paper as well as various other uses like energy.</p>



<p>Historically, companies were drawn to the region due to the availability of large, inexpensive tracts of land that were ideal for mechanized practices. The favorable climate and soil conditions supported the rapid growth of tree species like eucalyptus and pine. Additionally, government policies, including fiscal incentives and investments from the National Social and Economic Development Bank (BNDES), further encouraged the expansion of tree plantations. Many of these plantations were established on previously degraded lands implementing ecological zoning systems to ensure ecosystems protection, promoting ecological restoration and native species in a “mosaic approach,” and adopting sustainable forestry practices, such as reduced-impact logging and maintaining buffer zones around water bodies to prevent soil erosion and protect water quality.</p>



<p>This has attracted large companies to grow and harvest eucalyptus, resulting in high eucalyptus production. Due to the expansion of eucalyptus and native species, the Southern Bahia region gained 220,100 hectares of tree cover between 2000 and 2020, which translates to a more than 5% increase in tree cover.</p>



<div class="flourish-embed flourish-chart" data-src="visualisation/20023118?163031"><script src="https://public.flourish.studio/resources/embed.js"></script><noscript><img decoding="async" src="https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/20023118/thumbnail" width="100%" alt="chart visualization" /></noscript></div>



<iframe loading="lazy" width="670" height="490" frameborder="0" src="https://www.globalforestwatch.org/embed/map/?map=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%3D%3D"></iframe>



<p><em>In Bahia state, tree cover gain is widespread, but represents a large network of eucalyptus plantations and monoculture, which is typically not considered restoration.</em></p>



<iframe loading="lazy" width="670" height="490" frameborder="0" src="https://www.globalforestwatch.org/embed/map/?map=eyJjZW50ZXIiOnsibGF0IjotMTcuOTUzMzA3NjA5MjA1NDI4LCJsbmciOi0zOS44NTYyODQ1MTQ3OTcyOH0sInpvb20iOjEzLjUwOTIzNzI1NTI1NDg2OSwiYmFzZW1hcCI6eyJ2YWx1ZSI6InNhdGVsbGl0ZSIsImNvbG9yIjoiIiwibmFtZSI6InBsYW5ldF9tZWRyZXNfdmlzdWFsXzIwMjQtMDlfbW9zYWljIiwiaW1hZ2VUeXBlIjoidmlzdWFsIn0sImRhdGFzZXRzIjpbeyJkYXRhc2V0IjoidHJlZS1jb3Zlci1nYWluLTV5Iiwib3BhY2l0eSI6MSwidmlzaWJpbGl0eSI6dHJ1ZSwibGF5ZXJzIjpbInRyZWUtY292ZXItZ2Fpbi01eSJdfSx7ImRhdGFzZXQiOiJ0cmVlLWNvdmVyLWdhaW4iLCJvcGFjaXR5IjowLjU3LCJ2aXNpYmlsaXR5Ijp0cnVlLCJsYXllcnMiOlsidHJlZS1jb3Zlci1nYWluLTIwMDEtMjAyMCJdfSx7ImRhdGFzZXQiOiJwb2xpdGljYWwtYm91bmRhcmllcyIsImxheWVycyI6WyJkaXNwdXRlZC1wb2xpdGljYWwtYm91bmRhcmllcyIsInBvbGl0aWNhbC1ib3VuZGFyaWVzIl0sIm9wYWNpdHkiOjEsInZpc2liaWxpdHkiOnRydWV9XX0%3D"></iframe>



<p><em>Detailed view of eucalyptus plantations in Nova Viçosa, Bahia, Brazil.</em></p>



<p>Despite the increase in tree cover captured by the tree cover gain data, these plantations are not typically considered restoration. This is because plantations, especially those involving non-native species, do not restore the original biodiversity and ecological functions of the native ecosystems they replace. While they may contribute to carbon sequestration and other ecosystem services, they are not considered true ecological restoration.</p>



<p>In the case of Southern Bahia, the consolidation of land ownership by the companies cultivating eucalyptus has caused conflict with local organizations and communities due to impact on the landscape, among other issues. An initiative was established in 2005 that led to a national Forest Dialogue and regional forums to promote collaborative efforts to minimize the environmental impacts of eucalyptus plantations. Now, a program led by the Forest Dialogue has assigned several locations as conservation areas, and the companies are enacting restoration programs and initiatives to form ecological corridors.</p>



<p>Future data will reveal whether the region continues to gain tree cover. However, more localized information will be necessary to determine how much of this gain can be attributed to the restoration efforts led by those companies and how much is due to plantations. As a start, we know that there are 19,300 hectares of restoration reported in the Bahia state in the Brazilian Restoration and Reforestation Observatory, although the amount of reported restoration is known to be underrepresented.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">What does this mean for using the tree cover gain data?</h2>



<p>The new data on tree cover gain represents a significant step forward in understanding the dynamics of forest change from space, and as the best-available global data, significantly expands the scale at which we can view such changes. Being able to see this gain in five-year intervals, instead of just as one 20-year cumulative sum, provides important detail on the timing of when new tree cover was established and the trajectory, which are important for monitoring efforts and tracking restoration targets over time. Additionally, when combined with data on tree cover loss, it provides the missing piece on calculating net tree cover change.</p>



<p>However, there are limitations in how this data can be used. Satellites can more easily capture taller trees with at least 10% canopy cover — which means that newly sprouting growth is seldom counted. Furthermore, even though the new five-year periods provide a more complete picture of gain, there is still a lag time between when tree growth begins and when it can be detected.</p>



<p>The Bonn Challenge, UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and other major global initiatives have helped national governments and other communities to set priorities and channel investments toward restoration, but global data on tree cover gain or other types of land cover change alone can’t measure their success. Detailed landscape restoration plans, as well as georeferenced information on local projects and investments, are still important for understanding the scope and scale of restoration success.</p>



<p>For example, the <a href="https://www.africa.terramatch.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">TerraFund for AFR100</a> initiative, which channels funding to restoration projects in Africa, has developed a <a href="https://terramatchsupport.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/21178354112539-The-TerraFund-Monitoring-Reporting-and-Verification-Framework" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification Framework</a> that outlines a clear set of indicators and standards for how to measure and report information on restoration progress, integrating both field-based and satellite-based sources of data.</p>



<p>Further advancements to the tree cover gain data will continue to improve its usefulness. For example, dedicated research to differentiate natural tree cover gain from industrial or plantation-based gain has <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-022-00904-w" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">been successfully applied</a> to a prior version of tree cover gain data, with plans to expand this research to the 20-year gain data shortly. But in addition to improving global data, tying local information on actions to the global data on change will continue to be critical for monitoring restoration at scale, and having confidence that we are achieving our goals to restore degraded landscapes.</p>



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What can Tree Cover Gain Data Tell Us About Restoration? Perspectives from Brazil

O que os dados de ganho de cobertura arbórea podem nos dizer sobre restauração? Perspectivas do Brasil

This blog explores case studies in Brazil where we see tree cover gain, but that are not always restoration.

What can Tree Cover Gain Data Tell Us About Restoration? Brazil Case Studies

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Hear stories from the forest defenders working in the field.

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Isabela Barriga

<p><em>A decade ago, the launch of Global Forest Watch (GFW) ushered in a new era of accountability and transparency around monitoring and protecting the world’s forests. To celebrate 10 years of impact, our </em><strong><em>Voices of Global Forest Watch</em></strong><em> </em><strong><em>series</em></strong><em> will highlight successes of GFW users, partners and community members throughout the year. We invite you to read, watch and share the stories of exceptional leaders in forest monitoring who have played a pivotal role in protecting forests everywhere.&nbsp;</em>&nbsp;</p>



<iframe loading="lazy" width="560" height="450" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qbCzN9S6iCQ?si=7bfjPsSX-rJt3mGf" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>



<p></p>



<p><strong>“We believe at Hen Mpoano that conservation without livelihood is a mere conversation.”</strong> – <em>Justice Camillus Mensah, Project Manager at Hen Mpoano.&nbsp;</em></p>



<p><a href="https://henmpoano.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hen Mpoano</a>, a two-time recipient of GFW’s <a href="https://www.globalforestwatch.org/grants-and-fellowships/projects/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Small Grants Fund</a> (SGF), is a nonprofit organization based in Ghana working to protect and restore the Takoradi Forest District in southwestern Ghana, home to two important reserves: Cape Three Points Forest Reserve and Subri River Forest Reserve, which is the largest forest reserve in the country and is designated as a Global Significant Biodiversity Area.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“My passion for forests is from growing up along the coasts and being exposed to mangrove exploitation. But when I got to know the importance of mangroves, I decided to use technology that I love to protect mangroves and any other coastal resource, including the coastal terrestrial forests,” said Justice. “Forest is life. I keep telling the people that indeed when the last tree dies, the last man will also die.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>Justice was able to channel his passion into working with Hen Mpoano in 2013. Over the past decade, he has contributed immensely to ongoing campaigns for coastal ecosystem conservation in Ghana and other African countries.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>During Hen Mpoano’s SGF projects, they worked to strengthen effective forest law compliance and enforcement, including pro-conservation action among forest fringing communities — all of which has been effective in reducing deforestation.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>According to Justice, forest law enforcement in Ghana is almost impossible without community involvement.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="2048" height="1365" src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_1530-2048x1365.jpg" alt="Community members training to use GFW tools" class="wp-image-17227" srcset="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_1530-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_1530-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_1530-768x512.jpg 768w, https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_1530-1536x1024.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Credit: Hen Mpoano</figcaption></figure>



<p>“We use a community-based approach to forest monitoring and protection. Members from forest fringing communities have been resourced through hands-on training on Global Forest Watch data and tools, in combination with other tools, to collect data on a regular basis,” said Justice.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>With smart phones and GPS devices, the community forest monitoring teams collect evidence of forest crimes such as GPS coordinates and geotagged pictures. This data is then used to identify hotspots of forest crimes and used to generate maps using <a href="https://mapbuilder.wri.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MapBuilder</a> and other software. These maps are shared confidentially with the Forest Services Division to help trigger enforcement action and target limited resources to hotspots.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>This work also led to an agreement for the Wildlife Division to provide armed staff support for enforcement in the two reserves. Through this joint effort, more than 70 culprits have been arrested for various infractions, particularly illegal mining.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>Hen Mpoano now applies GFW tools and data to monitor mangrove and freshwater swamp in a project funded by the U.S. Forest Service&nbsp;—&nbsp;a landscape also undergoing mangrove restoration through <a href="https://www.africa.terramatch.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">TerraFund for AFR100</a>. Hen Mpoano’s approach involves not only restoration and planting, but also strengthening conservation efforts in the area by engaging community members to monitor landscape changes using GFW.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Hen Mpoano has faced challenges, particularly with forest patrols where culprits have confronted community monitoring teams, forest officers and even Hen Mpoano staff. However, data and technology such as GFW has helped equip forest monitors with tools to continue their work.&nbsp;</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="2048" height="1365" src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_8842-2048x1365.jpg" alt="Community member using GFW tools" class="wp-image-17226" srcset="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_8842-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_8842-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_8842-768x512.jpg 768w, https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_8842-1536x1024.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Credit: Hen Mpoano</figcaption></figure>



<p>“In my opinion, GFW has cemented the collaborative management approach by providing citizens the tools and skill to be a part of forest protection. The community members feel very much empowered,” said Justice. “If Ghana’s status as the leading country in rainforest loss can be reversed, my team has a great role to play in that process. We will not relent until we see positive change.”&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p><a href="https://henmpoano.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Learn more about Hen Mpoano here.</em></a>&nbsp;</p>



<p><em>If you are interested in supporting Hen Mpoano to continue to expand their work to protect and restore forest landscapes, contact <a href="mailto:info@henmpoano.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">info@henmpoano.org</a>.</em>&nbsp;</p>



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Video filmed at the Land & Carbon Lab Summit in June 2023.

 

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Voices of Global Forest Watch: Justice Camillus Mensah, Hen Mpoano 

<p><em>A decade ago, the launch of Global Forest Watch (GFW) ushered in a new era of accountability and transparency around monitoring and protecting the world’s forests. To celebrate 10 years of impact, our </em><strong><em>Voices of Global Forest Watch</em></strong><em> </em><strong><em>series</em></strong><em> will highlight successes of GFW users, partners and community members throughout the year. We invite you to read, watch and share the stories of exceptional leaders in forest monitoring who have played a pivotal role in protecting forests everywhere.&nbsp;</em>&nbsp;</p>



<iframe width="560" height="450" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qbCzN9S6iCQ?si=7bfjPsSX-rJt3mGf" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>



<p></p>



<p><strong>“We believe at Hen Mpoano that conservation without livelihood is a mere conversation.”</strong> - <em>Justice Camillus Mensah, Project Manager at Hen Mpoano.&nbsp;</em></p>



<p><a href="https://henmpoano.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hen Mpoano</a>, a two-time recipient of GFW’s <a href="https://www.globalforestwatch.org/grants-and-fellowships/projects/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Small Grants Fund</a> (SGF), is a nonprofit organization based in Ghana working to protect and restore the Takoradi Forest District in southwestern Ghana, home to two important reserves: Cape Three Points Forest Reserve and Subri River Forest Reserve, which is the largest forest reserve in the country and is designated as a Global Significant Biodiversity Area.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“My passion for forests is from growing up along the coasts and being exposed to mangrove exploitation. But when I got to know the importance of mangroves, I decided to use technology that I love to protect mangroves and any other coastal resource, including the coastal terrestrial forests,” said Justice. “Forest is life. I keep telling the people that indeed when the last tree dies, the last man will also die.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>Justice was able to channel his passion into working with Hen Mpoano in 2013. Over the past decade, he has contributed immensely to ongoing campaigns for coastal ecosystem conservation in Ghana and other African countries.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>During Hen Mpoano’s SGF projects, they worked to strengthen effective forest law compliance and enforcement, including pro-conservation action among forest fringing communities — all of which has been effective in reducing deforestation.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>According to Justice, forest law enforcement in Ghana is almost impossible without community involvement.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_1530-2048x1365.jpg" alt="Community members training to use GFW tools" class="wp-image-17227"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Credit: Hen Mpoano</figcaption></figure>



<p>“We use a community-based approach to forest monitoring and protection. Members from forest fringing communities have been resourced through hands-on training on Global Forest Watch data and tools, in combination with other tools, to collect data on a regular basis,” said Justice.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>With smart phones and GPS devices, the community forest monitoring teams collect evidence of forest crimes such as GPS coordinates and geotagged pictures. This data is then used to identify hotspots of forest crimes and used to generate maps using <a href="https://mapbuilder.wri.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MapBuilder</a> and other software. These maps are shared confidentially with the Forest Services Division to help trigger enforcement action and target limited resources to hotspots.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>This work also led to an agreement for the Wildlife Division to provide armed staff support for enforcement in the two reserves. Through this joint effort, more than 70 culprits have been arrested for various infractions, particularly illegal mining.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>Hen Mpoano now applies GFW tools and data to monitor mangrove and freshwater swamp in a project funded by the U.S. Forest Service&nbsp;—&nbsp;a landscape also undergoing mangrove restoration through <a href="https://www.africa.terramatch.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">TerraFund for AFR100</a>. Hen Mpoano’s approach involves not only restoration and planting, but also strengthening conservation efforts in the area by engaging community members to monitor landscape changes using GFW.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Hen Mpoano has faced challenges, particularly with forest patrols where culprits have confronted community monitoring teams, forest officers and even Hen Mpoano staff. However, data and technology such as GFW has helped equip forest monitors with tools to continue their work.&nbsp;</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_8842-2048x1365.jpg" alt="Community member using GFW tools" class="wp-image-17226"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Credit: Hen Mpoano</figcaption></figure>



<p>“In my opinion, GFW has cemented the collaborative management approach by providing citizens the tools and skill to be a part of forest protection. The community members feel very much empowered,” said Justice. “If Ghana’s status as the leading country in rainforest loss can be reversed, my team has a great role to play in that process. We will not relent until we see positive change.”&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p><a href="https://henmpoano.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Learn more about Hen Mpoano here.</em></a>&nbsp;</p>



<p><em>If you are interested in supporting Hen Mpoano to continue to expand their work to protect and restore forest landscapes, contact <a href="mailto:info@henmpoano.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">info@henmpoano.org</a>.</em>&nbsp;</p>



<hr> 

<div class="attribute" style="”padding-bottom:" 10px;”="">
 

Video filmed at the Land & Carbon Lab Summit in June 2023.

 

</div> 

 

<hr>



<style type="text/css"></style>

As part of our Voices of Global Forest Watch series, watch and read about Justice Camillus Mensah's work with Ghana nonprofit Hen Mpoano.

Voices of GFW: Justice Camillus Mensah, Hen Mpoano 

commodities

commodities | Global Forest Watch Blog

policy

policy | Global Forest Watch Blog

David Gibbs

Nancy Harris

<p>In 2014, the future of forests looked bright. Governments, companies, non-governmental organizations and Indigenous groups committed to ten ambitious goals under the <a href="https://forestdeclaration.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York Declaration on Forests</a> (NYDF). This major international declaration aims to protect forests, driven by the understanding that halting deforestation is essential to mitigating climate change and maintaining other benefits of forests. These goals include <a href="https://forestdeclaration.org/goals#goal-1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">halving deforestation</a> by 2020 and stopping it by 2030, while restoring an area of degraded land larger than the size of India.</p>



<p><a href="http://www.forestdeclaration.org/goals/goal-1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">This year’s assessment</a> of progress on the NYDF firmly concludes that deforestation is not slowing enough to achieve this goal. In fact, by some measures, we are further from stopping deforestation now than we were six years ago. On top of that, limited data is making it difficult to fully assess progress on forest restoration. Although this reality presents a steep uphill battle, rapidly accelerating actions to end deforestation and restore forests offer hope that the 2030 goals can still be achieved. &nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>We’re headed in the wrong direction to end deforestation</strong></h3>



<p>Two independent datasets show that the world is not on track to halt deforestation. <a href="https://gfw.global/2I1sx83" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Global Forest Watch</a> data — created using a globally standardized remote sensing methodology — indicates that annual tropical <a href="https://gfw.global/2UGlWD1/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">primary forest</a> loss has actually increased by 41% since the NYDF was signed, and annual global deforestation has increased between 55% and 64%. The United Nations <a href="http://www.fao.org/forest-resources-assessment/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Forest Resources Assessment 2020</a> also indicates insufficient progress toward the NYDF goals. This aggregation of country-reported statistics on forest change shows a slight drop in deforestation since 2000, but nowhere near the amount required to achieve the 2020 or 2030 targets. &nbsp;</p>



<p>Despite the differences between the two datasets, they share a key message: the world failed to halve deforestation by 2020 and, as a result, is not on a trajectory to stop it by 2030.</p>



<p>Each year, the world loses about <a href="http://www.forestdeclaration.org/goals/goal-1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10 million hectares</a> (24.7 million acres) of forest area — equivalent to 27 soccer fields per minute. Every year that deforestation is not reduced as quickly as possible will require even larger reductions in the following years to achieve our goal. In the meantime, deforestation will continue to cause emissions, the loss of forest benefits and the curtailment of Indigenous rights. If the past 19 years are any indication, the necessary decrease in forest loss seems unlikely in the next decade. Although unlikely, the world can’t afford to not attempt reaching this goal.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Why is progress so slow?</strong></h3>



<p>The issue largely arises from the disparity between the commitments made and  the actions taken to meet them. Goals two through four of the NYDF track specific contributing factors to global deforestation, while goal five outlines restoration targets. In each of these categories, actions fell short of what is needed.</p>



<p><a href="https://forestdeclaration.org/goals/goal-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Goal 2</em></a><em>: Ending Deforestation from Agricultural Commodities</em></p>



<div class="imageleft"><img decoding="async" class=" wp-image-3569 alignright" style="padding-bottom: 10px;" alt="fire clearing cattle pasture in the Gran Chaco, Paraguay" src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ChacoParaguay.jpg" width="100%">Fires used to clear land for pasture in Paraguay’s Gran Chaco region can be seen from an airplane. Photo by Jordi Ruiz Cirera/WRI.</div>



<p>Forest clearing <a href="https://forestdeclaration.org/goals#goal-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;for new agricultural land</a> is the largest cause of deforestation. However, removing deforestation from supply chains is happening unevenly. Even where commitments exist, implementation and consequences are hard to trace through complex supply chains. Last year, nearly one-third of 350 major companies with supply chains at risk of causing deforestation did not report anything about their activities to stop deforestation. Some sectors are progressing faster than others — <a href="https://forestdeclaration.org/goals/goal-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">81%</a> of Indonesian palm oil exports in 2018 came from companies with no-deforestation pledges, while just 32% of Brazilian beef exports in 2017 were produced under a commitment.</p>



<p><a href="https://forestdeclaration.org/images/uploads/resource/2020NYDFReport.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Goal 3</em></a><em>: Reducing Deforestation from Other Sectors</em></p>



<p>Although <a href="https://forestdeclaration.org/goals#goal-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mining and infrastructure</a> like roads and dams are not <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/361/6407/1108/tab-figures-data" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">globally major</a> causes of deforestation, they can heavily impact forests at local scales. Companies in these sectors generally provide even less information on what they are doing to prevent deforestation than the agricultural sector does. For example, a recent World Bank <a href="https://www.profor.info/content/forest-smart-mining-identifying-factors-associated-impacts-large-scale-mining-forests" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a> could not identify any mining operations that comprehensively addressed and mitigated their environmental risks, and financial institutions are generally not providing data on the extent to which their mining and infrastructure investments align with their sustainability principles. The forest impacts of these sectors are expected to intensify as the demand for mined materials increases, and as infrastructure projects bring farmers, loggers and poachers to new forest frontiers. &nbsp;</p>



<p><a href="https://forestdeclaration.org/images/uploads/resource/2020NYDFReport.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Goal 4</em></a><em>: Support Alternatives for Basic Needs</em></p>



<p>Efforts are increasing to find ways to meet the <a href="https://forestdeclaration.org/goals#goal-4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">basic needs</a> of communities, such as fuelwood and food, without further deforestation. However, these efforts aren’t happening at the necessary scale and are generally not addressing the root causes of poverty, limiting their effectiveness. For example, programs that seek to take pressure off forests by improving the agricultural productivity of smallholders’ existing farms &nbsp;often fail to invest in underlying conditions to secure farmer livelihoods such as land tenure, public services and market access, alongside improvements in governance to ensure forest protection measures are respected.&nbsp; &nbsp;But some governments, <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2017/07/malawi-turns-corner-solving-its-deforestation-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">like Malawi</a>’s, have begun doing that hard work and helping communities manage their forests sustainably while planting fast-growing trees to meet immediate demand for firewood.</p>



<p><a href="https://forestdeclaration.org/goals/goal-5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Goal 5</em></a><em>: Restore Forests</em></p>



<div class="imageright"><img decoding="async" class=" wp-image-3569 alignright" style="padding-bottom: 10px;" alt="guatemala restoration project sustainable cocoa" src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/guatemala.png" width="100%">In Guatemala, impact investor 12Tree is growing sustainable cocoa while protecting natural forests. Courtesy of 12Tree. </div>



<p>For restoration, the shortcomings can be linked to a lack of investment at scale and a dearth of globally consistent data. Restoring 350 million hectares will require <a href="https://www.wri.org/publication/roots-of-prosperity" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">billions of dollars</a>. Funders have committed $4 billion through the <a href="http://www.afr100.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AFR100</a> Initiative in Africa and <a href="http://www.initiative20x20.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Initiative 20×20</a> in Latin America. Even that is not enough to reach the NYDF’s goal, though there are <a href="https://initiative20x20.org/restoration-projects" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dozens</a> of <a href="https://afr100.org/content/7-ways-african-leaders-are-restoring-their-landscapes" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">successful projects</a> in each region. The Great Green Wall in Africa’s Sahel, for example, faces a <a href="https://www.unccd.int/publications/great-green-wall-implementation-status-and-way-ahead-2030" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$4.3 billion yearly funding gap</a> through 2030. There is also no systematic and independent way to track where or how much of that funding has reached projects, though reports indicate that governments, private investors and entrepreneurs are starting to incentivize, finance and scale up their work.</p>



<p>This underscores the importance of developing a global method that consistently tracks where those trees are growing, and that complements existing tree cover loss data. That approach will need to work inside the forest and <em>outside</em> it on farms and pasture, where restoration has the <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/10/small-amazonian-community-agroforestry-takes" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">most benefits for people</a>. Regional pilots of this method in Central America and <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/10/deforestation-threatens-mekong-new-trees-are-growing-surprising-places" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Southeast Asia</a>, conducted as part of the 2019 and 2020 NYDF Progress Assessments, are promising. But understanding tree cover gain and loss together – and assessing the overall health of forests – will require <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/07/trillion-trees-tracking-challenges" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">improved data and techniques</a>.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Transforming commitments into real action</strong></h3>



<p>While the latest NYDF report is stark in its message, new initiatives that can turn the tide are gaining momentum. The growth of zero-deforestation commitments shows that motivation to halt deforestation still exists across governments, companies, financial institutions and civil society. And innovative restoration programs like the more than <a href="https://initiative20x20.org/restoration-projects" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">50 private-sector projects</a> aligned with Initiative 20×20 and the growing <a href="https://www.wri.org/our-work/project/land-accelerator" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Land Accelerator network</a>, whose entrepreneurs are helping 120,000 farmers produce more sustainably, are boosting funding for forest protection and restoration. </p>



<p>Moving forward will require hard work, improving transparency, employing environmental safeguards, reducing consumption of high-deforestation goods and increasing ambition and financing from companies and governments alike. Growing investments and commitments to protecting and restoring forests must pair with equivalent action. Failing to do so will seal the fate of forests for years to come.</p>



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Progress Must Speed Up to Protect and Restore Forests by 2030

<p>In 2014, the future of forests looked bright. Governments, companies, non-governmental organizations and Indigenous groups committed to ten ambitious goals under the <a href="https://forestdeclaration.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York Declaration on Forests</a> (NYDF). This major international declaration aims to protect forests, driven by the understanding that halting deforestation is essential to mitigating climate change and maintaining other benefits of forests. These goals include <a href="https://forestdeclaration.org/goals#goal-1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">halving deforestation</a> by 2020 and stopping it by 2030, while restoring an area of degraded land larger than the size of India.</p>



<p><a href="http://www.forestdeclaration.org/goals/goal-1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">This year’s assessment</a> of progress on the NYDF firmly concludes that deforestation is not slowing enough to achieve this goal. In fact, by some measures, we are further from stopping deforestation now than we were six years ago. On top of that, limited data is making it difficult to fully assess progress on forest restoration. Although this reality presents a steep uphill battle, rapidly accelerating actions to end deforestation and restore forests offer hope that the 2030 goals can still be achieved. &nbsp;</p>



<h3><strong>We’re headed in the wrong direction to end deforestation</strong></h3>



<p>Two independent datasets show that the world is not on track to halt deforestation. <a href="https://gfw.global/2I1sx83" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Global Forest Watch</a> data — created using a globally standardized remote sensing methodology — indicates that annual tropical <a href="https://gfw.global/2UGlWD1/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">primary forest</a> loss has actually increased by 41% since the NYDF was signed, and annual global deforestation has increased between 55% and 64%. The United Nations <a href="http://www.fao.org/forest-resources-assessment/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Forest Resources Assessment 2020</a> also indicates insufficient progress toward the NYDF goals. This aggregation of country-reported statistics on forest change shows a slight drop in deforestation since 2000, but nowhere near the amount required to achieve the 2020 or 2030 targets. &nbsp;</p>



<p>Despite the differences between the two datasets, they share a key message: the world failed to halve deforestation by 2020 and, as a result, is not on a trajectory to stop it by 2030.</p>



<p>Each year, the world loses about <a href="http://www.forestdeclaration.org/goals/goal-1" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10 million hectares</a> (24.7 million acres) of forest area — equivalent to 27 soccer fields per minute. Every year that deforestation is not reduced as quickly as possible will require even larger reductions in the following years to achieve our goal. In the meantime, deforestation will continue to cause emissions, the loss of forest benefits and the curtailment of Indigenous rights. If the past 19 years are any indication, the necessary decrease in forest loss seems unlikely in the next decade. Although unlikely, the world can’t afford to not attempt reaching this goal.</p>



<h3><strong>Why is progress so slow?</strong></h3>



<p>The issue largely arises from the disparity between the commitments made and  the actions taken to meet them. Goals two through four of the NYDF track specific contributing factors to global deforestation, while goal five outlines restoration targets. In each of these categories, actions fell short of what is needed.</p>



<p><a href="https://forestdeclaration.org/goals/goal-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Goal 2</em></a><em>: Ending Deforestation from Agricultural Commodities</em></p>



<div class="imageleft"><img class=" wp-image-3569 alignright" style="padding-bottom: 10px;" alt="fire clearing cattle pasture in the Gran Chaco, Paraguay" src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ChacoParaguay.jpg" width="100%">Fires used to clear land for pasture in Paraguay’s Gran Chaco region can be seen from an airplane. Photo by Jordi Ruiz Cirera/WRI.</div>



<p>Forest clearing <a href="https://forestdeclaration.org/goals#goal-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;for new agricultural land</a> is the largest cause of deforestation. However, removing deforestation from supply chains is happening unevenly. Even where commitments exist, implementation and consequences are hard to trace through complex supply chains. Last year, nearly one-third of 350 major companies with supply chains at risk of causing deforestation did not report anything about their activities to stop deforestation. Some sectors are progressing faster than others — <a href="https://forestdeclaration.org/goals/goal-2" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">81%</a> of Indonesian palm oil exports in 2018 came from companies with no-deforestation pledges, while just 32% of Brazilian beef exports in 2017 were produced under a commitment.</p>



<p><a href="https://forestdeclaration.org/images/uploads/resource/2020NYDFReport.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Goal 3</em></a><em>: Reducing Deforestation from Other Sectors</em></p>



<p>Although <a href="https://forestdeclaration.org/goals#goal-3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mining and infrastructure</a> like roads and dams are not <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/361/6407/1108/tab-figures-data" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">globally major</a> causes of deforestation, they can heavily impact forests at local scales. Companies in these sectors generally provide even less information on what they are doing to prevent deforestation than the agricultural sector does. For example, a recent World Bank <a href="https://www.profor.info/content/forest-smart-mining-identifying-factors-associated-impacts-large-scale-mining-forests" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a> could not identify any mining operations that comprehensively addressed and mitigated their environmental risks, and financial institutions are generally not providing data on the extent to which their mining and infrastructure investments align with their sustainability principles. The forest impacts of these sectors are expected to intensify as the demand for mined materials increases, and as infrastructure projects bring farmers, loggers and poachers to new forest frontiers. &nbsp;</p>



<p><a href="https://forestdeclaration.org/images/uploads/resource/2020NYDFReport.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Goal 4</em></a><em>: Support Alternatives for Basic Needs</em></p>



<p>Efforts are increasing to find ways to meet the <a href="https://forestdeclaration.org/goals#goal-4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">basic needs</a> of communities, such as fuelwood and food, without further deforestation. However, these efforts aren’t happening at the necessary scale and are generally not addressing the root causes of poverty, limiting their effectiveness. For example, programs that seek to take pressure off forests by improving the agricultural productivity of smallholders’ existing farms &nbsp;often fail to invest in underlying conditions to secure farmer livelihoods such as land tenure, public services and market access, alongside improvements in governance to ensure forest protection measures are respected.&nbsp; &nbsp;But some governments, <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2017/07/malawi-turns-corner-solving-its-deforestation-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">like Malawi</a>’s, have begun doing that hard work and helping communities manage their forests sustainably while planting fast-growing trees to meet immediate demand for firewood.</p>



<p><a href="https://forestdeclaration.org/goals/goal-5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Goal 5</em></a><em>: Restore Forests</em></p>



<div class="imageright"><img class=" wp-image-3569 alignright" style="padding-bottom: 10px;" alt="guatemala restoration project sustainable cocoa" src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/guatemala.png" width="100%">In Guatemala, impact investor 12Tree is growing sustainable cocoa while protecting natural forests. Courtesy of 12Tree. </div>



<p>For restoration, the shortcomings can be linked to a lack of investment at scale and a dearth of globally consistent data. Restoring 350 million hectares will require <a href="https://www.wri.org/publication/roots-of-prosperity" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">billions of dollars</a>. Funders have committed $4 billion through the <a href="http://www.afr100.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AFR100</a> Initiative in Africa and <a href="http://www.initiative20x20.org" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Initiative 20x20</a> in Latin America. Even that is not enough to reach the NYDF’s goal, though there are <a href="https://initiative20x20.org/restoration-projects" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">dozens</a> of <a href="https://afr100.org/content/7-ways-african-leaders-are-restoring-their-landscapes" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">successful projects</a> in each region. The Great Green Wall in Africa’s Sahel, for example, faces a <a href="https://www.unccd.int/publications/great-green-wall-implementation-status-and-way-ahead-2030" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$4.3 billion yearly funding gap</a> through 2030. There is also no systematic and independent way to track where or how much of that funding has reached projects, though reports indicate that governments, private investors and entrepreneurs are starting to incentivize, finance and scale up their work.</p>



<p>This underscores the importance of developing a global method that consistently tracks where those trees are growing, and that complements existing tree cover loss data. That approach will need to work inside the forest and <em>outside</em> it on farms and pasture, where restoration has the <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/10/small-amazonian-community-agroforestry-takes" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">most benefits for people</a>. Regional pilots of this method in Central America and <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/10/deforestation-threatens-mekong-new-trees-are-growing-surprising-places" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Southeast Asia</a>, conducted as part of the 2019 and 2020 NYDF Progress Assessments, are promising. But understanding tree cover gain and loss together – and assessing the overall health of forests – will require <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/07/trillion-trees-tracking-challenges" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">improved data and techniques</a>.</p>



<h3><strong>Transforming commitments into real action</strong></h3>



<p>While the latest NYDF report is stark in its message, new initiatives that can turn the tide are gaining momentum. The growth of zero-deforestation commitments shows that motivation to halt deforestation still exists across governments, companies, financial institutions and civil society. And innovative restoration programs like the more than <a href="https://initiative20x20.org/restoration-projects" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">50 private-sector projects</a> aligned with Initiative 20x20 and the growing <a href="https://www.wri.org/our-work/project/land-accelerator" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Land Accelerator network</a>, whose entrepreneurs are helping 120,000 farmers produce more sustainably, are boosting funding for forest protection and restoration. </p>



<p>Moving forward will require hard work, improving transparency, employing environmental safeguards, reducing consumption of high-deforestation goods and increasing ambition and financing from companies and governments alike. Growing investments and commitments to protecting and restoring forests must pair with equivalent action. Failing to do so will seal the fate of forests for years to come.</p>

Progress on stopping deforestation and restoring forests must dramatically speed up in order to meet the 2030 NYDF goals.

We're Not Going to Meet NYDF Goals by 2030 | Global Forest Watch Blog

https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/3dc298e411f65b199fc3734919d6934e?s=96&d=mm&r=g

Sarah Ruiz

carbon

carbon | Global Forest Watch Blog

Susan Cook-Patton

Kristine Lister

<p>There’s increasing recognition of how nature can help tackle the climate crisis. From protecting standing forests to planting new trees, forests offer significant climate mitigation benefits. Now, new research shows that letting forests regrow on their own could be a secret weapon to fighting climate change.</p>



<p>Experts at WRI, The Nature Conservancy and other institutions mapped potential rates of carbon capture from “natural forest regrowth” – a restoration method distinct from active tree-planting – initiatives where trees are allowed to grow back on lands previously cleared for agriculture and other purposes. The results, <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2686-x" target="_blank">published in <em>Nature</em></a> and available on <a href="https://gfw.global/3ndMdVE" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Global Forest Watch </a> show that letting forests regrow naturally has the potential to absorb up to 8.9 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year through 2050, while still maintaining native grasslands and current levels of food production.<strong> That’s the equivalent of soaking up 23% of global emissions from the atmosphere every year. </strong></p>



<p>This is on top of the carbon sequestration already provided by existing forests, which currently absorb around 30% of CO2 emissions each year.</p>



<div class="imagecenter"><img decoding="async" class=" wp-image-3569 alignright" style="padding-bottom: 10px;" alt="natural forest regrowth could capture 23% of all carbon emissions" src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Carbon_Emissions_natural_forest_regeneration_WRI.png" width="100%"></div>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Benefits of balancing reforestation and natural forest regrowth</h3>



<p>While decarbonization of fossil fuels and other industrial emissions remain essential pieces of the emissions-reduction puzzle, nature also has a major role to play. The United Nations declared the 2020s as the “Decade of Ecosystem Restoration,” calling for massive restoration of degraded lands to help with climate change mitigation.</p>



<p>It’s a powerful message, but too often “<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/02/want-grow-trees-consider-these-5-lessons" target="_blank">tree restoration</a>” is seen as synonymous with “tree-planting.” For example, a <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01026-8#ref-CR2" target="_blank">close look</a> at a selection of national restoration commitments made under the Bonn Challenge, UN REDD+ program, Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement, and other schemes reveals that almost half of the current land area slated for restoration in these countries is set to become plantations of commercial trees. Balancing active reforestation of commercial species with natural forest regrowth could make for a more effective approach in terms of both carbon and biodiversity. </p>



<p>The map generated for the recent <em>Nature</em> study can help identify locations where natural forest regrowth has high climate mitigation potential, to be considered alongside active tree-planting initiatives. There are many advantages to letting forests recover on their own: it’s often cheaper and more likely to benefit native wildlife. The new map, viewed alongside other information on the local socioeconomic setting and alternative uses for the land, can provide context for optimizing where to let nature take the lead.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Previous IPCC carbon sequestration estimates are too low</h3>



<p>This latest study shows that potential rates of carbon capture from natural forest regrowth are far higher than previously estimated.</p>



<p>For decades, ecologists have collected data on the ground at different locations around the world about how quickly previously forested areas return to forest and recover carbon after agricultural abandonment or other disturbance. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) periodically compiles these measurements by general ecosystem type to provide default rates, which many countries use to estimate how much carbon dioxides their forests remove from the atmosphere each year as they compile greenhouse gas inventories and set climate mitigation commitments. </p>



<p>The new study found that these generalized IPCC defaults underestimate carbon sequestration rates in young forests by 32% globally, and by <em>a full 50%</em> for tropical forests. This is because the new map captures spatial variability in rates across a landscape much better than a smattering of hard-won field plots can; it’s simply not feasible or cost-effective to measure carbon everywhere. </p>



<p>By using IPCC defaults, many governments may be underestimating the benefits of natural forest regrowth for capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and thus underappreciating its power as a climate change solution.</p>



<iframe loading="lazy" width="670" height="490" frameborder="0" src="https://www.globalforestwatch.org/embed/map/global/?map=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%3D%3D"></iframe>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Where does natural forest regrowth have the most carbon-removal potential?</h3>



<p>Rates at which young forests remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere vary by orders of magnitude around the world; tropical countries in West and Central Africa have the highest rates, while countries in Central Europe and the Middle East have the lowest. And while carbon accumulation rates are usually highest in warmer, wetter climates, they can also vary dramatically at local scales, for example with three-fold variation across Colombia alone.</p>



<iframe loading="lazy" width="670" height="490" frameborder="0" src="https://www.globalforestwatch.org/embed/map/global/?map=eyJjZW50ZXIiOnsibGF0Ijo1LjEzOTIwNTY3MDkwODY2OTUsImxuZyI6LTc0LjA0MjY5NDU4MDY4NDkxfSwiem9vbSI6NC41NTMzNjgwOTYzNDA4NDUsImRhdGFzZXRzIjpbeyJkYXRhc2V0IjoicG90ZW50aWFsLWNhcmJvbi1zZXF1ZXN0cmF0aW9uLXJhdGUiLCJvcGFjaXR5IjoxLCJ2aXNpYmlsaXR5Ijp0cnVlLCJsYXllcnMiOlsicG90ZW50aWFsLWNhcmJvbi1zZXF1ZXN0cmF0aW9uLXJhdGUtMjAyMCJdfSx7ImRhdGFzZXQiOiJiYzA5OWUyZS0wMjkyLTRlMjItOTQ0NS05ZDQyOGVjZjdhNTYiLCJvcGFjaXR5IjoxLCJ2aXNpYmlsaXR5Ijp0cnVlLCJsYXllcnMiOlsiODA3ZjBkNjUtZWY5Ny00MGE4LTlmN2UtN2EzOTcxNmMxMmY4Il19LHsiZGF0YXNldCI6InBvbGl0aWNhbC1ib3VuZGFyaWVzIiwibGF5ZXJzIjpbImRpc3B1dGVkLXBvbGl0aWNhbC1ib3VuZGFyaWVzIiwicG9saXRpY2FsLWJvdW5kYXJpZXMiXSwib3BhY2l0eSI6MSwidmlzaWJpbGl0eSI6dHJ1ZX1dfQ%3D%3D"></iframe>



<p>By harmonizing detailed carbon measurements collected at different locations around the world and combining them with cutting-edge machine learning methods, the new map takes into account how 66 environmental variables influence forest growth rates — everything from topography to daily temperature range to soil texture. This new geospatial information is now easily accessible to governments, civil society organizations and companies via Global Forest Watch.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Forests can help with climate change mitigation and more</h3>



<p>Letting previously forested land recover carbon naturally can contribute to the 730 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide the IPCC says must be removed from the atmosphere by the end of this century to avert the worst effects of climate change. Increasing forest cover can also bring additional benefits beyond climate change mitigation, such as preventing floods, regulating rainfall, slowing biodiversity loss, and sustaining traditional ways of life and economies. </p>



<p>Equipped with a more detailed understanding of forests’ potential to capture carbon dioxide, officials can make rapid assessments on how to best use land for the greatest climate return.&nbsp;</p>



<hr> 

<div class="attribute" style="”padding-bottom:" 10px;”="">
 

Originally appeared on <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/09/carbon-sequestration-natural-forest-regrowth" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">WRI Insights</a>. 
 

</div> 

 

<hr>



<style type="text/css"></style>

Young Forests Capture Carbon Quicker than Previously Thought

<p>There’s increasing recognition of how nature can help tackle the climate crisis. From protecting standing forests to planting new trees, forests offer significant climate mitigation benefits. Now, new research shows that letting forests regrow on their own could be a secret weapon to fighting climate change.</p>



<p>Experts at WRI, The Nature Conservancy and other institutions mapped potential rates of carbon capture from “natural forest regrowth” – a restoration method distinct from active tree-planting – initiatives where trees are allowed to grow back on lands previously cleared for agriculture and other purposes. The results, <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2686-x" target="_blank">published in <em>Nature</em></a> and available on <a href="https://gfw.global/3ndMdVE" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Global Forest Watch </a> show that letting forests regrow naturally has the potential to absorb up to 8.9 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year through 2050, while still maintaining native grasslands and current levels of food production.<strong> That’s the equivalent of soaking up 23% of global emissions from the atmosphere every year. </strong></p>



<p>This is on top of the carbon sequestration already provided by existing forests, which currently absorb around 30% of CO2 emissions each year.</p>



<div class="imagecenter"><img class=" wp-image-3569 alignright" style="padding-bottom: 10px;" alt="natural forest regrowth could capture 23% of all carbon emissions" src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Carbon_Emissions_natural_forest_regeneration_WRI.png" width="100%"></div>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Benefits of balancing reforestation and natural forest regrowth</h3>



<p>While decarbonization of fossil fuels and other industrial emissions remain essential pieces of the emissions-reduction puzzle, nature also has a major role to play. The United Nations declared the 2020s as the “Decade of Ecosystem Restoration,” calling for massive restoration of degraded lands to help with climate change mitigation.</p>



<p>It’s a powerful message, but too often “<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/02/want-grow-trees-consider-these-5-lessons" target="_blank">tree restoration</a>” is seen as synonymous with “tree-planting.” For example, a <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01026-8#ref-CR2" target="_blank">close look</a> at a selection of national restoration commitments made under the Bonn Challenge, UN REDD+ program, Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement, and other schemes reveals that almost half of the current land area slated for restoration in these countries is set to become plantations of commercial trees. Balancing active reforestation of commercial species with natural forest regrowth could make for a more effective approach in terms of both carbon and biodiversity. </p>



<p>The map generated for the recent <em>Nature</em> study can help identify locations where natural forest regrowth has high climate mitigation potential, to be considered alongside active tree-planting initiatives. There are many advantages to letting forests recover on their own: it’s often cheaper and more likely to benefit native wildlife. The new map, viewed alongside other information on the local socioeconomic setting and alternative uses for the land, can provide context for optimizing where to let nature take the lead.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Previous IPCC carbon sequestration estimates are too low</h3>



<p>This latest study shows that potential rates of carbon capture from natural forest regrowth are far higher than previously estimated.</p>



<p>For decades, ecologists have collected data on the ground at different locations around the world about how quickly previously forested areas return to forest and recover carbon after agricultural abandonment or other disturbance. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) periodically compiles these measurements by general ecosystem type to provide default rates, which many countries use to estimate how much carbon dioxides their forests remove from the atmosphere each year as they compile greenhouse gas inventories and set climate mitigation commitments. </p>



<p>The new study found that these generalized IPCC defaults underestimate carbon sequestration rates in young forests by 32% globally, and by <em>a full 50%</em> for tropical forests. This is because the new map captures spatial variability in rates across a landscape much better than a smattering of hard-won field plots can; it’s simply not feasible or cost-effective to measure carbon everywhere. </p>



<p>By using IPCC defaults, many governments may be underestimating the benefits of natural forest regrowth for capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and thus underappreciating its power as a climate change solution.</p>



<iframe width="670" height="490" frameborder="0" src="https://www.globalforestwatch.org/embed/map/global/?map=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%3D%3D"></iframe>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Where does natural forest regrowth have the most carbon-removal potential?</h3>



<p>Rates at which young forests remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere vary by orders of magnitude around the world; tropical countries in West and Central Africa have the highest rates, while countries in Central Europe and the Middle East have the lowest. And while carbon accumulation rates are usually highest in warmer, wetter climates, they can also vary dramatically at local scales, for example with three-fold variation across Colombia alone.</p>



<iframe width="670" height="490" frameborder="0" src="https://www.globalforestwatch.org/embed/map/global/?map=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%3D%3D"></iframe>



<p>By harmonizing detailed carbon measurements collected at different locations around the world and combining them with cutting-edge machine learning methods, the new map takes into account how 66 environmental variables influence forest growth rates — everything from topography to daily temperature range to soil texture. This new geospatial information is now easily accessible to governments, civil society organizations and companies via Global Forest Watch.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Forests can help with climate change mitigation and more</h3>



<p>Letting previously forested land recover carbon naturally can contribute to the 730 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide the IPCC says must be removed from the atmosphere by the end of this century to avert the worst effects of climate change. Increasing forest cover can also bring additional benefits beyond climate change mitigation, such as preventing floods, regulating rainfall, slowing biodiversity loss, and sustaining traditional ways of life and economies. </p>



<p>Equipped with a more detailed understanding of forests’ potential to capture carbon dioxide, officials can make rapid assessments on how to best use land for the greatest climate return.&nbsp;</p>



<hr> 

<div class="attribute" style="”padding-bottom:" 10px;”="">
 

Originally appeared on <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/09/carbon-sequestration-natural-forest-regrowth" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">WRI Insights</a>. 
 

</div> 

 

<hr>

New research shows natural forest regrowth, as opposed to reforestation by tree planting, can capture more carbon dioxide from the air than previously thought.

Natural Forest Regrowth and Carbon Capture | Global Forest Watch Blog

Landscape mosaic in the bale mountain, Ethiopia. Photo by Aaron Minnick / World Resources Institute

Florence Landsberg

Fred Stolle

Dow Maneerattana

Will Anderson

John Brandt

<p>This was the year that business added its clout to the global effort to add trillions of trees to the arsenal of weapons against climate change. The goal is to use these trees to restore land and absorb climate-warming carbon out of the atmosphere, which could keep global warming below 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F), the level the Paris Agreement says is needed to avoid the most damaging effects of climate change.</p>



<p>But planting the trees in the ground is just the beginning. We need to track if these trees keep growing, how much carbon they store and what other types of benefits (e.g., food, economic, biodiversity) they provide to people and the environment. There’s one major problem to start: How do we track how and where these trees are growing?&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Why we need to track tree growth</strong>&nbsp;</h3>



<p>Just as not all trees grow to maturity, <a aria-label="undefined (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/30/most-of-11m-trees-planted-in-turkish-project-may-be-dead" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">not all tree-planting campaigns succeed</a>. Tracking tree growth helps governments, companies and NGOs to understand progress on their pledges, encourages people to replicate successful projects and tweak struggling ones and inspires funders to continue investing where they can see past progress.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Measuring progress can also put the spotlight on farmers and others who have restored their land with little external help. Across the dry Sahel, for example, farmers have <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2013/06/learning-african-farmers-how-re-greening-boosts-food-security-curbs-climate-change" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">restored</a> millions of hectares of land, boosting crop yields and stopping the southward creep of the Sahara Desert – with little outside aid or acknowledgment.&nbsp;These success stories and the lessons they hold can’t be shared unless we can systematically measure changes in the landscape.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Challenges of tracking tree growth</h3>



<p>High-quality satellite data and platforms like <a href="https://gfw.global/2BIZP9i" target="_blank" aria-label="undefined (opens in a new tab)" rel="noreferrer noopener">Global Forest Watch</a> track deforestation, but they don’t work well for tracking tree growth. Why?&nbsp;</p>



<p>Growing trees to maturity takes time, often 15 years or more. And with freely available satellite imagery, it is harder to see a tiny sapling slowly growing in a field than to see the blank space where a tree once stood. Very-high-resolution imagery that could see that change is available, but it is prohibitively expensive to purchase and analyze for the entire world every year.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Some individual projects do track tree growth, but each project follows its own method, and the type and quality of data vary greatly. Much of this data is not independently verified, and only spans the first few years of the project (before the trees fully mature). Third-party independent verification that certifies a project’s carbon or biodiversity benefits is often prohibitively expensive, especially for local farmers working in the developing world.&nbsp;All of that makes project managers and funders alike skeptical of tree restoration success stories. </p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Building globally consistent datasets</strong></h3>



<div class="imagecenter"><img decoding="async" class=" wp-image-3569 alignright" style="padding-bottom: 10px;" alt="How are we tracking trees globally" src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/global-tree-growth-tracking-2-1.png" width="100%"></div>



<p>That is why we want to solve some of these problems before the <a href="https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/press-release/new-un-decade-ecosystem-restoration-offers-unparalleled-opportunity" target="_blank" aria-label="undefined (opens in a new tab)" rel="noreferrer noopener">UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration</a> starts in 2021, and corporate pledges to protect and grow a trillion trees start in earnest. As a member of the UN Decade’s task force on restoration monitoring and co-chair of the Global Restoration Observatory, WRI is fully engaged in this challenge.</p>



<p><a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/356/6338/635" target="_blank" aria-label="undefined (opens in a new tab)" rel="noreferrer noopener">Recent studies</a> have found that there are billions of sparsely scattered trees in rural areas that we couldn’t see with conventional remote sensing approaches. By including those trees in global data, we can paint a more comprehensive picture of tree cover gain and loss.&nbsp;</p>



<p>A <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/10/deforestation-threatens-mekong-new-trees-are-growing-surprising-places" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pilot study</a> that WRI conducted as part of the five-year progress assessment of the <a href="https://forestdeclaration.org/" target="_blank" aria-label="undefined (opens in a new tab)" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York Declaration on Forests</a> showed that in Southeast Asia’s Mekong region, the number of trees on farms and pasture – where restoration has the most benefit for people – <em>increased</em>, even as forest loss expanded. Building on that study, we are working with new data from the University of Maryland’s GLAD lab to expand that work to Latin America, aiming to develop a globally consistent, annual dataset that can track where trees are growing at the global, national and subnational scales.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>Harnessing the power of artificial intelligence, we have also begun analyzing raw satellite data across more than 30 landscapes of around 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) each. The goal is to build accurate wall-to-wall maps of millions of trees that official statistics, plans and models have rarely considered. Combining this approach with the global data can help us see more trees more accurately than before and track the overall progress of Trillion Trees and the tree restoration movement.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Establishing a protocol and community of practice</strong></h3>



<div class="imagecenter"><img decoding="async" class=" wp-image-3569 alignright" style="padding-bottom: 10px;" alt="how to track tree planting projects" src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/trillion-trees-how-to-track-social-1.png" width="100%"></div>



<p>Globally consistent, independent data is important for identifying where “hotspots” of tree restoration success (or failure) are occurring, so that we can better understand the impact of countries’, NGOs’ and companies’ investments.</p>



<p>We also need to make sure that the many individual projects that get funding from platforms like <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/06/growing-trillion-trees-right-terramatch" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">TerraMatch</a> are part of a well-supported community of practice, where consistent, independent monitoring protocols are in place to support both project implementers and funders.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Adapting to the local context and goals is important. To build this community of practice, we need a consistent, scientifically sound, cost-effective protocol that practitioners across the world can use, and investors can trust. That’s what WRI is building for projects that restore trees within agricultural, forest and urban landscapes. The protocol focuses on key indicators – tree count, tree cover and tree species – that will be measured for up to 15 years after planting.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Because this protocol will combine field data collection with remote monitoring approaches like satellite imagery interpretation and artificial intelligence, the costs will be kept as low as possible. When projects use the same protocol, their aggregated data will help us understand whether those trillion trees are growing and whether our efforts to fight climate change are on the right track.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Measuring, understanding and investing in tree restoration</strong>&nbsp;</h3>



<p>We will need a robust global atlas to track tree restoration progress that mirrors the role that Global Forest Watch plays for tree cover loss – a “Restoration Watch.” We need a platform that will deliver lessons learned from the robust work that WRI and many others have carried out at the national and landscape levels.&nbsp;We also need an adaptable yet consistent protocol for projects.</p>



<p>Measuring tree growth is only one benchmark of restoration success. We need to invest in measuring the <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2018/09/social-network-analysis-helping-us-regreen-rwanda-it-can-inform-your-environmental-work" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">economic and social impact of restoration</a> too, to ensure that people stand to benefit.&nbsp;</p>



<p>For now, in a world where corporations and governments are increasingly interested in proving their success scientifically, tracking progress is essential. Funders invest in measuring success and insist that their planting partners do too. They must realize that the true price of tree restoration success goes beyond tree planting to include the cost of engaging local people, preparing and caring for trees and measuring progress. With this new momentum spurred by corporate pledges, platforms like TerraMatch and the latest scientific advances, now is the time to start tracking progress.</p>



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Originally appeared on <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/07/trillion-trees-tracking-challenges" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">WRI Insights</a>. 


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The Challenge of Tracking How a Trillion Trees Grow

<p>This was the year that business added its clout to the global effort to add trillions of trees to the arsenal of weapons against climate change. The goal is to use these trees to restore land and absorb climate-warming carbon out of the atmosphere, which could keep global warming below 1.5 degrees C (2.7 degrees F), the level the Paris Agreement says is needed to avoid the most damaging effects of climate change.</p>



<p>But planting the trees in the ground is just the beginning. We need to track if these trees keep growing, how much carbon they store and what other types of benefits (e.g., food, economic, biodiversity) they provide to people and the environment. There’s one major problem to start: How do we track how and where these trees are growing?&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Why we need to track tree growth</strong>&nbsp;</h3>



<p>Just as not all trees grow to maturity, <a aria-label="undefined (opens in a new tab)" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/30/most-of-11m-trees-planted-in-turkish-project-may-be-dead" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">not all tree-planting campaigns succeed</a>. Tracking tree growth helps governments, companies and NGOs to understand progress on their pledges, encourages people to replicate successful projects and tweak struggling ones and inspires funders to continue investing where they can see past progress.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Measuring progress can also put the spotlight on farmers and others who have restored their land with little external help. Across the dry Sahel, for example, farmers have <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2013/06/learning-african-farmers-how-re-greening-boosts-food-security-curbs-climate-change" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">restored</a> millions of hectares of land, boosting crop yields and stopping the southward creep of the Sahara Desert – with little outside aid or acknowledgment.&nbsp;These success stories and the lessons they hold can’t be shared unless we can systematically measure changes in the landscape.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Challenges of tracking tree growth</h3>



<p>High-quality satellite data and platforms like <a href="https://gfw.global/2BIZP9i" target="_blank" aria-label="undefined (opens in a new tab)" rel="noreferrer noopener">Global Forest Watch</a> track deforestation, but they don’t work well for tracking tree growth. Why?&nbsp;</p>



<p>Growing trees to maturity takes time, often 15 years or more. And with freely available satellite imagery, it is harder to see a tiny sapling slowly growing in a field than to see the blank space where a tree once stood. Very-high-resolution imagery that could see that change is available, but it is prohibitively expensive to purchase and analyze for the entire world every year.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Some individual projects do track tree growth, but each project follows its own method, and the type and quality of data vary greatly. Much of this data is not independently verified, and only spans the first few years of the project (before the trees fully mature). Third-party independent verification that certifies a project's carbon or biodiversity benefits is often prohibitively expensive, especially for local farmers working in the developing world.&nbsp;All of that makes project managers and funders alike skeptical of tree restoration success stories. </p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Building globally consistent datasets</strong></h3>



<div class="imagecenter"><img class=" wp-image-3569 alignright" style="padding-bottom: 10px;" alt="How are we tracking trees globally" src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/global-tree-growth-tracking-2-1.png" width="100%"></div>



<p>That is why we want to solve some of these problems before the <a href="https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/press-release/new-un-decade-ecosystem-restoration-offers-unparalleled-opportunity" target="_blank" aria-label="undefined (opens in a new tab)" rel="noreferrer noopener">UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration</a> starts in 2021, and corporate pledges to protect and grow a trillion trees start in earnest. As a member of the UN Decade’s task force on restoration monitoring and co-chair of the Global Restoration Observatory, WRI is fully engaged in this challenge.</p>



<p><a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/356/6338/635" target="_blank" aria-label="undefined (opens in a new tab)" rel="noreferrer noopener">Recent studies</a> have found that there are billions of sparsely scattered trees in rural areas that we couldn’t see with conventional remote sensing approaches. By including those trees in global data, we can paint a more comprehensive picture of tree cover gain and loss.&nbsp;</p>



<p>A <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/10/deforestation-threatens-mekong-new-trees-are-growing-surprising-places" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pilot study</a> that WRI conducted as part of the five-year progress assessment of the <a href="https://forestdeclaration.org/" target="_blank" aria-label="undefined (opens in a new tab)" rel="noreferrer noopener">New York Declaration on Forests</a> showed that in Southeast Asia’s Mekong region, the number of trees on farms and pasture – where restoration has the most benefit for people – <em>increased</em>, even as forest loss expanded. Building on that study, we are working with new data from the University of Maryland’s GLAD lab to expand that work to Latin America, aiming to develop a globally consistent, annual dataset that can track where trees are growing at the global, national and subnational scales.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>Harnessing the power of artificial intelligence, we have also begun analyzing raw satellite data across more than 30 landscapes of around 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) each. The goal is to build accurate wall-to-wall maps of millions of trees that official statistics, plans and models have rarely considered. Combining this approach with the global data can help us see more trees more accurately than before and track the overall progress of Trillion Trees and the tree restoration movement.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Establishing a protocol and community of practice</strong></h3>



<div class="imagecenter"><img class=" wp-image-3569 alignright" style="padding-bottom: 10px;" alt="how to track tree planting projects" src="https://content.globalforestwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/trillion-trees-how-to-track-social-1.png" width="100%"></div>



<p>Globally consistent, independent data is important for identifying where “hotspots” of tree restoration success (or failure) are occurring, so that we can better understand the impact of countries’, NGOs’ and companies’ investments.</p>



<p>We also need to make sure that the many individual projects that get funding from platforms like <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/06/growing-trillion-trees-right-terramatch" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">TerraMatch</a> are part of a well-supported community of practice, where consistent, independent monitoring protocols are in place to support both project implementers and funders.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Adapting to the local context and goals is important. To build this community of practice, we need a consistent, scientifically sound, cost-effective protocol that practitioners across the world can use, and investors can trust. That’s what WRI is building for projects that restore trees within agricultural, forest and urban landscapes. The protocol focuses on key indicators – tree count, tree cover and tree species – that will be measured for up to 15 years after planting.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Because this protocol will combine field data collection with remote monitoring approaches like satellite imagery interpretation and artificial intelligence, the costs will be kept as low as possible. When projects use the same protocol, their aggregated data will help us understand whether those trillion trees are growing and whether our efforts to fight climate change are on the right track.&nbsp;</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Measuring, understanding and investing in tree restoration</strong>&nbsp;</h3>



<p>We will need a robust global atlas to track tree restoration progress that mirrors the role that Global Forest Watch plays for tree cover loss – a “Restoration Watch.” We need a platform that will deliver lessons learned from the robust work that WRI and many others have carried out at the national and landscape levels.&nbsp;We also need an adaptable yet consistent protocol for projects.</p>



<p>Measuring tree growth is only one benchmark of restoration success. We need to invest in measuring the <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2018/09/social-network-analysis-helping-us-regreen-rwanda-it-can-inform-your-environmental-work" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">economic and social impact of restoration</a> too, to ensure that people stand to benefit.&nbsp;</p>



<p>For now, in a world where corporations and governments are increasingly interested in proving their success scientifically, tracking progress is essential. Funders invest in measuring success and insist that their planting partners do too. They must realize that the true price of tree restoration success goes beyond tree planting to include the cost of engaging local people, preparing and caring for trees and measuring progress. With this new momentum spurred by corporate pledges, platforms like TerraMatch and the latest scientific advances, now is the time to start tracking progress.</p>



<hr> 

<div class="attribute" style="”padding-bottom:" 10px;”=""> 


Originally appeared on <a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2020/07/trillion-trees-tracking-challenges" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">WRI Insights</a>. 


</div> 

 

<hr>