Protecting forests and other ecosystems is one of the key objectives under the Convention on Biological Diversity (see Target 15).  CLARA members urge countries to address climate change and biodiversity loss in an integrated way, in pursuit of ‘ecological integrity’ and combined mitigation/adaptation benefits.

CLARA also notes that deforestation and forest degradation is a major contributor to global warming and harms the livelihoods of millions of people.  CLARA members have called for a total ban on the clearing of primary forests worldwide. Ideally, NDCs will include both a commitment to protecting land (through parks and protected areas, indigenous reserves, and community conservation areas), as well as a ‘no deforestation’ commitment.

The clearing of natural forests to make way for cocoa, rubber or oil palm plantations continues to have a very negative on forest lands in the Global South.  A ‘no net loss of forests’ policy is a step in the right direction, but isn’t as good as ‘no deforestation’, because ‘no net loss’ still allows for conversion of natural forests to plantations.

Best of all is a three-part commitment that a) ends deforestation, b) expands protection for natural ecosystems, and c) lays out an agenda for restoring forests, while protecting community rights.

This article from Nature Climate Change journal explores why this three-part commitment is necessary.  The authors note that only 36% of the world’s forest is now primary forest.  These ecosystems are irreplaceable – not only for biodiversity (see below) but also because of the carbon stocks they contain.  All remaining primary forests should enjoy strict protection.   Expanding protection of natural ecosystems also allows for the recovery of the forest’s carbon ‘sink’ capacity:  ‘refilling the buffer that was depleted by human activities’.  The paper further notes that forest conservation can avoid or reduce future carbon emissions, but cannot ‘in any meaningful sense’ offset emission from other sources.  Finally, the authors call for a distinction to be made between natural forests ecosystems and plantations.  Plantations offer only much lower per-hectare carbon storage potentials, as compared to natural forests. 

This article from Nature Climate Change provides a detailed analysis of how land and forests in particular can contribute to achieving the Paris Agreement goal.  That requires turning land use and forestry from a net anthropogenic source of emissions globally, as was the case from 1990–2010, to a net sink of carbon by 2030.

IUCN notes that while “restored or even degraded forests can offer some degree of environmental and ecological functionality”, they do not deliver the full range of benefits provided by primary forests.  IUCN’s detailed policy on primary forests and intact forest landscapes can be found here. 

The New York Declaration on Forests includes voluntary commitments, made by countries and companies, on protection and restoration of forests.  In their NDCs, countries can indicate progress toward meeting the 10 Goals included in the Declaration. The Declaration website features case studies from China, Malawi, and El Salvador.

The 2019 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Climate Change and Land clearly identified ecosystem restoration as a key element of ambitious climate action.  The World Resources Institute has identified ~2 billion hectares of land that could be restored globally.  Many countries have made voluntary commitments under the Bonn Challenge – the goal of which is to restore 150 million hectares of forest by 2020, and 350 million hectares by 2030.  You can search your country’s pledge here.

The United Nations has also called for 2021-2030 to be the ‘UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration’.  Civil society groups should link land-use commitments in the NDC to outcomes of the ‘UN Decade’.

IUCN recently developed a Policy Brief on Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) as an important component of NDCs. It highlights the opportunity for forest landscape restoration to be scaled up as both climate mitigation and adaptation measure.  Landscape-level analysis and action is extremely important for addressing the twin challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss.  Leading scientists have put together a list of 10 Principles for Landscape Level Approaches to forest restoration – principles that echo many of the themes of participation, multifunctionality, and recognition of land rights addressed elsewhere on this site.

Greenpeace Germany commissioned an in-depth study of the restoration and carbon storage potential of European forests.  Greenpeace and academic colleagues found that a 30% decrease in logging rates could lead to a doubling of carbon capture by European forests.  (For German-language original by Naturwald Akademie, click here.)

The variety of competing land-use demands, and the different cultural contexts in which decisions about land use are made, makes it challenging to implement ecosystem protection and restoration.  This paper, from colleagues at Griffith University, suggests looking at the forest landscape level.  Management at that level requires a focus on three interconnected ‘pillars’: (1) ecosystem integrity, (2) effective planning and (3) strong governance.

Ecosystem integrity determines what benefits a landscape can provide.  That means the quality and quantity of its ecosystem services, and resilience – how the ecosystem sustains itself in response to impacts. Landscape management should focus on maintaining or strengthening ecosystem integrity by preserving biodiversity and ecosystem structure and function.

Planning allows communities and other stakeholders to choose current and future land uses across the landscape so benefits are used sustainably and shared equitably. Effective planning includes processes for (a) shared learning that incorporates and builds on scientific, local and Indigenous knowledge; (b) integration approaches that recognise the multiple values and goals of stakeholders; and (c) ensuring just outcomes, including fair benefit sharing and protecting rights.

Governance determines how stakeholders work together to reach legitimate decisions that are widely accepted. Strong governance requires meaningful participation of all and productive deliberation porcesses to create integrity in decision-making processes.

In 2019, the UNFCCC acknowledged the importance of addressing climate change and biodiversity loss “in an integrated manner”.  Doing so is crucial for reducing vulnerability to pests, disease, drought, and fire – threats that are already increasing as a result of climate change.

Several recent scientific reports make this key point about the need for integrative strategies to address biodiversity loss and slow down climate change.  These reports include the IPBES 2019 Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, and the 2019 IPCC Special Report on Land.  Among their conclusions:

• It’s impossible to replace primary ecosystems (like forests, wetlands, mangroves, and coral reefs) in time frames relevant for climate change (2030 – 2050).
• Deforestation must end immediately. Fragmentation of forests and other primary ecosystems is also a major problem that needs to be reversed.
• There are strong climate and biodiversity benefits associated with actions that increase connectivity between ecosystems, as well as ‘pro-forestation’, which means allowing previously logged or degraded forests to recover their biological potential.
• Agricultural systems can be restored using agroecological practices that maintain or increase biodiversity in soils, which in turn can improve farm productivity and carbon storage.
• There is much to learn from indigenous peoples and local communities as they address biodiversity loss and climate change in an integrated manner.

Despite these clear findings, there isn’t yet a joint work program involving the climate convention (UNFCCC) and biodiversity convention (CBD).  Programs to link biodiversity and climate change responses are still scarce.

It’s important to ask what plans are included in your NDC or your national climate action plan to address biodiversity and climate change in a more integrated manner.

Here’s a good report about those linkages.

The needs of local communities should be taken into account in all activities to protect and restore ecosystems.  The impact of protection and restoration on local livelihoods must be considered; and local people should be empowered to lead decision-making processes and actions related to restoration. Ecological restoration to ensure climate resilience and biodiversity will usually provide health benefits to communities while reducing threats from natural disasters.  Local communities often have historic and detailed knowledge of nearby ecosystems, increasing the likelihood of success in protection and restoration.

Between 12% and 22% of the Earth falls under Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities’ Conserved Territories and Areas (ICCAs). That’s why locally-led forest (and grassland) restoration should be included in NDCs — because local communities are already significant stakeholders in land use decision.  In 2018, CLARA produced a report “Missing Pathways to 1.5 Degrees”, where we discussed this issue and other related issues in detail.

CLARA members are very active in this area. Global Forest Coalition compiled information about supporting community conservation.  FERN put together a briefing on how forests can help the EU tackle climate change.  Forests of the World outlines key principles for rights-based restoration work.  Rights and Resources provides an in-depth look at how recognizing community land rights can lead to lower deforestation rates, higher carbon storage, and higher levels of biodiversity.

Natural Climate Solutions – an academic paper co-authored by a group of scientists from NGOs and universities – quantified twenty land management actions that increase carbon storage or avoided greenhouse gas emissions.  They call these ‘natural climate solutions’ (NCS).