WWF works to help local communities conserve the natural resources they depend upon; transform markets and policies toward sustainability; and protect and restore species and their habitats. The WWF efforts ensure that the value of nature is reflected in decision-making from a local to a global scale.
How to integrate the different scales from local to global in the preservation and restoration of forests?
Forest landscape restoration (FLR) is critical to bending the curve on biodiversity loss, tackling runaway climate change and improving human wellbeing, alongside the protection, sustainable management and strategies to halt deforestation. Integration is critical to upscale FLR - and it’s about focusing on the whole landscape, not just a small parcel of land, and creating a mosaic of land uses and management practices. It’s about proactive actions that address the root causes of deforestation and forest degradation. And most importantly, it’s about inclusive implementation and solutions that take into account local conditions, the voices and experiences of communities and a shared vision among all involved.
Initiatives to fight deforestation or restore forests as well as funding are launched by both private and public actors. How can we strengthen cooperation between these sectors to accelerate action for forests?
There’s a strong need for impact-focused coordination and cooperation between the public and private sectors. There are several pathways for the private sector to get more engaged, complemented by government actions. These include:
- Ambitious targets to combat deforestation and/or restore ecosystems enshrined in national policies and legislation. This would provide much-needed momentum to spur further government action and private engagement, including investments in forest conservation.
- Incentives through enabling frameworks, such as tax incentives, premium payments, guarantees, etc. that reward sustainability and efforts to halt deforestation and restore forests.
- Engagement frameworks for high-impact and high-quality nature-based solutions that put biodiversity, livelihoods and climate integrity at the center, for example WWF’s
What are the 3 priority actions to implement to reach the Global Forest Goals by 2030 in your opinion?
We cannot reverse nature loss, address climate change and develop sustainable livelihoods without forests. Everyone - from governments, international organizations and businesses to Indigenous peoples and local communities - has a role to play. The world is losing forests at a rate of 10 million hectares annually. The first step to meet global forest goals is to halt deforestation, and that begins by transforming how food is produced and consumed. This should be complemented by high-quality restoration that benefits nature and people. Around 25-30% of land area globally is degraded - it’s time to look beyond current models of forest financing to unlock resources and accelerate forest conservation at scale. Most importantly, solutions to protect and sustainably manage forests, halt deforestation and restore forests must involve the active participation of Indigenous people and local communities, who are the best stewards of our world’s natural resources.