In response to pressing climate and environmental challenges, The Restoration Initiative (TRI) is advancing conservation, restoration, and sustainable land management on a global scale. With the forest and land-use sector (excluding agriculture) responsible for roughly 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, TRI underscores the potential for nature-based solutions—such as forest and mangrove restoration—to reduce emissions and remove carbon from the atmosphere and ensure that these ecosystems’ degradation is halted and recovered to be a harbor of biodiversity.
Since 2018, TRI has launched ten projects across nine countries, collaborating with three Global Environment Facility (GEF) agencies—the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)—alongside governments and strategic partners. These collaborations address biodiversity loss, climate impacts, and land degradation, supporting global restoration targets like those of the Bonn Challenge.
To date, TRI has implemented projects across Africa and Asia, bringing over 355,672 hectares of land under restoration and placing more than 715,164 hectares under sustainable management. These initiatives have positively impacted over 810,526 people, reduced greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 27.4 million tCO2eq, and supported the adoption of over 62 policies to strengthen forest and landscape restoration efforts. “TRI represents a significant advancement in global efforts to combat biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation. Through science-based strategies and community engagement, TRI is building resilient ecosystems that can better withstand climate challenges,” said Prof. Lu Zhi, Executive Director of the Peking University Center for Nature and Society and UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration Advisory Board member.
Global commitments, including the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, reinforce goals to protect and restore 30% of natural areas by 2030. TRI’s work contributes to these commitments, helping countries implement ambitious forest and land-use targets within their nationally determined contributions (NDCs). In addition to mitigating climate change, TRI’s focus on ecosystem health supports adaptation, sustainable development, and resilience for local communities. Restoration efforts not only help mitigate temperature fluctuations and secure water supplies but also sustain livelihoods through non-timber forest products and protect coastal areas through restored mangroves.
Key Elements of TRI’s Approach
Ecosystem restoration through increased tree cover—via reforestation, afforestation, agroforestry, and silvopastoral systems—holds significant potential for climate change mitigation and adaption. This approach not only helps capture carbon but also provides socioeconomic and ecological benefits, further enhancing climate resilience in rural landscapes and the ecosystems within. Integrating trees in agricultural areas supports climate adaptation and sustainable development, improving agricultural productivity and moderating temperatures. These benefits set the stage for the following:
Restoration of Degraded Ecosystems: TRI utilises innovative techniques like micro-catchment technology and community-led forest management to rehabilitate degraded landscapes. In Kenya, for example, TRI has successfully restored arid and semi-arid lands, enhancing ecological integrity and ecosystem connectivity to support biodiversity and increase landscape resilience.
Effective, Community-Centred Restoration Practices: TRI’s projects emphasise combining traditional knowledge with modern restoration techniques to ensure sustainable and effective outcomes. Projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic involve local and Indigenous communities at every stage, from selecting restoration areas to choosing suitable plant species, thereby fostering community ownership and cultural respect.
Diverse Ecosystem Focus: TRI’s projects span various ecosystems, including terrestrial, inland water, marine, and coastal areas. In Guinea-Bissau, Cameroon, and São Tomé and Príncipe, TRI has focused on restoring mangrove forests, which are vital for coastal protection and marine biodiversity. Other projects have restored forests in China, Pakistan, and Tanzania and re-established natural vegetation in arid lands and river ecosystems in Kenya.
Enhancing Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services: TRI aims to boost both biodiversity and ecosystem services through its restoration efforts. In China, TRI has adopted a forest-landscape restoration approach within State-owned Forest Farms to improve ecosystem health and biodiversity, providing benefits like clean water, improved soil quality, and enhanced carbon sequestration.
Connectivity and Ecological Integrity: TRI prioritises ecosystem connectivity, ensuring restored areas contribute to larger ecological networks. For instance, in Cameroon, a TRI project reintroduced native bamboo species to aid restoration of degraded lands while supporting biodiversity and offering economic potential for local communities.
National Target Setting and TRI’s Role
Countries are encouraged to enhance climate action by integrating nature based solutions within their NDCs, setting ambitious targets and policies supported by robust data. Existing commitments to conservation, biodiversity, and sustainable development should be aligned with NDCs for greater impact. While nature based solutions—including forests, agriculture, grasslands, and wetlands—have the potential to contribute over one-third of global greenhouse gas reductions, they remain underrepresented in current NDCs.
TRI serves as a valuable model, using the Restoration Opportunities Assessment Methodology (ROAM) to identify and analyse FLR potential and locate special areas of opportunity at a national or sub-national level, while the programmes measures impacts to biodiversity and people through several other indicators including area under land management, GHG emissions reduced, number of policies and interinstitutional coordination mechanisms, value of resources mobilised for FLR, among others.
Scaling Up Restoration Through Enabling Conditions and Partnerships
TRI’s success in ecosystem restoration has attracted further funding and partnerships, with several countries now receiving new projects supported by the GEF and the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF). In the Central African Republic, TRI has integrated restoration themes into national educational curricula, and in São Tomé and Príncipe, TRI has developed a national platform for Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) to coordinate restoration efforts nationwide.
TRI stands as a model of how robust policy, technical support, and community-driven approaches can unlock large-scale restoration, effectively addressing challenges of biodiversity loss, climate change, and land degradation. Through its work, TRI continues to expand and share knowledge, fostering a global movement for sustainable land management and ecosystem restoration.
