Community Forests International’s Post

Let us all be clear on this: afforestation is NOT restoration. It is almost always either the economically-driven efforts of commercial timber interests, and/or the well-meaning but ecologically-ill-judged effort to plant trees where they have not recently occured in geological time and thus cannot likely survive. And it is causing the destruction of grasslands, wetlands, montane ecosystems and others. As well as, of course, the wastage of millions$$ and major effort that must better be spent strategically restoring ecosystems that also contribute massively to biodiversity, carbon, ecosystem function/service, and social goals. https://lnkd.in/gbiRpUPN. "The research found that 52% of tree-planting projects in Africa are occurring in savannahs, with almost 60% using non-native tree species, which also brings the risk of introducing invasive species." Part of this is attributable to misclassification of remote sensing data - but also to an alarming ecological illiteracy and failure to look at land use histories and climate data. Nicola Stevens Guy Midgley Delphine Dubray Midori Paxton FAO Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Anthony Leiserowitz UNEP-WCMC

The dangers of tree planting in savannah and grasslands has been emphasized by scientists in several articles but I wonder if the message is getting through to the people making decisions. The false allure of planting trees as an easy solution to climate change is just too great. The Global Biodiversity Standard (https://lnkd.in/dki2V4_d) is an attempt to address the challenge of tree planting programmes that may be causing harm to the world’s ecosystems. It is intended to provide assurance that tree planting, habitat restoration and agroforestry practices are protecting, restoring, and enhancing biodiversity. This is a great initiative and the next challenge is to ensure that the standards are adopted and applied by governments, corporates and funding agencies

The race to plant trees as a way to store carbon gets weirder every day..... (non-native) tree planting in African savannas & grasslands in the name of 'reforestation' "A recent scientific study now supports the warnings of environmentalists. It found that 52 percent of AFR100 afforestation projects are planned in savannas. In almost 60 percent of cases, non-native species such as eucalyptus are to be planted." https://lnkd.in/eAmXMfzt & https://lnkd.in/eDbbs-Yz

They are not making much new land. Natural vegetational communities and wildlife populations have been devastated for centuries. It is an open question whether globally enough natural ecosystems exist to sustain economies and an operable biosphere. It is so very, very important that we not willingly allow biodiversity -- the constituent species that make up ecosystems that sustain us all -- to perish. The best economic value of remaining naturally evolved genetic resources, natural plant communities, and intact ecosystems is to maintain them in an intact state. And allow ecosystems to recover and expand, for a variety of economic and ecological benefits. It is possible to target land protections to maximize biodiversity conservation, and it is imperative that we do so. What is lost biologically can never be recovered. Extinction is forever. https://lnkd.in/eyR_MQfh #extinction #land #ecosystems #sustainability | More: https://lnkd.in/eqEtjiGZ

Freshwater ecosystems support 10% https://lnkd.in/dUtCsfJ2 of all described species but 87 per cent of wetlands have been lost globally in the last 300 years, and 54 per cent since 1900 (Convention on Biological Diversity). “Be part of the Plan”, the theme for this year’s #BiodiversityDay https://lnkd.in/dT9SUsDx on 22 May, is a call to action to halt and reverse the loss of biodiversity by supporting implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, also referred to as the Biodiversity Plan. Target 2 (cbd.int) of the Plan says: “Ensure that by 2030 at least 30% of areas of degraded terrestrial, inland #water, and coastal and marine ecosystems are under effective restoration… The target does not require areas to be restored, given that restoration is a long-term process, but that effective restoration activities have been initiated.” See: “Scaling up wetland conservation and restoration to deliver the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework: Guidance on including wetlands in National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (NBSAPs) to boost biodiversity and halt wetland loss and degradation.” https://lnkd.in/dP94juYF It says: “National targets should be set out in hectares for most wetlands, and in kilometres for rivers identifying the specific wetlands, river basins and landscapes where restoration will be undertaken. Targets covering wetland restoration should be qualitative as well as quantitative, aiming for improved condition and connectivity.” Biodiversity loss threatens the planet’s web of life, including human existence. Nature needs protecting. #Actnow #fornature #generationrestoration Richard Lee Colin Herron Vivek Shah Lis Mullin Bernhardt Ann-Kathrin Neureuther Lucía González Stephanie Gerretsen Simon T. Joakim Harlin Gareth James Lloyd Leticia Carvalho Lisbet Rhiannon Hansen Avantika Singh Alex Pires Kilian Christ, PhD Melchior Z. Elsler Anham Salyani Nina Raasakka Lisa Rolls Hagelberg Igor Chernov Stuart Crane Anna Nylander Norén Sam Dindi, HSC Tom Ogola Ian Harrison James Dalton IHE Delft Institute for Water Education Global Nature Fund Susan C Gardner, Ph.D. Andrew Raven

#NEWS: Today on #InternationalDayforBiodiversity, the first-ever global #assessment for the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems reveals that more than half of the world's #mangroves are at risk of #collapse, with nearly a one-fifth severely threatened. 🌱🌊 The projections are alarming 🚨: In the absence of #conservation action, by 2050 about 7,065 km2 of mangroves will be lost and 23,672 km2, some 16%, will be #submerged under water - mainly due to #sealevel #rise We stand to lose not just #biodiverse #habitats but also crucial #ecosystem services. Mangroves act as shields against #coastal disasters, store vast amounts of #carbon, and sustain vital #fisheries. 🐠 This assessment, led by IUCN in #collaboration with over 250 #experts globally, including IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management, IUCN Species Survival Commission & Global Mangrove Alliance evaluates the #risk of the world’s mangrove ecosystems. By assessing the #health of #mangroves across 36 regions, we've identified key strategies for #conservation and #restoration. National #managementplans must prioritise mangrove #protection, incorporating techniques for #adaptation to #climatechange. 🌍🌿 #Restoration, the establishment of coastal protection areas and #community engagement are some of the strategies we can use to help protect these environments. By acting now, we can help to #safeguard these invaluable ecosystems. Established in 2014, the IUCN Red List of Ecosystems stands as a global #standard for evaluating the conservation status of ecosystems. It serves as a vital tool for assessing and monitoring the health of ecosystems worldwide, as well as identifying the threats these environments face, and ways to reduce these. 🤝 Join #IUCN & #RedListofEcosystems in our mission to protect our planet's #biodiversity. #biodiversity #assessment #NatureBasedSolutions Marcos Valderrabano Ena Suarez Emily Nicholson #DavidKeith Angela A.

How can we work together toward our vision of a better world? Plant native forests faster: "More than a third of the world’s tree species are threatened with extinction, according to the first comprehensive assessment of trees by the world’s leading scientific authority on the status of species." The New York Times reports on new findings by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, which examined 80% of known tree species. Of these, nearly 40% were found to be at risk of extinction. Planting, conserving, and restoring forests with native species can preserve our planet's biodiversity for the generations that follow us. We can be good ancestors. Read more (gift link): https://lnkd.in/eBDFdsca

urgh... one of my pet peeves... stop planting trees where they don't belong. Especially alien trees!! Grasslands and open savannas are valuable and necessary parts of the world's rangelands. This study really highlights how far we need to still go in bringing ecology and economy into functional alignment if we are truly going to achieve nature-positive outcomes.

Trees and plants in general are not just static features in the landscape, much like animals they have unique interactions and impacts on their respective natural endemic ranges. What a lot of aforestation does would be akin to introducing grizzly bears as a predator into Africa if the native predator lion population should disappear. Same but not same, and so the impacts and interactions are also not the same.

Brooke Williams, James Watson, Jonathan Rhodes, and past CBCSers Hawthorne Beyer, Renato Crouzeilles and Anazélia Tedesco have published a paper in the journal Nature in collaboration with Conservation International titled “Global potential for natural regeneration in deforested tropical regions”. Their new research shows that natural forest regeneration in tropical regions – without costly interventions – can restore over 215 million hectares of forest, an area larger than Mexico. The world has committed to ambitious forest restoration targets, such as Target 2 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. In some locations, these can only be achieved through cost-effective forest restoration techniques. The dataset that they have released, which shows the potential for natural forest regeneration (between a value of 0–1) across tropical Earth at a 30m resolution, informs on where the natural forest regeneration can be leveraged to solve some of humanity’s greatest challenges. Read the paper here: