2019 Goal 5 assessment

Key Messages

• Progress on the implementation of forest landscape restoration has been mixed
• Pledges under the Bonn Challenge totaling 170.6 million hectares indicate significant political will to restore landscapes. However, only a small amount of restoration has been reported, and data limitations make progress difficult to quantify.
• A systematic global literature review found that only 18 percent of the 2020 goal (26.7 Mha of forests) are documented to have undergone restoration since 2000.
• An in-depth analysis of the Mekong region using satellite data reveals that most restoration in the area since 2010 has taken place outside of forests; tree cover is increasing on croplands, shrublands, and other non-forest land uses at a higher rate (75 percent) than inside forests (25 percent). Furthermore, deforestation in the Mekong region has continued at a higher pace than forest restoration, amounting to an overall net loss of natural forests (-0.3 Mha).
• These results indicate that we are not on track to meet the 2020 goals, and greater efforts are needed to protect and restore natural forests and the important forest ecosystem functions they supply (e.g. biodiversity and carbon sequestration).