These announcements came alongside an extension of the global restoration target to at least 350 million hectares—an area greater than the size of India—to be restored by 2030. This new target was unveiled at the Summit today in the New York Declaration on Forests. The Declaration, signed by IUCN, as well as more than 100 countries, corporations, indigenous peoples and civil society also calls for a halving of deforestation rates by 2020 and an end to global deforestation altogether by 2030.

“The courageous leadership demonstrated by these countries towards achieving the Bonn Challenge, and by the wide range of global leaders in support of the New York Declaration on Forests, underlines that nature-based solutions such as forest landscape restoration can play a vital role in our fight against climate change and addressing the fundamental need to reduce emissions,” said Julia Marton-Lefèvre, Director General of IUCN.

IUCN estimates that meeting the 150 million hectare Bonn Challenge target alone could add approximately US$ 85 billion to national and local economies and remove an additional one billion tons of carbon from the atmosphere each year.

UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said, "Today's pledges by countries in Africa and Latin America to combat deforestation and more than double restoration targets will bring significant climate benefits. At the same time, such inspiring initiatives will contribute significantly to poverty reduction, economic development and food security across countries and regions."

The restoration pledges and the New York Declaration on Forests arrive in preparation for next year’s climate talks in Paris, which are largely expected to result in a new global climate deal. Progress in New York signals significant support for ramping up restoration of lost and degraded forest lands as part of the post-2015 Paris climate agreements and development agenda.

“Restoration of degraded and deforested lands is not simply about planting trees, said Bianca Jagger, IUCN Ambassador for the Bonn Challenge, and Founder and Chair of the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation. “People and communities are at the heart of the restoration effort, which transforms barren or degraded areas of land into healthy, fertile working landscapes.”

“The New York Declaration on Forests is a milestone as we enter the restoration generation,” said Andrew Steer, President and CEO, World Resources Institute. “It’s a triple win that can bring more water and food security, improve livelihoods, and help tackle climate change. We look forward to working with leaders to help ensure that they deliver on these commitments that will benefit people and the planet,”

Restoration pledges to the Bonn Challenge represent commitments from the highest level to start actual restoration work on the ground in support of each nation’s or organization’s individual objectives.

“IUCN-led work on forest landscape restoration began in the field and is now back in the field,” said Stewart Maginnis, Global Director of Nature-Based Solutions at IUCN. “What started as a grassroots approach to address local needs and challenges has now captured the attention of public, private, and civil society leaders around the world. These leaders are now initiating action on the ground to simultaneously meet local needs and international climate change commitments.”

Details on individual pledges will be available after the national announcements at the New York Climate Summit on September 23 at http://www.bonnchallenge.org

For more information or to set up interviews, please contact:

In New York: Mark Gnadt, IUCN Global Forest & Climate Change Programme, m +41 79 560 6289; mark.gnadt@iucn.org
In Switzerland: Ewa Magiera, IUCN Media Relations, m +41 76 505 33 78, ewa.magiera@iucn.org

Notes to editors:

IUCN and other members of the Global Partnership on Forest Landscape Restoration (GPFLR) – which oversees progress on the Bonn Challenge – have been instrumental in identifying the potential for forest landscape restoration and in working with national and sub-national authorities to develop and implement restoration plans.

The Bonn Challenge was launched at a ministerial event hosted by the German government and IUCN in 2011 to provide an implementation platform for international commitments including the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Aichi Target 15, the UNFCCC REDD+ goal and the Rio+20 land degradation target.

Restored land can be put to a mosaic of uses including agriculture, protected wildlife reserves, managed plantations, agroforestry systems and plantings to protect waterways.