PP13 - Transformative Forest and Landscape Restoration to achieve the SDGs – Research, theory and practice

1. Sessions
Aida Bargues Tobella^{1, 2} , Rosa Goodman¹, Lars Laestadius¹, Leigh Ann Winowiecki², Madelon Lohbeck^{2, 3}, Ulrik Ilstedt¹, Anders Malmer^{1, 4}, Erik Karltun⁵, Gert Nyberg¹, Madelene Ostwald^{6, 7}, Dennis Garrity^{2, 8}, Asmamaw Alemu^9
1 Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Umeå, Sweden
² World Agroforestry (ICRAF), Nairobi, Kenya
³ Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University and Research (WUR), Wageningen, The Netherlands
⁴ Swedish Forest Agency (Skogsstyrelsen), Jönköping , Sweden
⁵ Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala, Sweden
⁶ Gothenburg Centre for Sustainable Development (GMV), University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
⁷ Department of Technology Management and Economics, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden
⁸ World Resources Institute (WRI), Washington DC, USA
⁹ University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia

Introduction
Session description

Healthy ecosystems and the services they provide are a prerequisite to achieving the SDGs. Today, land degradation negatively impacts the livelihoods and well-being of millions of people globally, threatening sustainable development. Forest and Landscape Restoration (FLR) – ‘the process that aims to regain ecological functionality and enhance human well-being in deforested or degraded landscapes’ – has emerged as a key element to meet these challenges and contribute to realizing the SDGs. An estimated two billion hectares of degraded land – an area larger than South America – offer opportunities for FLR, and the global restoration movement is growing bigger. Under the FLR regime, several countries have committed to restore millions of hectares of degraded land as part of the Bonn Challenge and the New York Declaration on Forests, and the UN General Assembly declared 2021-2030 the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, which aims to massively scale up the restoration of degraded ecosystems.We propose two sessions to cover this theme. Session 22 (part I) will focus on the theory and some of the research behind FLR, and Session 30 (part II) will highlight some ongoing Swedish development cooperation and capacity development programs around FLR. 

We will discuss the potential FLR pathways to advancing sustainable transformation and achieving the SDGs based on research and experiences from across the global tropics. We will also discuss fundamental questions such as ‘What functions to restore and for whom?’ or ‘How can we ensure truly transformative FLR with outcomes that are sustainable in the long term?’.

The sessions will be co-organized by SLU Global, ICRAF, Focali and SIANI


Session contributors


Part I (session 22):

• Lars Laestadius (SLU, Sweden): Forest and Landscape Restoration (FLR) – Requirements and opportunities for a globally meaningful response to Agenda 2030.
• Leigh A. Winowiecki (ICRAF, Kenya): The power of data-driven networks for effective implementation and monitoring of land restoration
• Madelon Lohbeck (Wageningen University, The Netherlands): Natural regeneration as a nature-based solution to restoring degraded lands
• Aida Bargues Tobella (SLU, Sweden): Transformative trees - Impacts of tree-based restoration on water security
• Asmamaw Alemu (University of Gondar, Ethiopia): Market Driven Afforestation – Charcoal Value Chain Drives Rapid Afforestation
• Erik Karltun (SLU, Sweden): Commercial forestry for sustainable development - Catalyzing the forest sector development in Ethiopia
• Dennis Garrity (ICRAF & WRI, Kenya): Restoration that puts people first: It’s the only way to succeed

Part II (session 30):

• Anders Malmer (Swedish Forest Agency, Sweden.): Locally controlled forest restoration – a governance and market-oriented approach to resilient landscapes
• Rosa Goodman (SLU, Sweden): The ‘Good Wood’ value chain model – Transforming the tropical forestry industry to make restorative forest management possible
• Ulrik Ilstedt (SLU, Sweden): The Sow-a-Seed project: Learning from 22 years of rainforest restoration on Borneo
• Gert Nyberg (SLU, Sweden): REFOREST Africa – a regional research school in forest sciences
• Madelene Ostwald (University of Gothenburg, Sweden): Multifunctional land use and food security – examples from AgriFoSe2030

How the sessions will be run 

Part I (session 22) will start with an icebreaker in Mentimeter. After the icebreaker, there will be 6 min presentations by the seven speakers, with two rounds of questions from the audience. Session II will start with a recap of session I and another participatory exercise in Mentimeter followed by 6 min presentations by the five speakers. After this, there will be another round of Q&A. The session will end with a concluding discussion with the audience.