Oslo Tropical Forest Forum: accelerating nature restoration to advance climate action

Germany is supporting the new Global Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) Implementation Hub of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with 19 million euros in funding. At this year’s Oslo Tropical Forest Forum, the Federal Environment Ministry is working to accelerate the global restoration of degraded forest landscapes and reduce deforestation. At the biennial conference, which takes place at Norway’s invitation, environment and climate ministers of tropical forest and donor countries are discussing how to implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) and make progress on its measures. The focus is on model successes in tropical forest conservation – successes that demonstrate the impact of nature-based solutions, such as reducing deforestation in the Amazon region.

Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke commented: "All countries must implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the Paris Agreement to protect the natural foundations of all of our lives. This requires targeted investments in forest restoration and a swift end to deforestation. Because only near-natural and healthy forests provide key ecosystem services such as clean air and a stable water regime. We are supporting this in Germany via our Federal Action Plan on Nature-based Solutions for Climate and Biodiversity. On an international level, we are working with the IUCN via the Global FLR Implementation Hub and the Bonn Challenge."

Dr Grethel Aguilar, Director General of the IUCN stated: "The Global Forest Landscape Restoration Implementation Hub marks a key milestone in land restoration. This initiative recognises the crucial importance of working with local communities to enhance livelihoods and biodiversity, while addressing climate change. I am grateful to Germany for its long-term engagement with IUCN and for its support to the Hub, implemented in partnership with WWF and the World Resources Institute. Together, we will advance towards the ambitious goals of the Bonn Challenge and Rio Conventions."

The Federal Environment Ministry supports countries in implementing their climate and biodiversity targets through the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The IUCN Global FLR Implementation Hub provides advice in particular on implementing restoration plans in six countries in Africa and Latin America. These countries themselves raise further funding, which doubles the funding from the IKI, thus making a significant contribution to forest landscape restoration.

The global stocktake of the Paris Agreement calls for an end to deforestation by 2030. The GBF aims to have begun ecosystem restoration in at least 30 percent of degraded terrestrial and coastal areas by 2030, in order to improve the state of biodiversity, ecosystem functions and the services provided by nature. As havens for biodiversity, forest landscapes play a vital role in these efforts. Internationally, the Federal Environment Ministry is supporting the restoration of nature, especially forests, through the Bonn Challenge and regional restoration initiatives, that is, World Restoration Flagships under the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

In Germany, the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration recognises forward-looking projects, promotes the knowledge base and raises awareness for ecosystem restoration. The Federal Action Plan on Nature-based Solutions for Climate and Biodiversity implements specific measures combining climate action and nature conservation in forests and floodplains, soils and peatlands, and seas and water bodies.