Abstract
A series of international initiatives have set ambitious goals for restoring global forests. This review synthesizes natural and social science research on forest restoration (FR), with a focus on restoration on cleared land in low- and middle-income countries. We define restoration more broadly than reestablishing native forests, given that landholders might prefer other forest types. We organize the review loosely around ideas in the forest transition literature. We begin by examining recent trends in FR and forest transition indicators. We then investigate two primary parts of the forest transition explanation for forest recovery: wood scarcity, including its connection to restoration for climate change mitigation, and the dynamic relationships between migration and land use. Next, we review ecological and silvicultural aspects of restoration on cleared land. We conclude by discussing selected interventions to promote restoration and the challenge of scaling up restoration to achieve international initiatives' goals.
Highlights
We focus on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) because they are emphasized by international forest restoration (FR) initiatives and are where the forest transition is most uncertain [8]
In the two sections, we first consider whether wood scarcity, on its own or in combination with carbon pricing policies, is likely to induce much future FR on agricultural land in LMICs, and we examine the complex relationships among rural populations, land degradation, and FR
Information on biophysical aspects of forest restoration (FR) in low- and middleincome countries (LMICs) is more abundant than information on socioeconomic aspects, because social science research on forests in LMICs has focused more on reduced deforestation than on FR
Summary
National statistics in the 2020 Global Forest Resources Assessment [15] (FRA) by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) paint a broad-brush picture of recent FR trends in the 139 LMICs in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean that we focus on. The number of countries with increasing total forest area rose slightly from 29 during 2000–2010 to 32 during 2010–2020, planted forest area increased more slowly during the second decade in all LMIC regions (Figure 1). This deceleration is not encouraging evidence of the impact of international FR initiatives launched since 2010. (Light yellow-green) Countries with decreased rural population during 2000–2020 or (projected) 2020–2030, but not increased total or planted forest area during 2000–2020 or decreased agricultural, cropland, or pastureland area during 2000–2017. In the two sections, we first consider whether wood scarcity, on its own or in combination with carbon pricing policies, is likely to induce much future FR on agricultural land in LMICs, and we examine the complex relationships among rural populations, land degradation, and FR
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