Manila Declaration on Forest and Landscape Restoration: Making It Happen

Robin L Chazdon,James G Hallett,J David Neidel,Patrick B Durst,Rafael B Chaves,John Herbohn,Victoria Gutierrez,Nestor Gregorio,Liz Ota,Rhett D Harrison,Sharif A Mukul,Arturo Pasa,Cathy Watson

doi:10.3390/f11060685

Abstract

Globally, Forest and Landscape Restoration (FLR) is gaining widespread recognition from governments and policymakers for its potential to restore key ecosystem services and to improve human wellbeing. We organized an international conference on FLR, titled—Forest and Landscape Restoration: Making it Happen, between 25–27 February 2019 in Manila, the Philippines with 139 participants from 22 countries. The Forest and Landscape Restoration Standards (FLoRES) task force also met prior to the conference, which included a field visit to a pilot community-based forest reforestation site in Biliran Island, the Philippines. Based on the three-day conference, case study presentations, and FLoRES task force meeting, we prepared the Manila Declaration on Forest and Landscape Restoration to highlight the need to support quality of FLR efforts and outcomes in the tropics. Here we provide a synthesis of the main messages of the conference, with key outcomes including the Manila Declaration on Forest and Landscape Restoration, and ways forward to make quality FLR happen on the ground.

Highlights

On 1 March 2019, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly declared 2021–2030 as the “UNDecade on Ecosystem Restoration”
Research and Development (PCAARRD), Energy Development Corporation (EDC), PARTNERS—People and Acknowledgments: We extend thanks to the various conference organizing committees for all the hard work that went into making the conference a great success
Provide different users and sectors with targeted documentation, such as briefs and videos, to illustrate how FLR aligns with (a) broader national and international development and climate agendas; (b) good community-based governance; (c) broad environment and social policy agendas; (d) funding and investment practices and programs from both public and private sectors; Encourage and support the co-development and testing of working frameworks to assess their utility and effectiveness for different FLR actors; Communicate the urgency and legitimacy of FLR to different user groups, stakeholders, sectors, funding agencies, and jurisdictions; Engage additional members in the FLoRES task force and broaden its interaction with interested parties; Advance this agenda (steps 1–7) through international institutional platforms such as World Agroforestry (ICRAF), Asia-Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management (APFNet), the Global Partnership on Forest and Landscape Restoration (GPFLR), and through international conferences and workshops