Impact of forest fragmentation and degradation on patterns of genetic variation and its implication for forest restoration

PREMOLI, A.; SOUTO, CINTIA; TRUJILLO, S; DEL CASTILLO, R.; QUIROGA, M. P.; KITZBERGER, T.; GOMEZ, O.; ARBETMAN, M.; MALIZIA, L.; GRAU, R.; RIVERA, G; NEWTON, A.C.

Principles and Practice of Forest Landscape Restoration. Case studies from the drylands of Latin America

UICN

Año: 2011; p. 1 - 412

Every year, a forest area the size of Greece1 is lost. More than 80% of the world?s forests havebeen cleared, fragmented or degraded. The world?s biodiversity and climate, and the livelihoodsof hundreds of millions of people are under serious threat.On behalf of the Global Partnership on Forest Landscape Restoration (GPFLR), the InternationalUnion for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the World Resources Institute and South Dakota StateUniversity have begun to map the extraordinary potential of deforested and degraded landscapesfor restoration to address the challenges facing societies around the world today and in the future.This latest research tells us that there are more than 1 billion hectares of lost or degraded forestlands worldwide where restoration opportunities may be found. With this comes substantial potential to not only sequester large volumes of carbon but also to help lift people out of poverty and reduce the vulnerability of rural people and ecosystems through restoration of forest landscapes. The important role of landscape restoration has been recognized through recent international decisions on climate change and biodiversity. In October 2010, nearly 200 governments attending the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity inNagoya, Japan adopted a target calling for restoration of at least 15% of degraded ecosystemsby 2020. Just two months later, in December 2010, Parties to the UN Framework Conventionon Climate Change, convened in Cancun, Mexico, adopted the goal to slow, halt and reverseforest cover and carbon loss through REDD+ actions.In February 2011, the UN Forum on Forests called on Member States and others to buildon the work of the GPFLR to further develop and implement forest landscape restoration.If these international commitments are to be translated into action, further evidence ofthe effectiveness of forest landscape restoration and guidance on how to implement thisapproach will be needed.The book Principles and Practice of Forest Landscape Restoration: Case studies fromthe drylands of Latin America, edited by A.C. Newton and N. Tejedor, is an excellent compendium of case studies and analysis, which will be of interest and use to people who wishto move forest landscape restoration forward, no matter what country they operate in.Practitioners and policy-makers working on forest landscape restoration are learning allthe time, through experience, and from each other. It is important to continue to connectpartners and collaborators around the world, from Scotland to Sudan and Moldova to Mexico,in a growing community of practice, enabling them to spread best practice, build cooperationand exchange new ideas and solutions.In this International Year of Forests, this new publication will be an essential contributionto expanding the body of knowledge on forest landscape restoration and strengthening thenetwork of forest landscape restoration experts around the world