# Over 40 percent of the world’s population is affected by land degradation.
# Up to 700 million people could be forced to migrate by 2050
# Land degradation threatens food security, fuels violent conflict, drives biodiversity loss and contributes to the climate crisis through carbon and nitrous oxide emissions.
# It costs the global economy around USD 6–10 trillion per year, or roughly 10 percent of gross world product.

One of the most promising solutions to land degradation is forest and landscape restoration (FLR), which aims to regain ecological functionality and enhance human well-being in deforested or degraded landscapes. More than 2 billion hectares of such landscapes stand to be restored globally. However, FLR implementation still remains far below the level needed to address land degradation on a global scale.

The United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration runs from 2021 to 2030 and aims to scale up efforts to halt land degradation and restore degraded and deforested landscapes across the globe. Led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Decade builds on previous restoration goals including the Bonn Challenge, Initiative 20×20 and AFR100. It will also play a crucial role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those related to climate action, eradicating poverty and hunger, and the conservation of marine and terrestrial ecosystems.

On 29 April 2021, the Global Landscapes Forum will organize a digital forum on FLR hosted jointly by the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) and the Global Partnership on Forest and Landscape Restoration (GPFLR). This event will help increase understanding in three key areas where FLR can make significant contributions: climate mitigation and adaptation, job creation, and reducing threats to biodiversity. It will also provide an opportunity to showcase the role of partnerships and collaboration in successful FLR.