Peace Forest Initiative

The Peace Forest Initiative (PFI) is a flagship programme of UNCCD that demonstrates crucial linkages between land, peace and security. Launched in 2019, it supports the restoration of ecosystems and land-based resources including land, soil, water and forests in fragile and conflict-affected settings.

The PFI brings together stakeholders to catalyze transboundary cooperation on ecosystem restoration to build trust and support peace. It unites communities across national borders to jointly manage shared land resources and ecosystems for a peaceful and prosperous future.

Objectives and next steps

The PFI provides a collaborative and inclusive platform for communities and other stakeholders in cross-border and transboundary settings to co-design joint activities that conserve, restore and manage their environment and natural resources as a shared asset. These activities are envisioned to contribute to increased resilience, peace and sustainable development. The PFI promotes integrated and conflict-sensitive approaches that link restoration with dialogue and cooperation. It supports equitable access to restored resources, inclusive decision-making and meaningful participation of women, youth, Indigenous Peoples and local communities so that restoration efforts strengthen trust, peace and institutions.

A key goal of the PFI is to engage a broad range of stakeholders to identify and formulate potential entry points for the initiative. Through regional consultations with local actors and experts, the entry points are framed into a “PFI package” of initial activities to foster further cross-border confidence through stakeholder coordination, dialogue and training sessions, workshops and joint planning. Consultations are informed by locally led analysis of fragility and conflict risks to help ensure activities do not unintentionally increase tensions and instead strengthen cooperation. The ultimate goal is to develop bankable and integrated projects with long-term restoration and peace building objectives and boost resilience of local communities to environmental challenges while securing vital ecosystem services. Projects will aim to show how restoration and sustainable land management can reduce risks and support cooperation around shared resources.

The UNCCD Secretariat will provide countries with technical support and seed funding to plan and mobilize resources for large-scale restoration and peace building activities based on the PFI principles. The full-scale project implementation will contribute to the agreed Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) or other restoration goals and outcomes. Through this support, the PFI helps countries use cooperation on land and natural resources as an entry point for dialogue, trust-building and long-term resilience in fragile and conflict-affected settings (FCAS).

The Global Mechanism (GM) of UNCCD recently completed an initial mapping of potential PFI sites and preliminarilyidentified 17 locations involving 44 countries for the PFI activities. The GM will continue collaborating with partners and parties to plant the seeds of peace and trust, facilitating the implementation of the PFI in various locations. By the end of 2025, the PFI facilitated consultations across the world's regions, engaging stakeholders from 35 countries and supporting the development of priority activities and project concepts. You can find more information about the PFI activities listed by UNCCD Annex below.

Annex I – Africa

East Africa

The PFI workshop for the Horn of Africa region that took place on 28-30 May, 2024, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, brought together representatives of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda to address regional challenges at the intersection of environmental management and peace building.

Building on the foundation of the initial PFI workshop that took place in Nairobi the previous year, and where key cross-border issues were identified, the second workshop in Ethiopia focused on integrating these priorities into national contexts to develop large-scale, bankable projects and programmes.

It identified existing regional frameworks and strategies for the PFI’s contribution, including IGAD initiatives, the Land Degradation Neutrality Target Setting Programme and the Great Green Wall initiative. The workshop served as a critical platform for dialogue and partnership-building among Horn of Africa countries, fostering regional cooperation to tackle shared challenges, such as coordinating cross-border resource management policies and capacity building. Participants also highlighted the need for stronger data sharing and sustained institutional and technical support.

Annex II – Asia

Central Asia

In Central Asia, the PFI convened the five countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – for a workshop in Tashkent on 12-15 March, 2024. The discussions topics included the increased risks associated with sand and dust storms, approaches to sustainable land and resource management in the transboundary climate-security hotspots of the Ferghana Valley and high mountain regions and the need for transparent management and sharing of environmental and resource-related data.

The workshop also provided an opportunity to explore synergies between the implementation of the closely interlinked Rio Conventions on climate, land and biodiversity. Country representatives agreed on the need to prioritize the issues of regional cooperation at the UNCCD COP16. A second regional workshop was held on 19-21 August 2024 in Bishkek to take this work forward, identify priority transboundary areas and develop joint concepts for cooperation, including in the Ferghana Valley and high-mountain ecosystems.

Pilot project in Central Asia

As an outcome of the 2024 consultations, the pilot project ‘Nature-Based Solutions for Climate Resilience and Cross-Border Cooperation in Central Asia’ was launched in September 2025 during the International Forum on the Peace Forest Initiative in Seoul. Implemented by UNDP with support from the UNCCD PFI, the project engages Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan to address land degradation, water scarcity and ecosystem fragility in the Ferghana Valley, high-mountain pastures and desert landscapes.

Southeast Asia

The first consultation workshop under the PFI for Southeast Asia was held in Bangkok, Thailand from 11 to 13 September 2024. It brought together representatives from relevant ministries of nine ASEAN countries (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam) and Timor-Leste, along with civil society organizations and regional and international partners. Participants identified priority areas for cooperation, including agriculture and agroforestry, biodiversity conservation, mangrove restoration and value chain development and developed initial project concepts under these themes.

Annex III – Latin America and the Caribbean

The first consultation workshop for the PFI in Latin America and the Caribbean took place on 27–29 May 2025 in Panama City, Panama, bringing together six countries to examine shared environmental challenges and identify opportunities for regional cooperation. Participants highlighted land degradation, deforestation, governance gaps and the vulnerability of rural and Indigenous communities as key drivers undermining resilience. Countries proposed two initial project concepts: a long-term socio-ecological restoration programme for the Darién–Chocó transboundary zone between Panama and Colombia and a regional restoration and environmental governance initiative among the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Guyana and Suriname to restore degraded ecosystems, strengthen monitoring systems and support community-based restoration.

Annex V – Central and Eastern Europe

South Caucasus

The first round of the PFI consultations in the South Caucasus region was conducted on 13-15 February 2024, when representatives of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia convened at the Black Sea coast to discuss the influence of environmental degradation and natural resources depletion on peace and security. The workshop served to foster dialogue and promote partnerships among countries as a foundation for stronger regional cooperation in natural resources management, climate resilience and peace building. The consultation helped shape a shared agenda for sustainable land management and restoration.

The second PFI workshop took place in Tbilisi, Georgia from 30 April to 2 May, 2024, with representatives of government institutions, development partners and experts in environmental management, climate security and biodiversity discussing an action plan for the implementation of the Initiative in the region of South Caucasus. Participants prioritized and agreed on a number of priority projects, including creation of a regional dashboard for environmental data and soil mapping, development of a regional landscape restoration program and joint monitoring of migratory species of wild animals.

These activities aim to address related environmental problems in the region, including biodiversity loss and land degradation. The outcomes of the workshop will support regional cooperation objectives under the PFI, contributing to fostering peace through collective environmental stewardship and promoting sustainability.

A third PFI workshop was held on 19-21 September 2024 in Kvareli, Georgia, to refine a regional vision for sustainable land management and restoration. Countries advanced three areas of cooperation: regional restoration programming, soil information sharing and biodiversity monitoring. Participants also discussed strengthening coordination with existing regional frameworks, including the Bern Convention and explored additional topics such as agroforestry, addressing land degradation in semi-arid areas and early warning systems for disaster risk management.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

The joint workshop on sustainable and integrated management of land, soil, water and forests in Bosnia and Herzegovina, held on 23–25 April 2025 in Mostar under the PFI, brought together stakeholders from across the country to address shared challenges in environmental governance, land degradation and community resilience. Participants highlighted constraints including fragmented institutional frameworks, limited data and technical capacity, rural decline and the persistent threat of landmines. Discussions identified priorities for joint action across the Federation of BiH, Republika Srpska and Brčko District, including improved monitoring systems, accelerated restoration and reforestation and better alignment of policies linked to sustainable agriculture, demining and land-use planning.

Pilot project in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Following the April 2025 workshop, the pilot project ‘Restoring Ecosystems via Sustainable, Integrated Management of Land-Based Resources’ was launched in September 2025. Implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in collaboration with the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina with support from the UNCCD PFI, the project strengthens cooperation across state, entity and local levels to address land degradation and improve coordinated environmental management.

Countries not belonging to a regional implementation annex

The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (United Kingdom)

In March 2025, the first expert meeting was held in Derry-Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Participants agreed on an action plan including the development of a blueprint for the People’s Peace Forest (PPF), bringing together NGOs, government bodies, local communities and young people from both sides of the border. On 8 October 2025, a ceremonial tree planting at Monaghan Peace Campus marked the launch of the People’s Peace Forest as part of the global PFI.