There are numerous global, regional, national and even subnational targets for increasing forest area and forest restoration. In light of these global targets and emerging ambitious national commitments, it is imperative to develop low-cost strategies and techniques for landscape restoration. The most widely used restoration strategies involving planting of tree seedlings are often costly and their application for restoring vast expanses of degraded forest lands in the region may be limited. Case studies and experiences with natural regeneration from the region have shown that natural regeneration significantly reduces the cost of restoration in areas that meet certain conditions. Native species that are adapted to the prevailing conditions re-establish on their own with some assistance, achieving accelerated growth in accordance with natural succession, leading to the recovery of native ecosystems. Restoration strategies based on natural regeneration also provide low-cost opportunities for conserving biodiversity and enhancing ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration and watershed protection. Despite these economic and environmental advantages, natural regeneration is often overlooked when restoration policies and programmes are designed for a number of reasons. These include lack of its recognition as a viable restoration option; perverse incentives favouring clearing of young secondary growth for plantation development or other land uses; lack of institutional support by government agencies and other organizations; unclear tenure and property rights; lack of incentives for local communities; and uncertainty about the restoration processes and outcomes. This publication aims to share information on the outcome of the regional workshop, entitled ‘Promoting the Role of Natural Regeneration in Large-scale Forest and Landscape Restoration: Challenges and Opportunities, held in Nanning, Guangxi Province, China, from 19 to 21 June 2017, which was organized to better understand the challenges and opportunities for natural forest regeneration and to promote its inclusion as a major component of large-scale restoration initiatives.
The Sydney Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Declaration on Climate Change, Energy Security and Clean Development, adopted at the fifteenth APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in 2007, announced an APEC-wide aspirational goal of increasing forest cover in the region by at least 20 million hectares (ha) of all types of forests by 2020. This report assesses the extent to which the APEC 2020 Forest Cover Goal was achieved. It updates a progress report, published in 2015, with information provided in 2021 by 12 of the 21 APEC economies and an analysis of the 2020 Global Forest Resources Assessment.1 Forest area in the APEC region increased by 27.9 million ha between 2007 and 2020. Over the same period, the area of forest in protected areas in APEC economies increased by almost 16 million ha and the area of planted forest increased by slightly more than 30 million ha. Although, overall, the APEC economies achieved the 2020 Forest Cover Goal, not all economies reported an increase in forest area over the period. Forest area increased in nine economies, with the largest increases in China (26.5 million ha), Australia (5.0 million ha) and the United States (3.5 million ha). Conversely, forest area declined in ten economies in the region. Key direct drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in APEC economies include agricultural expansion, forest product extraction (legal and illegal), infrastructure development, and biophysical factors (e.g. climate and extreme weather events, forest fire and invasive species).
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.