degraded forests Archives - Resilient Landscapes (RL)

Strengthening the role of local people in REDD+ in a post-FCPF world: The story of Indonesia and East Kalimantan

Key messages

The level of knowledge on climate change and carbon trade is highly uneven with greater understanding among provincial government officials directly involved in the FCPF program and lowest among village community members who face the highest risk.
The East Kalimantan JREDD+ was the first of its kind in Indonesia, but complicated procedures and additional conditions imposed during implementation, coupled with demands from the private sector for a share in the carbon trade, are driving a turn to nested projects.
JREDD+ that focuses on nesting through accounting loses the purported advantages of jurisdictional approaches and puts substantial project risk back on communities.

Jurisdictional REDD+ in theory and practice: Opportunities and risks for Indigenous Peoples and local communities in three initiatives

Key messages

A jurisdictional approach should be reflected not only in the specific interventions associated with the REDD+ programme but also in the broader set of policies implemented across the jurisdiction – governments are often treating jurisdictional programmes as if they are just projects.
Despite positive developments regarding engagement with Indigenous Peoples, local communities or their organizations in all three initiatives, none presents the spectrum of advantages and expected commitments of a jurisdictional approach.
The Grupo Peru indigenous JREDD+ initiative is exceptional in many ways, yet it still needs the Peruvian government to address the drivers of deforestation and degradation and other risks to Indigenous lands.
As the impetus for jurisdictional approaches continues to grow, governance needs to be re-centred in the approach to JREDD+ to combat deforestation and forest degradation and to secure the rights, well-being and self-determination of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

Revised September 2026

Archetypes of tropical moist forest change

Despite growing commitment for tropical forest conservation, the understanding of complex spatio-temporal deforestation patterns and their underlying drivers remains limited. This study uses archetype analysis to examine global spatio-temporal deforestation patterns in tropical moist forests (TMFs) over the last two decades. This work underpins our attempt to develop a systematized diagnostic of tropical forest policies, aimed at stemming deforestation and forest degradation. We identify seven archetypes of forest state and its change in tropical moist forests, assess conversion from forest to other land uses in deforestation areas, and evaluate deforestation risk in landscapes with high remaining forest cover and low historical deforestation. Our analysis covers approximately 2.8 billion hectares of land area in the tropics that contained tropical moist forest in 2000 – equivalent to about three quarters of the world’s TMF landscapes – and thus includes both forest and non-forest areas within those units. Only less than a third of TMFs were classified as intact forest areas (i.e., high forest cover, low deforestation), while approximately a quarter were classified as deforestation areas (i.e., high deforestation). TMFs in Southeast Asia are showing higher proportions of deforestation areas and degraded forests than other regions. Central and South America has the largest absolute area of deforestation areas. While deforestation rates in sub-Saharan Africa have historically been lower, the proportion of deforestation areas is similar to that in the other continents. We could not discern clear patterns linking deforestation areas to specific types of land-use conversion, which suggests that local context plays a more significant role in shaping deforestation patterns. Low accessibility provides passive protection to a substantial part (34%) of intact forest landscapes with good agricultural suitability, particularly in the Amazon, the Congo Basin and southern New Guinea. These results indicate that tropical moist forests remain under continued pressure, with deforestation persisting at high rates. Once elevated deforestation levels are reached, they become difficult to reduce. The archetypes approach is a pragmatic tool to classify tropical deforestation, identify important hotspots under threat, and support spatially targeted policy interventions.
The present paper provides the analytical foundation for four country reports, each examining deforestation policies through the lens of deforestation archetypes in a specific national context: Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Indonesia, and Peru. Together, these five papers introduce the deforestation diagnostic framework.

Resource Mobilization Strategy for Forest and Landscape Restoration Implementation Plan (FOLAREP) in Taita Taveta County, Kenya 2025–2033

Forest and Landscape Restoration (FLR) is a cornerstone of ecological renewal and climate resilience in Taita Taveta County. The county’s diverse ecosystems from volcanic hilltops to riparian corridors are increasingly threatened by land degradation, deforestation, and climate variability. With only 3.41% forest cover and 6.8% tree cover, Taita Taveta lags behind national averages and faces mounting pressure to restore degraded landscapes, safeguard biodiversity, and secure livelihoods. FLR offers a transformative pathway to reverse environmental decline, enhance ecosystem services, and strengthen community resilience. The Forest and Landscape Restoration Implementation Plan (FOLAREP) 2024–2033 sets an ambitious target to restore 226,420 hectares of degraded land, aligning with Kenya’s commitments under AFR100, the Bonn Challenge, and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. To achieve this vision, a robust Resource Mobilization Strategy (RMS) has been developed to secure the estimated KES 30.9 billion (USD 239 million) required for full implementation. This strategy provides a guiding framework to mobilize, manage, and sustain financial, technical, and institutional resources over the next decade.

Rehabilitation of degraded tropical forest ecosystems – global environment and plantations

Potential for improved groundwater recharge and dry-season flows through forest landscape restoration on degraded lands in the tropics

As interest in tropical forest restoration accelerates, understanding its hydrological implications is increasingly urgent. While concerns persist that reforestation will reduce annual water yields—particularly in drier climates—we highlight conditions under which forest landscape restoration (FLR) can improve seasonal water availability, especially during the dry season. We examine the trade-off between increased vegetation water use (“pumping”) and enhanced infiltration and subsurface retention (“sponging”) following forestation of degraded lands, the recovery of vegetation’s ability to capture “occult” precipitation (fog) in specific coastal and montane settings, and the role of forest cover in enhancing moisture recycling and transport at multiple scales. A pan-tropical sensitivity analysis shows that in degraded landscapes with deep soils and pronounced rainfall seasonality, infiltration gains following forestation can offset or exceed evaporative losses, thereby supporting groundwater recharge and increasing dry-season flows in approximately 10% of cases, with an additional 8% showing near-neutral (slightly negative) outcomes. These findings challenge the assumption that forestation uniformly reduces water availability and underscore the need to prioritize dry-season flow recovery—rather than annual water yield—as a central hydrological goal of FLR. We call for trans-disciplinary research and long-term monitoring to inform forest restoration strategies, particularly in seasonally dry regions where water scarcity is most acute.

Collaborative Partnership on Forests Work Plan 2025–2028. Strategic Directions for Collaborative Forest Action

The 2025-2028 work plan of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) sets forth clear priorities, joint actions, collaborative activities, resource needs, outputs and indicators for assessing progress, for the activities of the CPF. It also ensures that reports of the CPF on the implementation of the work plan to the UNFF and other governing bodies are structured around the Global Forest Goals (GFGs). The CPF Work Plan was developed in line with the quadrennial programme of work of the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF) for the same period following the guidance received from UNFF and other governing bodies of CPF member organizations.
CIFOR-ICRAF is part of the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) member.

Modeling vegetation carbon stock and soil greenhouse gas emission dynamics in undrained degraded peat swamp forests of Indonesia and Peru

Data on vegetation carbon storage and soil greenhouse gas (GHG) dynamics in degraded undrained peatlands, and their recovery timeframes, are limited. Additionally, despite their important extent across the tropics, these systems remain unconsidered by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change guidelines for GHG inventories. We modified the existing DeNitrification DeComposition model to simulate undegraded and degraded undrained peat swamp forests in Indonesia and Peru. We simulated partial clearing for agroforestry and burning in Indonesia, and in Peru selective timber harvesting and Mauritia flexuosa palm cutting for fruit harvest. Based on model results, we derived peat onsite CO2, N2O, and CH4 emission factors (EF), assessed timeframes for recovery of vegetation C stocks and peat GHG emissions, and investigated relationships among peat GHG fluxes and biophysical controls. Vegetation carbon stocks recovered 40 years after modeled disturbance in Indonesia, and 80 years post-disturbance in Peru. Simulated degradation increased the peat onsite CO2 EF during the first decade post-disturbance by 557% and 121% in Indonesia and Peru, respectively, with recovery by the second decade post-disturbance at both locations. Degradation also induced an increase in soil N2O emissions in Indonesia (344%) and Peru (323%), with elevations persisting for four decades. As in field observations, simulated disturbances tended to raise CH4 emissions in Indonesia and lower them in Peru, but not substantially. Temporal variations in modeled peat onsite CO2 and N2O EF were linked to degradation-driven changes in soil C:N ratio, and for peat CH4 fluxes to water table and soil moisture dynamics unrelated to disturbance. Our results suggest elevation of peat GHG emissions in these forests up to four decades after anthropogenic disturbances that need accounting in national GHG inventories.

Species characteristics modulate tropical mammal responses to forest quality in Southeast Asia

Anthropogenic activities such as forest loss and degradation threaten many species-rich tropical forests. However, how species respond to forest quality and the role of species characteristics (i.e., body mass, carnivory, and habitat breadth) in mediating such responses remain poorly understood. We assessed how the occupancy of 61 mammal species in tropical forests of Southeast Asia responded to forest cover, canopy height, and disturbance history. We used data from 627 camera trap sites across 11 landscapes in Southeast Asia and applied a customized Bayesian multi-species occupancy modelling framework. Higher forest quality was positively related to the occupancy of 77 % mammal species while 5 % showed a negative relationship. Species with limited habitat breadths (habitat specialists) showed the strongest positive relationships, such as the dusky monkey (Trachypithecus obscurus). Similarly, large-bodied species like the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) also exhibited strong positive relationships. Our study highlights the critical need to maintain and restore forests with dense canopies and with old and tall trees, especially for large-bodied and habitat-dependent species. Despite recent suggestions that Asian wildlife may not always be negatively influenced by forest degradation, our study underscores the dependency of most mammal species on relatively undisturbed interior forests for long-term conservation.

Financial mechanisms to support Vietnamese enterprises in investing and implementing forest carbon projects: From policy to practice

In this working paper, the authors review and analyse financial policies and mechanisms that aim to help enterprises invest and implement forest carbon projects. These include: (i) state budget expenditure policies; (ii) tax incentives; (iii) business support in investing and accessing domestic and foreign credits/grants/loans; and (iv) participation in the carbon market. The authors discuss the challenges of policy implementation and propose solutions.

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