Progress on the New York Declaration on Forests Goal 5 Assessment

The assessment finds that the world is not on track to meet the 2020 restoration goal, with only 18% of the target documented as restored since 2000. While political will is evident through Bonn Challenge pledges totaling 170.6 million hectares, actual biophysical progress is limited and difficult to quantify due to data gaps. A pilot study in the Mekong region reveals that most tree cover gain occurs outside of forests on croplands and shrublands, while natural forests in the region have seen a net loss. The report emphasizes that monoculture plantations, which make up 45% of planned commitments, provide significantly less carbon storage than natural forests. It highlights the need for coherent policies, multidisciplinary technical planning, and increased financial flows to scale up effective forest landscape restoration.

• The global goal to restore 150 million hectares (Mha) of forest by 2020 is not on track; a systematic literature review shows that only 26.7 Mha (18% of the goal) have undergone restoration since 2000.
• The rate of forest landscape restoration has declined over time, dropping from an average of approximately 2 Mha per year between 2000 and 2010 to less than 1 Mha per year after 2011.
• Political commitment is high, with Bonn Challenge pledges totaling 170.6 million hectares, but actual reported restoration remains small and difficult to quantify due to inconsistent data and reporting methods.
• In the Mekong region, most tree cover increase since 2010 has occurred on non-forest lands such as croplands and shrublands (75%) rather than inside forests (25%), resulting in an overall net loss of natural forests by 0.3 Mha.
• A significant portion of restoration pledges rely on monoculture tree plantations (45%), which are substantially less effective for climate mitigation than natural forests, storing 40 times less carbon.
• Afforestation efforts, particularly in China and Mongolia (which account for 72% of global afforestation since 2000), often occur in grasslands and can lead to negative ecological consequences, such as excessive water demand and low biodiversity.
• Effective forest landscape restoration (FLR) is driven by three primary success factors: coherent policies and institutional support, multidisciplinary technical planning, and significant financial flows.
• The estimated global cost to implement the NYDF target of 350 Mha by 2030 ranges from 837 to 1,208 billion USD, with an annual requirement of 49 to 71 billion USD.

APA

Forest Declaration Assessment (2019). Progress on the New York Declaration on Forests Goal 5 Assessment. https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2019NYDFGoal5.pdf

Chicago

Forest Declaration Assessment. Progress on the New York Declaration on Forests Goal 5 Assessment. 2019. https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2019NYDFGoal5.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Forest Declaration Assessment |title=Progress on the New York Declaration on Forests Goal 5 Assessment |date=September 2019 |url=https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2019NYDFGoal5.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{forestdeclarationassessment2019progress, author = {{Forest Declaration Assessment}}, title = {{Progress on the New York Declaration on Forests Goal 5 Assessment}}, institution = {Forest Declaration Assessment}, year = {2019}, month = sep, url = {https://forestdeclaration.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2019NYDFGoal5.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }