Measures to Enhance Forest Conservation and Reduce Deforestation

The report analyzes deforestation mitigation strategies in five Global South countries, highlighting the effectiveness of combining financial incentives, land tenure reform, national certification, and landscape restoration. It emphasizes that success requires a combination of context-specific measures, targeting high-risk areas, and leveraging both digital and physical monitoring systems, often complemented by voluntary sustainability standards.

• Costa Rica has reversed deforestation, with forest cover increasing from 32% in 1984 to approximately 60% in 2022. This was achieved through a combination of protected areas, ecotourism, and a Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) program that provides financial rewards to landowners.
• Gabon maintains high forest coverage (91.3%) and low deforestation rates. The government is transitioning toward mandatory compliance with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standard for all forest concessionaries by 2025 to improve sustainable forest management and international market access.
• Indonesia implemented the mandatory Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) certification and a permanent forest moratorium in 2019 to address palm oil-driven deforestation. Primary forest loss dropped from 900,000 ha in 2016 to 200,000 ha in 2021.
• Peru utilizes Agroforestry Concessions (AfC) to address deforestation caused by insecure land tenure. These renewable contracts, lasting up to 40 years, provide formal land use rights to smallholders in exchange for commitments to avoid deforestation and use sustainable practices.
• Rwanda's Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) strategy has significantly increased forest cover from 10.7% in 2010 to 30.4% in 2022. The approach integrates trees and crops on farmlands, which has increased yields for soybeans, maize, beans, and Irish potatoes.
• Effective deforestation reduction requires a multi-layered approach combining enabling measures (like land tenure reform), incentives (like PES), and disincentives (like bans or fines), tailored to the specific drivers of deforestation in a given country.
• Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSSs) can complement public policies by providing capacity building, improving traceability, and adding economic value to sustainable products, though their impact is often context-specific.
• The integration of digital monitoring—such as satellite imagery and Geographic Information Systems (GIS)—with physical field inspections is critical for real-time tracking of forest cover and ensuring compliance with conservation contracts.

APA

Sarmiento, F., Larrea, C., Oeschger, A., & Jose, R. (2024). Measures to Enhance Forest Conservation and Reduce Deforestation. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2024-02/ssi-measures-enhance-forest-conservation-reduce-deforestation.pdf

Chicago

Sarmiento, Florencia, Cristina Larrea, Andreas Oeschger, and Rashmi Jose. Measures to Enhance Forest Conservation and Reduce Deforestation. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2024. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2024-02/ssi-measures-enhance-forest-conservation-reduce-deforestation.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Sarmiento |first1=Florencia |last2=Larrea |first2=Cristina |last3=Oeschger |first3=Andreas |last4=Jose |first4=Rashmi |title=Measures to Enhance Forest Conservation and Reduce Deforestation |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=February 2024 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2024-02/ssi-measures-enhance-forest-conservation-reduce-deforestation.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sarmiento2024measures, author = {Sarmiento, Florencia and Larrea, Cristina and Oeschger, Andreas and Jose, Rashmi}, title = {{Measures to Enhance Forest Conservation and Reduce Deforestation}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2024}, month = feb, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2024-02/ssi-measures-enhance-forest-conservation-reduce-deforestation.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }