The Road to Restoration: 3 Steps For Transforming Landscapes

The guide outlines a framework for land restoration consisting of understanding the land's state through social and physical mapping, setting inclusive goals, and establishing tracking systems. It emphasizes that restoration must integrate local expertise and marginalized voices to avoid pitfalls such as planting trees in incorrect locations or violating land rights. Case studies from Kenya, India, Ethiopia, and El Salvador illustrate how data-driven planning and community engagement can maximize carbon sequestration, water quality, and economic benefits.

• Effective land restoration requires a dual understanding of both the physical state of the land and the 'social landscape,' which involves mapping actors and integrating the needs and expertise of local communities to avoid conflicts and gender inequalities.
• Data-driven mapping of restoration potential can lead to significant environmental gains; for example, Kenya committed to revitalizing 5.1 million hectares to store more carbon than two years of its total emissions, and India could sequester 3 to 4.5 gigatons of above-ground carbon by 2040 by restoring over 140 million hectares.
• Restoration goals must be prioritized through a shared vision to resolve trade-offs, such as choosing between maximizing carbon storage/biodiversity and implementing agroforestry for food security and income.
• Establishing monitoring systems and indices before implementation is critical for tracking progress, adapting projects, and attracting investment, as seen in El Salvador's index for the El Imposible-Barra de Santiago landscape and the Kenya Water Towers Agency's watershed tracking.

APA

World Resources Institute (2020). The Road to Restoration: 3 Steps For Transforming Landscapes. https://www.wri.org/insights/road-restoration-3-steps-transforming-landscapes

Chicago

World Resources Institute. The Road to Restoration: 3 Steps For Transforming Landscapes. 2020. https://www.wri.org/insights/road-restoration-3-steps-transforming-landscapes.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=The Road to Restoration: 3 Steps For Transforming Landscapes |date=1 October 2020 |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/road-restoration-3-steps-transforming-landscapes |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2020road, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{The Road to Restoration: 3 Steps For Transforming Landscapes}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2020}, month = oct, url = {https://www.wri.org/insights/road-restoration-3-steps-transforming-landscapes}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }