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The report evaluates global forest landscape restoration (FLR) ambitions by tracking pledges under the Bonn Challenge and commitments within Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) submitted to the UNFCCC. While the 150 million hectare milestone for 2020 was surpassed in May 2017, actual implementation data remains scarce, with reported achievements representing less than 10 percent of the 2020 goal. The document also highlights the role of regional initiatives and new data tools like the Bonn Challenge Barometer and ROAM in improving monitoring and planning.

The 2018 Progress Assessment for Goal 5 indicates that Bonn Challenge pledges have reached 168.9 million hectares, surpassing the 2020 milestone in terms of pledges. However, actual implementation remains difficult to aggregate, with a five-country sample showing 13.4 million hectares under restoration. Analysis of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) reveals that while 127 of 165 NDCs include forest landscape restoration (FLR) commitments, only 30% are quantifiable. When combining official NDC targets with non-target ambitions, 114 million hectares are reflected, representing one third of the 2030 target.

The Book of Abstracts compiles nearly seventy research proposals focused on the sustainable harnessing of the Blue Economy. The submissions are organized into four primary thematic areas: sustainable use of resources, climate action resilience, global connectivity and transportation, and blue economy and sustainable cities, with an additional focus on human resource capacity. The abstracts cover a diverse range of topics, including marine spatial planning, aquaculture development in Africa and Asia, the economic impacts of ocean acidification, and the role of scientific research in informing policy and investment. Geographically, the research spans global contexts with specific case studies from Kenya, Canada, Ireland, Bangladesh, Israel, China, and various Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

The report identifies a growing "restoration economy" where businesses generate financial returns by improving the ecological function of degraded landscapes. It categorizes these opportunities into four main investment themes: technology, consumer products, project management, and commercial forestry. Through case studies of 14 companies across eight countries, the authors illustrate how various models—from drone-based reforestation and climate-smart credit for smallholders to sustainable timber and bamboo plantations—can scale. The document highlights that while significant market opportunities exist due to government pledges and rising resource demand, investors face hurdles such as high transaction costs, low liquidity, and insecure land tenure in developing regions.

The 2018 Plowprint Report by WWF International documents the conversion of grasslands to cropland in the Great Plains and Northern Great Plains (NGP). While overall conversion decreased in 2017, South Dakota experienced an increase in grassland loss. The report highlights the ecological and financial risks of plowing marginal soils, which leads to soil erosion and expensive water treatment for downstream communities. It urges the US government to use the 2018 Farm Bill to strengthen conservation programs like the Sodsaver policy, CRP, and EQIP to protect remaining intact grasslands.

The Greater Mekong region, comprising Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam, has lost a third of its tree cover since the 1970s and faces further loss due to industrial agriculture and infrastructure. The report highlights the critical role of forests in providing ecosystem services, such as water filtration and climate regulation, and their importance for biodiversity, including tigers and elephants. WWF advocates for a 'landscape model' that balances economic development with conservation. Key solutions include establishing Community Protected Areas (CPAs), promoting FSC-certified sustainable products like rattan and acacia, and transitioning to deforestation-free rubber supply chains. The report emphasizes that empowering local communities and integrating natural capital into government policy are essential for long-term forest stability.

The briefing challenges the perception that burning trees for energy is carbon neutral, noting that wood combustion can emit more CO2 per unit of energy than fossil fuels and creates a 'carbon payback time' that can last decades or centuries. It warns that increasing the EU's renewable energy targets may drive higher demand for tree harvesting, including imports from the U.S. and Canada, which would release a pulse of CO2 into the atmosphere at a time when rapid emissions reductions are required to meet global temperature goals. The author recommends that the EU phase out subsidies for stemwood and stumps and instead invest in wind, solar, and energy efficiency.

The report estimates that Agro-Manitoba has the potential to sequester between 1.3 and 3 megatonnes of CO2e per year. It evaluates six practices: wetlands, forestry, riparian buffers, minimum tillage, perennials, and cover crops, using both a maximum one-year snapshot and a 30-year cumulative approach. The analysis highlights that while cover crops and wetlands offer the highest sequestration potential, forestry and riparian buffers provide significant rates despite smaller land areas. The findings are aligned with the province's Growing Outcomes in Watersheds (GROW) program, suggesting a strong policy basis for incentivizing these practices to offset emissions from Manitoba's agricultural sector.

The proposal outlines a 6-year project (2018-2023) to build climate resilience for 160,000 people and restore 43,000 km² of rangelands in Botswana. It focuses on transforming communal livestock production through the introduction of 'ecorangers'—trained youth from the repurposed Ipelegeng jobs program—who will implement rotational grazing and monitor ecosystem health. The project seeks to integrate community-based natural resource management, solar and wind-powered water infrastructure, and the creation of farmer-owned social enterprises to improve market access for red meat. With a total estimated cost of USD 44 million, the project is split equally between a GCF grant and co-financing from the Government of Botswana's Poverty Eradication Unit.

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) recommends that Manitoba's watershed-based policy framework—comprising the GROW program, water resource management, and the Conservation District Program—adopt a robust, evidence-based evaluation framework focused on cumulative impacts. Key recommendations include targeting ecological goods and services (EGS) to specific high-impact regions, ensuring a net gain in water retention to combat climate-induced floods and droughts, and strengthening the authority and resources of local watershed authorities. The briefing emphasizes the need for open data, the integration of Indigenous and local knowledge, and the use of offsets to maintain wetland protection and water quality, particularly in the Red River Basin and Lake Winnipeg.

The report presents five scenarios demonstrating that global warming can be limited to well below 2 C° if the world leverages exponential technological improvements and S-curve market diffusion. It highlights that experts often underestimate the speed of energy transitions by ignoring learning rates and systemic feedbacks. The proposed pathways involve reducing energy demand by approximately 60% through efficiency and electrification, shifting the electricity supply to over 90% renewables by 2040 in aggressive scenarios, and transforming agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) into a net carbon sink by the mid-2040s.

The document argues that the environmental impact of food production is far broader than tropical deforestation, affecting a wide array of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. It introduces the concept of "arcs" of habitat loss to categorize these impacts. Key areas of concern include the degradation of soils, the unsustainable depletion of groundwater aquifers, the pollution and loss of freshwater ecosystems, the conversion of carbon-rich grasslands, the disappearance of endangered tropical dry forests, and the physical destruction of the ocean floor through bottom trawling. The authors emphasize that sustainable food production requires optimizing performance across these diverse ecological systems rather than focusing solely on productivity.

The document provides scientific justification for the permanent protection of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument (NECSMNM). It highlights the area's extreme habitat diversity, its role as a biodiversity hotspot for deep-sea corals, marine mammals, and mesopelagic fish, and its importance as a carbon sequestration site. The authors argue that the current boundaries are the smallest area necessary to protect these 'objects of scientific interest' and serve as a critical reference site for studying climate change and human impacts in the Atlantic.

The report outlines the SPAC's efforts to bridge the gap between scientific knowledge and decision-making in the Americas. It provides strategic recommendations for the IAI regarding visibility, policy engagement, and financing, while detailing the outcomes of a multi-sectoral workshop in Argentina that integrated scientific research on health, coasts, land use, weather forecasting, and urban environments into local governance.

The document evaluates the impact of NAFTA's environmental side agreement and the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), highlighting successes in data sharing and pollution mitigation alongside failures in the citizen submission process. It concludes by proposing seven options for the NAFTA renegotiations, ranging from maintaining the status quo to integrating modern sustainability standards from agreements like CETA or TPP.

The Eastern Arc Mountains in Tanzania and Kenya have lost approximately 70% of their original forest cover due to deforestation and degradation. Despite a comprehensive legislative framework and significant donor funding—including $75 million for REDD+ activities in Tanzania between 2009 and 2014—governance remains ineffective. Key drivers include high population growth and a heavy reliance on biomass for energy, with Dar es Salaam residents using over 1,900 tonnes of charcoal daily. The document argues that while participatory forest management through Local Authority and Village Land Forest Reserves shows promise, success is hindered by poor land tenure, lack of economic alternatives to charcoal, and insufficient state capacity. It recommends strengthening the science-policy interface, promoting climate-smart agriculture, and increasing resource allocation for state forestry agencies.

The Bhutan for Life (BFL) project is a 14-year initiative designed to provide a financial bridge for the sustainable management of Bhutan's protected areas (PAs) and biological corridors (BCs), covering approximately 51% of the country's territory. The project is categorized as 'Category B' by WWF, meaning potential adverse impacts are site-specific and reversible. The ESMF provides a structured process for screening, impact assessment, and the development of activity-specific Environmental and Social Management Plans (ESMPs). Key project components include forestry and land use climate mitigation, community-based adaptation, climate-smart conservation, and institutional capacity building. The framework emphasizes Free and Prior Informed Consent (FPIC) for affected communities and establishes a multi-tiered Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) ranging from local negotiation to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests (MoAF).

The document examines the governance of marine and coastal resources in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO), emphasizing the need for integrated coastal management (ICM) and coastal and marine spatial planning (CMSP) to balance economic growth with biodiversity conservation. It highlights the role of marine protected areas (MPAs) and locally managed marine areas (LMMAs) in securing ecosystem services and supporting livelihoods. The author argues that for the 'Blue Economy' to be sustainable, conservation must be integrated into development agendas through economic valuations of natural capital and inclusive, community-based management to avoid 'ocean grabbing' and ensure equitable benefit-sharing.

The provided text consists of appendices detailing an optimization model to assess the scalability of diversified crop rotations in Iowa, the potential for substituting corn with oats and alfalfa in livestock feed, and methodologies for calculating soil erosion and greenhouse gas emissions. It argues that longer rotation systems can maintain profitability while improving soil health and reducing pollution. The analysis includes specific scenarios for converting corn acreage in the most erodible counties and across the entire state, utilizing non-linear models to estimate nitrous oxide (N2O) reductions and carbon sequestration benefits.

The report analyzes the benefits of diversified crop rotations compared to the dominant corn-soybean system in the US Corn Belt, specifically focusing on Iowa. Based on research from Iowa State University's Marsden Farm, the authors find that three- and four-year rotations increase yields for corn and soybeans and maintain similar net profits while reducing herbicide and synthetic nitrogen fertilizer use. The report models the scalability of these systems, suggesting that implementing no-till diverse rotations on 3.6 million of Iowa's most erodible acres could reduce soil erosion by 91% and save taxpayers up to $198 million annually in water cleanup costs. It further suggests that up to 40% of Iowa's farmland could be converted to these systems if livestock feed markets adapt. To overcome financial, market, and technical barriers, the report recommends expanding USDA incentives, improving Whole Farm Revenue Protection insurance, and increasing funding for agroecological research.