Restoring Mediterranean Forests
Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, Türkiye
The Mediterranean basin is the world’s second largest biodiversity hotspot, yet 16 per cent of its forest species are threatened with extinction, in part due to prolonged drought, extreme heat waves, and wildfires.
The initiative is shifting away from a traditional focus on fighting wildfires and addressing their aftermath, towards prevention through better forest management.
The initiative in numbers
2,000,000
Hectares restored
8,000,000
Hectares to be restored by 2030
50,000
Green jobs to be created by 2030
“The Mediterranean basin is rapidly turning into a tinderbox, and firefighting alone will not be enough to protect it in the long run. This far-reaching initiative to restore forests from fires presents an incredible opportunity to restore ecosystems that are home for as many as 25,000 species who inhabit the Mediterranean basin, including almost half a billion people.”
Leading organizations
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
- The FAO Committee of Mediterranean Forestry Questions - Silva Mediterranea
- The Ministry of Agriculture of Lebanon
- The Association for Forests, Development and Conservation Lebanon (AFDC)
- The Ministry of Agriculture, Maritime Fisheries, Rural Development and Water and Forests of Morocco
- The General Directorate of Forestry of Tunisia
- The General Directorate of Forestry of Türkiye (OGM)