Register Now!

Global restoration commitments cover around one billion hectares. Implementing these requires investments of up to USD 1 670 billion (for 10 years) 1 . Forest and landscape restoration (FLR) is gaining momentum in the context of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, co-led by UNEP and FAO, to contribute to the targets of the Bonn Challenge, Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework, Land Degradation Neutrality, and Global Land Initiative among others. Restoration of the world’s degraded landscapes is critical for ensuring a healthy natural resource base for more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agrifood systems.

At the regional level, the member countries of the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission endorsed a Regional Strategy and Action Plan for FLR (RSAP) with strategic priorities for (i) facilitating and supporting the mobilisation of financing for FLR; and (ii) encouraging private sector participation and investment in FLR. The third Asia-Pacific Forestry Sector Outlook Study also emphasised the need for large investments in FLR, the continued lack of which poses a major barrier for countries in the region who aspire to restore a consolidated total of at least 185 million hectares of degraded land. Funding needs to be raised at scale from all appropriate sources to meet the national and regional goals.

FAO has been assisting Bangladesh, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste to scale up FLR through a Regional Technical Cooperation Programme (regional TCP) project. A key planned output of this project is a donors and partners’ conference for scaling up restoration. A Regional Programmatic Framework for FLR building on the RSAP has been prepared as part of this project, and a Regional FLR Network of implementing partners is being shaped to help countries meet their restoration commitments and visions. FAO and partners aim to enhance and strengthen finance partnerships and coordinated investments in FLR, including through South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC), the private sector, project aggregation, blended financing, and other emerging opportunities. The FLR Asia Investment Forum is a part of this effort.

Objective: Identify opportunities and collaboration modalities to strengthen FLR investments in Asia.

Target group:40-50 participants, representing the investors/resource partners and implementers committed to advancing FLR in Asia and representatives from the governments, including regional TCP project countries.

Format, date and venue: Hybrid,15-16 November 2023 in Marriott Marquis Queen’s Park, Bangkok

Outputs expected: Strategic priorities and concrete entry points for upscaling FLR investments identified, including by enhancing synergies across ongoing actions of participating organisations.

Co-organizers: FAO, IUCN and UNEP Contributing partners: World Bank, ADB, AFoCO, USAID, IFAD, EU, CI, WWF, WRI, RECOFTC, UNDP, CIFOR/ICRAF

Find more information here and contact [email protected] or [email protected] for further questions.