Bonn Challenge

India was a tree planting laboratory for 200 years – here are the results

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Thursday, August 10, 2023
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But efforts to increase global tree cover to limit climate change have skewed towards erecting plantations of fast-growing trees.

Key Points: 
  • But efforts to increase global tree cover to limit climate change have skewed towards erecting plantations of fast-growing trees.
  • The reasons are obvious: planting trees can demonstrate results a lot quicker than natural forest restoration.

Plantations in colonial-era India

    • Britain extended its influence over India and controlled much of its affairs via the East India Company from the mid-18th century onwards.
    • Britain needed great quantities of timber to lay railway sleepers and build ships in order to transport the cotton, rubber and tea it took from India.
    • Eucalyptus and other exotic trees which hadn’t evolved in India were introduced from around 1790.
    • Similarly, pine has spread over much of the Himalayas and displaced native oak trees while teak has replaced sal, a native hardwood, in central India.

Restoring forests in India today

    • India has pledged to restore about 21 million hectares of forest by 2030 under the Bonn Challenge.
    • A progress report released by the government of India and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2018 claimed around 10 million hectares was under restoration.
    • Several assemblies (known as Gram Sabhas) in the Gadchiroli district of central India has restored degraded forests and managed them as a sustainable source of tendu leaves, which are used to wrap bidi (Indian tobacco).

Future forests

    • The Indian government’s definition of “forest” still encompasses plantations of a single tree species, orchards and even bamboo, which actually belongs to the grass family.
    • This means that biennial forest surveys cannot quantify how much natural forest has been restored, or convey the consequences of displacing native trees with competitive plantation species or identify if these exotic trees have invaded natural grasslands which have then been falsely recorded as restored forests.
    • Natural forest regeneration and plantations for timber and fuel should both be encouraged, but with due consideration of how other ecosystems and people will be affected.
    • Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue.

Drone seeding and E-seeds sound exciting, but ecosystem restoration needs practical solutions

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Monday, May 1, 2023
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It gently lands on the bare ground and sits there, exposed to the elements, until it rains.

Key Points: 
  • It gently lands on the bare ground and sits there, exposed to the elements, until it rains.
  • But, from a restoration practitioner’s point of view, it has logistical issues that can greatly limit its application at scale.

Unproven ‘game-changers’

    • Numerous private companies have entered the market with revolutionary devices (mostly drones), claiming to restore ecosystems by planting billions of trees.
    • This fascination with shiny technological gadgets might divert scarce resources from practical, on-the-ground solutions that will seriously affect our ability to restore degraded ecosystems globally.
    • For decades, scientists and practitioners have been working on solutions to support and accelerate the recovery of degraded ecosystems.

Most seeds fail

    • For a start, seeds need to reach the right place in the soil to germinate and grow.
    • If seeds are scattered (seed broadcasting) on the soil surface by hand, tractor or drone, they can be blown off by the wind or eaten by animals.
    • As a result, most seeds will not become a plant.
    • This stopped the seed from clumping but greatly reduced the number of seeds that could be delivered on each drone flight.
    • This clumping seeds issue is also common when dealing with native species, such as the grasses that inspired the design of the E-seed.

Effective, not flamboyant

    • Therefore, we must approach ecosystem restoration holistically and not get carried away by the lure of shiny technologies.
    • Funders with limited appreciation of restoration’s ecological and practical complexities are keen to embrace and invest in charismatic, yet often unproven technologies.
    • We should focus on the most effective ways to restore native ecosystems, not the most flamboyant.

New study identifies priority areas for restoration to help Canada meet Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework goals

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Tuesday, April 4, 2023
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To reverse these trends, Canada must restore converted and degraded landscapes, allowing them to act as nature-based solutions to climate change and wildlife loss.

Key Points: 
  • To reverse these trends, Canada must restore converted and degraded landscapes, allowing them to act as nature-based solutions to climate change and wildlife loss.
  • Data on these converted lands and their potential climate and biodiversity benefits were fed into a machine-learning algorithm that identified optimal restoration areas using three different potential national restoration targets.
  • To meet national and international goals to curb biodiversity loss and climate change, Canada must take action to restore both fully converted, as well as partially degraded land.
  • This study identifies areas where the restoration of converted lands could provide maximum biodiversity and carbon storage benefits.

COP15: Daily highlights - December 12, 2022

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Monday, December 12, 2022
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Today at COP15, we took two big steps toward restoring harmony with the natural world.

Key Points: 
  • Today at COP15, we took two big steps toward restoring harmony with the natural world.
  • Because pursuit of a net-zero economy must not come at the expense of our natural world."
  • That is the key to what we should be doing right now in the time and age.
  • In the morning, Natural Resources Minister Wilkinson made an announcement on Sustainable Critical Minerals Coalition.

Canada Pledges to Join the Bonn Challenge for Landscape Restoration at COP15

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Monday, December 12, 2022
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As the world gathers in Montreal for COP15, we look forward to others joining us in the Bonn Challenge to protect nature globally."

Key Points: 
  • As the world gathers in Montreal for COP15, we look forward to others joining us in the Bonn Challenge to protect nature globally."
  • "As the Secretariat for the Bonn Challenge, IUCN is delighted to welcome this landmark pledge from the Government of Canada.
  • The Bonn Challenge promotes nature-based climate solutions, the restoration of ecological functions and the enhancement of human well-being.
  • With the addition of Canada, there are currently 75 pledges to the Bonn Challenge from 62 countries for a total global pledge of almost 230 Mha.