Initiatives to restore degraded land on a large scale have gained huge momentum during recent years. The country-led African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative(AFR100), for example, seeks to reverse land degradation on 100 million hectares across the continent by 2030. This regional effort usefully complements the Bonn Challenge, which is working to restore 350 million hectares worldwide, also by 2030. Such initiatives foster hope that land restoration can not only help mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration but also improve rural livelihoods and spur growth by renewing the land’s productive capacity. At the same time, though, these efforts raise concerns about how best to restore degraded land and ensure equitable sharing of the benefits.
