Forest and landscape restoration is a cost-effective response to food security, biodiversity, climate, and other development challenges, according to a new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which warns that scaling up action will require greater investment, inclusive governance and sustained political commitment.
The flagship State of the World’s Forests (SOFO) 2026 report was published on Monday as part of FAO’s 28th Session of the Committee on Forestry (COFO 28) and its 10th World Forest Week.
The 2026 edition examines how forest and landscape restoration can be expanded to deliver lasting benefits for people and the environment. Drawing on evidence and experiences from around the world, it identifies four pathways for accelerating progress: empowering people and strengthening rights; implementing restoration at the landscape scale; mobilizing finance and business models that support restoration; and creating coherent policies, institutions and laws.
“The State of the World’s Forests 2026 makes clear that forest and landscape restoration is more than an environmental priority – it is a strategic investment in resilient agrifood systems and rural development,” FAO Director-General QU Dongyu wrote in the report’s Foreword.
“The window for action is narrowing, and delayed or poorly designed restoration will increase long-term costs, exacerbate inequalities and risk locking landscapes into unsustainable trajectories,” he added.
Forests cover 4.14 billion hectares (about 32 percent of the Earth’s land surface), store 714 gigatonnes of carbon and host up to 80 percent of the world’s terrestrial biodiversity. They also underpin resilient agrifood systems, with nearly one-third of the global population depending on forests and trees for food security and livelihoods.
However, an estimated 489 million hectares of forest were lost between 1990 and 2025 through deforestation, while more than 460 million hectares are degraded worldwide. In total, 1.56 billion hectares of land are degraded, driven by population growth, land-use change and rising demand for natural resources.
At the same time, threats are intensifying. Every year, around 127 million hectares of forest are affected by fires, with further damage caused by insects, diseases and severe weather events.
As demand for forest products rises and competing land uses increases pressure on natural resources, SOFO argues for the need to restore degraded forest and landscapes at scale, emphasizing that inaction carries a far greater economic burden than restoration.
Worldwide, the annual impact of failing to restore degraded ecosystems is estimated at $878 billion to $6.3 trillion, equivalent to 2 to 8.3 percent of annual GDP, depending on the scope of valuation.
Restoring more than 1 billion hectares of degraded land, on the other hand, could generate $1.8 trillion per year in benefits, including enhanced biodiversity, improved water regulation and healthier soils. The report notes that investing $2.6 trillion over 15 years in land degradation and drought mitigation could yield an eight-to-one social return.
Under favourable conditions, restoration can generate returns of up to $30 for every $1 invested.
Restoration also creates jobs, revitalizes production systems and supports resilient growth. Benefits extend beyond income to improved well-being, stronger social cohesion and the preservation of cultural identity and knowledge systems.
Scaling up solutions
Progress is underway, with large-scale restoration increasingly recognized as crucial for achieving global targets on land degradation neutrality, climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity conservation and ending hunger.
According to the report, governments across 91 countries and areas have pledged more than 190 million hectares for forest restoration.
Examples of notable restoration projects among the 18 case studies analysed in the report include the Great Green Wall for the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative, the Three North Programme of China, and the Trinational Atlantic Forest Pact across Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.
However, progress remains insufficient, with only 206.5 million hectares of forests currently under restoration.
The report points to four mutually reinforcing pathways to scale up high-quality restoration:
- People must be at the centre, ensuring that their rights, knowledge and priorities shape restoration outcomes;
- Restoration must be planned and implemented at the landscape scale, balancing conservation, production and livelihoods through context-specific approaches;
- Financing must be aligned with the realities of restoration; public and private resources need to be mobilized to support long-term, high-quality outcomes;
- Coherent policy, law and institutional frameworks are crucial for enabling restoration at scale and ensuring its sustainability over time.
“The remaining years to 2030 must be defined by high-quality implementation – scaling up forest and landscape restoration that is people-centred, science-based and supported by coherent policies. I am confident that through collective action and shared commitment we can restore degraded lands at scale and build a better future for all,” the FAO Director-General wrote.
