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New forest landscape restoration initiative in Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia to unlock climate action

New forest landscape restoration initiative in Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia to unlock climate action

ECCA30 Launch

22 September 2019
Forest and Restoration Hub Convene, 101 Park Avenue New York United States of America

Press release in English and Russian.

Event time: 2:00pm — 3:00pm

Location: Forest and Restoration Hub, Convene, 101 Park Avenue, New York, USA

Event organizer: IUCN, with support of UNECE/FAO, UNEP, World Bank, WRI

A new regional forest landscape restoration initiative aims to bring 30 million hectares of degraded and deforested landscapes in Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia into restoration by 2030 in line with the Bonn Challenge, the New York Declaration on Forests and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The “ECCA30” initiative will be supported jointly by UNECE, FAO, IUCN, the World Bank and the World Resources Institute.

The initiative builds on the Ministerial Roundtable on Forest Landscape Restoration and the Bonn Challenge, organized by the UNECE and FAO, in cooperation with IUCN. So far seven countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia have committed close to 3 million hectares to the Bonn Challenge (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan). ECCA30 will support the acceleration of the implementation of the Bonn Challenge. It will facilitate access to technical and financial support and reinforce regional cooperation and capacity exchange on forest landscape restoration (FLR). Further, it will help countries receive international and regional recognition of their restoration ambitions connected to their domestic priorities and projects.

The launch of the initiative is planned at the Forest and Restoration Action Day at the Nature’s Climate Hub (22 September 2019). For more information and to register for the event, please click

Forest landscape restoration (FLR) is a Nature-based Solution that delivers mitigation and adaptation outcomes. It is at the crux of global goals such as the Bonn Challenge, SDGs, Paris Agreement, and Land Degradation Neutrality. Multiple efforts are underway to mainstream FLR within land and forest-based targets in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by facilitating action on the ground and raising ambition for the next round of NDC submissions.

The event will feature short TED Flash talks from restoration champions and a moderated exchange with the audience including live polling.

This initiative will generate partnerships and promote knowledge sharing on climate change mitigation and adaptation potential of FLR among governments, private actors, and other stakeholders, to mobilize financial resources and technical support for implementation

More information about UNECE and the UN Climate Action Summit is available here.

Contact Ms. Roksolan Shelest for more information.