The Challenges and Opportunities of Landscape Restoration in Latin America

Abstract Forests are natural carbon sinks that have been identified as crucial elements to counteract or mitigate the effects of climate change for the next decades. However, forests around the world are being deforested at an alarming rate. In recent years, large initiatives have tried to promote climate actions that allow for massive restoration and forest protection. Global initiatives such as REDD+, the Bonn Challenge, the 20 × 20 Initiative, and carbon offsets have been part of project financing campaigns to restore degraded areas and preserve forests worldwide. However, many of these initiatives have faced great difficulties that have undermined progress and goal fulfillment, and their effectiveness has often been questioned. Recently, the United Nations Conference on Biological Diversity launched the United Nations Decade for Ecosystem Restoration to promote the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and restoration on a global scale for the following years. Therefore, this chapter evaluates international commitments to restoration’s progress, opportunities, and challenges. It takes global and national programs as a starting point, focusing on Latin America, and reviews strategies and public policies on ecological and socio-environmental aspects of restoration.