The global push to restore degraded forests received renewed backing recntly after the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Korea Forest Service agreed to extend their long-running Forest Ecosystem Restoration Initiative, reinforcing international cooperation at a time when biodiversity loss continues to accelerate across many regions, including Africa.
The two institutions signed a new Memorandum of Understanding on January 23, launching the third phase of the Forest Ecosystem Restoration Initiative, known as FERI. Under the agreement, the Korea Forest Service will provide 700 million Korean won annually between 2026 and 2028, with an option to extend financial support through to 2030. The funding is intended to sustain and expand restoration efforts that help countries translate global biodiversity commitments into action on the ground.
Since its launch in 2014, FERI has supported national forest restoration efforts in diverse ecological and political contexts, with a focus on strengthening institutional capacity, mobilising technical knowledge and encouraging cooperation between countries facing similar challenges. For many developing regions, including parts of Africa, forest degradation remains closely linked to food insecurity, rural livelihoods, climate vulnerability and the loss of ecosystem services.
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The renewed partnership brings together the Convention on Biological Diversity secretariat and the Korea Forest Service, building on more than a decade of collaboration. Officials involved say the third phase is intended to move beyond pilot interventions and help countries embed restoration more firmly into national planning frameworks.
Forest degradation continues to undermine development goals globally. According to international assessments, millions of hectares of forest are lost or degraded each year through agricultural expansion, illegal logging, infrastructure development and climate-driven disturbances such as drought and fire. In Africa, forests play a critical role in supporting rural economies, regulating water systems and storing carbon, making restoration efforts central to both biodiversity protection and climate resilience.
Under the new MoU, FERI will continue to support countries in designing and implementing restoration projects aligned with their National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans. The initiative places emphasis on strengthening technical and institutional capacity, improving access to best practices, and facilitating South-South cooperation, enabling countries to learn directly from peers facing similar ecological and socio-economic conditions.
The agreement is also closely tied to the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the international roadmap adopted in 2022 to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030. Forest ecosystems are central to the framework’s targets, particularly commitments to restore degraded land and improve the condition of ecosystems that underpin food systems and climate stability.
One of the framework’s most prominent goals is the restoration of at least 30 percent of degraded ecosystems globally by the end of the decade. FERI-supported activities are expected to contribute directly to this target by helping countries identify priority landscapes, mobilise resources and integrate restoration into broader development planning.
A defining feature of the initiative’s next phase is its continued focus on inclusive participation. The programme explicitly seeks to engage indigenous peoples and local communities, who manage or depend on large areas of the world’s remaining forests. Advocates argue that restoration efforts are more likely to succeed when local knowledge, customary land rights and livelihood needs are incorporated into project design.
Beyond ecological benefits, forest restoration is increasingly framed as an economic and social investment. Restored forests can support sustainable agriculture, reduce disaster risks, improve water security and create employment opportunities, particularly in rural areas. For African countries facing mounting climate pressures and limited public finance, international initiatives that combine technical support with predictable funding are seen as especially valuable.
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While the scale of global forest degradation far exceeds the resources of any single initiative, the extension of FERI signals sustained political commitment to multilateral approaches to biodiversity loss. Its backers say the challenge now lies in ensuring that global agreements translate into measurable change at national and community levels.
As countries work to align development priorities with environmental limits, the continuation of the Forest Ecosystem Restoration Initiative underscores the growing recognition that restoring forests is not a peripheral environmental concern, but a central pillar of long-term sustainability, climate resilience and inclusive growth.
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