***AUDIO PODCAST***
from The Global Landscapes Forum (Dec. 2017):
How the IUCN Bonn Challenge Barometer of Progress measures restoration efforts
 

A progress tracking protocol

Political support for the Bonn Challenge has grown exponentially. IUCN and partners are working closely with countries and organisations to provide policy support and technical guidance on forest landscape restoration. A crucial component of this is scaling-up and reporting on implementation activity.

The Bonn Challenge Barometer, led by IUCN with support from Germany's International Climate Change Initiative (IKI), was announced in fall 2016 and initiated in mid-2017 with five countries piloting the application of the Barometer framework. The pilot countries are Brazil, El Salvador,  Mexico, Rwanda and the United States, and more recently Sri Lanka. The Barometer can be accessed here. It enables users to report on action against enabling conditions, results and benefits of forest landscape restoration in pledge jurisdictions. Data from the five first pilot countries for 2018 can be accessed here.

Progress on restoration is being publicised through Bonn Challenge Progress Reports in 2017, 2018 and 2020, synthesizing progress and lessons learned on implementation, highlighting integration with international commitments including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Aichi Targets and providing information and access points for practitioners, investors and civil society. The 2017 Spotlight Report is available now.

Policy commitment and financing for restoration

Whether a jurisdiction has defined the nature and extent of targeted landscapes and what evidence exists of stakeholder support. Tracking indicators include the existence of policies, plans and measures related to forest landscape restoration, domestic budget allocations in support of restoration, and private-sector funding for restoration.

Technical knowledge and underpinning

Whether a jurisdiction has maps and analysis of restoration potential, and whether they have identified priority areas for restoration and priority interventions. Tracking indicators include carbon impact estimates, existence of in-country monitoring mechanisms or information at different scales (e.g. community led, district or regional), and gap assessments (e.g. restoration diagnostic of key success factors). 

On-the-ground progress

Whether jurisdictions have measurable hectares under restoration and what are the estimated carbon benefits per activity type. Tracking indicators also include an estimation of biodiversity and jobs benefits from restoration underway.