Intact forest landscape

Restoration ecology

Demography

Environmental justice

Ecology

Biology

Agroforestry

Sustainability

Economics

Business

Environmental restoration

Environmental planning

Forest ecology

Geography

Political science

Environmental resource management

Population

Sustainable development

Sociology

Environmental science

Environmental protection

Natural resource economics

Biodiversity

Forest restoration

Ecosystem

Nature Ecology & Evolution

Forest restoration occupies centre stage in global conversations about carbon removal and biodiversity conservation, but recent research rarely acknowledges social dimensions or environmental justice implications related to its implementation. We find that 294.5 million people live on tropical forest restoration opportunity land in the Global South, including 12% of the total population in low-income countries. Forest landscape restoration that prioritizes local communities by affording them rights to manage and restore forests provides a promising option to align global agendas for climate mitigation, conservation, environmental justice and sustainable development. An analysis of the overlap between tropical forest restoration, human populations, development and national policies for community forest ownership shows that 294.5 million people live within forest restoration opportunity land in the Global South.

Global forest restoration and the importance of prioritizing local communities