News & Blogs

Updates from technical and financial partners of Initiative 20x20, as well as the latest news from member countries, supporting storytelling and the sharing of restoration successes from across Latin America and the Caribbean.

Initiative 20x20 in the News

Our solution is to switch that around and demonstrate the value of a standing forest. To show the tremendous benefits a conservation project can bring – from protecting ecosystem services and growing a local sustainable economy, to community wellbeing and health care, all the way through to the global impact of helping to reduce atmospheric greenhouse gasses.

Colombia tiene la ambición de ser carbono neutral para 2050 y para lograrlo ha presentado la Estrategia Colombiana de Largo Plazo para el Cumplimiento de los Compromisos en el Marco del Acuerdo de París sobre Cambio Climático, E2050, una visión innovadora de crecimiento verde donde la naturaleza es el principal motor de la productividad y competitividad. Es además un enfoque realista, basado en ciencia, en el que los factores para mejorar la calidad de vida de los colombianos se centran en sus paisajes, litorales, en un uso energético y extractivo responsable, en el buen manejo del capital natural y en preservarlo para las generaciones presentes y futuras.

Backed by years of WRI research, TerraMatch is an online platform and mobile app that combines new excitement from the private sector with expertise from the global movement to restore degraded and deforested land

Recientes compromisos nacionales, como la Estrategia Nacional de Diversidad Biológica, e internacionales, como Iniciativa 20x20, suscritos por el Perú, reconocen la imperiosa necesidad de restaurar ecosistemas degradados como una medida para contrarrestar la deforestación, el cambio climático, la pérdida de biodiversidad y los servicios ecosistémicos.

Washington, DC. June 3 — Initiative 20x20 congratulates Carlos Manuel Rodriguez-Echandi, Minister of Environment and Energy of Costa Rica, for his appointment as CEO and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), in succession Naoko Ishii.

Washington, DC. 3 de junio — Iniciativa 20x20 felicita a Carlos Manuel Rodríguez Echandi, Ministro de Ambiente y Energía de Costa Rica, por su nombramiento como Director General y Presidente del Fondo para el Medio Ambiente Mundial (GEF, por sus siglas en inglés), en sucesión de Naoko Ishii.

Chile actualizó recientemente sus Contribuciones Determinadas a Nivel Nacional (NDC por sus siglas en inglés) para la reducción de sus emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero, convirtiéndose en el primer país latinoamericano y uno de los primeros países del mundo en llevar esto a cabo. El anuncio oficial por parte de la ministra del Medio Ambiente Carolina Schmidt reafirma el compromiso y liderazgo chileno contra el cambio climático a nivel regional y global.

Chile recently updated its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) for the reduction of its greenhouse gas emissions, becoming the first Latin American country and one of the first countries in the world to carry this out. This was officially announced by Environment Minister Carolina Schmidt, reaffirming Chile's commitment and leadership against climate change at the regional and global levels.

Para Colombia — uno de los países fundadores de la Iniciativa 20x20 — la lucha contra la deforestación y la restauración de tierras degradadas son prioritarias. Así lo reflejan el Plan Nacional de Restauración (2015) y el Plan Nacional de Desarrollo (2018-2022) que establecen una meta 1,4 millones de hectáreas bajo sistemas de conservación sostenibles (restauración, manejo forestal sostenible, sistemas agroforestales y silvopastoriles y reconversión productiva).

BLOG January 2020

El aprovechamiento sostenible de los pastizales naturales en el Cono Sur y la restauración de tierras degradadas en Uruguay

NEWS January 2020

Durante la Conferencia de la ONU sobre Cambio Climático, COP25, en Madrid, ministros de la región latinoamericana anunciaron nuevas acciones contundentes en torno a los esfuerzos para reducir emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero (GEI).

NEWS January 2020

At the UN Climate Change Conference COP25 in Madrid last month, ministers from the Latin America region announced bold new action on efforts to tackle greenhouse gas emissions.

BLOG December 2019

To finance the major investments in Forest Landscape Restoration, help from the private and financial sector is needed. To increase investors’ willingness to write checks, public- funded grants play a crucial role. To get institutional investors on board, sustainable finance must mature, providing proven track records so investors can better understand risk.

NEWS December 2019

El gobierno de Chile ha elevado su ambición y acción climática a través de la restauración de paisajes. Durante la COP25, presentó los avances hacia la restauración de 500,000 hectáreas de tierras degradadas a través de su Plan Nacional de Restauración, parte de sus acciones para combatir el cambio climático.

NEWS December 2019

The Government of Chile has stepped up its ambition to restore land and fight climate change. At COP25, the country revealed the progress it has made toward restoring 500,000 hectares of degraded land and fighting climate change through developing its comprehensive National Landscape Restoration Plan.

BLOG December 2019

Countries are meeting in Madrid, Spain, at the UN Climate Change Conference COP25 to implement the Paris Agreement and beat climate change by dramatically bringing down carbon emissions. This is the only way to secure the planet’s future. Governments, businesses, non-governmental organizations, communities and organized civil society are uniting to take action on climate, now!

NEWS November 2019

El pasado 24 y 25 de octubre se llevó a cabo en la Universidad Javeriana, en Bogotá, el primer taller para la construcción de la Estrategia Nacional de Monitoreo de la Restauración (ENMR).

NEWS November 2019

De la mano de las Secretarías de Agricultura y de la Nación, a partir de 2019 hasta el 2022, World Resources Institute, impulsará en Colombia con sus más de 50 socios técnicos y con el apoyo de los fondos de capital privado de impacto en Latinoamérica, el desarrollo de modelos productivos sostenibles que contribuyan al logro de 1 millón de hectáreas restauradas en Colombia.

BLOG October 2019

A new study published by WRI Brasil shows that by investing in research and development native species can become a thriving part of Brazil’s forestry industry while restoring the threatened Amazon and Atlantic Forests.

BLOG August 2019

Salvador and São Paulo have both committed to protect and restore the Atlantic Forest, which has suffered from severe deforestation. Today, less than 20% of the original forest remains. The two cities recognize the forest's benefits to people, such as ensuring a consistent and clean water supply, regulating temperature, purifying the air, improving hydroelectric generation, limiting flooding, safeguarding unique plant and animal species, and encouraging local economic development.

Under Initiative 20x20, countries aim to change the dynamics of land degradation in Latin America and the Caribbean. Impact investors cooperatives, smallholders, and start-ups are creating sustainable agricultural value chains by helping farmers and other producers restore degraded land.

La Declaración de Buenos Aires sobre Restauración exhorta a los países miembros de la Iniciativa 20x20 a alinear esfuerzos a favor de restaurar 30 millones de hectáreas de tierra degradada antes de 2030. 17 países buscarán promover una visión común que impulse inversiones público-privadas encaminadas a restaurar ecosistemas y paisajes vitales, y, fundamentalmente, promover el desarrollo social y económico de la región.

The Buenos Aires Declaration on Restoration invites the partners of Initiative 20x20 to align efforts towards restoring 30 million hectares of degraded land by 2030. 17 countries will seek to promote a common vision that encourages public-private investments aimed at restoring vital ecosystems and landscapes, and ultimately fostering social and economic development in the region.

Buenos Aires. 18 de junio de 2019 — América Latina y el Caribe reforzaron hoy su compromiso con la restauración de tierras degradadas, las cuales son fundamentales para consolidar el desarrollo económico sostenido con menos emisiones de carbono y mayor productividad agropecuaria. Por ello, a través de Iniciativa 20x20, 17 países trabajarán para alinear política pública e inversiones con la visión de restaurar paisajes a un nivel capaz de ayudar a la región a alcanzar neutralidad de carbono antes de 2050. De acuerdo con el Programa de Naciones Unidas para el Medio Ambiente, este nivel equivaldría a alrededor de 250 millones de hectáreas.

Countries in Latin America and the Caribbean reinforced today their commitment to restore degraded landscapes that are key for sustained economic growth, with less carbon emissions and better agriculture productivity.  This is why — through Initiative 20x20 — 17 countries will work to align policies and investment aimed at restoring land by 2050 at a level that could help the region achieve carbon neutrality.  This level has been estimated by the United Nations Environment Program to be about 250 million hectares.

The potential economic, social, and environmental benefits of restoration are diverse and clear – from fighting climate change, through helping improve water and food security, to connecting local farmers to global value chains. But how are companies, local communities, and governments restoring degraded land? Here is how Initiative 20x20’s partners are transforming Latin America and the Caribbean.

Ninety-one rivers longer than 1,000 km once connected with seas and oceans. Today, only 21 still flow freely. A team of 34 international researchers has assessed the connectivity status of 12 million kilometers of rivers worldwide, providing the first ever global assessment of the location and extent of the planet’s remaining free-flowing rivers. Their findings indicate that these rivers are largely restricted to remote regions of the Arctic and the Amazon and Congo Basins.

Initiative 20x20 partner Southern Wings has some key new projects in Latin America.

BLOG April 2019

In this podcast, WRI Vice President for Communications Lawrence MacDonald interview Walter Vergara, a senior fellow with WRI's Forests program, and Etienne Demarais is CEO of URAPI Sustainable Land Use, a fund created to invest in land restoration.  

BLOG April 2019

Governments need the support of private landholders and community groups to fulfill their restoration pledges. Some governments are pioneering programs that incentivize landholders to restore their land by growing and harvesting timber and other forest products. In many cases, forest management through small-scale timber plantations on restored land can be a long-term investment for the economy and the environment. Mature trees can be selectively harvested and replaced to ensure that carbon and soil remain in place and to provide a consistent income for landholders.

NEWS February 2019

The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources of El Salvador presented the Sustainability Index for Restoration (ISR), made up of eight sub-indexes that measure the biophysical and socio-economic impacts of landscape restoration actions.

NEWS February 2019

For decades, the indigenous Awajún people of northern Peru have struggled to overcome systemic poverty, discrimination, and violence. Now, as members of the APROCAM cooperative, they’re attaining higher incomes—and a better quality of life. 

NEWS January 2019

In November 2018, the Climate and Land Use Alliance together with the German government (BMU and GiZ) co-hosted a workshop on carbon removals. 

BLOG January 2019

Andes Amazon Fund helped create 3.4 million ha of protected areas and indigenous territories in Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, and Ecuador in 2018.

BLOG December 2018

Brazil is currently the seventh-largest producer of cocoa in the world, with approximately 200,000 tons per year. But in the 1980s, before witch’s broom disease eradicated 75% of cocoa plants in Bahia State and the global market price declined, Brazil produced more than 430,000 tons of cocoa.

NEWS December 2018

NEWS December 2018

Walter Vergara and René Zamora Cristales of the Initiative 20x20 Secretariat participated in the Extraordinary General Meeting of the Council of Ministries of the Central American Commission on Environment and Development (CCAD) from Decemeber 4 to 5.

NEWS December 2018

Initiative 20x20’s secretariat, World Resources Institute, has secured additional funding from The German Federal Ministry of Environment (BMU), to deepen the support for three priority countries, Argentina, Ecuador and Uruguay.

BLOG October 2018

Canopy Energy and Investancia seek to harness silvopastoral systems to sequester carbon, generate economic growth and increase cattle productivity — all at the same time.

NEWS October 2018

Article from El Mercurio

NEWS September 2018

The ministers of Agriculture and the Environment of Chile, in coordination with Corporación Nacional Forestal (CONAF), Instituo Forestal de Chile (INFOR) and international organizations, are now working on restoring degraded or deforested landscapes to contribute to the development of local stakeholders.

BLOG September 2018

Nine companies presented projects in six different states across Brazil demonstrating wide-ranging goals that deliver social, environmental, and financial benefits.

BLOG September 2018

The Tambopata National Reserve in the Madre de Dios region of Peru is located between the fringes of the Amazon rainforest and the city of Puerto Maldonado.

BLOG August 2018

Deforestation and land degradation is loosening soil in many of the watersheds in Latin America, resulting in sediment flowing into rivers and clogging dams. This is reducing electricity output for hydropower, the source of 65% of the region’s power and directly threatening hundreds of billions of dollars of economic activity.

NEWS August 2018

Entrepreneurs present innovative restoration projects to investors and Brazilian authorities.

Exchange of Initiative 20x20 partners and government officials in Central America contributes to build a roadmap for monitoring the impacts of restoration across the region.

Ministers back vital climate action across the region, with announcement calling for growth in restoration and conservation finance

An estimated 15 billion trees are cut down each year—more than 41 million per day.

How is the agro-ecological transition working in Latin and Central America?

The World Conference on Ecological Restoration takes place in Iguazu Falls, Brazil

Conservación Patagónica (CP), established by conservationists Douglas and Kristine Tompkins in 2000, is a community of people committed to the wild future of Patagonia, thought to be one of the wildest places left on the planet.

The global land restoration movement launched in Bonn five years ago is gaining steam. It’s big and it’s ambitious.

NEWS April 2018

Minister of Environment of Colombia announced the Green Belt Initiative natural barrier that would prevent the further deforestation and degradation of ecosystems in the Amazonia region.

NEWS December 2014

LIMA, PERÚ. 7 de diciembre de 2014 — Países y programas regionales de América Latina y el Caribe, en colaboración con organizaciones regionales y mundiales, presidieron hoy el lanzamiento de la Iniciativa 20x20, un esfuerzo encabezado por países para restaurar 20 millones de hectáreas de tierra degradada antes de 2020, un área poco más grande que el territorio de Uruguay.

NEWS December 2014

LIMA. December 7, 2014 —Today, Latin American and Caribbean countries and regional programs, working with regional and global organizations, launched Initiative 20x20, a country-led effort to bring 20 million hectares of degraded land into restoration by 2020. This is an area larger than Uruguay. As part of the initiative, five impact investors also announced plans to invest up to US$365 million of new financing to support land restoration efforts in the region. Initiative 20x20 is supported by the World Resources Institute (WRI), International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza (CATIE), and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (ICUN).

More

Partners

Defensores de la Naturaleza

Natural Capital Project

Bioversity International

Fundacion Vida Silvestre

Pronatura Noreste

Conservation Strategy Fund