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Journal article
Global potential for natural regeneration in deforested tropical regions
Nature , Vol.636, pp.131-137
2024
PMID: 39478216
Abstract
Extensive forest restoration is a key strategy to meet nature-based sustainable development goals and provide multiple social and environmental benefits1. Yet achieving forest restoration at scale requires cost-effective methods2. Tree planting in degraded landscapes is a popular but costly forest restoration method that often results in less biodiverse forests when compared to natural regeneration techniques under similar conditions3. Here we assess the current spatial distribution of pantropical natural forest (from 2000 to 2016) and use this to present a model of the potential for natural regeneration across tropical forested countries and biomes at a spatial resolution of 30 m. We estimate that an area of 215 million hectares—an area greater than the entire country of Mexico—has potential for natural forest regeneration, representing an above-ground carbon sequestration potential of 23.4 Gt C (range, 21.1–25.7 Gt) over 30 years. Five countries (Brazil, Indonesia, China, Mexico and Colombia) account for 52% of this estimated potential, showcasing the need for targeting restoration initiatives that leverage natural regeneration potential. Our results facilitate broader equitable decision-making processes that capitalize on the widespread opportunity for natural regeneration to help achieve national and global environmental agendas.
Details
- Title
- Global potential for natural regeneration in deforested tropical regions
- Authors
- Brooke A Williams (Corresponding Author) - Queensland University of TechnologyHawthorne L Beyer - Institute for Capacity Exchange in Environmental Decisions (Australia)Matthew E Fagan - University of Maryland, Baltimore CountyRobin L Chazdon - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Forest Research InstituteMarina Schmoeller - Institute for Capacity Exchange in Environmental Decisions (Australia)Starry Sprenkle-Hyppolite - Conservation InternationalBronson W Griscom - Conservation InternationalJames E M Watson - The University of QueenslandAnazélia M Tedesco - The University of QueenslandMariano Gonzalez-Roglich - Conservation InternationalGabriel A Daldegan - Conservation InternationalBlaise Bodin - Amazon Conservation AssociationDanielle Celentano - Instituto SócioambientalSarah Jane Wilson - University of VictoriaJonathan R Rhodes - The University of QueenslandNikola S Alexandre - Conservation InternationalDo-Hyung Kim - United Nations Children's FundDiego Bastos - Institute for Capacity Exchange in Environmental Decisions (Australia)Renato Crouzeilles - Institute for Capacity Exchange in Environmental Decisions (Australia)
- Publication details
- Nature , Vol.636, pp.131-137
- Publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- Date published
- 2024
- DOI
- 10.1038/s41586-024-08106-4
- ISSN
- 1476-4687; 0028-0836
- PMID
- 39478216
- Copyright note
- This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
- Data Availability
- See article text for data availability.
- Grant note
- We acknowledge financial support from Conservation International, and the Walton Family Foundation (B.W.G.). The mapping work from Fagan and colleagues 2022, the basis of this analysis, was supported by NASA grant 80NSSC21K0297.
- Organisation Unit
- Tropical Forests and People Research Centre; Forest Research Institute
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991076319602621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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