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mated as 350–850 million ha, depending on the level of degra-
dation (ITTO 2002). Indeed, The Global Partnership on Forest
Landscape Restoration (GPFLR) estimates that over 1 billion
hectares of previously forested lands are currently suitable for
broad scale or mosaic restoration, approximately 6% of the
earth’s total land area (GPFLR 2009).
Incentives for increasing carbon stocks in vegetation has lead
to increased motivation for a wide range of forest restoration
activities, but the choice of species in reforestation projects
have not always complemented long-term carbon sequestra-
tion. It is important to recognize that forest regeneration and
restoration are long-term processes, requiring 100 years or
more (Chazdon 2008).
not well understood. Also inadequately studied is the influence
of various restoration approaches on restoring ecosystem servic-
es, even though the links between biodiversity, functional traits,
and ecosystem services are well acknowledged (Chazdon 2008).
Even with an understanding of the dynamics of the forest eco-
system, restoration will not succeed without consideration and
awareness of interacting socioeconomic and political systems
(ITTO 2002).
Opportunities
The opportunities for forest restoration is considerable, since
the extent of forest degradation in the tropics has been esti-