Global reforestation and forest restoration efforts are facing a serious setback due to the recent U.S. foreign aid freeze. The sudden halt in funding has left projects around the world scrambling for alternative resources, jeopardizing years of progress. Without consistent funding, ongoing projects face the threat of scaling back or shutting down entirely, increasing the global risk of biodiversity loss, climate change, deforestation and environmental degradation. This situation also undermines the ambitious goal of restoring 1 billion hectares (2.5 billion acres) of land by 2030, a commitment made by 115 countries, including the U.S. The restoration commitment requires a fourfold increase in funding from governments and the private sector by the end of the decade, according to the United Nations Environment Programme’s latest State of Finance for Nature – Restoration Finance Report. “The [funding] cuts are problematic on multiple levels,” Heather Huntington, associate professor and executive director of the Penn Development Research Initiative Lab at the University of Pennsylvania, writes in an email. “First, there is the direct project impact; projects are delayed or terminated, so reforestation and restoration are either on hold or (most likely) terminated.” Huntington has evaluated the impact of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) projects related to land, environment and climate for more than 10 years. Another major impact is on research and learning, as many USAID employment contracts have been terminated and project evaluations have ceased. “We are also stopping the evaluations halfway through or even 80% through, and this means that all…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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