Who takes decisions to plant trees or restore forestland? Who decides where, how, and what species? Who holds the land, the rights to the trees or to benefit from them, in the near and long term? It is simple to take a photo of a politician planting a tree; it is a lot harder to grow it to maturity in a place where people agree to care for it. In this paper, just published and led by Stephanie Mansourian, we review 154 articles on forest restoration and governance to produce an global-scale, general, and systematic review of the kinds governance challenges that frustrate progress. We also provide a menu of solutions found in the articles. Thank you to the Velux Stiftung for funding this research.
Reference: Mansourian, S & CA Kull (2026) Overcoming governance barriers to forest restoration: A global review of challenges and solutions. Environmental Science & Policy 183.
