African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100)
Africa restoring 100 million hectares of deforested and degraded land by 2030
The African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100) is a country-led effort to bring 100 million hectares of deforested and degraded landscapes across Africa into restoration by 2030. The initiative connects political partners—participating African nations—with technical and financial support to scale up restoration on the ground and capture associated benefits for food security, climate change resilience, and poverty alleviation.
AFR100 responds to the African Union mandate to bring 100 million hectares of degraded land into restoration by 2030. The initiative contributes to the achievement of domestic environment and development commitments, the Bonn Challenge, and Land Degradation Neutrality target-setting process among other targets. AFR100 contributes to the African Resilient Landscapes Initiative (ARLI), and complements the African Landscapes Action Plan (ALAP) and the broader Climate Change, Biodiversity and Land Degradation (LDBA) program of the African Union. AFR100 accelerates progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris climate agreement.
A dynamic network of political, technical, and financial partners facilitate action towards the 100 million ha restoration target. To date 28 African nations have signed onto AFR100 and committed a combined 113 million hectares of land to be restored. Twelve financial partners and twenty-eight technical partners support partner countries to assess restoration opportunities, develop strategies, and accelerate implementation on the ground. Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) supports the AFR100 platform and in-country engagement, alongside partners including the World Bank, which has earmarked $1 billion in development finance through the Africa Climate Business Plan, and impact investors, which have earmarked USD $481 million in private finance for restoration.
Please contact the AFR100 Secretariat at the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) for more information, or see the AFR100 Overview Document in English and French.
AFR100 partners have set forth an ambition of over one billion dollars of grants and loan financing:
- The World Bank has committed USD 1 billion in institutional investment in 14 African countries by 2030, as part of the Africa Climate Business Plan to support Africa’s climate resilient and low carbon development
- Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) is a founding partner of the AFR100, providing support for the structure of the initiative and for selected AFR100 countries, via GIZ for technical cooperation and KfW for financial cooperation
- The Global Environment Facility (GEF) aligns its work with AFR100, as well as international efforts including the Bonn Challenge and the Global Partnership for FLR, supporting restoration initiatives which create multiple benefits and engaging local communities
Impact investors have also earmarked USD $481 million dollars in private sector funds for restoration under AFR100:
- Ecoplanet Bamboo: USD $175 million by 2020
- Green World Ventures
- Terra Global Capital: USD $100 million by 2030
- Moringa Partnership: USD $56 million by 2030
- Form International: USD $150 million by 2030
- NatureVest (impact investment arm of the Nature Conservancy)
- Permian Global
- ACUMEN
- &Green Fund
AFR100 will help to translate ambitious commitments into action and results on the ground with support from private sector investors, development banks and bilateral and multilateral funders. AFR100 will leverage a variety of financial instruments, including grants, equity investments, loans, risk management guarantees and funds for specific interventions like those highlighted in the report Scaling Up Regreening: Six Steps to Success.