Our collective future depends upon our ability to restore the Earth: our common land.

From climate change and biodiversity loss, to pollution and food insecurity,  land- and sea-scape degradation is intrinsically linked to the world’s biggest problems. To solve this, we need policy and financial frameworks that support practical, integrated, and systemic solutions applied at the landscape scale.

While landscape restoration often sits within the “environment” policy silo, at the landscape scale it can generate substantial benefits to business, energy, climate, finance, and social stakeholders. A holistic landscape restoration approach is about green infrastructure; it enables the multi-level governance integration that is crucial for efficient and cohesive policymaking and implementation.

That’s why we work with policymakers to help them to integrate holistic landscape restoration into policy and regulatory frameworks, as one approach to achieve their environmental, economic, social and climate goals.

As we work with all landscape stakeholders – from farmers and scientists, to indigenous people, policymakers, conservationists, and business professionals – we can support participatory policymaking processes. Our landscapes can also provide best practice examples for policymakers to draw upon when revising regulatory and policy frameworks.

By supporting policymakers with information, best practice guidance, and access to a global network of people working on landscape restoration, we aim to support governments to meet their 2050 climate and biodiversity goals.

Publications

Learn more about how the holistic 4 Returns approach to landscape restoration can help us to secure sustainable, climate-resilient and functional natural systems that concurrently address the complex environmental, social and economic challenges we face.

Achieving the European Green Deal through Landscape Restoration

The European Green Deal (EGD) represents a unique opportunity for Europe to become the first climate-neutral continent and put nature on track to recovery. Commonland has come together with Landscape Finance Lab, as well as 19 other contributors, to issue a policy briefing offering guidance to EU institutions and Member States on why and how to leverage holistic landscape restoration to substantially, effectively, and efficiently deliver the EGD.

4 Returns Framework for Landscape Restoration

The 4 Returns framework for landscape restoration described in this report is a practical tested system-change framework that can be used by stakeholders to undertake a landscape approach. The framework seeks to balance competing stakeholder demands in a mosaic of different management approaches and business cases, to supply a full range of inspirational, natural, social and economic returns.

El Marco de los 4 Retornos

El Marco de los 4 Retornos para la restauración de paisajes es una herramienta práctica y probada de cambio sistémico que permite a las partes interesadas aplicat un enfoque paisajístico. Este marco aspira a equilibrar el conjunto de demandas enfrentadas de las distintas partes interesadas mediante el uso de un mosaico de enfoques de gestion diferentes que permita obtener toda una variedad de retornos naturales, sociales y económicos.

Landscape Valuation

That the world’s landscapes and ecosystems are degrading at an unprecedented pace is beyond question. A long-term and systemic approach to landscape restoration can generate monetary value for multiple stakeholders at the same time. This publication calculates the monetary value of restoring landscapes. The preliminary method is developed by Commonland with support of KPMG.

Latest news

Explore Commonland's latest news, publications and events, and get inspired to restore the Earth.

Commonland and partners receive €12 million from the National Dutch Postcode Lottery’s Dream Fund to restore 10 million hectares of land worldwide 

With support from the Dutch National Postcode Lottery’s Dream Fund (Nationale Postcode Loterij), Commonland and partners will support changemakers to scale up existing landscape restoration projects ...

Commonland chapters featured in Land Restoration book

In 2015, Willem Ferwerda, along with our colleague Dieter van Broeck and Commonland Ambassador John D.Liu, each contributed chapters to the Elsevier-published book “Land Restoration: Reclaiming La ...

Experts agree on importance of long-term investment in landscape restoration

Finance and investment are crucial to meeting the goal of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of nature worldwide. Therefore, Commonland united a panel ...

Recommendations on Delivering the European Green Deal Through Landscape Restoration

Commonland has come together with Landscape Finance Lab, as well as 19 other contributors, to issue a policy briefing offering guidance to EU institutions and Member States on why and how to leve ...