Challenges in measuring multiple impacts hinder performance recognition in forest landscape restoration: experience from seven field projects

Restoring forest landscapes is a necessity as we face the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change, both of which are exacerbated by ongoing forest loss and degradation. Several public and private actors are engaging in initiatives on forest landscape restoration (FLR). Together with partners, WWF has been carrying out FLR pilot projects since the co-definition by experts convened by WWF and IUCN in 2000 of the term FLR. A series of retrospective reviews and analyses undertaken on its portfolio of field projects have recently helped WWF to better draw lessons, understand what worked in practice and what did not work. Taking stock of this experience, the purpose of this article is to review the metrics of success from seven WWF projects from Latin America, Asia/Pacific, Africa, and Europe that were set up as large-scale, multi-objective, forest restoration projects. We highlight and illustrate quantifiable indicators independently defined by these projects and identify current monitoring weaknesses. We then propose a typology of ecological, social, and economic key performance indicators (KPIs) inspired and illustrated by metrics from real projects. We highlight the urgent need to develop a common framework for monitoring FLR, well designed but simple enough to be used by FLR practitioners. It is crucial to help practitioners to improve and carry out effective monitoring, enabling projects to better fine-tune and adapt restoration interventions, better report back to donors, and inspire story-telling far beyond numbers of trees or hectares planted.