Chapter 06 · Governance & regulationDevelopment, Impact & Global Frameworks
Bonn Challenge
Definition
A global restoration pledge platform launched in 2011 by the Government of Germany and IUCN, with a target to restore 150 million hectares of deforested and degraded land by 2020 and 350 million hectares by 2030. It operates as an implementation vehicle for forest landscape restoration (FLR), aggregating commitments from countries and partners, with regional offshoots including AFR100 and Initiative 20x20.
References
2011 launch by Germany and IUCN; >210 Mha pledged by 60+ countries/partners; Restoration Barometer monitoring; regional initiatives.
150 Mha by 2020 / 350 Mha by 2030 targets; voluntary pledge structure.
Overview
What it means
The Bonn Challenge is a voluntary, non-binding effort based on national pledges; its targets follow the New York Declaration on Forests and it is monitored through tools such as IUCN's Restoration Barometer.
Fifteen years in, more than 210 million hectares have been pledged by over 60 countries and partners — pledges exceeded the original 150-million goal, but verified hectares actually restored lag far behind pledges, a gap the Restoration Barometer exists to expose.
How it is used
Governments announce restoration commitments through the Challenge; implementers access FLR guidance; researchers track pledge-to-delivery progress. It frames national restoration strategies and links to climate and biodiversity commitments under the UNFCCC and the Kunming-Montreal framework.
Why it matters
It is the world's largest restoration platform and the reference point for judging whether headline restoration commitments translate into land actually recovering — the test case for pledge-based environmental governance.