Lessons and Challenges of a Restoration Flagship: The Trinational Atlantic Forest Pact

The Trinational Atlantic Forest Pact, recognized as one of the World Restoration Flagships by the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, was established by the Trinational Ecological Restoration Alliance (Red Trinacional de Restauración del Bosque Atlántico) and the Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact (AF-PACT), representing a testament to cross-border cooperation, bringing together collaborative efforts between Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. This initiative aims to restore 1 million hectares of Atlantic Forest by 2030, one of the planet's most threatened biodiversity hotspots.

The Trinational Pact emerged as a model of structure and collaborative bottom-up governance, considered a successful and well-documented case regarding stakeholder involvement to promote large-scale restoration. Written together with the Trinational Atlantic Forest Pact, the case study highlights the key factors for the restoration success, and the lessons learned from the challenges faced, including five recommendations to guide and inspire other large-scale restoration initiatives.