What is the Bonn Challenge?

The Bonn Challenge aims to regenerate 150 million hectares of deforested and degraded landscapes by 2020 and 350 million hectares by 2030. This global ambition to restore landscapes and forests has been supported by First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.

Scottish Government commitments

The Scottish Government has committed to a range of future actions as part of the pledge to the Bonn Challenge, including:

  • by 2030, for the Bonn Challenge, 165,000 hectares of new woodland will be planted. This is part of Scotland’s wider ambitions to increase woodland cover from 18% to 21% by 2032
  • delivering a greater level of carbon sequestration with around 10MtCO2e of emissions being soaked up each year up to 2032 – some 130 Million tonnes of C02e
  • increasing the annual woodland creation target of 10,000 hectares a year to 15,000 hectares by 2024/25
  • a commitment to improve the condition and extent of native woodlands – delivering a target to ensure 3,000 to 5,000 hectares of new native woodland is established each year

Complementary actions

Complementary actions include:

  • Increasing the use of Scottish wood products in construction from 2.2 million cubic metres to 3 million cubic metres by 2031/32
  • Publishing a new Forestry Strategy for Scotland that has Sustainable Forest Management at its core and will support its ambitions for forestry restoration through woodland expansion
  • Working with the forest industries to double the current economic contribution to Scotland from forestry to £2 billion each year by 2030

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