State appropriation / national ecological programChina Three-North Shelterbelt ("Great Green Wall")
The world's largest afforestation program — running since 1978 across arid northern China, targeting tens of millions of hectares of shelterbelt forest by 2050 to hold back the Gobi's expansion.
Leuchtturmbeispiele
Führende Persönlichkeiten
Prof. Shixiong CaoEcologist, Beijing Forestry University — leading cost-benefit analyst of the program
Prof. Gaoming JiangRestoration ecologist, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Institute of Botany)
National Forestry & Grassland AdministrationState forestry authority, China · Organisationsprofil
KontaktPresidential national campaign / state + private co-fundingMongolia "1 Billion Trees by 2030"
Launched by President Khürelsükh at the 76th UN General Assembly (2021): one billion trees by 2030 to fight desertification — over 77% of Mongolia's land is degraded; ~41.5 million trees planted in the first waves.
Leuchtturmbeispiele
Führende Persönlichkeiten
Ukhnaa KhurelsukhPresident of Mongolia — campaign initiator
Tserendorj UranchimegDirector General, Natural Resources Policy, Ministry of Environment & Climate Change
Ministry of Environment & Climate Change (Mongolia)Implementing state agency · Organisationsprofil
KontaktFiscal transfer / public PESCosta Rica — Pagos por Servicios Ambientales (PSA)
The world's flagship statutory payments-for-ecosystem-services system (Forest Law 7575, 1996): landowners are paid from fossil-fuel taxes and water fees for forest conservation and restoration — forest cover rebounded from ~21% to over 57%.
Leuchtturmbeispiele
Führende Persönlichkeiten
Carlos Manuel RodríguezCEO & Chair, Global Environment Facility; former Costa Rican Environment Minister — architect of PSA
Dr. Ina PorrasEnvironmental economist (IIED) — leading PSA analyst
FONAFIFO Executive PresidencyNational fund operator · Organisationsprofil
KontaktState-led village forestry / fiscal mobilizationSouth Korea — National Forest Rehabilitation
Post-war national reforestation (1962–1987): village forestry associations, fuelwood plantations, and strict national forest law took Korea from devastated hills to ~63% forest cover — the canonical state-led restoration success.
Leuchtturmbeispiele
Führende Persönlichkeiten
Korea Forest Service AdministratorState forestry authority, Republic of Korea · Organisationsprofil
Korea Forestry Research InstituteNational research arm of KFS · Organisationsprofil
Seoul National University Dept. of Forest SciencesAcademic partner & policy evaluator · Organisationsprofil
KontaktTax-exempt conservation bond / PPPBlue Forest — Forest Resilience Bond (FRB)
Blue Forest's FRB lets private investors cover upfront forest-health and wildfire-risk reduction costs; the state of California and water/hydro utilities repay at contracted rates from appropriations as work completes — and the bonds carry state tax exemption, like municipal bonds (investor returns of 0.5–4%).
Leuchtturmbeispiele
Führende Persönlichkeiten
Zach KnightCEO & Co-founder, Blue Forest Conservation
Nick WobbrockCo-founder, Blue Forest Conservation
Nathalie WoolworthConservation Finance Program Lead, USDA Forest Service
KontaktSovereign debt conversion (debt-for-nature)Debt-for-Nature Conversions
Creditors (TNC, IDB, IMF-linked trusts) buy down or guarantee sovereign debt in exchange for committed marine/forest conservation funding — Ecuador's $1.6bn Galápagos conversion and Belize's blue bond are the templates; forests are the next frontier.
Leuchtturmbeispiele
Führende Persönlichkeiten
Jennifer MorrisCEO, The Nature Conservancy
IDB Climate Finance TeamRegional development bank anchor · Organisationsprofil
TNC Global Debt TeamConversion structuring unit · Organisationsprofil
KontaktJurisdictional carbon offtake (results-based payments)LEAF Coalition / Emergent
Public-private coalition (founded by Norway, US, UK + corporations like Amazon, Airbnb) buying jurisdictional-scale REDD+ credits (ART TREES standard) from tropical forest governments at a $10+ floor price — sovereign-level carbon revenue.
Leuchtturmbeispiele
Führende Persönlichkeiten
Eron BloomgardenCEO, Emergent (LEAF's intermediary platform)
LEAF SecretariatCoalition coordination · Organisationsprofil
WRI Forest Program LeadershipTechnical anchor partner · Organisationsprofil
KontaktPrivate natural-capital fund (blended debt/equity)Natural Capital Investment Funds
Institutional blended funds financing sustainable forestry and landscape restoration in emerging markets — e.g., Mirova's natural-capital funds, the Althelia climate funds, and &Green's forest-risk commodity lending.
Leuchtturmbeispiele
Führende Persönlichkeiten
Mirova Natural Capital TeamFund manager leadership · Organisationsprofil
&Green Investment CommitteeBlended finance governance · Organisationsprofil
UNCCD Land Finance UnitPublic anchor partner · Organisationsprofil
KontaktVoluntary carbon credits (REDD+ project finance)Voluntary REDD+ Project Finance (Wildlife Works Kasigau)
Project developers finance forest protection by selling verified voluntary carbon credits (Verra VCS) — Wildlife Works' Kasigau Corridor (Kenya) is the flagship community-wildlife REDD+ archetype.
Leuchtturmbeispiele
Führende Persönlichkeiten
Mike KorchinskyFounder & President, Wildlife Works
Wildlife Works Carbon TeamProject development leadership · Organisationsprofil
Verra Standard LeadershipRegistry & methodology governance · Organisationsprofil
KontaktCorporate impact fund (return-seeking)Apple Restore Fund
A $200M+ first-of-its-kind return-seeking carbon-removal forestry fund — Apple with Conservation International financing sustainably certified working forests that yield both timber and verified carbon removals.
Leuchtturmbeispiele
Führende Persönlichkeiten
Lisa JacksonVP Environment, Policy & Social Initiatives, Apple
M. SanjayanCEO, Conservation International
Restore Fund Management TeamFund operations · Organisationsprofil
KontaktInstitutional timberland (TIMO / REIT)Institutional Timberland Investment (TIMOs & REITs)
Pension and endowment capital in rotation forestry at scale — timberland investment management organizations (Hancock Natural Resource Group, Campbell Global) and public REITs (Weyerhaeuser) are the century-old private-market model for working forests.
Leuchtturmbeispiele
Führende Persönlichkeiten
HNRG Leadership TeamTimberland investment management · Organisationsprofil
Weyerhaeuser Executive TeamPublic REIT governance · Organisationsprofil
Campbell Global LeadershipTIMO portfolio management · Organisationsprofil
KontaktCommunity carbon credits (charitable + credit sales)Plan Vivo — Smallholder Community Carbon
The longest-running community forestry carbon standard: smallholders and communities plant and restore under 100-year plans, selling Plan Vivo certificates with strong land-tenure and benefit-sharing safeguards.
Leuchtturmbeispiele
Führende Persönlichkeiten
Plan Vivo Foundation BoardStandard governance · Organisationsprofil
Plan Vivo Technical TeamMethodology & MRV leadership · Organisationsprofil
Project Coordinators NetworkIn-country implementation · Organisationsprofil
KontaktNGO movement / donation + advocacyGreen Belt Movement (Kenya)
Founded by Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai (1977): community tree-planting by women's groups — over 51 million trees planted and a global template for civic reforestation.
Leuchtturmbeispiele
Führende Persönlichkeiten
Prof. Wangari Maathai (†2011, 2004 Nobel Peace Prize)Founder — legacy page · Organisationsprofil
Wanjira MathaiBoard & movement leadership; MD for Africa, World Resources Institute
Green Belt Movement Executive DirectorCurrent operations · Organisationsprofil
KontaktYouth donation movement + digital trackingPlant-for-the-Planet / Trillion Tree Campaign
Founded by 9-year-old Felix Finkbeiner (2007); grew into the Trillion Tree Campaign and the world's largest tree-planting tracking platform with science backing from ETH Zürich's Crowther Lab.
Leuchtturmbeispiele
Führende Persönlichkeiten
Felix FinkbeinerFounder, Plant-for-the-Planet
Prof. Thomas CrowtherFounder, Crowther Lab — scientific advisor
Plant-for-the-Planet SecretariatGlobal youth coordination · Organisationsprofil
KontaktDonor-funded employ-to-plantEden Reforestation Projects
"Employ to plant": hires local communities in extreme-poverty regions (Madagascar, Nepal, Kenya...) to plant and guard native forests at extreme scale — hundreds of millions of trees, funded by donors and sponsors per-tree.
Leuchtturmbeispiele
Führende Persönlichkeiten
Stephen FitchFounder & CEO, Eden Reforestation Projects
Eden Science Advisory TeamMonitoring & forestry leadership · Organisationsprofil
Eden Country DirectorsIn-country operations · Organisationsprofil
KontaktPES water funds (municipal/industrial financing)Latin American Water Funds
Municipal utilities, bottlers, and hydropower pay upstream communities to protect and restore forested watersheds — more than 25 water funds across Latin America (Fondo Agua por la Vida y la Sostenibilidad), co-created by TNC, FEMSA Foundation, and IDB.
Leuchtturmbeispiele
Führende Persönlichkeiten
TNC Latin America Water TeamFund design & science · Organisationsprofil
FEMSA Foundation LeadershipPrivate co-anchor · Organisationsprofil
IDB Water & Sanitation DivisionPublic finance anchor · Organisationsprofil
KontaktCSR/philanthropic micro-forest sponsorshipMiyawaki Method Micro-Forests
Prof. Akira Miyawaki's ultra-dense, native-species micro-forest method — 10× faster growth, 30× denser, 100× more biodiversity than plantations — globalized by Afforestt and SUGi with thousands of pocket forests.
Leuchtturmbeispiele
Führende Persönlichkeiten
Prof. Akira Miyawaki (†)Method founder, Yokohama National University — legacy · Organisationsprofil
Shubhendu SharmaFounder, Afforestt — industrialized the method
Elise Van MiddelemFounder & CEO, SUGi
KontaktEndowment + research grantsForestGEO — Global Long-Term Forest Research Network
The Smithsonian's Forest Global Earth Observatory: 70+ standardized research forest plots across the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe — the world's largest network measuring how forests grow, die, and store carbon over decades.
Leuchtturmbeispiele
Führende Persönlichkeiten
Dr. Stuart DaviesDirector, ForestGEO (Smithsonian)
ForestGEO Science CommitteeNetwork governance · Organisationsprofil
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History LeadershipHost institution · Organisationsprofil
KontaktUniversity endowment / long-term grantsUniversity Research Forests (Wytham, Yale-Myers, Harvard Forest)
Universities owning and endowing working research forests for a century-plus: Oxford's ancient Wytham Woods, Yale-Myers Forest (managed by the School of the Environment), and Harvard Forest — the gold standard for century-scale forest science.
Leuchtturmbeispiele
Führende Persönlichkeiten
Prof. Yadvinder MalhiProfessor of Ecosystem Science, Oxford — Wytham Woods research lead
Prof. Mark AshtonYale School of the Environment — silviculture & Yale-Myers Forest
Dr. David FosterDirector Emeritus, Harvard Forest
KontaktPublic research grants (climate adaptation)Assisted Migration & Provenance Trials
Experimental forestry moving seed zones poleward: provenance trials, "assisted gene flow" research (UBC), and national forest research agencies testing which trees will thrive under 3–5 °C futures — the scientific backbone of 500-year planting plans.
Leuchtturmbeispiele
Führende Persönlichkeiten
Prof. Sally AitkenProfessor, UBC — leader of assisted gene flow research
UK Forest Research Tree Science GroupNational provenance trials · Organisationsprofil
EVOLTREE Network CoordinatorsEuropean research network · Organisationsprofil
Kontakt