Global Forest Generation Inc

Global Forest Generation (GFG) is on a mission to scale up native ecosystem restoration globally. GFG makes a direct impact on global forest restoration by addressing the major obstacles to native forest conservation and restoration and by developing and implementing large-scale restoration projects and partnerships with the greatest capacity to meet all the roles that native forest ecosystems offer: long-term climate change mitigation and resilience, water capture, biodiversity habitat, and resources for local communities.

GFG’s first flagship initiative is Acción Andina, a Latin-American led, forest landscape restoration initiative aiming to protect and restore one million hectares of high Andean, native forest ecosystems in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela over the next 25 years. Specifically, Acción Andina works to protecto 500,000 hectares of remaining native Polylepis forests, bring under restoration an additional 500,000 hectares of native forest ecosystems, and build local, long-term and effective conservation/restoration capacities.

To achieve its mission, GFG develops large-scale, multi-country and collaborative restoration partnerships that:
- Identify, unite and support local restoration leaders, grassroots organizations and communities to sustain, grow and scale their projects simultaneously.
- Provide a comprehensive support system to equip and support local implementers with the expertise, capacities and resources needed to succeed in the long-term.
- Develop public and private partnerships to unlock long-term sustainable finance at the local, regional and international level.
- Help shape the global conversation on forest and ecosystem restoration towards more inclusion, quality, transparency and traceability, as well as engagement and investments into local grassroot actors and their projects.

Exit strategy: GFG follows a phased scaling approach and a 5-10 year capacity-building and seed investment period until an initiative becomes self-sustainable and our involvement can be gradually shifted to other priority areas.

GFG invests time and resources into restoration partnerships, providing technical, management, communications, and finance mobilization support to bring initiatives in it to scale – with a maximum sense for results, effectiveness, urgency, and long-term sustainability.

One of the key principles of GFG is to work in an unprecedented proximity and capacity to collaborate with local conservation leaders and grassroots organizations on a day to day basis to sustain and grow their projects, as well as helping to convene their important messages, lessons-learnt and keys to success to the international donor, conservation and restoration community. Another key added value is the capacity of GFG to work with all types of major regional and international stakeholders including local governments, multilateral agencies, multinational corporations and international NGOs and to provide a unique vehicle to connect, match and manage their capacities and resources directly into comprehensive restoration partnerships. The resulting leverage and de-risking effect of capacities, investment and resources is huge and provides a key pathway to achieving the goals of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

Global Forest Generation has made significant progress realizing its mission of growing conservation leaders and forests globally. GFG forged exciting new partnerships since its inception in 2018, such as with Salesforce, Arbor Day Foundation, One Tree Planted, and Pangaia.

Our work is currently focused on our Acción Andina forest restoration initiative in the highlands of South America, where our staff plays strong leadership and administrative roles. Global Forest Generation co-launched Acción Andina in 2018, growing 176,000 native trees in that first year. Acción Andina grew 365,000 native tree species in 2019 and tripled its impact in 2020 to grow 1.162 million native trees across 5 countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru), involving over 70 rural and/or indigenous communities. 10 local conservation organizations are supported, with training and support provided to 25 restoration leaders. Acción Andina launched an Andes-wide conservation study to create an action plan to protect existing high Andean native forests that are crucial as seed banks for reforestation, habitat for threatened biodiversity and vital community livelihood resources. Through Acción Andina, GFG is also working to establish carbon programs, starting with a project in Peru to measure the carbon value of high Andean forests. Acción Andina aims to grow 2.1 million trees in 2021 and scale to 10 million trees by 2024.

GFG is currently scoping out the development of new regional initiatives, including the Atlantic Rainforest in South-America, coastal ecosystems in Central America, the Himalayas, and possibly in Tanzania and Kenya around the Kilimandjaro, and aims to build and manage at least five large-scale initiatives throughout the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.