A new analysis by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) shows that more than 124.3 million hectares of land are currently under restoration, rehabilitation or improved management worldwide, an area roughly twice the size of France. According to a press release issued on 21 August 2026, this figure represents just 10.4% of the restoration pledges made by countries under key international agreements. The findings were unveiled during the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. While restoration is advancing globally, the pace remains insufficient to meet 2030 milestones. The report offers the first structured global synthesis of restoration efforts against national commitments.
Countries have collectively pledged to restore 1.2 billion hectares under four major international frameworks. These include the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the UNCCD Land Degradation Neutrality targets, and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Nationally Determined Contributions. Deadlines vary, but commitments largely converge around a 2030 implementation horizon. Government-reported data analyzed by IUCN shows the current rate of implementation lags behind pledged ambitions. The findings appear in IUCN’s Global Land Restoration Achievement Database: 2026 Report.
A small group of regions accounts for 80% of the global land area under restoration. East Asia leads with 31% of the total, followed by South Asia at 30% and Sub-Saharan Africa at 19%. East Asia has 38.8 million hectares under restoration, driven by forest restoration efforts and a long-standing monitoring system, delivering 35% of its pledges. South Asia reported 37.8 million hectares, mostly through land productivity and agricultural interventions, achieving 40% of its commitments, the highest delivery rate globally. Sub-Saharan Africa reported 23.3 million hectares, meeting only 5% of its ambitious 480-million-hectare pledge.
“Healthy ecosystems underpin our lives and economies. They provide the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, and the resources on which we all depend. Restoration isn’t just an environmental fix, it’s one of the smartest investments we can make,” said IUCN Director General Dr. Grethel Aguilar. She added that restoring degraded ecosystems strengthens climate resilience, addresses biodiversity loss, and delivers economic and environmental returns. Dr. Yasmin Fouad, Executive Secretary of the UNCCD, which funded the analysis through its G20 Global Land Initiative, said restoration will ultimately be “judged not by hectares pledged, but by hectares restored.”
The analysis draws on the Global Restoration Achievements Database, an IUCN-run platform designed to reconcile differences in how countries report restoration data. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most active region for restoration implementation, supported by initiatives such as AFR100 and the Great Green Wall, though limited finance and institutional coordination constrain progress. Muneeswaran Mariappan, Senior Programme Officer for Geospatial Intelligence and Digital Innovation at IUCN and lead author of the report, noted that the global results should be interpreted as a lower-bound estimate. He called for stronger national monitoring systems and better integration between reporting frameworks. The report positions implementation at scale as the priority for the next phase of the global land agenda.