Sustainably manage terrestrial ecosystems to reduce GHG emissions and enhance carbon removals

Photo by Mike Lewelling, National Park Service/Flickr

Unsustainable management of terrestrial ecosystems, particularly forests, grasslands, savannas and shrublands, is exacerbating the climate and biodiversity crises. When tailored to local contexts and implemented appropriately, improved management practices can reduce emissions, increase carbon sequestration and bolster climate resilience, all while supporting productivity and local livelihoods.

Emissions-intensive management practices — particularly those associated with timber, paper and pulp production — spur forest degradation, while land-use changes coupled with increasing temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns are heightening the risk of catastrophic wildfires, even in ecosystems where fire is a natural part of the ecological cycle.

Improved forest and land management can reduce emissions and bolster carbon uptake

When locally tailored and appropriately implemented, improved management practices can help combat these harms and generate benefits for climate, biodiversity and development, especially when employed alongside protection and restoration efforts. Improving forest management across already managed forests can help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from logging and enhance carbon sequestration in regrowth following wood harvesting, while improved grazing practices across grasslands can play a role in slowing and reversing degradation, enabling these ecosystems to rebuild depleted carbon stocks. In addition, better fire prevention and fire suppression practices can help reduce the frequency and intensity of extreme fires across these ecosystems.

By one estimate, improving management practices across the world’s forests, grasslands, savannas and shrublands can contribute about 15% of the cost-effective mitigation potential needed from terrestrial ecosystems in 1.5-degree-C pathways. While this mitigation potential is smaller than those associated with protecting and restoring terrestrial ecosystems, improved management practices may prove less challenging to implement. They are often more cost-effective than restoration; entail few, if any, changes in land use; and generate co-benefits, including to productivity and local livelihoods.

Why management practices must be adaptive, evidence-based and site-specific

But to achieve this potential, these measures must be carefully planned and implemented. Climate change is already rapidly changing forest conditions and increasing fire severity, and knowledge bases are constantly evolving, altering the ways forests and other terrestrial ecosystems are managed. Successfully improving management practices requires being adaptive, evidence-based and site-specific.

Some practices, for example, involve trade-offs that must be proactively addressed to minimize harmful or unintended impacts. Challenges also arise when the long-term benefits and effectiveness of techniques across different ecosystems are uncertain, as with some fire management practices. Additional research is needed to close knowledge gaps and ensure that management practices are appropriate for each ecosystem where they are adopted.

Data gaps and barriers hinder the widespread adoption of improved management practices and make global progress difficult to assess

To date, comprehensive data measuring the hectares of terrestrial ecosystems under improved management practices globally does not yet exist, nor is there scientific consensus on what practices count as “improved” across these ecosystems. Still, available evidence suggests that current efforts are likely insufficient, in large part due to a weak enabling environment.For example, many countries have sustainable forest management policies on paper, but far fewer have policies in place for improved management across other ecosystems like grasslands or support adoption of improved fire management practices. Insecure land tenure has also limited Indigenous Peoples’ ability to use traditional practices such as cultural burning without interference.

Even when strong legal frameworks exist, efforts to uphold these policies are often constrained by limited financial resources and technical capacity; weak monitoring, evaluation and learning systems; poor coordination among diverse stakeholders, including a failure to meaningfully partner with Indigenous Peoples in fire management strategies; and inadequate private sector action.

Improved management must go beyond climate change to combat other direct drivers of biodiversity loss

While this shift focuses on management practices that can reduce GHG emissions and enhance carbon sequestration, these actions should be complemented by additional management measures to combat other primary direct drivers of biodiversity loss — namely, overexploitation of wild species, pollution and the spread of invasive alien species.

State of Forests and Land

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Tracking progress on global outcomes

11888: Improved forest management, as measured by the adoption of improved management practices across already managed forests

Status: Insufficient Data

Target Methodology:

1.5°C-compatible targets for improving forest management practices are available (e.g., Roe et al. 2019 and 2021), but given that there is no consensus on what practices should be included in improved forest management and that the IPCC’s recent assessment of the literature notes that the evidence on the efficacy of these practices to reduce GHG emissions and enhance carbon sequestration is quite mixed, we do not present 1.5°C-compatible targets for this mitigation measure. Additionally, within the biodiversity community, effective management is typically considered alongside efforts to expand protected areas and other effective conservation measures (e.g., million hectares of ecosystems effectively protected), rather than as a separate suite of activities, as in the climate mitigation literature. Accordingly, we can only indicate the direction of change required, as informed by IPBES 2019 and IPCC 2022.

Progress Assessment Methodology:

Outcome indicators in this system experience high interannual variability in historical data due to both anthropogenic and natural causes. To account for this variability, 10 years instead of 5 years are used to calculate the linear trendline where possible. However, global data for improved forest management is insufficient to assess progress.

Many of the world’s forests are managed to meet a wide range of objectives, from producing timber and other wood-related products, foods and medicines, to building resilience to pests, wildfires and other potential threats, to maintaining critical ecosystem services upon which communities near and far rely.

Despite the many contributions that these ecosystems provide for humanity — such as sequestering and storing carbon, regulating air and water quality, preventing landslides and floods, and maintaining surface and groundwater flows — these ecosystems also face significant pressures.

Logging, for example, has driven roughly a quarter of global tree cover losses since the turn of the century. While these losses are often followed by forest regrowth or tree-planting in managed forests, the lifecycle of timber and wood products is not carbon-neutral, and many of today’s timber and wood product harvesting practices still generate net greenhouse gas emissions and degrade forests.

Shifting to more sustainable, improved management practices in already managed forests can help mitigate some of these harms. Reduced-impact logging in tropical forests encompasses a suite of practices — including felling strategies that reduce damage to nearby trees and wood waste, skid trail planning to minimize soil compaction while removing felled trees, and bucking and limbing techniques that maximize usable wood volume — that can reduce emissions from wood harvesting while maintaining harvest levels. When coupled with efforts to prevent repeat logging before the designated cutting cycle ends, such practices can also meaningfully improve harvesting efficiency.

Other less intensive harvesting practices, including extended harvest rotations to increase the age at which trees are cut and continuous cover forestry where trees are selectively harvested, can also offer climate and biodiversity benefits and enhance carbon sequestration in certain forest ecosystems. That said, some studies find that adoption of these practices can also pose trade-offs to the wood product supply chain by reducing timber yields in the near-term and displacing production to other forests to keep pace with growing demand. Consequently, additional research on the climate, biodiversity and production impacts of improved forest management practices focused on reducing emissions associated with wood harvesting and enhancing carbon sequestration will prove critical to ensuring that implementation maximizes sustainability benefits and minimizes unintended consequences.

While national-level reporting indicates that many countries, particularly in Europe, have established long-term management plans for their forests, data is still insufficient to assess global progress made in adopting improved forest management practices across already managed forests.

11889: Improved forest fire management, as measured by the adoption of improved fire management practices across forests

Status: Insufficient Data

Target Methodology:

1.5°C-compatible targets for improving fire management practices across forests are outdated (e.g., Griscom et al. 2017), relies on data published at least a decade ago to estimate a technical potential for this mitigation measure), and within the biodiversity community, effective management is typically considered alongside efforts to expand protected areas and other effective conservation measures (e.g., million hectares of ecosystems effectively protected), rather than as a separate suite of activities as in the climate mitigation literature. Accordingly, we can only indicate the direction of change required, as informed by IPBES 2019 and IPCC 2022.

Progress Assessment Methodology:

Climate change, deforestation and altered fire regimes are fueling increasingly extreme fires that are sending some of the world’s most carbon-rich, biodiverse ecosystems up in smoke. This is happening across the globe, from old-growth, boreal forests across Canada and Siberia to humid tropical primary forests in the Amazon and Congo Basins.

These fires are growing in severity and frequency across both fire-adapted forest ecosystems, where fire plays an essential ecological role, as well as fire-sensitive forest ecosystems, where fires are often started by humans and ecologically disruptive. This has already led to catastrophic impacts on biodiversity and carbon stores. With climate change projected to continue intensifying fire risks, effective fire management, alongside efforts to protect and restore forests, is paramount to avoid further emissions, build resilience and conserve terrestrial biodiversity.

While the efficacy of different approaches will vary by the local context, unique climate conditions and species composition of each forest, there is already a trove of human knowledge on successful fire management. Indigenous Peoples and local communities have practiced cultural burning for thousands of years, including low-intensity fires with biodiversity and cultural benefits, and intentional burning with intensive fuelwood gathering, plant pruning and other fuel-reduction practices to reduce wildfire severity. However, governments have often curtailed the use of these practices through ecologically inappropriate fire suppression policies.

Forest managers also commonly use prescribed burns — a fire prevention practice informed by Indigenous and local knowledge but distinct in its objectives, techniques and application — to reduce fuel loads in forests and lower the severity of wildfires. In some forest ecosystems and under certain weather conditions, prescribed burning is coupled with other practices like thinning understory vegetation to achieve the same outcome.

In both fire-adapted and fire-sensitive forest ecosystems, managers have relied on additional techniques to prevent fires, such as establishing and maintaining firebreaks and fuel breaks with low-flammability plant species. However, evidence on the efficacy of these practices, particularly prescribed burning, in reducing fire-related emissions is somewhat mixed and ultimately varies by ecosystem and the portfolio of approaches used.

Integrated fire management represents a more holistic, adaptive approach that encompasses practices to both prevent fires and suppress them after they start. It provides a framework that emphasizes the use of different techniques that are well-suited for various local contexts. Already implemented successfully in some countries, it has received growing attention among forest managers. Long-term monitoring and additional research are needed to identify the most promising context-specific practices, as well as balance any trade-offs that may occur. Given the more nascent nature of this field, global data focused on adoption of improved fire management practices across forests, as well as which practices can be considered “improved,” is not yet available.

13115: Improved grassland, savanna and shrubland management, as measured by the adoption of improved fire and grazing management practices across these ecosystems

Status: Insufficient Data

Historical Data Methodology and Challenges:

Table 1: Definitions for Global Pasture Watch class categories

Class	Short definition	Called here	Original source
Cultivated grassland	Areas where grasses and other forage plants have been intentionally planted and managed, as well as areas of native grassland-type vegetation where they clearly exhibit active and “heavy” management for specific human–directed uses, such as directed grazing of livestock.	Pastureland	Parente et al. 2024
Natural/seminatural grassland	Relatively undisturbed or sparsely managed native grasslands/short-height vegetation, such as open shrublands and savanna, as well as areas that have experienced varying degrees of human activity in the past, which may contain a mix of native and introduced species due to historical land use and natural processes.	Grasslands, shrublands and savannas	Parente et al. 2024
Bare ground	Land with 0-19% vegetation fraction.		Potapov et al. 2022
Short vegetation	Non–treed vegetation cover with 20% or more vegetation fraction.
Tree cover	An area with tree height ≥5 m at the Landsat pixel scale; includes wildland, managed, and planted forest, agroforestry, orchards and natural tree regrowth.
Water	Open surface water (inland) that covers ≥50% of a pixel for 20% or more of the year and is not obscured by tree canopy, floating vegetation, bridges or ice.
Snow/ice	Land covered by glaciers and snow that remains throughout the entire year.
Cropland	Land used to produce annual and perennial herbaceous crops for human consumption, forage, and biofuel; excludes tree crops, permanent pastures and shifting cultivation.
Built-up	Man-made land services associated with infrastructure, commercial and residential uses; defined as pixels containing any man-made surfaces even if they are not dominant.

Target Methodology:

1.5°C-compatible targets focused on improved fire management practices across grasslands and savannas are available (Roe et al. 2021) but not for a broader portfolio of improved management approaches across all three ecosystems. In addition, Lipsett-Moore et al. 2018, the analysis underpinning the mitigation potential presented in Roe et al. 2021, has faced criticism for not fully considering trade-offs associated with applying an Australian practice in other contexts, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (e.g., Laris 2021). Additionally, within the biodiversity community, effective management is typically considered alongside efforts to expand protected areas and other effective conservation measures (e.g., million hectares of ecosystems effectively protected), rather than as a separate suite of activities, as in the climate mitigation literature. Accordingly, we can only indicate the direction of change required, as informed by IPBES 2019 and IPCC 2022.

Progress Assessment Methodology:

Outcome indicators in this system experience high interannual variability in historical data due to both anthropogenic and natural causes. To account for this variability, 10 years instead of 5 years are used to calculate the linear trendline where possible. However, global data for improved grassland, savanna and shrubland management is insufficient to assess progress.

Covering nearly half of the world’s land, grasslands, savannas and shrublands play a critical role in mitigating climate change, sustaining terrestrial biodiversity and contributing vital, often irreplaceable services to humanity.

Despite the many benefits they generate, these ecosystems are facing increasingly significant pressures. By one estimate, nearly half of the world’s grasslands have experienced degradation, with overgrazing, fire and in some cases, afforestation among the most pressing threats.

Alongside accelerating protection and restoration efforts, improving fire and grazing management can help halt and reverse degradation across the world’s grasslands, savannas and shrublands. While the efficacy of different approaches will vary by context (e.g., by climate and soil conditions, species composition and herbivore grazing patterns), emerging evidence finds that some practices can deliver climate benefits.

For example, interventions that focus on optimizing grazing patterns have shown promise in some natural and seminatural grasslands; these could include fencing off extremely degraded ecosystems to allow vegetation to recover from overgrazing, rewilding herbivores to reestablish naturally occurring grazing patterns (e.g., restoring wildebeest populations to the Serengeti savannas) or adopting rotational grazing to mimic naturally occurring grazing patterns.

Similarly, in certain grasslands and savannas, implementing prescribed burns in the early dry season can minimize more extensive, severe fires later in the dry season. Prescribed burns can also prevent or delay woody encroachment in these ecosystems, as well as help mitigate wildfire severity in some shrublands. These interventions’ mitigation potential will differ across regions, and in some places, notable biodiversity trade-offs can arise, such as in East and Southern African savannas.

Data limitations due to limited evidence bases, underresearched trade-offs and a lack of long-term monitoring and reporting currently preclude an assessment of global progress made in adoption of improved management practices within them. Ultimately, more long-term monitoring and research are needed to identify the most effective management practices across these ecosystems.

Key enablers and barriers to change

Centralized and comprehensive data on the electrification of industry and the changes needed in policy and investment to accelerate its scale up are limited. That is partly because the electrification of industry is reliant on emerging technologies, and partly because insufficient data is being collected and publicly published in a comprehensive manner. Some of the data shown throughout the electrification of industry shift is based on manual aggregation across many sources and only represents what information is publicly available, so may not be fully representative of everything that is happening on the ground.

Other shift Other shifts needed to transform the system

Not only is land-use change across forests, peatlands, grasslands and coastal wetlands the leading direct driver of terrestrial biodiversity loss, but it also releases substantial emissions and weakens these ecosystems’ ability to sequester carbon.

Restoring deforested and degraded ecosystems — including forests, peatlands, grasslands and coastal wetlands — can help limit global warming and reverse biodiversity loss. Done right, reforestation and other forms of ecosystem restoration can also deliver far-reaching, sustainable development benefits for communities around the world.

Sharply reducing pollution in forests, grasslands, peatlands and coastal wetlands is essential to halt biodiversity loss, maintain ecosystem services and protect human health. Key contaminants include heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants such as PFAS, pesticides, nutrient pollution, plastics and artificial light.

Human-driven overexploitation of wild species — including legal and illegal logging, hunting and trade — is a major driver of biodiversity loss and species extinction. Reversing this trend requires better monitoring of wild populations, stronger protection of threatened species, sustainable management of species use and effective regulation of wildlife trade.

Sustainably manage terrestrial ecosystems to reduce GHG emissions and enhance carbon removals

Improved forest and land management can reduce emissions and bolster carbon uptake

Why management practices must be adaptive, evidence-based and site-specific

Data gaps and barriers hinder the widespread adoption of improved management practices and make global progress difficult to assess

Improved management must go beyond climate change to combat other direct drivers of biodiversity loss

Tracking progress on global outcomes

Key enablers and barriers to change

Data challenges

Other shift Other shifts needed to transform the system

Effectively halt deforestation, other forms of conversion, and degradation across terrestrial ecosystems

Restore deforested and degraded terrestrial ecosystems

Sharply reduce pollution in terrestrial ecosystems

Halt the overexploitation of terrestrial wild species and ensure sustainable use

Improved forest and land management can reduce emissions and bolster carbon uptake

Why management practices must be adaptive, evidence-based and site-specific

Data gaps and barriers hinder the widespread adoption of improved management practices and make global progress difficult to assess

Improved management must go beyond climate change to combat other direct drivers of biodiversity loss

Tracking progress on global outcomes

11888: Improved forest management, as measured by the adoption of improved management practices across already managed forests

11889: Improved forest fire management, as measured by the adoption of improved fire management practices across forests

13115: Improved grassland, savanna and shrubland management, as measured by the adoption of improved fire and grazing management practices across these ecosystems

Key enablers and barriers to change

12823: Demand-side timber regulations, as measured by the share of consumer countries with regulations restricting imports of timber and timber products linked to deforestation and forest degradation

12825: Demand-side regulations for short-lived wood products, as measured by the share of countries with regulations limiting demand for short-lived wood products

12830: Strength of company commitments to source sustainably harvested wood products, as measured by the average score of deforestation commitments across timber and pulp and paper companies most exposed to deforestation

12829: Policies prohibiting the use of prescribed burns, as measured by the share of grasslands, savannas, shrublands and forests covered by such policies

12831: Stronger regulatory enforcement, as measured by the share of countries scoring relatively highly on regulatory enforcement

12826: Lower levels of corruption, as measured by the share of countries scoring relatively highly on absence of corruption

12832: Individuals’ tenure security, as measured by the share of adults who consider it likely or very likely that they will lose rights to their home or land against their will in the next five years

12828: Indigenous and community land rights, as measured by the share of land legally designated for or owned by Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant Peoples and local communities

12833: Locally led management projects with participatory and inclusive decision-making processes

12817: Access to credit, as measured by the share of the adult population that borrowed money from a financial institution

12834: Finance for improved management practices, as measured by total climate finance for agriculture, forestry and other land uses

12827: Fire management monitoring, as measured by the share of fire management projects monitored over the long term

12822: Forested countries with at least two national forest inventories

12835: Access to forest extension services, as measured by the ratio of extension agents to landholders

Other shift Other shifts needed to transform the system

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