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About
Us

Who we are

The Global Landscapes Forum, or GLF, is the world’s largest knowledge-led platform on sustainable and inclusive landscapes.

We are here to connect, share, learn and act

Since we began in 2013, we have

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We are here to connect, share, learn and act

Sustainable landscapes are essential for the future we want: for food, livelihoods, health, renewable materials, energy, biodiversity, business development, trade, climate regulation and water.

The GLF is dedicated to the landscape approach. It is at the landscape level that production goals, consumption needs and protection targets can be combined, and that people are organized and ready to restore billions of hectares of idle, degraded land. The landscape approach can protect and conserve biodiversity-rich landscapes; tackle insecure tenure, community and gender rights; address food insecurity and declining rural livelihoods; and promote sustainable value chains and sustainable use of natural resources. 

As a global community and working together, we can find the right tools to support locally-led landscape action and measure the progress.

To achieve this, we need to break silos

The GLF works to catalyze a movement that puts communities first in informing and addressing landscape-level issues. We broker connections across sectors and scales. We provide a platform for often-marginalized voices from communities around the globe, especially for women, youth, and rural, Indigenous and local communities. These groups experience disproportionate impacts of environmental, health and social crises and also hold the greatest potential for solving these crises. 

Informed by science and knowledge

With science and traditional and local community knowledge at its core, the GLF is designed to spark multi-stakeholder dialogue, share knowledge, inspire action and accelerate best practices in addressing some of the most complex problems facing our Earth and our communities.

The GLF’s five themes

Cross-cutting themes of the GLF include rights (gender, tenure, community and Indigenous), foods and livelihoods, landscape restoration, financing sustainable landscapes and measuring progress towards climate and development goals.

We aspire to create a movement of 1 billion people around sustainable landscapes by 2030

Vision

The vision of the GLF is to promote the paradigm shift toward sustainable development and meet the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement and the post-2020 biodiversity agenda by connecting communities; facilitating knowledge sharing; and accelerating action to build productive, prosperous, equitable and resilient landscapes. 

Mission and objectives

The GLF enables an effective and progressive response to the climate crisis based on the best available science and knowledge, and actively contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The GLF and all Partners promote:

  1. Food security and ending hunger – including safeguarding vulnerable food production systems from the adverse impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss;
  2. Actions that contribute to keeping global average temperature increase to well below 1.5 degrees Celcius above pre-industrial levels, while achieving equity and sustainable development;
  3. Climate and development actions in the landscape that respect, promote and consider human rights obligations, particularly those of people in marginalized communities and vulnerable situations;
  4. Gender equality and strengthening  women and girls;
  5. The integrity of all types of ecosystems, including oceans and coastal ecosystems, land-based sustainable resource management systems and the protection of biodiversity;
  6. The importance of education, training and other forms of capacity development when taking action to achieve sustainable development;
  7. The development of innovative financial instruments, aimed particularly at smallholders and sustainable value chains and resource management systems; and
  8. The development of indicators to measure progress in all activities.

Our values

The GLF works to create an inclusive, diverse and connected global community. We connect people, practice and ideas across sectors, landscapes and scales. We connect with openness and respect for one another’s experience and knowledge. We connect by listening, understanding and learning from all points of view. 

The GLF community shares diverse knowledge, science and experience of the Landscape Approach in action that is useful and relevant for the communities it serves. We facilitate this by addressing imbalances in the distribution of knowledge and information. We work together to positively impact people and landscapes around the world.

Collaborative learning and knowledge sharing is a powerful tool to effect positive change. The GLF creates an environment across all its platforms and activities that fosters collaboration among diverse voices and perspectives. Successful collaboration requires inclusive processes that give equal weight and value to each stakeholder’s knowledge and experience, regardless of age, place, gender or professional status.

We are a community of inspiring and optimistic people acting to create productive, prosperous, equitable and resilient landscapes. The change needed requires action at every level, from grassroots change agents to political decision makers. We share success stories, the latest innovations and best practices from our community to inspire further positive action on the ground.

GLF contributions

The GLF platform has helped to kickstart critical initiatives for landscapes, ecosystems and communities across the globe – from helping forge the historic Congo Peatlands Agreement to launching a ‘gold standard’ for protecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities to leading the charge towards the 2021–2030 UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Check out some of our proudest moments in the links below. 

Our Partners

What is the landscape approach?

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A landscape approach (more correctly termed landscape approaches) is known for its holistic way of looking at areas or landscapes and the people within. It builds on the notion that people depend on their landscapes for their food, livelihood, income, culture and identity, and that these need to be handled with care.

A landscape approach builds on the premise that combining conservation, development and human well-being is possible. It has been done in the past, and is still being done today, as proven by many Indigenous and local communities worldwide. 

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