The Global Landscapes Forum is now accepting applications for its 2026 cohorts in Portuguese, Spanish, French and English. The deadline is Sunday, 29 June.
Bonn, Germany (11 June 2025) – The Global Landscapes Forum (GLF), the world’s largest knowledge-driven platform on sustainable land use, is inviting young restoration leaders and grassroots organizations to join its growing local-to-global community to restore degraded landscapes, strengthen local communities and tackle the most urgent environmental and social challenges of our time.
Through two flagship initiatives, the Restoration Stewards program and the GLFx network, the GLF has launched its 2026 call for youth and local actors who lead efforts to positively transform and restore their landscapes and seascapes.
Applications for both programs are now open and will be accepted until Sunday, 29 June 2025 at 23:59 CEST (UTC+2).
Why become a Restoration Steward?
Launched in 2020, in collaboration with the Youth in Landscapes Initiative (YIL), the Restoration Stewards program is welcoming young restoration practitioners and experts (aged 18–35) looking to further develop their vision, deepen their impact and become ambassadors for holistic ecosystem restoration.
The program is grounded in principles of care, biocultural diversity, equity and landscape leadership. Eligible youth-led initiatives may focus on a range of ecosystems, including oceans, wetlands, forests, mountains, peatlands, drylands and rangelands, and must demonstrate a holistic, inclusive and sustainable approach to restoration.
The selected 2026 Restoration Stewards will be part of the program for 12 months, during which they will receive EUR 5,000 in funding to strengthen their restoration work.
Beyond financial support, the program provides tailored mentorship from world-renowned environmental experts, capacity development opportunities and international visibility through the GLF’s global platforms and communications channels.
“The journey with the Restoration Stewards program has been extremely instrumental in shaping how I frame my conservation and restoration work. It has given me an opportunity to remind people how the ocean is powerful and vengeful and that we must respect it,” said Steve Misati, 2024 Ocean Restoration Steward from Kenya.
Learn more and apply for the 2026 Restoration Stewards program here.
Why become a GLFx chapter?
The GLF invites locally-led organizations, NGOs and associations to join the GLFx network of chapters, a decentralized platform connecting community-led initiatives across Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean who are committed to restoring landscapes and seascapes, improving livelihoods and achieving inclusive landscapes management.
Through GLFx, local chapters become part of a global community focused on driving bottom-up change and influencing policy in favor of sustainable land use. By becoming a GLFx chapter, local organizations gain access to tailored learning and training opportunities, virtual and in-person events, international exposure through the GLF’s events and communications platforms, and small grant funding opportunities.
Chapters are selected based on their alignment with the GLF’s values, their proven commitment to environmental action and community agency and their potential to scale impact through collaboration, knowledge sharing and long-term action.
“GLFx amplifies our voices and makes our work visible. Connecting with strategic partners and communities globally allows our local work to further transform the world,” said Isabel Prestes da Fonseca, coordinator of GLFx Zág Xokleng in Brazil.
Learn more and apply to become a GLFx chapter here.
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NOTES TO EDITORS
- Find images in this Trello board, photos of the GLFx network here, photos of the Restoration Stewards here and the cover photo of this news piece here.
- For more information, or to arrange interviews with the program leaders, Restoration Stewards or members of the GLFx chapters across the Global South, please contact Kelly Quintero (k.quintero@cifor-icraf.org).
About the GLF
The Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) is the world’s largest knowledge-led platform on integrated land use, connecting people with a shared vision to create productive, profitable, equitable and resilient landscapes. It is led by the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF), in collaboration with its co-founders UNEP and the World Bank, and its charter members. Learn more at www.globallandscapesforum.org.
About GLFx
GLFx is a network of independently organized, community-oriented and grassroots initiatives transforming their landscapes from the ground up and advocating for policy change. GLFx is designed to accelerate local action toward global landscape restoration by connecting members with the knowledge, tools and networks necessary to achieve lasting and holistic change. GLFx is supported by the German entities the International Climate Initiative (IKI) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), as well as the Robert Bosch Stiftung and International Model Forest Network (IMFN) in partnership with the Government of Canada. Learn more at globallandscapesforum.org/about-glfx/.
About the Restoration Stewards Program
The Restoration Stewards is a youth program rooted in care, landscape leadership, diversity, intersectionality and intergenerational equity. Launched in 2020 by the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) and the Youth in Landscapes Initiative (YIL), it aims to support the efforts of youth-led teams in holistically restoring their landscapes and seascapes while nurturing biocultural diversity. Learn more at stewards.globallandscapesforum.org.
The Restoration Stewards program and the GLFx network of chapters have been made possible with support from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV), the International Climate Initiative (IKI), the Robert Bosch Stiftung, the Lavazza Foundation and the International Model Forest Network (IMFN) in partnership with the Government of Canada.
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