Public-sector measures to conserve and restore forests: overcoming economic and political economy barriers

This working paper is a contribution to the FOLU 2019 report, Growing Better: Ten Critical Transitions to Transform Food and Land Use. The paper answers four questions: Why are forests critical to economic development and human well-being? What public sector measures could conserve and restore forests? Why haven’t these public measures sufficiently worked at scale yet? How can one overcome the economic and political economy barriers to these measures?