The Mediterranean, a hotspot for both climate and biodiversity

The IPCC has documented it: the Mediterranean basin is warming faster than the global average. It is also one of the planet's 36 biodiversity hotspots. This double singularity makes it a priority territory for forest restoration.

Amplified warming

According to Cross-Chapter Paper 4 of the IPCC's sixth assessment report (AR6, 2022), the region has already warmed by about 1.5°C relative to the pre-industrial era. Projections widen the gap: future warming there would exceed the global average by 20% annually, and up to 50% for summer temperatures.

A unique biodiversity reservoir

The basin is home to roughly 25,000 species of vascular plants, more than half of which exist nowhere else (CEPF). Oak woods, pine forests, maquis, riparian forests: many are now degraded or fragmented.

The restoration potential

Vast areas of the Mediterranean rim are degraded or abandoned land — precisely the context where afforestation-reforestation (ARR) projects make the most sense:

• Strong additionality: without carbon funding, these lands remain degraded.
• Major co-benefits: erosion control, aquifer recharge, habitat for endemic species.
• Adapted species: Mediterranean flora offers a palette of drought-resistant species.

Restoring the Mediterranean forest means acting exactly where the climate stake and the biodiversity stake overlap.