Robert Winterbottom

Senior Fellow

Bio

Robert Winterbottom is a Senior Fellow based in Washington, D.C. with the Forests Program of the World Resources Institute. He works primarily on the Global Restoration Initiative to restore the productivity of degraded landscapes and scale up the sustainable management of natural resources.

Bob has broad experience in environmental sciences and natural resource management, working over the past 35 years in Africa and South Asia on issues of desertification control, tropical deforestation, and community-based natural resource management. He has assessed lessons learned from investments in environmental and natural resource management, and is engaged in developing more effective program approaches integrating governance and poverty reduction with environmental management. After serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in a community reforestation program in Burkina Faso, Bob served as an Ecologist with the Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel. He contributed to the first World Resources Report, the launching of the Tropical Forestry Action Plan, and served as WRI’s first Director of the Forestry and Land Use program. Bob led the implementation of USAID rural development and institutional strengthening projects in Burkina Faso, Rwanda, Niger, Senegal and Bangladesh. More recently, Bob managed WRI’s Mainstreaming Ecosystem Services Initiative and has examined needs and opportunities for climate change adaptation and investments in REDD+ and landscape restoration.

Bob has a MFS in Natural Resources Management from the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies of Yale University, and a BA in Geography from Dartmouth College.

Blog Posts

Can We Restore 350 Million Hectares by 2030?
by Chris Reij and Robert Winterbottom - February 15, 2017
We can turn an India-sized patch of degraded land green again, but only if we learn from early successes in Niger, Ethiopia and Costa Rica.
Rising Carbon Emissions from Warming Soil Highlight Benefits of Land Restoration
by John-Rob Pool and Robert Winterbottom - January 09, 2017
New research explores a vicious cycle: as greenhouse gas emissions warm the planet, soils heat up and the micro-organisms that live in them start to expel heat-trapping carbon dioxide, reinforcing the problem of climate change. Landscape restoration is one way to respond.
African Nations Poised to Rapidly Accelerate Landscape Restoration
by Emily Averna and Robert Winterbottom - November 18, 2016
To date, 21 African nations have signed onto the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100) and committed to restore 63.3 million hectares (156 million acres) of degraded land.
Regreening Africa Could Help Stem the Tide of Migration
by Robert Winterbottom - May 21, 2015
Some farmers are combating climate change, boosting food security and improving their livelihoods by protecting and managing on-farm trees. A new report details how to spread this practice throughout the African drylands.
Nicaragua’s Indigenous Peoples Protect their Forests Even Without Government Support
by Robert Winterbottom, Caleb Stevens and Asa Strong - November 14, 2014
Nicaragua legally recognizes 49 percent of its remaining forests as community-owned forests.

But it wasn't always this way; indigenous communities stepped up and conserved their forests in the face of government inaction.
Ecuador Shows Why Communities and the Climate Need Strong Forest Rights
by Caleb Stevens, Robert Winterbottom, Katie Reytar and Asa Strong - September 19, 2014
Recent research from WRI and the Rights and Resources Initiative found that the world’s 513 million hectares of legally recognized community forests store 37 billion tonnes of carbon—29 times the annual carbon footprint of the world’s passenger vehicles.

The impacts of oil extraction in Ecuador illustrate why secure community forest rights are necessary to protect both livelihoods and the environment.
Securing Rights for People and the Climate in Africa
by Peter Veit, Katie Reytar, Robert Winterbottom, Caleb Stevens and Caleb Stevens - August 20, 2014
The just concluded U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit focused attention on Africa’s promises and challenges, including energy, agriculture and the $14 billion in investment pledged by companies. The visiting heads of state—just shy of 50—also discussed climate change and its effects on crop production, nutrition and food security. New research by the World Resources Institute and Rights and Resources Initiative on the climate dividends of secure community land rights can help Africa address these challenges.
Food Security and Climate Change in Africa: A Question of Political Will
by Robert Winterbottom - August 19, 2014
The solution to improving food security and resilience in Africa is no secret: all sectors need to work together to scale up climate-smart agriculture. What's needed now is political will to make that happen.
Community Forests: An Undervalued Approach to Climate Change Mitigation
by Caleb Stevens, Robert Winterbottom, Sarah Parsons and Carni Klirs - July 24, 2014
Governments around the world legally recognize at least 513 million hectares of community forests, land held collectively by either rural populations or Indigenous Peoples. This area stores about 37 billion tonnes of carbon—29 times the annual carbon footprint of all the passenger vehicles in the world.

Securing Rights, Combating Climate Change, a new report from WRI and the Rights and Resources Initiative, shows that by protecting and expanding the amount of officially recognized community forests, national governments can meet their climate goals while also improving citizens’ livelihoods.
Restoration: It’s About More than Just the Trees
by Robert Winterbottom - May 28, 2014
Almost half of the world’s original forests have been cleared or degraded. So naturally, most people think of the “forest restoration” movement as an effort to re-plant these lost trees.

But it’s time to see restoration as more than just the trees.

Publications

Scaling up Regreening: Six Steps to Success
A Practical Approach to Forest and Landscape Restoration
Scaling Up Regreening: Six Steps to Success highlights the benefits of “regreening” and its widespread adoption in Senegal, Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali, northern Ethiopia and Malawi, and identifies six steps to scale up regreening practices in Africa and beyond.

Version française...
by Chris Reij and Robert Winterbottom - May 2015

publication
Topics: Africa, COP 21, Forests
Geography: Africa
Revaluing Ecosystems
Pathways For Scaling up the Inclusion of Ecosystem Value in Decision Making
The goal of this “revaluing” effort is to promote longer-term thinking and create incentives to protect and restore ecosystems and ensure their sustainable use. The issue brief presents 6 key issues which emerged.

by Lauretta Burke, Janet Ranganathan and Robert Winterbottom - April 2015

publication
Topics: Climate Summit 2014, Food, Forests, Water
Securing Rights, Combating Climate Change
How Strengthening Community Forest Rights Mitigates Climate Change
An analysis of the growing body of evidence linking community forest rights with healthier forests and lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.

by Caleb Stevens, Robert Winterbottom, Katie Reytar and Jenny Springer, Director of Global Programs, Rights and Resources Initiative - July 2014

publication
Topics: Governance, Climate, COP 20, Forests
Geography: Africa, Asia, Latin America
Creating a Sustainable Food Future: Interim Findings
A menu of solutions to sustainably feed more than 9 billion people by 2050
The world’s agricultural system faces a great balancing act. To meet different human needs, by 2050 it must simultaneously produce far more food for a population expected to reach about 9.6 billion, provide economic opportunities for the hundreds of millions of rural poor who depend on...
by Tim Searchinger, Craig Hanson, Janet Ranganathan, Brian Lipinski, Richard Waite, Robert Winterbottom, Ayesha Dinshaw and Ralph Heimlich - December 2013

publication
Topics: Food, India
Improving Land and Water Management
Creating a Sustainable Food Future, Installment Four
In this working paper, Installment 4 of Creating a Sustainable Food Future, we examine the role of four improved land and water management practices and...
by Robert Winterbottom, Chris Reij, Dennis Garrity, Jerry Glover, Debbie Hellums, Mike McGahuey and Sara Scherr - October 2013

publication
Topics: Food, Africa
Geography: Africa
The Great Balancing Act
Creating a Sustainable Food Future, Installment One
How can the world adequately feed more than 9 billion people by 2050 in a manner that advances economic development and reduces pressure on the environment? This is one of the paramount questions the world faces over the next four decades. “The Great Balancing Act” seeks to start answering this...
by Tim Searchinger, Craig Hanson, Janet Ranganathan, Brian Lipinski, Richard Waite, Robert Winterbottom, Ayesha Dinshaw and Ralph Heimlich - May 2013

publication
Topics: Gender, Food
Geography: Africa, Asia, Europe, North America

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Robert Winterbottom

Can We Restore 350 Million Hectares by 2030?

Rising Carbon Emissions from Warming Soil Highlight Benefits of Land Restoration

African Nations Poised to Rapidly Accelerate Landscape Restoration

Regreening Africa Could Help Stem the Tide of Migration

Nicaragua’s Indigenous Peoples Protect their Forests Even Without Government Support

Ecuador Shows Why Communities and the Climate Need Strong Forest Rights

Securing Rights for People and the Climate in Africa

Food Security and Climate Change in Africa: A Question of Political Will

Community Forests: An Undervalued Approach to Climate Change Mitigation

Restoration: It’s About More than Just the Trees

Scaling up Regreening: Six Steps to Success

A Practical Approach to Forest and Landscape Restoration

Revaluing Ecosystems

Pathways For Scaling up the Inclusion of Ecosystem Value in Decision Making

Securing Rights, Combating Climate Change

How Strengthening Community Forest Rights Mitigates Climate Change

Creating a Sustainable Food Future: Interim Findings

A menu of solutions to sustainably feed more than 9 billion people by 2050

Improving Land and Water Management

Creating a Sustainable Food Future, Installment Four

The Great Balancing Act

Creating a Sustainable Food Future, Installment One

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Get Involved

Making Big Ideas Happen™

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You are here

A Practical Approach to Forest and Landscape Restoration

Pathways For Scaling up the Inclusion of Ecosystem Value in Decision Making

How Strengthening Community Forest Rights Mitigates Climate Change

A menu of solutions to sustainably feed more than 9 billion people by 2050

Creating a Sustainable Food Future, Installment Four

Creating a Sustainable Food Future, Installment One

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