Katie Reytar

Senior Research Associate, Forests Program

Bio

Katie Reytar is a Research Associate in the Forests Program. Her expertise focuses on GIS spatial analysis, modeling, and data management to inform environmental policy and management decisions. She provides GIS support to projects across the Institute—primarily the Forest Program’s Global Restoration Initiative and the Governance Center’s Land and Resource Rights project. Additional areas of project work include Water Quality, Coastal Ecosystems (Reefs at Risk Revisited), and Agricultural Sustainability.

Prior to joining WRI, Katie worked as an environmental engineer for the consulting firm ERG and supported various U.S. government clients, including the Environmental Protection Agency. She also interned at the World Wildlife Fund, performing GIS work for the Conservation Science and Humanitarian Partnerships programs.

Katie has a B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and a Master of Environmental Science and Management from the Bren School at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Blogs

The Challenge of Tracking How a Trillion Trees Grow
by Katie Reytar, Florence Landsberg, Fred Stolle, Ornanong Maneerattana, Will Anderson and John Brandt - July 30, 2020
Tracking tree growth will help us understand whether campaigns like the Trillion Trees Initiative are working and whether efforts to fight climate change are on the right track.
Deforestation Threatens the Mekong, but New Trees Are Growing in Surprising Places
by Katie Reytar, Fred Stolle and Will Anderson - October 02, 2019
Southeast Asia's Mekong region has lost much of its forests. A new satellite imagery technique reveals countries like Thailand are reversing the trend, not just in forests but on farms and villages too.
Malawi is Putting its Money Where its Forests Are
by Katie Reytar, Sabin Ray and Lucas Toh - December 13, 2018
Malawi's growing population depends on forests for wood or charcoal for cooking, but these forests are being cleared for agriculture, which 80 percent of Malawians rely on to support themselves. To combat this potentially disastrous trend, Malawi's government plans to pay its young people to plant trees.
Safeguarding the Carbon Stored in Indigenous and Community Lands is Essential to Meeting Climate Goals
by Katie Reytar, Marlena Chertock and Peter Veit - September 13, 2018
Scientists estimate that by managing the world's land more sustainably, such as by protecting forests and investing in reforestation, we could achieve up to 37 percent of emissions reductions necessary to limit the global rise in temperature to 2 degrees Celsius by 2030.
To Fight Food Insecurity in Malawi, Just Add Trees
by Katie Reytar - April 26, 2018
Satellite and other data reveal where restoring degraded landscapes could help improve food security in Malawi.
5 Maps Show How Important Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Are to the Environment
by Katie Reytar and Peter Veit - December 20, 2017
New data on the LandMark platform backs up what research already shows: Indigenous Peoples and local communities are some of the best environmental stewards.
Malawi Turns a Corner on Solving Its Deforestation Crisis
by Katie Reytar - July 25, 2017
One of the poorest countries in Africa, Malawi once faced water shortages and power outages as its forests disappeared. Now, it has launched bold new strategies to restore trees to the landscape.
By the Numbers: Indigenous and Community Land Rights
by Peter Veit and Katie Reytar - March 20, 2017
As more than 1,200 land rights experts converge on World Bank headquarters for the Annual Land and Poverty Conference, here are some important numbers about Indigenous and community land rights, the world's most common form of tenure.
Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Are the World’s Secret Weapon in Curbing Climate Change
by Katie Reytar and Peter Veit - November 10, 2016
A new report shows that forests managed by Indigenous Peoples and communities hold about one-quarter of the world's tropical aboveground carbon.
Indigenous Land Rights: How Far Have We Come and How Far Do We Have to Go?
by Katie Reytar, Peter Veit and Nicholas Tagliarino - August 09, 2016
Today is International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples -- a good day to reflect on the achievements and challenges Indigenous Peoples still face, including the issue of legal security of land and natural resource rights. How well do national laws protect the interests of these historically marginalized communities?

Publications

The Road to Restoration
A Guide to Identifying Priorities and Indicators for Monitoring Forest and Landscape Restoration
By declaring the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, the UN has recognized that there are only 10 years left to restore the world's degraded land. Countries are striving to fight climate change by 2030 through their Paris Agreement commitments and...
by Kathleen Buckingham, Sabin Ray, Carolina Gallo Granizo, Lucas Toh, Fred Stolle, Faustine Zoveda, Katie Reytar, René Zamora Cristales, Peter Ndunda, Florence Landsberg, Marcelo Matsumoto and John Brandt - October 2019

publication
Topics: Forests
Climate Benefits, Tenure Costs
The Economic Case For Securing Indigenous Land Rights in the Amazon
A new report offers evidence that the modest investments needed to secure land rights for indigenous communities will generate billions in returns—economically, socially and environmentally—for local communities and the world’s changing climate. The report, Climate Benefits, Tenure Costs:...
by Helen Ding, Peter Veit, Erin Gray, Katie Reytar, Juan-Carlos Altamirano, Allen Blackman and Benjamin Hodgdon - October 2016

publication
Topics: Governance, Climate
Geography: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Latin America
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, Jenny Springer and Katie Reytar - July 2014

publication
Topics: Governance, Climate, COP 20, Forests
Geography: Africa, Asia, Latin America
Indicators of Sustainable Agriculture: A Scoping Analysis
Creating a Sustainable Food Future, Installment Six
Installment 6 of Creating a Sustainable Food Future explores the methods and analysis of a scoping exercise to identify a preliminary list of indicators related to...
by Katie Reytar, Craig Hanson and Norbert Henninger - June 2014

publication
Topics: Food
Improving Water Quality (2 of 3)
A National Modeling Analysis on Increasing Cost Effectiveness Through Better Targeting of U.S. Farm Conservation Funds
In this second installment of our 3-part series on better targeting of U.S. farm conservation funds, WRI found that combining geographic targeting with benefit-cost principles could potentially yield seven to 12 times more environmental...
by Michelle Perez, Katie Reytar, Mindy Selman and Sara Walker - June 2014

publication
Topics: Water
Geography: United States
Reefs at Risk Revisited in the Coral Triangle
This report is a map-based analysis of threats to coral reefs around the world, with particular focus on the countries of the Coral Triangle—Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste. It examines present pressures on coral reefs, including...
by Lauretta Burke, Katie Reytar, Mark Spalding and Allison Perry - July 2012

publication
Topics: Water
Geography: Coral Triangle, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste
Reefs at Risk Revisited
This report provides a detailed assessment of the status of and threats to the world's coral reefs. It evaluates threats to coral reefs from a wide range of human activities, and includes an assessment of climate-related threats to reefs. It also contains a global assessment of the...
by Lauretta Burke, Katie Reytar, Mark Spalding and Allison Perry - February 2011

publication
Topics: Ocean, Water