Katie Reytar

Research Associate

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.

Blog Posts

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?
LandMark: Protecting Indigenous and Community Lands by Making Them Visible
by Peter Veit and Katie Reytar - November 10, 2015
Up to 65 percent of the world's land is held by Indigenous Peoples and communities. Yet most of it is unmapped and not formally demarcated, and therefore invisible to the world.
3 Ways to Tackle the Global Problem of Insecure Land Rights
by Peter Veit, Caleb Stevens, Celine Salcedo-La Viña, Nicholas Tagliarino and Katie Reytar - March 18, 2015
Local communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America can lose access to critical resources when land rights are weak, threatening food and incomes for more than two billion people. Three fundamental goals must be achieved to improve land rights.
Demystifying the World's Forest Landscape Restoration Opportunities
by Lars Laestadius, Katie Reytar, Stewart Maginnis and Carole Saint-Laurent - March 06, 2015
A global movement to restore deforested and degraded forest landscapes is gaining momentum. But what is forest landscape restoration, what outcomes should it achieve and where should it occur?
Restoration Pledges in NY Declaration on Forests: Where Are the Opportunities?
by Sean DeWitt, Katie Reytar, James Anderson, Lars Laestadius and Jared Messinger - October 07, 2014
The newly established New York Declaration on Forests aims to restore 350 million hectares of deforested and degraded landscapes into productivity by 2030—an area the size of India.

Here we highlight countries that are prime for restoration.
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.

Publications

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, 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
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...
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...
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: Water