 Protecting and restoring the world's forests, along with other natural climate solutions, could help extend the rising effects of climate change by one-third, and support 25% of the world's population that relied on forests for the livelihoods. What are scientists and researchers doing today to help achieve this? One way is by supporting a global approach to forest protection called REDCLASS with incentives provided to forest-rich developing countries that are protecting forests. CIFOR has been analyzing REDCLASS since the beginning to see how the initiative is being implemented, where it is seeing success, and who is being affected. In 22 countries, information, analysis and tools have been produced for social and environmental monitoring in Brazil. To help develop Vietnam's national payment for forest environmental services policy, for capacity-building on deforestation issues in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to foster an inclusive dialogue on land use in Peru, to support an Indonesia Spetlan restoration agency to set reference levels for restoration, doing the science to help ensure people, forests and reward thrive into the future.