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Halting and reversing global forest loss is a key priority for sustainable development pathways. Multiple countries in the Global South have recently transitioned from net forest loss to net forest gain. Understanding and explaining reforestation patterns is necessary to better understand land cover dynamics and create more effective sustainability policies. We show that international migration – a key feature of globalization in the 21st century – spurs a transition to greater forest cover in Nepal. Although some aspects of globalization - agricultural commodity production and trade in particular - have been identified as contributing to deforestation, the effects of international migration are less well understood. Using data from Nepal’s national census (1.36 Million households) and from high-resolution forest cover change, we find that international outmigration is associated with substantial increases in local forest cover …