Measuring recovery is an essential aspect of ecosystem restoration, yet no standardized method to do this exists. This Task Force is working to develop the IUCN Green Status of Ecosystems, which will provide an assessment of past, current and future recovery of ecosystems.

Overview

In 2012, a resolution at the IUCN World Conservation Congress called for a method to systematically assess successful conservation of species, ecosystems and protected areas (WCC-2012-Res-041-EN). The IUCN Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas and IUCN Green Status of Species (GSS) have already been developed. Now, in the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration, is the perfect time to complete the resolution, by developing the methods for an IUCN Green Status of Ecosystems (GSE).

The aims of the GSE Task Force is to:

• Develop a method to assess the current recovery status of an ecosystem;
• Develop a method to assess past conservation success and recovery potential for ecosystems which will form the basis for the IUCN GSE guidelines;
• Test and refine the proposed approach with 20+ case study ecosystems across terrestrial, freshwater and marine realms, from a spectrum of data-rich to data-limited examples.

The GSE would complement the Red List of Ecosystems (RLE) and the GSS. The intention would be to align the GSE as much as possible with the objectives, assessment methods and outputs of the GSS (IUCN 2021) but modified as required to address recovery of ecosystems.

Projects and Initiatives

Green Status of Ecosystem project: The task force is working to develop the Green Status of Ecosystems assessment methods, through workshops, expert consultations and case studies.