Many of the world's ecosystems have undergone significant degradation with negative impacts on biological diversity and peoples' livelihoods. There is a growing realization that we will not be able to conserve the earth's biological diversity through the protection of critical areas alone. When applicable, Ecosystem Restoration should be an important component of conservation and sustainable development programmes so that the livelihoods of people depending on these degraded ecosystems can be sustained. 

Ecosystem Restoration is thus a significant contribution to the application of the Ecosystem Approach, e.g. in informing the negotiation of land use options and enhancement of healthy ecological networks. The Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM) has identified Ecosystem Restoration as one of its 19 priority thematic areas.

For more detailed information on the science and practice of Ecosystem Restoration, the following resources of the Society for Ecological Restoration International (SER) are provided. 

Estuary in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo:  Cara R Nelson)

Overview

IUCN CEM’s Ecosystem Restoration Thematic Group (ERTG) improves local-to-global ecosystem restoration by contributing technical guidance and translating restoration science into practice.

Although people have been assisting the recovery of degraded ecosystems for centuries, the practice of ecological restoration picked up steam in the 1970s as a promising solution for reversing land degradation.  Since then, there has been increasing recognition of the key role of ecosystem repair in conserving biodiversity, ecological integrity and human wellbeing. In fact, restoration is now a primary strategy for achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Post 2020 Biodiversity Framework; initiatives like the Bonn Challenge, which seeks to restore 350 million hectares of forests, are unprecedented in scale and scope. However, restoring degraded ecosystems is a complex challenge, and many large restoration programs have underperformed relative to their ecological or social goals. Because of this, there is an urgent need for technical guidance on best practices for planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating restoration activities, including translating science into practice.

Towards this end, IUCN CEM’s Ecosystem Restoration Thematic Group Works to improve the capacity for high-quality ecosystem restoration by:

• Contributing technical guidance to a) CEM Thematic and Specialist Groups, Task Forces and Partners, b) IUCN programmes and members; and c) the global restoration community; and
• Hosting and promoting activities and events that help translate ecological restoration science into practice.

United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration

The United Nations General Assembly declared 2021–2030 as the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The Decade offers an opportunity to substantially advance restoration practice, science, and policy, but to do so requires a shared vision of ecosystem restoration and the principles that underpin it. Towards this end, the ERTG led the development of Principles for Ecosystem Restoration to Guide the United Nations Decade 2021–2030, which were released in September 2021.  The ERTG is now part of the leadership team that is developing standards of practice to guide the implementation of the principles, through a series of global consultations.  In addition, the ERTG is participating in the Science, Best Practice and Monitoring Task Forces of the UN Decade.

Webinars

Please join the Ecosystem Restoration Thematic Group’s monthly webinar series: Ecosystem Restoration: Global Initiatives in Science and Practice.

• Webinars are held the 3rd Friday of each month from 12 to 1 pm Eastern EST using “Zoom”. 
• You can register to participate here. Registrants will receive advance notice of webinar topics and speakers. 
• Previous session video presentations can be found here.

Please assist the Ecosystem Restoration Thematic Group by sharing your expertise. Opportunities to provide inputs and feedback on Thematic Group work will be sent via email as they arise.