IUCN and the UN Decade Ecosystem Restoration Hub Webinar: Success Stories and Guidance from Asia and Oceania

The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) is a rallying call for the protection and revival of ecosystems all around the world, for the benefit of people and nature. Created by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN Decade Ecosystem Restoration Hub is a digital meeting place for the restoration community working towards the goals set forth by the Decade. As a Global Partner, IUCN is currently supporting the UN Decade by acting as a Referring Partner through the Ecosystem Restoration Hub, inviting the entire Union to share their restoration work through the Hub.

The first session in this webinar series, held on June 9^th, 2026, brought together representatives of the IUCN Secretariat from across Oceania, East Asia, and Southeast Asia to speak on IUCN restoration efforts in support of the UN Decade—highlighting successful projects, outlining regional restoration goals, and encouraging webinar participants to submit their own restoration case studies to the Hub. 

The session began with a presentation by IUCN Regional Hub Director, Asia and Oceania, Dr. Dindo Campilan, who spoke on the overarching restoration goals for the region. In his presentation, Dr Campilan discussed the importance of Nature-based Solutions (NbS) throughout the Asia-Pacific region as a means of not just halting degradation, but actively reversing nature loss across ecosystems. He also highlighted the role of restoration in meeting global restoration goals, like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Rio Conventions. 

“Across Asia and Oceania, ecosystem restoration is one of our most practical and powerful pathways to halt and reverse nature loss while strengthening livelihoods and resilience. At IUCN, we are working with governments, communities and partners to advance high-integrity, scalable NbS across forests, freshwater, coastal and marine ecosystems,” said Dr. Campilan. “The UN Decade Ecosystem Restoration Hub is an important platform to share these efforts, learn from one another, and inspire greater ambition across our Union.” 

Following this regional overview, several project managers from across the Asia-Pacific region were invited to present successful IUCN restoration projects, highlighting the diversity of initiatives shared through the UN Decade Ecosystem Restoration Hub. This segment was opened by Thanh Phong Nguyen, Mekong Delta Programme Manager for the IUCN Vietnam Country Programme who spoke on the ways that restoration of more than 20 hectares of mangroves have created benefits for both people and nature—storing carbon, clarifying water, and improving the livelihoods for shrimp farmers in the Mekong Delta. 

“The project demonstrated the feasibility of restoring mangroves behind (i.e. on the landward side of) the sea dike and transitioning land use to an integrated system combining mangrove–shrimp farming with ultra-intensive Recirculating Aquaculture Systems, or RAS,” said Mr. Nguyen “This approach has the potential to simultaneously address the loss of mangrove ecosystem services, mitigate land subsidence, and reduce water pollution.”

Next, IUCN Thailand Country Programme Manager, Phattareeya Suanrattanachai, highlighted an upcoming project dedicated to the recovery of the tiger populations. The project aims to restore protected areas in Thailand, primarily areas crucial to the survival of the critically depleted Indochinese tiger, addressing barriers to restoration such as human-wildlife conflict, sustainable financing, and education. 

Later, Dinithi Samarathunga, Senior Officer, Water, Wetland and Nature Based Solutions for IUCN Sri Lanka Programme, presented Project CORE (Climate-smart Opportunities through Restoration and Education). This project is focused on Forest Landscape Restoration and Nature-based Solutions (such as food forest gardens and silvopastoral models) in the “Dry Zone” of Sri Lanka. Together, these efforts have restored 135 hectares of land—increasing tree cover, improving habitat connectivity, and protecting endemic species populations, while improving livelihoods. 

The session concluded with a presentation by Martin Child, Project Coordinator for the Kiwa Initiative, IUCN Oceania. Taking place across 33 locations in the Pacific Islands, the Kiwa Initiative has already restored more than 7000 hectares of marine and terrestrial ecosystems by empowering local organisations and communities to implement NbS, and access critical funding and capacity-strengthening. 

These four remarkable case studies are just a small sample of the restoration work being done across Asia and Oceania. The full library of restoration initiatives submitted to the Decade, in this region and beyond, can be found at UN Decade Ecosystem Restoration Hub. 

Furthermore, over the coming weeks, IUCN will continue to discuss contributions to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration across the Union through webinars focused on restoration in Africa, Europe, the Americas, and West, Central, and South Asia. Ecosystem degradation is a global challenge. Join us as we continue to explore the scope and scale of what restoration looks like at IUCN and beyond. 

The full webinar recording is available to view online.