Global ecosystem restoration efforts have expanded significantly across the planet, with millions of hectares currently under recovery initiatives. Across 149 countries, some 252 million hectares of land and sea are currently undergoing restoration, matching an area roughly the size of Kazakhstan and establishing the largest documented effort of its type to date. Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, noted that the world is witnessing the makings of one of the largest movements for nature in recorded history, which has already generated more than one million green jobs. These findings were detailed in a report titled Nature’s comeback – Scaling ecosystem restoration for people and planet, launched on Thursday at the COP17 biodiversity conference in Yerevan, Armenia, by UNEP and sister agencies at the halfway point of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, which runs through 2030.
Funding and Targets
Despite these extensive advancements, experts emphasize that annual funding for restoration must quadruple to reach international goals. To meet the global commitment of restoring roughly one billion hectares of land by the end of the decade and protecting 30 per cent of the world’s ecosystems in line with the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, financial investments must rise from $64 billion to $296 billion annually. Such an investment could potentially create up to 32 million jobs worldwide by 2030. Dongyu Qu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization, affirmed that restoration works, while stressing the need to integrate these efforts into the sustainable management of land, water, and natural resources alongside a coherent transformation of agrifood systems.
Ecosystem Disparities
Progress across different environments remains uneven, demanding rapid acceleration particularly within freshwater, marine, and coastal ecosystems. While terrestrial ecosystem restoration has successfully reached nearly half of the 30 per cent target, marine and coastal initiatives remain far more limited. Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity Secretariat, cautioned that humanity cannot expect to fix nature with one hand while destroying it with the other, urging governments to address the drivers of ecosystem degradation and invest in monitoring mechanisms. Research indicates that restoring just 15 per cent of global priority areas could prevent 60 per cent of projected species extinctions and sequester 30 per cent of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, ultimately securing food and water security, climate resilience, and community wellbeing.
Source: Cosmo News Desk
