Yerevan, Oct 29 (IANS) A UN report published on Thursday found that 252 million hectares (ha) across 149 countries are being restored, creating more than one million green jobs — the largest documented global restoration effort to date.
To reach 2030 commitments, action must rapidly increase with a particular focus on freshwater, marine and coastal ecosystems, and annual restoration finance must more than quadruple. This investment could generate up to an estimated 32 million new jobs worldwide by 2030.
The report, Nature’s comeback — scaling ecosystem restoration for people and planet, is published midway through the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030).
It provides the first-ever comprehensive global assessment of progress against commitments to restore around one billion hectares and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework target to ensure that by 2030, at least 30 per cent of degraded terrestrial, freshwater, marine, and coastal ecosystems are under effective restoration.
Co-published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the report was launched at a high-level event during the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP17).
The event awarded five outstanding initiatives in China, Colombia, Ethiopia, Italy and the US as UN World Restoration Flagships — highlighting successful restoration drives around the world.
“Today, we are witnessing the makings of one of the largest movements for nature in recorded history,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP.
“Yet, at the halfway point of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, we are still not restoring nature at the scale or speed required. By 2030, we must turn inspiring initiatives into systemwide action — shifting to restoration economies that protect what remains and restore what has been degraded.”
The global movement to restore nature extends beyond national programmes to cities, schools, businesses, and community initiatives. Since the start of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, its partnership network has grown to more than 300 organisations across all regions.
“Five years into the UN Decade, the message is clear: restoration works,” said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu.
“The challenges are to make restoration an integral part of the sustainable management of land, water and natural resources, and to have a coherent transformation of agrifood systems. Healthy ecosystems are vital for better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life for all, leaving no one behind.”
Ecosystem restoration is essential for food and water security, climate resilience, jobs, and well-being. Across all ecosystems, Asia accounts for 192.2 million ha of the total documented area under restoration, followed by Africa with 36.3 million ha, Europe with 9.1 million ha, North and Central America with 5.8 million ha, South America with 5.4 million ha and Oceania with 3.2 million ha. These differences do not rank restoration performance — they reflect the scale of restoration activity, regional land area, and capacities in monitoring and reporting.
Research indicates that restoring just 15 per cent of global priority areas could capture and store 30 per cent of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions since the Industrial Revolution and help avoid 60 per cent of species extinctions.
Documented successes among UN World Restoration Flagships include the recovery of species ranging from mountain gorillas in East Africa and jaguars in Brazil, to snow leopards in Kyrgyzstan and Ganges River dolphins in India.
Restoration progress is variable across ecosystems and countries, according to the report. Restoration of terrestrial ecosystems has reached nearly half of the global target to have 30 per cent of degraded terrestrial ecosystems under restoration by 2030.
China reports the largest terrestrial area under restoration (127.4 million ha), while substantial areas are also documented in Mongolia and Kazakhstan.
–IANS
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