Ecosystem restoration has the potential to combine the global policy agendas of biodiversity protection, climate mitigation, and food security Restoration of degraded ecosystems poses an opportunity to reverse the process of land degradation by undertaking mosaic, wide-scale or landscape scale efforts to re-establish the natural state (ecological restoration) and regain productivity (rehabilitation). Ecosystem restoration (ESR) can, under the right circumstances, not only increase land productivity but also promote economic growth and social cohesion (Caspari et al., 2014). It provides local benefits, in terms of food security and enhanced
smallholder resilience, regional benefits, such as improved water provision, and global benefits, including biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation, making ESR a promising approach for reaching some of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As such, ESR is increasingly the focus of discussion in the international community and national governments, and particularly by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) regarding Goal 15 — Life on Land.