The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030
Publication year
Resource type
UNCCD Library
External document
Material Type
news article
A global call for restoration
The world has been challenged to massively scale up restoration efforts that breathe new life into our degraded ecosystems. Landscapes and seascapes in every part of the world hang in the balance.
On the first of March, 2019, led by El Salvador and joined by scores of other countries, the United Nations General Assembly declared 2021-2030 as the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
Restoring our planet’s imperiled ecosystems is the foremost nature-based solution toward meeting local and national priorities such as food and water security, and rural development, as well as commitments to tackle climate change, the biodiversity and land degradation crises, and ultimately achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
For life on our land
Ecosystem degradation, primarily linked to human action, impairs biodiversity and land productivity, especially in vulnerable areas. Globally, about 20% of the planet’s vegetated surface shows declines in productivity with fertility losses linked to erosion, soil depletion and pollution.
Natural vegetative cover is in consistent decline to make way for unsustainable food production systems and uncontrolled natural resource exploitation, affecting forests (100 million hectares lost since 2000), croplands, grasslands and rangelands – and in some cases desertification has become the new reality of the landscape.
Ecosystem restoration is a process of reversing the degradation of ecosystems such as landscapes, wetlands and oceans to regain their ecological integrity – in other words, to improve the productivity and capacity of ecosystems to meet the needs of society and promote biodiversity.
For life in our water
We have witnessed the loss of 70% of our wetlands over the last century, leading to localised biodiversity crashes and devastating fresh water shortages. And if we continue to destroy mangroves at the current rate of 1% per year, they will functionally disappear by 2100 – taking all of their protective and life supporting qualities with them.
For us
Human-caused terrestrial degradation interferes with the well-being of at least 3.2 billion people, is pushing the planet towards a sixth mass species extinction, and costs us more than 10% of annual global gross product through the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Key ecosystems essential to food production, freshwater supply, protection and disaster risk reduction against hazards like fire and flooding, and provision of habitat for species such as fish and pollinators, are declining at a record pace.
We need to reverse these trends. READ FURTHER from the link above
The world has been challenged to massively scale up restoration efforts that breathe new life into our degraded ecosystems. Landscapes and seascapes in every part of the world hang in the balance.
On the first of March, 2019, led by El Salvador and joined by scores of other countries, the United Nations General Assembly declared 2021-2030 as the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
Restoring our planet’s imperiled ecosystems is the foremost nature-based solution toward meeting local and national priorities such as food and water security, and rural development, as well as commitments to tackle climate change, the biodiversity and land degradation crises, and ultimately achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
For life on our land
Ecosystem degradation, primarily linked to human action, impairs biodiversity and land productivity, especially in vulnerable areas. Globally, about 20% of the planet’s vegetated surface shows declines in productivity with fertility losses linked to erosion, soil depletion and pollution.
Natural vegetative cover is in consistent decline to make way for unsustainable food production systems and uncontrolled natural resource exploitation, affecting forests (100 million hectares lost since 2000), croplands, grasslands and rangelands – and in some cases desertification has become the new reality of the landscape.
Ecosystem restoration is a process of reversing the degradation of ecosystems such as landscapes, wetlands and oceans to regain their ecological integrity – in other words, to improve the productivity and capacity of ecosystems to meet the needs of society and promote biodiversity.
For life in our water
We have witnessed the loss of 70% of our wetlands over the last century, leading to localised biodiversity crashes and devastating fresh water shortages. And if we continue to destroy mangroves at the current rate of 1% per year, they will functionally disappear by 2100 – taking all of their protective and life supporting qualities with them.
For us
Human-caused terrestrial degradation interferes with the well-being of at least 3.2 billion people, is pushing the planet towards a sixth mass species extinction, and costs us more than 10% of annual global gross product through the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Key ecosystems essential to food production, freshwater supply, protection and disaster risk reduction against hazards like fire and flooding, and provision of habitat for species such as fish and pollinators, are declining at a record pace.
We need to reverse these trends. READ FURTHER from the link above
Keywords
ecosystems restoration
land restoration
water resources
biodiversity
nature-based solutions