Restoring nature equitably

Efforts to restore degraded ecosystems have so far fallen short of meeting global targets. Sound restoration must better incorporate social processes promoting equity in order to effectively benefit people, climate and biodiversity, says Sara Löfqvist. The United Nations Biodiversity Conference in Montreal closed this past December with an unprecedented agreement to place 30 percent of global degraded landscapes under protection by 2030, especially emphasizing the need to respect indigenous and local communities rights in the process. Yet, despite ambitious policies and strong financial interest, recent restoration efforts have not reached targets: only 18% of land pledged for restoration by 2020 had been restored by 2019,¹ and the world is currently off track in meeting targets set for 2030 . ² Global restoration agenda setting has so far primarily been driven by insights from ecologists, especially by mapping studies outlining potential of restoration across scales. These studies have provided important advances on the global scope and geographical heterogeneity of the challenge, and have played a crucial role in mobilizing attention and efforts toward restoration. However, social aspects such as power relations, governance systems, and value trade-offs also play a key role in determining whether a restoration project sustains over time.