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Benefits of Investing in Ecosystem Restoration
Abstract
Measures aimed at conservation or restoration of ecosystems are often seen as net-cost projects by governments and businesses because they are based on incomplete and often faulty cost-benefit analyses. After screening over 200 studies, we examined the costs (94 studies) and benefits (225 studies) of ecosystem restoration projects that had sufficient reliable data in 9 different biomes ranging from coral reefs to tropical forests. Costs included capital investment and maintenance of the restoration project, and benefits were based on the monetary value of the total bundle of ecosystem services provided by the restored ecosystem. Assuming restoration is always imperfect and benefits attain only 75% of the maximum value of the reference systems over 20 years, we calculated the net present value at the social discount rates of 2% and 8%. We also conducted 2 threshold cum sensitivity analyses. Benefit-cost ratios ranged from about 0.05:1 (coral reefs and coastal systems, worst-case scenario) to as much as 35:1 (grasslands, best-case scenario). Our results provide only partial estimates of benefits at one point in time and reflect the lower limit of the welfare benefits of ecosystem restoration because both scarcity of and demand for ecosystem services is increasing and new benefits of natural ecosystems and biological diversity are being discovered. Nonetheless, when accounting for even the incomplete range of known benefits through the use of static estimates that fail to capture rising values, the majority of the restoration projects we analyzed provided net benefits and should be considered not only as profitable but also as high-yielding investments. Beneficios de Invertir en la Restauración de Ecosistemas.
... Ecosystems generate ecosystem services to humanity, including supporting public health, biodiversity, water purification, coastal defense, and carbon sequestration (Costanza et al., 1997;De Groot et al., 2013). However, many of these services and the ecosystems that sustain them are degrading at a rapid pace worldwide due to land-use changes, pollution, eutrophication, and overexploitation (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). ...
... The most prominent example is the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030, which aims to restore degraded ecosystems within the current decade (Waltham et al., 2020). Recent advancements in terrestrial ecosystems with low abiotic and biotic stress such as planting forests or seeding grasslands highlight that restoration can be successful at low costs (De Groot et al., 2013;Höhl et al., 2020). However, applying such approaches in ecosystems defined by high abiotic and biotic stress has led to many project failures and the cost to restore such stressful systems can be up to 10-fold higher per unit area (Silliman et al., 2015;Bayraktarov et al., 2016). ...
... Under harsh conditions, that can result in a situation where growth and survival of the habitat modifier is only possible the when density and patch-sizes are sufficient (Bertness and Shumway, 1993;Bruno et al., 2003;Bouma et al., 2009bBouma et al., , 2013Angelini and Silliman, 2012), while establishment thresholds hamper survival or establishment when patch sizes remain too small (Silliman et al., 2015;van Katwijk et al., 2016). This characteristic makes restoration of harsh ecosystems failure-prone and costly (De Groot et al., 2013;Silliman et al., 2015;Bayraktarov et al., 2016). However, recent inclusion of selffacilitation in restoration experiments highlighted the potential to greatly improve restoration success in ecosystems shaped by habitatforming organisms (Silliman et al., 2015;van Katwijk et al., 2016;Fischman et al., 2019;Temmink et al., 2020). ...
Ecosystems shaped by habitat-modifying organisms such as reefs, vegetated coastal systems and peatlands, provide valuable ecosystem services, such as carbon storage and coastal protection. However, they are declining worldwide. Ecosystem restoration is a key tool for mitigating these losses but has proven failure-prone, because ecosystem stability often hinges on self-facilitation generated by emergent traits from habitat modifiers. Emergent traits are not expressed by the single individual, but emerge at the level of an aggregation: a minimum patch-size or density-threshold must be exceeded to generate self-facilitation. Self-facilitation has been successfully harnessed for restoration by clumping transplanted organisms, but requires large amounts of often-limiting and costly donor material. Recent advancements highlight that kickstarting self-facilitation by mimicking emergent traits can similarly increase restoration success. In this perspective, we provide a framework for combining expertise from ecologists, engineers and industrial product designers to transition from trial-and-error to emergent trait design-based, cost-efficient approaches to support large-scale restoration.
... Restoration is increasingly seen as a means for reversing environmental damage (Taljaard et al., 2021). In recent meta-analyses of the benefits and costs of restoration (De Groot et al., 2013;Elmqvist et al., 2015;Crookes and Blignaut, 2019), it has been demonstrated that the benefits of restoration exceed the cost, and by some considerable margin in most cases. Coastal and marine resources are, however, not well-covered in these reviews despite their very high economic and cultural values (Blignaut et al., 2016(Blignaut et al., , 2017Zhang et al., 2018). ...
... Here, we combine these two concepts and use the dynamic Benefit-Cost Ratio (dBCR) as the project evaluation criteria. This metric was proposed by De Groot et al. (2013) in relation to the evaluation of ecological restoration projects. ...
... We test the sensitivity of the BCRs to different assumptions. Firstly, we model the possibility that in an imperfect world, only 75% of total economic value from abalone recovery will be realized (De Groot et al., 2013). Secondly, we investigate the sensitivity of the BCR to changes in the timeframe over which restoration is assumed to occur. ...
Globally, fisheries are in decline and in many parts of the world illegal fishing is a major cause of these declines. Ecological restoration of fisheries needs to be promoted, inter alia through improved enforcement, but, which method is the most successful at improving fish stocks, as well as having the highest economic returns? We compare one open-loop (without feedback) and three closed-loop (with feedback) benefit-cost models representing different restoration interventions aimed at promoting compliance. The hybrid systems methodology has been utilized, combining system dynamics, systems archetypes, mathematical differential equations and economic benefit-cost methodologies. The model is tested with reference to a case study of abalone (Haliotis midae) biomass restoration in the Table Mountain National Park marine area (Zone E), Cape Town. Stocks in Zone E have dropped to below the government's management threshold for sustainable fisheries of 20 percent of the pre-fished levels, and urgent action is required to restore the stocks. According to the model, all proposed restoration interventions produce stock recovery to 100 percent of carrying capacity, well in excess of government targets of 40 percent. Also, all four models had a net present value of greater than zero, indicating substantial positive net benefits to restoration. Each model had specific management recommendations associated with it-greater involvement by the state, capital investment in restoration, changing poacher behavior and entrepreneurship. Although the Post Keynesian and Institutional model produced the highest net returns to restoration over 80 years (Net present value = US$12.66 million at a 6 % discount rate, 2021 prices), all the models are essentially co-evolutionary models, and have merit over different time periods, compliance rates and assumptions around discount rates. While the case study is developed for abalone the findings of the model are likely to be applicable in a wide range of fishery restoration contexts.
... The construction of coastal cities, and the agricultural transformation of adjacent river catchments, has resulted in the extensive and widespread fragmentation of wetlands globally (Waycott et al. 2009;Waltham & Connolly 2011;Atwood et al. 2017). It is for this reason that many coastal wetlands are now the targets of concentrated restoration efforts which aim to promote the recovery of mangroves, saltmarshes, and seagrasses and their related ecosystem services (Lewis 2005;De Groot et al. 2013;Stewart-Sinclair et al. 2021). Coastal wetland restoration initiatives are becoming more widespread, but many still fall short of desired goals and objectives due to funding and design limitations (e.g. ...
... Coastal wetland restoration initiatives are becoming more widespread, but many still fall short of desired goals and objectives due to funding and design limitations (e.g. poor site selection, overlooking suitable success indicators), which can impinge on project scope, longevity, and community optics (De Groot et al. 2013;Bayraktarov et al. 2016;Duarte et al. 2020). Restoration can enhance biodiversity, and the nutrient buffering, erosion control, and carbon storage capacity of focal wetlands, but objectives for these aspirations are often poorly defined and performance is rarely tested with empirical data (Weinstein et al. 2001;Barbier 2013). ...
Early indicators of restoration success can inform adaptive management strategies and maintain community interest and financial investment. Coastal wetland restoration projects prioritize monitoring the succession of habitat forming communities. However, these communities often expand slowly. In contrast, fish and crustaceans can quickly occupy newly available habitats and therefore, may be early indicators of restoration success. Here, we compared the short‐term responses of fish and crustacean communities and landcover area to restoration actions at a restoring wetland and three reference wetlands in the Maroochy River in eastern Australia. Fish and crustacean communities and landcover area were surveyed every 6 months between Spring 2017 and Spring 2019 ( n = 5), with two sampling events conducted before restoration actions commenced in May 2018 and three after. Fish and crustaceans were surveyed using baited underwater video stations and fyke nets. Landcover was remotely sensed using a combination of Worldview‐2 satellite imagery, object‐based image analysis, and random forest classification. Fish and crustaceans make viable indicators for early restoration success, as our findings show the composition, diversity, and abundance of species targeted in fisheries of these communities can resemble assemblages at reference sites within 1 year of restoration actions. The area of tidal inundation significantly increased overtime, but the recovery of mangroves and saltmarsh communities did not. These findings support the notion that coastal wetland restoration can promote immediate recruitment by fish and crustacean communities, thus making these taxa useful indicators for communicating early success of restoration projects.
... In other words, it is a process to improve the capacity and production rate of the ecosystem for the future needs of society. This can be done by regeneration of natural ecosystem that is overexploited or by plantation (De Groot et al. 2013). The main objective of ecosystem restoration is to conserve biodiversity for its sustainable use by contributing to the improvement of food and water security. ...
... Assess the multiple benefits of ecosystem restoration, by restoring the ecosystem like food and water security, health benefits, least health risks, etc., by identifying these benefits can be maximized by giving opportunities. Identifying options and reasons which is continuously deteriorating the ecosystem can be done with the help of local and indigenous people (De Groot et al. 2013). By improving the ecological environment, by providing social-economic incentives and appropriate mechanisms, ecosystem degradation can be managed. ...
The impact of the interaction between socio-economic and political processes with natural ecosystems and the built environment has been well captured by the urban metabolism framework in recent decades. In this concept, cities are equated to living organisms in terms of the consumption of natural resources and the excretion of waste products. This concept refers to cities as biological entities having internal processes continuously exchange matter and energy with their surrounding environment in order to grow. The growth pattern induced by metabolic processes may be uneven spatially and socio-economically. Master plans were prepared by the concerned authorities to control such uneven development. However, as these metabolic processes diverged, the impact was on natural resources such as vegetation, temperature, and water bodies. This chapter analyzes the changes that are seen in vegetation patterns in Bengaluru. The results showed that the metabolic processes of the city transformed vegetation to a large extent spatially. There was either a shrinking or proliferation of green cover converting the indigenous greenery to fast-growing varieties during different phases of urbanization. Resource-intensive lawns became important in corporate and residential landscaping. Finally, these changes in vegetation invariably affected temperature patterns, also showing an interconnection between these natural elements.KeywordsIT phaseLawnsSpatialUnevenUrban metabolismVegetation
... The removal of outliers from the benefit and cost datasets was deemed unnecessary based on the nature the data. Analysis was performed on this dataset in a manner comparable to that of De Groot et al. (2013), Blignaut et al. (2014) and Elmqvist et al. (2015). ...
... Based on De Groot et al. (2013), Blignaut et al. (2014) and Elmqvist et al. (2015), we calculated the net present value (NPV) of restoration by ecosystem using the values from Table 2. We compared the benefits of Q1 with the costs of Q1 and likewise for the other quartiles. ...
Ecological restoration has become a development intervention of choice at the highest levels of governance at a global level. In due recognition of the restoration of ecosystems' capability and potential to contribute to economic , ecological and social wellbeing and health, the United Nations and its partners announced the UN decade of restoration which commenced in 2021. The strategic importance of restoration at a time when resources are under serious pressure necessitates that we take stock of what the costs and the benefits of restoration are. We analysed all the known papers published in peer-reviewed journals on the costs and benefits of restoration since 1997 for South Africa to make inferences about the cost-effectiveness thereof. The net present value (NPV) of restoration, using a discount rate of 7% over a 25-year timespan, was estimated for several ecosystems. It was found that given the wide standard deviation of the values observed, mean values have little application. We, therefore, compare the costs and the benefits of restoration according to four cohorts, or quartiles, of values. The NPV/ha for quartile 1 (benefits less costs) and quartile 3
... In other words, it is a process to improve the capacity and production rate of the ecosystem for the future needs of society. This can be done by regeneration of natural ecosystem that is overexploited or by plantation (De Groot et al. 2013). The main objective of ecosystem restoration is to conserve biodiversity for its sustainable use by contributing to the improvement of food and water security. ...
... Assess the multiple benefits of ecosystem restoration, by restoring the ecosystem like food and water security, health benefits, least health risks, etc., by identifying these benefits can be maximized by giving opportunities. Identifying options and reasons which is continuously deteriorating the ecosystem can be done with the help of local and indigenous people (De Groot et al. 2013). By improving the ecological environment, by providing social-economic incentives and appropriate mechanisms, ecosystem degradation can be managed. ...
Abstract
Waste management has evolved from the earlier five-step hierarchy to include many more R’s—reclaim, repurpose, remediate, renovate, replenish, revere nature, being a few of them. It can play a key role in the alleviation of, and the simultaneous adaptation to the repercussions of climate change. Waste valorisation, which is gradually entrenching itself, in both principle and practice, can go a long way in directly and indirectly enabling humankind to get closer to several sustainable development goals (SDGs) targets and perhaps overachieve in some respects. Value creation by adopting the R’s wherever, however, whenever and by whosoever possible, is a sine qua non for achieving the SDGs by year-2030 and continuing in the same vein thereafter, when the world will have to grapple more perceptibly with the repercussions of climate change. It is clear that we cannot avert climate change now. We can, at best, alleviate the intensity of its repercussions, though unfortunately not uniformly all over the world. This chapter posits waste management (urban and otherwise) in the scheme of things related to the sustainable development goals (SDGs), as both enablers and enabled. The exposition introduces readers to the multi-dimensionality of sustainable development, and thereby efficient, value-generating waste management in a circular economy/bio-economy
... Individuals with altruistic motivation can behave for the good of others without gaining personal gain [44,56]. Egoistic motivation, on the other side, causes individuals to perform according to their own greatest advantage [44,57]. In the context of information sharing on social media, altruistic and egoistic motivations are widely researched factors. ...
... behave for the good of others without gaining personal gain [44,56]. Egoistic motivation, on the other side, causes individuals to perform according to their own greatest advantage [44,57]. In the context of information sharing on social media, altruistic and egoistic motivations are widely researched factors. ...
Nowadays, green consumerism is a global trend in the era of the 21st century, prompting businesses to become more environmentally conscious and to build a robust green product range to meet the demands of new customers. This tendency has been aided by social media, which has influenced customers’ buying intentions to be more ecologically responsible. The current study investigates the effects of web-based media on motivation, i.e., egotism and altruism and, subsequently, its effect on the intention of green buying. This paper also attempts to assess the impact of subjective norms on the intention of green buying and, subsequently, its effect on green purchase behavior by incorporating the construct EWOM. Administering the structured questionnaire, 362 young Indian customers’ responses were collected. The Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach was applied to test the suggested conceptual model based on empirical research. The findings point to the significance of social media in terms of altruistic motivation, egoistic motivation, and subjective norms, s well as the job of these components as predecessors of green purchasing intention and, subsequently, purchase behavior. The findings also demonstrate the impact of EWOM in influencing buying decisions. The findings of this paper demonstrates that social media, as a well spring of information, contribute pivotal ingredients in the establishment of consumer motivation. These consumer motivations with subjective norms play an essential role in positive green purchase intention. Green buying intention and EWOM had a favorable influence on buying behavior, according to the findings. The findings are important for marketers who would like to improve their social media communication tactics in order to raise customer motivation and buying intention, as well as buying behavior, for green products.
... The cost for seagrass restoration is approximately US$ 700 000 ha -1 , which is much lower than the cost for coral reef restoration which is nearly US$ 3 000 000 ha -1 (Bayraktarov et al. 2015). Moreover, under a best scenario, seagrass restorations can yield a positive internal rate of returns (IRR) of 3% and a cost-benefit ratio of 1.7, indicating that the benefit exceeded the cost (de Groot et al. 2013). In this case, it has been calculated the time to return on investment for seagrass restoration is more than 70 years (Stewart-Sinclair et al. 2021). ...
... In this case, it has been calculated the time to return on investment for seagrass restoration is more than 70 years (Stewart-Sinclair et al. 2021). This longer time frame could be an important predictor of a net benefit in seagrass restoration, however, the future cost would decline after the installation of the restoration project, and a minimum amount will be required for maintenance and monitoring (de Groot et al. 2013). ...
Seagrasses offer diverse ecosystem services, yet, they are among the most threatened ecosystems. When degraded or destroyed, their services are lost or reduced in the process, affecting, for instance, local communities directly dependent on their livelihood provision. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported that climate change is projected to worsen over time; thus, there is an urgent need for mitigation strategies in practice and also in the longer term. This work aims to provide an alternative perspective of seagrass restoration as a nature based solution (NbS) on a global scale, yet, giving an emphasis on tropical regions such as Indonesia. We focused on seagrass restorations which are not yet well established in comparison with other restoration programs (e.g., mangroves) despite their critical roles. We present in this work how restoring seagrass meadows fits the global standard of NbS published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The results of this study can serve as a basis for promoting seagrass restorations as NbS against climate change particularly in countries with a wide extent of seagrass coverage.
... Conservation agencies and organizations are turning to ecological restoration to counter widespread ecological degradation (Aronson and Alexander 2013;Suding et al. 2015) as a means to preserve or improve biodiversity (De Groot et al. 2013). The United Nations (UN) recently launched the Decade for Ecosystem Restoration, emphasizing a global need for, and commitment to, restoration (Aronson et al. 2020). ...
Ecological restoration is considered an essential activity as we attempt to repair anthropogenic degradation. Yet, resources are limited and it is important that efforts focus on activities that are effective and yield successful restoration. Structured decision making (SDM) is an organized framework that is designed to incorporate differing values across stakeholders and evaluate alternatives. The SDM framework typically consists of six steps: define the decision problem, define objectives and evaluation criteria, develop alternatives, estimate consequences, evaluate trade-offs, and decide, implement, and monitor. Here, we posit that SDM is well suited for ecological restoration, yet remains underused. Specifically, tools such as stakeholder surveys, conceptual modeling, and multi-criteria decision analysis are notably useful in ecological restoration and can be applied under the SDM framework to ensure robust and transparent decision making. We illustrate the application of SDM to ecological restoration with case studies that used SDM alongside ecosystem service assessments, for species-as-risk management, and to assess action desirability across large and diverse stakeholder groups. Finally, we demonstrate how SDM is equipped to handle many of the challenges associated with ecological restoration by identifying commonalities. We contend that increased use of SDM for ecological restoration by environmental managers has the potential to yield wise use of limited resources and more effective restoration outcomes.
... Overall, however, restoration returns are especially high for grasslands. In an analysis of more than 200 studies, the cost-benefit ratio of ecological restoration was higher for grasslands than for forests, wetlands, or aquatic/marine systems, reaching 1:35 (De Groot et al., 2013). ...
Grasslands are ubiquitous globally, and their conservation and restoration are critical to combat both the biodiversity and climate crises. There is increasing interest in implementing effective multifunctional grassland restoration to restore biodiversity concomitant with above- and belowground carbon sequestration, delivery of carbon credits and/or integration with land dedicated to solar panels. Other common multifunctional restoration considerations include improved forage value, erosion control, water management, pollinator services, and wildlife habitat provisioning. In addition, many grasslands are global biodiversity hotspots. Nonetheless, relative to their impact, and as compared to forests, the importance of preservation, conservation, and restoration of grasslands has been widely overlooked due to their subtle physiognomy and underappreciated contributions to human and planetary well-being. Ultimately, the global success of carbon sequestration will depend on more complete and effective grassland ecosystem restoration. In this review, supported by examples from across the Western world, we call for more strenuous and unified development of best practices for grassland restoration in three areas of concern: initial site conditions and site preparation; implementation of restoration measures and management; and social context and sustainability. For each area, we identify the primary challenges to grassland restoration and highlight case studies with proven results to derive successful and generalizable solutions.
... Restoration is chronically underfunded but also has itself been identified as the potential to be a major economic driver through conservation, restoration, and mitigation action conducted under the auspices of the "Restoration Economy" (BenDor et al. 2015). There are efforts underway to explore models such as taxation (Hochard 2022) and incentives (Canning et al. 2021) to fund or enable the massive level of restoration activity that is needed (De Groot et al. 2013). Similarly, sustainability transitions will be economically costly in the short term but will yield long term payoffs (Naidoo 2020). ...
In the Anthropocene it is widely recognized that we need to embrace the concept of sustainable transitions. Strangely, ecological restoration is entirely decoupled from the concept of sustainability transitions. We argue that alongside radical changes in socio-technical systems that define sustainability transitions there will also be a need to conduct extensive ecological restoration. Indeed, that would in and of itself represent a major transition – normalizing ecological restoration where ecosystems that are degraded are restored. We are considering actions needed to have ecological restoration become a part of the radical change that defines sustainability transitions including: Learn and refine as we do restoration; Embrace bold and creative ideas; Adopt a design and systems-thinking approach; View restoration as a complement than a safety net; Work with nature; Create opportunities for massive engagement; Bridge science and practice; Ensure that restoration is equitable and just; Insert restoration into social-technical systems; Invest in restoration and sustainability transitions. Sustainability transitions alone have the potential to limit further ecosystem degradation but will not repair the planet. Similarly, focusing solely on restoration is a losing battle without changing societal relationships with the environment. We conclude that restoration of ecosystems can be done in tandem with sustainability transitions to attain greater and prolonged benefit to achieve a good Anthropocene for the planet and its peoples.KeywordsAnthropocenePracticeRestorationSustainabilityTransitions
... Knowledge denotes the availability and accessibility of information, scientific developments, and innovations about the tree planting scheme and its governance mechanisms (De Groot et al., 2013;Lake et al., 2018). The availability and accessibility of this knowledge allow the integration of environmental, technological, social and economic realities within a tree planting scheme's governance process (Tougiani et al., 2009). ...
... 15 Numerous empirical studies have shown that social norms promote pro-environment behaviors. [15][16][17][18][19] Social norms propel the adoption of sustainable behavior, such as reusing towels by hotel guests, 20 reducing household energy consumption, 21,22 reducing plastic bag use, 23 recycling, 24 saving energy, 17,19 and garbage sorting. 16,18,25,26 Social norms urging consumers to adopt sustainable behaviors are more prevalent than ever; however, previous studies have not explored how social norms and personal costs interact with pro-environmental behavior. ...
Background:
Pro-environmental behavior necessitates individuals to make personal sacrifices, such as spending more money on environmentally-friendly products to benefit the environment. Realistically, individuals may not be willing to engage in pro-environmental behavior based self-interest. The increase in personal pro-environmental behavior has become an urgent issue in the field of environmental psychology.
Purpose:
The present study adopted green consumption paradigm to explore the internal mechanisms of pro-environmental behavior at different personal costs, the role of social and personal norms on pro-environmental behavior, which can promote individual pro-environmental behavior.
Methods:
In our experiment, participants first were instructed to read texts unrelated and related to social norms in sequence. Participants subsequently completed the product choice task, which involved making choices between buying green (eco-friendly) products or cheaper (self-interested) common products, a method to measure pro-environment behavior. Finally, the participants completed the personal norms scale and social norms check.
Results:
The findings of present study indicated that pro-environmental behavior decreased as personal costs increased. However, social norms effectively promoted individuals' pro-environmental behavior, and personal norms played a mediating role at high personal costs.
Conclusion:
Our findings indicate that individuals tend to choose cheaper common products that are harmful to the natural environment in self-interest. However, we discuss the implications for the use of social norms as a social marketing technique, which extends the Norm Activation Model.
... Previous restoration studies focused on ecological aspects of restoration [4][5][6] , mapping the spatial potential for restoration [7][8][9] and investigating the social processes that influence and are influenced by restoration outcomes [10][11][12][13] . Some studies have also explored restoration cost and benefit structures 14,15 and financial mechanisms for restoration 16 . All of these studies provide crucial information on the potential of restoration and its possible sustainability outcomes. ...
Increased private finance can accelerate forest and landscape restoration globally. Here we conduct semi-structured interviews with asset managers, corporations and restoration finance experts to examine incentives and barriers to private restoration finance. Next, we assess what type of restoration projects and regions appeal to different private funders and how current financial barriers can be overcome. We show that market incentives for corporations include meeting net-emission-reduction commitments, impact and sustainable branding opportunities, and promotion of sustainability in supply chains. Conversely, asset managers face stronger barriers to investing in restoration as it is deemed a high-risk, unknown investment with low profitability. We find that investment finance biases towards restoration projects in low-risk areas and corporate finance towards areas with business presence. Both private finance types tend to omit projects focusing on natural regeneration. Through expanded and diversified markets for restoration benefits, strong public policy support and new financial instruments, private finance for restoration can be scaled for a wider variety of restoration projects in more diverse geographical contexts.
... Há caminhos convergentes entre os SAFVR e as iniciativas de restauração ecológica strictu sensu. As iniciativas de restauração ecológica das florestas tropicais têm mais benefícios financeiros do que custos, apesar dos custos serem responsabilidade daqueles que realizam a iniciativa, enquanto que a maioria dos benefícios fluem para a sociedade como um todo (De Groot et al., 2013). Portanto, a geração de atrativos financeiros em iniciativas de restauração ecológica é um dos maiores desafios para a efetiva restauração da Floresta Atlântica (Brancalion et al., 2012). ...
From the last three decades, there has been a growing perception that the restoration of degraded ecosystems is necessary to guarantee a minimum life quality for future generations. The objective of this work was to evaluate the successional agroforestry systems of Vale do Ribeira, using ecological restoration indicators present in the Brazilian legislation and the in international concepts presented by the Society for Ecological Restoration, and to point out possible solutions to optimize its potential. The successional agroforestry systems in the Vale do Ribeira proved to be efficient, effective and engaged as ecological restoration practices, since they meet the ecological restoration indicators of the legislation and most of the concepts of restoration ecology. Public policies should be developed aiming regulatory incentives and technological solutions to increase income generation by these systems.
... Ecological restoration is increasingly considered a pragmatic solution to many environmental issues caused by anthropogenic disturbance (Suding et al., 2015;Benayas et al., 2009& De Groot et al., 2013. A primary goal of ecological restoration is to return an ecosystem to its pre-disturbed condition, ultimately becoming self-sustaining in its functioning (Simenstad et al., 2006). ...
Urban ecological restoration faces distinct challenges due to the highly modified biophysical conditions that characterise cities. To overcome these difficulties and assist in decision-making, ecological principles should underpin comprehensive analyses at both the landscape and site-specific scale. With increasing recognition of the role that the environment plays in social and economic prosperity, there are a growing number of strategies focused on increasing native habitat in urban centres. This thesis presents three integrated studies in support of Hamilton City Council’s goal under the Nature in the City Strategy to increase indigenous vegetation cover from about 1.8% to a minimum of 10% by 2050. Landform and ecological unit representativeness analyses in the city reveal the extent of under-represented environments, but it also presents opportunities to improve this criterion rapidly. Then, a multicriteria ecological prioritisation tool specifically developed for Hamilton City identified the most ecologically intact sites that could support the selection of potential gully and reserve restoration sites following the Nature in the City Strategy. Finally, at the site-specific scale, assessments of the vegetation composition and structure of three kahikatea forest remnants determined appropriate restoration strategies that may guide restoration projects in other cities.
... Moreover, there is a lack of systemization of information on FLR costs and benefits. 237,238,239 A literature review of forest restoration costs in tropical and subtropical countries across a range of restoration interventions retrieved 61 relevant studies that provided restoration cost estimates in specific countries. 240 Of these, 23 contained sufficiently robust data to allow the calculation of costs per unit area per year ( Table 5). ...
FAO. 2022. The State of the World’s Forests 2022. Forest pathways for green recovery and building inclusive, resilient and sustainable economies. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, FAO.
... Therefore, active approaches may be preferable in highly degraded ecosystems (McIver and Starr, 2001). Despite the comparatively higher costs involved in active restoration schemes (Rohr et al., 2018), long-term experience shows that many times, the generated benefits are greater than the related costs (De Groot et al., 2013). This seems to be particularly relevant for resource-limited environments, such as drylands, where primary productivity and other ecosystem functions are primarily determined by the low availability of water (D'Odorico et al., 2007;Schaffer et al., 2018;Lian et al., 2021). ...
Land degradation affects extensive drylands around the world. Due to long-term misuse, the Israeli Sde Zin dryland site has faced severe degradation. The study objective was to assess the feasibility of passive restoration in recovering the site. The study was conducted in four land-units along a preservation-degradation continuum: (1) an area that has not faced anthropogenic disturbances (Ecological land); (2) an area that was proclaimed as a national park in the 1970s (Rehabilitation); (3) an area that was prone, until recently, to moderate anthropogenic pressures (Triangle); and (4) a dirt road that was subjected to long-term off-road traffic (Dirtroad). Soil was sampled and analyzed for its properties. The soil physical quality followed the trend of Ecological land > Rehabilitation > Triangle > Dirtroad. Specifically, high soil salinity in the latter three land-units is attributed to long-term erosional processes that exposed the underlying salic horizons. Herbaceous and shrubby vegetation cover was also monitored. The herbaceous vegetation cover followed the trend of Ecological land (86.4%) > Rehabilitation (40.3%) > Triangle (26.2%) > Dirtroad (2.1%), while the shrubby cover was 2.8% in the Ecological land-unit, and practically zero in the other land-units. It seems that despite the effectiveness of passive restoration in recovering the soil’s physical properties, the recovery of vegetation is limited by the severe soil salinity.
... Invasive species management may not be profitable for ranches (Tanaka et al. 2011). This potential lack of profitability seems contradictory with the general finding that invasive species prevention and control is beneficial (De Groot et al. 2013;Taylor et al. 2013). Part of the discrepancy is that invasive species exist on mosaics of public-private ownership, whereas most economic studies of invasion assess the problem at the landscape scale (Epanchin-Niell and Wilen 2015). ...
Invasive species pose a threat to the livelihoods of many people living on rangelands of the western U.S. Invasive species impact many ecosystem goods and services of the areas they invade, and are one of the largest causes of habitat degradation. On private ranches, economic analyses often find that conservation practices, such as invasive species control, are not economically viable, in contrast to what is found at the landscape scale. In northeast Wyoming, Ventenata dubia (Leers) Coss is a relatively new invader in the Great Plains ecoregion that threatens forage production on ranches. Our objective was to explore the economic costs of V. dubia for two options available to a ranch operation: purchasing extra hay to offset losses in forage, and controlling V. dubia with herbicide. Using a partial budget analysis, we compare these two options in three invasion scenarios using a range of forage utilization rates and discount rates. Controlling V. dubia with herbicide was a beneficial option over purchasing additional hay in many cases. In fact, at 50% utilization, it is cheaper to control V. dubia in all of our scenarios at all discount rates given our assumptions. For lower grazing utilization rates, it becomes cheaper to purchase hay in some cases other than in our worst case invasion scenario. In these cases, coordination among ranchers is needed to effectively control V. dubia . There are many ranch-specific differences that may make a different option more feasible, and we did not explore options of reducing herd sizes. However, our results suggest that controlling V. dubia can be an economically-viable option under certain circumstances. Additional assistance in the form of a cost share program, and facilitation of coordination, is needed to overcome the difficulties of private management of invasive species.
... Most regeneration techniques (e.g. planting of saplings and trees, cuttings) are not cost effective and this has been a major barrier for up scaling this activity (De Groot et al. 2013, Jayawardhane & Gunaratne 2020. ...
... FAO identifies forest sustainable management as the most important operational category to enhance economic, social, and environmental quality of rural areas, mainly because of its impact on improvement of crop production and productivity connected to protection from flood and landslide effects [78]. Forest and woodlands' recovery and new arboreal plantations are particularly relevant for the definition and implementation of spatial planning policies since the assessment of their economic impact in terms of mitigation and adaptation to climate change is generally recognized as particularly effective in the medium and long runs, especially due to decrease in flood and landslide risk [79,80], as well as for biodiversity protection and enhancement [81][82][83]. ...
Land take and soil sealing imply land cover transitions that may possibly result in decreased capacity to resist landslides; hence, this study focuses on the relations between land-taking processes and landslide hazard by addressing the following research question: "To what extent do land-taking processes increase landslide hazard?" The impact of land take is assessed through a regression model which relates the level of landslide hazard to a set of land cover variables which include artificialized land; that is, land taken up through urbanization processes, and a set of covariates that represent land cover types grouped in accordance with the LEAC (land and ecosystem accounting) classification. This methodological approach is implemented into the spatial context of Sardinia, an insular Italian region, and shows that not only the amount of taken up artificialized land, but also other types of land covers, are likely to increase the magnitude of landslide hazard. A set of implications concerning planning policies related to land cover and land cover transitions are discussed in the concluding section, where policy recommendations are identified in order to mitigate the impacts of land cover transitions on landslide hazards.
... For these areas, a large-scale protection status linked to existing protected areas within, or even outside, the administrative boundaries would support the preservation of the functional connectivity of UTS in the city and beyond. Although this paper recommends using the results by following the mentioned four steps, it recognises the complexity of decision-making processes in revitalising brownfields [75]. Only 15% of all brownfields are owned by the city [54]. ...
The connectivity of green infrastructure facilitating the movement of organisms is the key to strengthening biodiversity in cities. Brownfields are a valuable land resource, with their revitalisation as a Nature Based Solution high on the policy agenda. In supporting cities which simultaneously aim for densification and the maintenance or further development of greenery, this paper develops a model for identifying and prioritising the role of revitalised and prevailing brownfields for the connectivity of green infrastructure using the example of Leipzig, Germany. Comparing metrics between land use categories, brownfields have a central role as stepping stones, with a value of 13%, while revitalised brownfields substantially contribute to global connectivity, with a value of 87% being equally important, for example, with Leipzig’s central parks. This paper’s spatial-explicit network approach provides a complementary planning tool for prioritising brownfields and the added value of their renaturing by identifying (a) strategic functional corridors formed by brownfields, (b) the connectivity relevance and exposure of individual brownfields, and (c) how renatured brownfields would strengthen existing corridors and form alternative paths. This paper presents an approach using freely available software tools and high-resolution canopy data as a proxy for functional connectivity which serves as a standardised and comparable ex-ante evaluation of NBS strategies being implemented in other cities.
... De Groot, et al. (2013) make ten recommendations to encourage the utilization of existing knowledge and to improve the incorporation of ecosystems into policy, planning, and funding for coastal hazard risk reduction. Zhou, et al. (2013) address climate change adaptation and extreme rainfall in urban areas by evaluating benefit and costs of four adaptation projects; they conclude that integration of open drainage basins in an urban setting is the best adaptation strategy compared to stormwater pipe enlargement and investments in small scale infiltration improvements. ...
... While the potential exists, there are still few marine examples of PES . (iii) Biodiversity offset credits (habitat banking): this exploratory approach, not implemented yet, corresponds to payments received by the MPA from project developers in compensation for planned damage caused by development projects which impact coral reefs and other marine habitats (Bovarnick et al., 2010;Quétier and Lavorel, 2011;Groot et al., 2013;Pioch, 2015). The MPA would be the guarantor that the habitats are protected and could offer habitat "credits". ...
La protection côtière est un service écosystémique (SE) des récifs coralliens extrêmement important, en particulier avec les impacts négatifs imminents et croissants du changement climatique mondial (GCC). Le SE de protection côtière n'a cependant pas retenu la même attention que celle portée à des SE plus « évidents » peut-être parce que les avantages du SE ne sont visibles que sur terre (pas en mer) et sont couplés à des défis dans son évaluation tels que la détermination précise du rôle du corail vivant dans la fourniture du service. Malgré ces défis, la contribution des récifs à la prestation des SE a été scientifiquement prouvée. Les récifs coralliens sont en déclin à l'échelle mondiale à cause des impacts locaux et mondiaux, exacerbés par un financement inadéquat et non durable de leur protection et gestion. Il est impératif que nous déterminions les méthodes les plus adaptées pour améliorer la santé des récifs, dans un monde où la situation est à la fois désastreuse et sensible au temps ; avec un délai estimé à moins de 50 ans pour agir. Un élément essentiel de toute solution est de savoir comment payer pour ces améliorations, à un moment où les méthodes de financement traditionnelles semblent insuffisantes et où un financement inadéquat est identifié comme un obstacle majeur au succès de la conservation. L'objectif de cette thèse est d'étudier des solutions à la fois écologiques et financières pour améliorer la santé des récifs coralliens et son SE de protection des côtes. Nous concentrons l'analyse sur la viabilité et le financement de récifs artificiels “gris-verts” avec des solutions de restauration des récifs coralliens visant à protéger les plages de l'érosion. Le chapitre 2. Du paper pose le « décor » des chapitres suivants. Les interventions écologiques et financières interviennent dans le cadre d'une Aire Marine Protégée (AMP). Le document a analysé les données de 2 nations insulaires et via des analyses coûts-avantages a fourni des preuves de l'attractivité de l'investissement dans les AMP pour protéger les SE. Le chapitre prochaine passe en revue ce que l'on sait de la protection côtière des récifs coralliens et détermine sa faisabilité pour un système de paiement pour les services écosystémiques (PSE). Au cours du processus, le rôle du corail vivant a été analysé et les actions de gestion identifiées qui pourraient améliorer la santé des récifs pour la prestation de services ont été identifiées. Ce document identifie la restauration des coraux comme une intervention clé pour la protection côtière et fournit la justification du chapitre 5. Le chapitre 5 explore plus en détail les moyens non publics de financement de la conservation marine via des investissements à impact et des financements mixtes. Ayant identifié qu'il est logique d'investir dans les AMP au chapitre 1, nous identifions le type de financement et proposons un mécanisme de financement pour l'investissement. Les sorties sont utilisées dans le chapitre 5Le chapitre 6 utilise les résultats des chapitres 4 et 5 et développe des solutions écologiques et financières pour la protection côtière. Dans cet article, nous démontrons l'impact positif de la restauration des récifs, proposons des options pour le faire et montrons l'additionnalité obtenue en utilisant de telles solutions basées sur la nature par rapport aux infrastructures grises traditionnelles pour atténuer l'érosion côtière. Le chapitre 7 synthétise les résultats des chapitres précédents et conclut que si la restauration n'est pas une solution « parfaite », c'est peut-être notre meilleure chance d'améliorer la santé des récifs pour la protection côtière. Le fardeau du financement de telles solutions - dont le coût varie considérablement - ne devrait pas incomber uniquement aux gouvernements et devrait être partagé avec le secteur privé, en particulier ceux qui bénéficient directement de la protection côtière.
... Concern is growing about the sustained and cumulative pressures such as pollution, habitat loss and overfishing, and their consequences for the communities (Depledge et al., 2019). Undoubtedly, the restoration and preservation of coastal and marine ecosystems, and mitigating the effects of climate change at this critical time for the global environment (de Groot et al., 2013;Pueyo-Ros et al., 2018;Pouso et al., 2019) will support the BBB goals. ...
Global environmental change is a defining issue of our time. The ocean is a key component of the Earth system, and yet, in-depth understanding of its roles in sustaining life has not received the attention which it deserves. Humanity must develop a new relationship with the ocean characterized by protection, sustainable production, and prosperity. Society has too much to gain by implementing sustainability solutions and too much to lose by ignoring them. Our actions or inaction now will have far-reaching implications for future of all life on Earth. Ocean blueprint that calls for enforcing 30% Marine Protected Areas by 2030 requires real transformative action. This paper contains new ideas for combining the efforts of natural and social scientists, and traditional users of sea, and explores the potential of modern technologies to assist in this campaign. ‘Smart Sea’ concept introduced in this paper envisages synergies among the problem-solving approaches including digital tools, and eco-engineering and eco-mimicry solution options. Knowledge gaps have been highlighted and relevance of new knowledge systems emphasized together with enabling conditions to address the uncertainties associated with the ocean ecosystem. The ocean has a central position in actions towards preventing global warming of 1.5oC but measures to achieve it should consider that the ocean carbon sink is dynamic and is adversely affected when excessive carbon dioxide produces acidification. The selected measures are likely to have trade-offs, requiring analysis of multiple dimensions, for ensuring sustainable outcomes. The prevailing ocean health and urgency to mitigate it calls for combining global and local solutions, technologies and actions driven by safe and innovative solutions, and wherever possible, based on proof-of-concept. Deviating from the on-going incremental data collection systems to new forms of data-sharing using modern technological tools will contribute to addressing the glaring vacuum in knowledge of the ocean and facilitating a concerted global action for maintaining its ecosystem services. An attempt has been made in this paper to consolidate different opinions and experiences in moving from generalities to specifics for sustainable solutions that support economies, food security and the society.
... In addition, they provide cultural, knowledge, spiritual, aesthetic and recreational services to a diversity of people (Russell-Smith and Sangha, 2018;Sangha et al., 2017). Tropical savannahs are associated with several of Earth's nomadic and Indigenous peoples, many of whom rely on these ecosystems for subsistence, identity, and spirituality (Fig. 2;De Groot et al., 2013;Howlett and Lawrence, 2019). ...
All tropical savannahs are experiencing extensive transformation and degradation, yet conservation strategies do not adequately address threats to savannahs. Here, using a recently published ecosystem intactness metric, we assess the current condition of tropical savannahs across Earth, finding that <3 % remain highly intact. Moreover, their overall levels of protection are low, and of the protected savannahs, just 4 % can be considered highly intact while the majority (>60 %) are in poor condition. In order to address the clear mismatch between the decline in tropical savannah ecosystems’ condition and the response to manage and conserve them, we reviewed the current drivers that lead to tropical savannah degradation and identified conservation approaches being used to address them. Many successful conservation approaches address multiple drivers of change but are applied across small areas. We argue these approaches have the potential to be up-scaled through integrated land-use planning.
... The paper "Valuation of ecosystem services based on EU carbon allowances-optimal recovery of a coal mining area" [1] proposed a new framework for evaluating ecosystem services, a concept that is often used to describe links between nature and the economy [2][3][4][5][6]. Up to now, multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) has been used as the preferred tool to integrate multiple values by assigning them a relative weight [7][8][9][10]. ...
Multi-criteria decision analysis and cost-benefit analysis, either individually or in combination, have been used as the preferred tools to develop ecosystem services valuation, presenting significant discrepancies and variations between the calculated values. To counteract this problem, a new framework was developed based on a hierarchical weighting of the non-provisioning ecosystem services, using biodiversity as the reference ecosystem service since it is the easiest to apprehend. Their monetisation was made using the average price of EU carbon dioxide emission allowances during 2019 and 2020, obtaining reasonable and comparable results in line with what was expected for the study region. However, the revised EU Emissions Trading System Directive, which will apply from 2021–2030, generated a price escalation of carbon allowances, making it necessary to adjust or rethink the proposed framework. To achieve this goal, the paper proposes the introduction of new vectors or “missing ecosystem services” to counterbalance efforts to eliminate carbon dioxide emissions without necessarily removing humans from the equation: welfare and human health. As the linkages regarding ecosystem health, ecological restoration and human health are not well known, only welfare was incorporated into the framework. The results were highly satisfactory, in line with what was expected for the study region and the ones obtained before the price escalation of carbon allowances that started in 2021.
... Restoration costs are often much higher for aquatic systems 9 than for terrestrial systems, likely due in part to difficulties posed by the necessity of working in and around water. Freshwater restoration has been reported to have a median cost of $16,000/ha, and costs for coastal marine systems are even higher at $80,000/ha, while costs for terrestrial ecosystems range from $1000/ha to $7000/ha (De Groot et al. 2013). A review by Bayraktarov et al. (2019) found $400,000 USD was the median cost of a coral reef restoration project, but that project costs could soar as high as $4,000,000 USD. ...
Aquatic ecosystems have been extensively modified by human activity. The resulting degradation of aquatic habitats has led to devastating declines in fish biodiversity, with freshwater-dependent species suffering disproportionately. Restoration has become an increasingly popular strategy aimed at remedying the degradation of aquatic systems and reversing declines in fish biodiversity. Billions of dollars are spent on aquatic restoration each year within the United States alone, and yet the majority of restoration projects do not achieve success in reaching the goals of mitigating degradation and halting fish biodiversity loss. Restoration monitoring efforts typically rely on population- and community-level metrics that cannot respond to restoration on the short temporal scales that projects are usually monitored (< 2 years), making it difficult to evaluate success or garner lessons that can be applied to future projects. Physiology is able to “fill in the gaps” that traditional monitoring cannot as it is mechanistic and can respond to environmental changes across multiple scales, particularly within short timeframes. Physiology can be thought of as a “filter,” whereby any change within the environment must first affect individual fish at the physiological level before it can affect fish at the population or community level. We discuss this link between physiological responses and population-level effects and ways in that physiology might be integrated into the restoration process. We propose that the integration of physiology into restoration monitoring is essential to improve the success of restoration projects for fish.
... There are three pathways of recovery: 1) Ecological restoration can increase the capacity of ecosystems and biotic communities to adapt to shifting environmental conditions. Although restoration programs have not been viewed as very cost effective, De Groot et al. [54] found that when appropriately analyzed, most ecological restoration projects were not only profitable but also high-yielding investments. Many of these projects were vital both for recovery of biodiversity and ecosystem goods and services useful to people [55]. ...
A wide range of anthropogenic activities impacts estuarine and coastal marine environments including interactive climate and non-climatic drivers of change that can significantly degrade biotic communities and habitats. Many of these environments are in decline due to changes in ecosystem structure and function resulting from multiple stressor effects. In addition, inadequate governance has supported a patchwork of single issues or sectoral approaches rather than integrated management of multiple human uses and activities to maintain healthy, productive, resilient, and sustainable ecosystems and the provision of goods and services. Ecosystem-based marine spatial planning is a viable framework for a more effective governance structure and management of these vital coastal environments. An important component of this approach is a holistic effort to assess the environmental, economic, and societal impacts of anthropogenic activities. Thus, a multidisciplinary integrated approach is preferred that links ecological, physical, and socioeconomic systems, increasing the protection of resources and societal benefits. For degraded estuarine and coastal marine ecosystems, restoration and rehabilitation initiatives are important intervention strategies used to reverse the loss of habitats and biotic resources and to support management programs. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are an integral element of marine management plans to conserve and sustain estua-rine and coastal marine environments by protecting threatened ecosystems and their resources from anthropogenic activities. National and international regulatory frameworks and directives are also in place to protect and conserve these environments.
... • cost of project failure, i.e., ecosystem collapse This data is difficult to obtain for two reasons, 1) there are few NbS projects implemented specifically for coastal protection and even fewer have quantified and published the costs incurred during design, implementation/maintenance and monitoring, and 2) monetarily quantifying ecosystem services typically only consider the desired project objective and do not holistically consider all co-benefits. Consequently, for the restoration of blue ecosystems, previous CBA's have suggested that the cost of these projects can outweigh the benefits (De Groot et al., 2013;Stewart-Sinclair, Klein, Bateman, & Lovelock, 2021). Furthermore, the absence of this data can hinder the attractiveness of NbS as a viable alternative to traditional coastal defence strategies rendering them to the 'too hard basket'. ...
1) Large scale and coordinated restoration of coastal and marine ecosystems will benefit our natural assets and improve our capability to mitigate and adapt to climate change, while also generating jobs and providing communities with economic and social benefits.
2) Scaling up restoration requires a national scale science-based plan adopted at state/territory and local levels, and a new economic model which is blended between government funding as well as investment pipelines from the private sector and philanthropy.
3) Coastal and marine restoration projects co-designed with diverse stakeholders (e.g., research, practitioner, community, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Organisations) provide greater value than those designed by single groups; In particular, Traditional Custodians are rights holders and there is a need to work towards improved models of culturally appropriate and meaningful engagement.
... These findings agree with the research results by De Groot et al. on ecosystem restoration projects. According to their research, money spent on restoration is not just an expenditure, but a valuable investment that will generate a variety of benefits and can help achieve policy objectives [162]. ...
Indonesia’s tropical peatlands are one of the world’s largest carbon sinks, and they are facing the threat of extensive degradation and conversion. The Indonesian government is committed to peat restoration. However, restoration is still a costly, top-down approach lacking community participation, and is focused on the 3R scheme (rewetting, revegetation, and revitalization). Peatland restoration businesses are part of the innovative effort to finance this endeavor. Unfortunately, there is not much information available about the pre-conditions required to create a restoration business. This study seeks to understand the enabling conditions for the development of peatland restoration, with a focus on the tamanu oil business, and to assess whether the same situation might apply in the context of the restoration of degraded peatland. PEST analysis is used to describe the macro-environmental factors of the tamanu oil business and its development opportunities in degraded peatlands. Tamanu oil-based peat ecosystem restoration businesses offer good prospects because of the growing it has grown the bioenergy and biomedical markets, and they can cover a larger area of degraded peatland landscape. For tamanu oil businesses to succeed in peat ecosystem restoration, we recommend that policy documents at various levels include tamanu as a priority commodity for peatland restoration and alternative community businesses, followed by planting programs by all stakeholders. The government and social organizations must take positions as initiators and catalysts, establish a significant number and extent of pilot tamanu plantations, and create a mutually supportive business climate between entrepreneurs and peatland managers.
... This study supports the growing realisation of the wealth gained from restoring or protecting natural ecosystems, making a compelling business case for their restoration in addition to biodiversity values (Bullock et al. 2011, Shimamoto et al. 2018, Orth et al. 2020. Overwhelmingly, case studies that have investigated multiple ecosystem services delivered have found that over reasonable time-frames, the ecosystem service bene ts outweigh the costs of management action (de Groot et al. 2013, Cziesielski et al. 2021. The spatial variability in costs and bene ts seen here and in other studies also means that this information can be used to prioritise areas for management when funding is limited (Adame et al. 2015, Atkinson et al. 2016. ...
Ecosystem accounting is a structured approach to compiling environmental and economic information. While accounts are typically used to compile data on past trends, they have an unrealised capacity to also be used to inform decisions by providing a structured approach to scenario evaluation of potential futures. We used the global standard for ecosystem accounting (System for Environmental Economic Accounting), to examine past trends and potential future restoration options in two large metropolitan bays, where data existed for tidal marshes, mangroves and seagrass. We assessed options for reversing the loss of these ecosystems and although the net benefit varied between sites, we found that if all sites were restored, the overall investment-benefit ratio would be 10.5, resulting from AUD$100 million of ecosystem services from an investment of AUD$8.5 million. This study highlights the advantage of structured approaches to data compilation through ecosystem accounts, and consideration of ecosystem dynamics and response to restoration actions, to inform management decisions.
... The socio-economic analysis includes any aspect which relates to the restoration project and doesn't have only an ecological connotation but also human, financial, and subjective features relating to the concept of ecosystem services. Reef ecosystems have a financial value that depends also on the benefits provided to the communities through direct activities conducted within the reef 34 as well as the indirect effects of a healthy ecosystem on the environment through, for example, increased fisheries or shoreline protection [140][141][142][143] . ...
... A study investigating the benefits of investing in ecosystem restoration found that tropical forests offered one of the highest value for restoration investment (after coastal and inland wetlands) (De Groot et al., 2013). Case studies across the world have also established that natural regeneration is significantly cheaper than tree planting, while simultaneously providing much higher carbon sequestration, but need to be incentivized by long-term funding mechanisms (Di Sacco et al., 2021). ...
The Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions analysed in the OECM are defined and are presented for the 12 sectors analysed: (1) energy, (2) power and gas utilities, (3) transport, (4) steel industry, (5) cement industry, (6) farming, (7) agriculture and forestry, (8) chemical industry, (9) aluminium industry, (10) construction and buildings, (11) water utilities, and (12) textiles and leather industry. The interconnections between all energy-related CO2 emissions are summarized with a Sankey graph.KeywordsScope 1, 2, and 3 emissionsIndustryServiceTransportBuildings steelCementAluminiumChemicals agricultureForests water utilitiesTextile and leather
... A study investigating the benefits of investing in ecosystem restoration found that tropical forests offered one of the highest value for restoration investment (after coastal and inland wetlands) (De Groot et al., 2013). Case studies across the world have also established that natural regeneration is significantly cheaper than tree planting, while simultaneously providing much higher carbon sequestration, but need to be incentivized by long-term funding mechanisms (Di Sacco et al., 2021). ...
The OneEarth Climate Model (OECM), its background, and program architecture are described. How the OECM is broken down into two independent modules to calculate demand and supply is explored. The basic program logic of the MATLAB-based bottom-up demand module, with high technical resolution, is described for various sectors, including the input and output parameters. The description includes numerous figures and tables for both demand and supply modules. The sub-sectors used for the OECM 1.5 °C pathway are listed, including outputs and the areas of use.
The second part of the chapter documents the high-efficiency building (HEB) model of the Central European University, which was used for the global and regional bottom-up analyses of the building sector. Its methodology, including the programme architecture, the workflow, and the equations used, is provided.
The speed at which marine and coastal ecosystems are being degraded due to cumulative impacts limits the effectiveness of conservation strategies. To abate ocean degradation and allow ocean regeneration, conservation planning needs to be improved and ecological restoration will be needed.
This study explores the potential of incorporating restoration into marine spatial planning (MSP) anchored to ecosystem‐based management (EBM), termed EB‐MSP, for maximizing ocean regeneration. This perspective explicitly brings both passive and active restorations into EB‐MSP in a broad and holistic framework for achieving the recovery of ocean ecosystems, their functions and their valuable services.
By proposing a restoration‐focused EB‐MSP framework, we highlight the co‐benefits of interlinking MSP and marine restoration through the EBM core principles. Such benefits include a scaling‐up of restoration effectiveness, a greater guarantee that sustainability and conservation goals will be met and improvements in MSP as an integrated planning tool with the potential to address climate change. Together, this will promote ocean regeneration alongside management for sustainable use to prevent further degradation and to allow much‐needed ecological recovery.
The process of land-taking and soil sealing involves changing the way land is used, which in turn can make the land more vulnerable to landslides. This means that the land may not be able to withstand the forces of landslides as effectively as it could before. Therefore, this study examines how land-taking processes, such as urbanization, can increase the risk of landslides. The study asks the research question, “To what extent do land-taking processes increase landslide hazard?”. The impact of land take is measured using a regression model that analyzes land cover variables, including artificialized land, and other land cover types grouped according to the LEAC (Land and Ecosystem Accounting) classification. The study is conducted in Sardinia and shows that land-taking processes, including urbanization, increase the size of the area prone to landslides. The study offers suggestions for planning policies to mitigate the impacts of land cover transitions on landslide hazards.KeywordsLand TakeLandslide HazardLand Cover Change
To date, there have been limited applications of cost-effectiveness analysis and cost-benefit analysis by those involved in ecological restoration, yet these can be powerful tools to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of management and research efforts. First, cost-effectiveness analysis allows restoration practitioners to develop procedures that achieve the greatest ecological value for the limited money which has been made available for restoration. Second, cost-benefit analysis is needed to justify the importance of restoration projects, giving these projects a better chance of competing for government and other funds in a field of worthy causes. At the same time, it is recognised that the use of economic tools can unintentionally commodify and therefore undermine ecological restoration. Nevertheless, using the language and practices of economics, while consciously maintaining an environmentally friendly ethical position, will markedly strengthen restoration proposals.
Extensive urbanization with rapidly increasing human population leads to changes in urban environment specially land use pattern, energy budget, overexploitation and depletion of natural resources, degradation of water, air and soil quality, and waste generation including wastewater and greenhouse gases. Further, increasing human activities and extensive development leads to more encroachment on land and water resources which cause more imbalances in urban environment. Therefore, more sustainable approaches need to be adapted in changing scenario for urban planning specially in developing green cities with sustainable resource utilization and better waste management practices. Advancement in technologies for waste generation reduction, waste treatment, recycling of waste, and energy conservation approaches could be helpful in upkeeping the better urban environment and to ensure sustainable development. Urban resources management is currently being included into a method for urban spatial planning. The urban harvest approach (UHA), which is founded on the idea of urban metabolism, seeks to improve resource management by utilizing cutting-edge technologies, ending urban cycles, and harvesting urban resources. Economic expansion, the rise in living standards, and the general development of civilization all have an impact on the environment, and it is now clear that this impact is distorting the natural equilibrium. Novel technologies must be critically reviewed to meet the complex needs necessary for a balanced and sustainable future.KeywordsClimate changeResourcesSewageUrban environmentUrbanizationWaste disposal
Governments in many countries are pursuing higher environmental goals for agriculture. However, in an interconnected world, the unilateral adoption of environmental policies for agriculture can reduce the producers’ competitiveness and induce pollution leakage. This report analyses these challenges and discusses policy solutions, focusing on two examples: climate change mitigation policies and policies limiting the environmental impacts of pesticides. The extent of competitiveness and leakage effects is found to depend on market conditions, differences in pollution intensity, and the type of environmental policy adopted. Two policy routes are identified to improve agriculture’s environmental performance while maintaining the benefits of global markets. The first route relies on “direct” environmental policies, such as market-based instruments or regulations, which are rapidly effective in limiting environmental impacts but may require additional complementary policies to limit their potential competitiveness and leakage impacts. The second route involves alternative policies acting on agricultural supply, demand, or through private sector engagement, which limit competitiveness and leakage impacts but may require time to be environmentally effective.
Foundation species, such as trees, corals, grasses, oysters, and rockweeds, must be common and abundant to effectively modify the physical environment and increase biodiversity by buffering environmental stress. Yet many of these important species have been declining due to disease, climate change, and other factors. A prime example is the precipitous population decline of marine rockweeds, which is attributed to increased urbanization and its accompanying impacts. Rockweeds provide three-dimensional habitat in harsh rocky intertidal environments and regulate ecosystem functioning, essential roles that no substitute species are capable of filling. Recovery of impacted rockweed populations is typically slow and unpredictable due to their limited dispersal capacity. These issues have motivated efforts to conserve remaining populations of rockweeds and reestablish or enhance depleted ones. Successfully doing so requires a robust understanding of factors that affect survival of the species and the processes that influence ecosystem structure, along with rigorous scientific testing of restoration methods and the factors that affect restoration success. In this comprehensive review, we summarize the current knowledge of rockweed ecology, highlight studies that could inform restoration practices, and recommend ways to improve our ability to implement scalable restoration of rockweeds and accompanying ecosystem-wide benefits.
Landscape‐scale prioritization models are powerful decision‐making tools in ecological restoration. Yet, they often fail to integrate multi‐stakeholder perspectives and socio‐ecological criteria.
We designed a new methodology to identify high‐priority areas for landscape‐scale restoration. This participatory cost‐effectiveness analysis model is based on execution and maintenance costs and the potential increase in the supply of multiple ecosystem services.
We tested the model in a 181,000 ha heavily anthropized semi‐arid landscape in southeastern Spain. Restoring the whole area would cost 221 million EUR and enhance the supply of ecosystem services by 39%. The cost‐effectiveness of restoring pine forest and abandoned and irrigated crops were higher than restoring other Landscape Units. Restoring the least degraded sites was more cost‐effective than the most degraded areas or randomly selecting sites, even when potential recovery was incomplete.
Synthesis and applications . The cost‐effectiveness of restoration actions depends on the type of ecosystem and degradation state. Visualizing the outcomes of alternative restoration scenarios needs participatory prioritization maps based on financial costs and the potential supply of ecosystem services. We propose a participatory prioritization protocol that is flexible and adaptable and can help government agencies, environmental managers, investors, consultancies and NGOs' plan restoration actions at the landscape scale and optimize the effectiveness of restoration programs.
Human activities have led to degradation of ecosystems globally. The lost ecosystem functions and services accumulate from the time of disturbance to the full recovery of the ecosystem and can be quantified as a "recovery debt," providing a valuable tool to develop better restoration practices that accelerate recovery and limit losses. Here, we quantified the recovery of faunal biodiversity and abundance toward a predisturbed state following structural restoration of oyster habitats globally. We found that while restoration initiates a rapid increase in biodiversity and abundance of reef-associated species within 2 years, recovery rate then decreases substantially, leaving a global shortfall in recovery of 35% below a predisturbed state. While efficient restoration methods boost recovery and minimize recovery shortfalls, the time to full recovery is yet to be quantified. Therefore, potential future coastal development should weigh up not only the instantaneous damage to ecosystem functions but also the potential for generational loss of services.
With the intensification of climate warming and human activities, the ecosystems on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) are facing increasing threats which leads to extensive ecological degradation. Ecological restoration measures need to be implemented to improve biodiversity and ecosystem services to mitigate the impact of climate change and human disturbances. However, the key priority areas (KPAs) for ecological restoration are not clear on the QTP, and the benefits of ecosystem services for ecological restoration are often ignored. In this study, we are the first to identify the KPAs based on the quantitative evaluation method and multicriteria optimization algorithm under five restoration scenarios aiming at ecosystem service improvement on the QTP. Results showed that: (1) The benefits of ecological restoration for climate change mitigation and associated costs under different scenarios showed generally similar spatial variability, exhibiting higher in the south and lower in the west, which were different from those for biodiversity. (2) The restoration priorities in Sichuan and Yunnan were generally higher under scenarios Ⅱ and Ⅴ, while in Xinjiang, Sichuan, Yunnan, and western and southern Tibet were higher under scenarios Ⅰ, Ⅲ and Ⅳ. (3) For different ecosystems, the similarities lied in that the restoration priorities of wetland ecosystem were the highest, while those of desert ecosystem were the lowest under five restoration scenarios. (4) When the restoration area requirement was 25% of the total degraded area, the highest restoration priority levels under scenarios Ⅰ, Ⅲ and Ⅳ were mainly distributed in Guinan, Renbu, Nierong and Chayu counties, and under scenarios Ⅱ and Ⅴ were mainly distributed in Renbu, Lang and Guinan counties. When the restoration area requirements were 50% and 75% of the total degraded area, the counties with higher restoration priority levels under scenario Ⅱ were different from those under other four scenarios. This study identified the KPAs under different restoration scenarios, which provided references for the restoration measures implementation on the QTP.
Ecosystem restoration is now globally recognized as a key component in conservation programs and essential to the quest for the long-term sustainability of our human-dominated planet. Restoration scientists and practitioners are now on the frontline and will be increasingly called upon to get involved in large scale programs addressing immediate environmental crises and challenges. Here, we summarize the advances in mainstreaming ecological restoration in global environmental policy deliberations during the last year, culminating in the recent meeting of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. We also provide key references for those seeking more information, and set out an agenda as to how the restoration community could respond to and act upon these recent developments. However, we underline the need for caution and prudence; we must not promise more than we can deliver. Thirty years after the emergence of ecological restoration as a scientific discipline and practice, there remain many obstacles and misconceptions about what can be achieved at large scales. Yet, clearly the old adage applies here: nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Drawing on a team of more than 100 authors and reviewers, TEEB in National and International Policy making, led by Patrick ten Brink, demonstrates the value of ecosystems and biodiversity to the economy, society and individuals. It underlines the need and ways to transform our approach to natural capital, and demonstrates how we can practically take into account the value of ecosystems and biodiversity in policy actions – at both national and international levels – to promote the protection of our environment and contribute to a sustainable economy and the well-being of societies.
TEEB in national and international policy making highlights the need for new public policy to reflect the appreciation that public goods and social benefits are often overlooked and that we need a transition to decision making which integrates the many values of nature across policy sectors. We explore the range of instruments to reward those offering ecosystem benefits such as water provision and climate regulation, and look at the fiscal and regulatory instruments to reduce the incentives of those running down our natural capital, and at reforming subsidies so they respond to current and future priorities.
The article discusses the economic dimension of ecological restoration drawing on experiences in the Brazilian Atlantic forest, which is one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet and also one of the richest in endemism. The looming land crisis has been receiving increasing attention worldwide. In this context, forest restoration could be seen as just another factor in the demand for land, with the potential to reduce food production, increase food prices and have other unwanted consequences. Centuries of deforestation and forest degradation have compromised the delivery of ecosystem services and the production of forest goods in the Atlantic forest. Nevertheless, the region presents a huge opportunity for new approaches to ecological restoration and for establishing forest restoration as an economically viable practice. The Atlantic forest has been exploited to the point where it no longer supplies significant quantities of timber.
Deforestation is a major source of anthropogenic greenhouse gas
emissions, and the greatest single driver of species extinctions. The
reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD)
has been formally recognized as a climate change mitigation option. REDD
might have important co-benefits for biodiversity conservation, yet the
extent of these benefits will depend on as-yet untested associations
between fine-scale spatial patterns of deforestation, species
distributions and carbon stocks. Here we combine a global land-use model
and spatial data on species distributions to explore scenarios of future
deforestation within REDD-eligible countries, to quantify and map the
potential impacts on species extinctions as increased by forest loss and
decreased by carbon conservation. We found that the continuation of
historical deforestation rates is likely to result in large numbers of
species extinctions, but that an adequately funded REDD programme could
substantially reduce these losses. Under our deforestation scenarios,
the projected benefits of REDD were remarkably consistent across the
four methods used to estimate extinctions, but spatially variable, and
highly dependent on the level of carbon payments. Our results indicate
that, if well designed, adequately funded and broadly implemented,
carbon-based forest conservation could play a major role in biodiversity
conservation as well as climate change mitigation.
This study examines the economic impact of the expenditures from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) administered for coastal habitat restoration projects around the United States. Estimates of the total jobs created as well as the average number of jobs created per million dollars spent are provided. The study shows that the 50 ARRA projects administered by NOAA in the first year and half generated a total of 1409 jobs. These habitat restoration projects created, on average, 17 jobs per million dollars spent which is similar to other conservation industries such as parks and land conservation, and much higher than other traditional industries including coal, gas, and nuclear energy generation. This suggests that habitat restoration is indeed an effective way to stimulate job creation. In addition, habitat restoration has longer-term economic benefits, including future job creation in rebuilt fisheries and coastal tourism, and benefits to coastal economies including higher property values and better water quality. Therefore, investing in blue infrastructure habitat restoration is a green opportunity benefiting coastal economies and societies in both the short and the long term.
Mapping and assessment of ecosystems and their services
An analytical framework for ecosystem assessments under action 5 of the EU biodiversity strategy to 2020 : discussion paper – final, April 2013
Action 5 of the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 calls Member States to map and assess the state of ecosystems and their services in their national territory with the assistance of the European Commission. The objective of this discussion paper is to support the development of a coherent analytical framework to be applied by the EU and its Member States in order to ensure consistent approaches are used. In line with the Millennium Ecosystem assessment, the objective of the EU assessment is to provide a critical evaluation of the best available information for guiding decisions on complex public issues. It is therefore framed by a broad set of key policy questions. It is structured around a conceptual framework that links human societies and their well-being with the environment. More specifically, the paper proposes a typology of ecosystems to be assessed and mapped and the use of the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES) developed for environmental accounting purposes
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Corporate author(s): European Commission, Directorate-General for the Environment Themes: Environment policy and protection of the environment, Environmental research Target audience: Specialised/Technical Key words: ecosystem, environmental protection, environmental economics, environmental policy, common strategy, biodiversity, ecology, environmental monitoring, environmental indicator
We review the evidence of regime shifts in terrestrial and aquatic environments in relation to resilience of complex adaptive ecosystems and the functional roles of biological diversity in this context. The evidence reveals that the likelihood of regime shifts may increase when humans reduce resilience by such actions as removing response diversity, removing whole functional groups of species, or removing whole trophic levels; impacting on ecosystems via emissions of waste and pollutants and climate change; and altering the magnitude, frequency, and duration of disturbance regimes. The combined and often synergistic effects of those pressures can make ecosystems more vulnerable to changes that previously could be absorbed. As a consequence, ecosystems may suddenly shift from desired to less desired states in their capacity to generate ecosystem services. Active adaptive management and governance of resilience will be required to sustain desired ecosystem states and transform degraded ecosystems into fundamentally new and more desirable configurations.
a b s t r a c t This paper gives an overview of the value of ecosystem services of 10 main biomes expressed in monetary units. In total, over 320 publications were screened covering over 300 case study locations. Approximately 1350 value estimates were coded and stored in a searchable Ecosystem Service Value Database (ESVD). A selection of 665 value estimates was used for the analysis. Acknowledging the uncertainties and contextual nature of any valuation, the analysis shows that the total value of ecosystem services is considerable and ranges between 490 int$/year for the total bundle of ecosystem services that can potentially be provided by an 'average' hectare of open oceans to almost 350,000 int$/year for the potential services of an 'average' hectare of coral reefs. More importantly, our results show that most of this value is outside the market and best considered as non-tradable public benefits. The continued over-exploitation of ecosystems thus comes at the expense of the livelihood of the poor and future generations. Given that many of the positive externalities of ecosystems are lost or strongly reduced after land use conversion better accounting for the public goods and services provided by ecosystems is crucial to improve decision making and institutions for biodiversity conservation and sustainable ecosystem management.
Over the past 150 years, Brazil has played a pioneering role in developing environmental policies and pursuing forest conservation and ecological restoration of degraded ecosystems. In particular, the Brazilian Forest Act, first drafted in 1934, has been fundamental in reducing deforestation and engaging private land owners in forest restoration initiatives. At the time of writing (December 2010), however, a proposal for major revision of the Brazilian Forest Act is under intense debate in the National Assembly, and we are deeply concerned about the outcome. On the basis of the analysis of detailed vegetation and hydrographic maps, we estimate that the proposed changes may reduce the total amount of potential areas for restoration in the Atlantic Forest by approximately 6 million hectares. As a radically different policy model, we present the Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact (AFRP), which is a group of more than 160 members that represents one of the most important and ambitious ecological restoration programs in the world. The AFRP aims to restore 15 million hectares of degraded lands in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest biome by 2050 and increase the current forest cover of the biome from 17% to at least 30%. We argue that not only should Brazilian lawmakers refrain from revising the existing Forest Law, but also greatly step up investments in the science, business, and practice of ecological restoration throughout the country, including the Atlantic Forest. The AFRP provides a template that could be adapted to other forest biomes in Brazil and to other megadiversity countries around the world.
The Coastal Wetlands Planning Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) provides one of the largest sources of U.S. funding
for wetland restoration. A preliminary economic analysis of the CWPPRA program questioned the program’s selection of cost
efficient wetland restoration projects, specifically related to the funding of barrier island projects, and recommended a
more rigorous statistical analysis of the data (Aust 2006). We conducted an analysis to determine what available variables, such as wetland loss, influence CWPPRA project selection
for funding. We found that the program was selecting cost-effective projects overall. Cost efficacy varied significantly by
restoration project type, with barrier island restoration having the greatest cost/benefit. We present possible justifications
for funding these projects despite the higher cost/benefit. This paper will help participants of this restoration program
and others in evaluating how projects are developed, evaluated and selected for funding.
KeywordsBarrier island–CWPPRA–Policy–Protection
The extent and rate to which mitigation wetlands can replace the functions of natural ones remains uncertain. Further, the economic time lag costs of wetland function restoration and therefore cost-effective and efficient means of wetland mitigation have yet to be adequately addressed. In this study, 16 mitigation wetlands were assessed, comprised of eight low elevation inland freshwater emergent marshes in Ohio and eight high elevation (>2285 m) freshwater emergent marshes in a wetland complex in Colorado, USA. This research identified the ecological substitutability of mitigation inland freshwater marshes for natural ones, estimated economic restoration lag costs to society and addressed least-cost approaches to successful mitigation.Years required to achieve full functional equivalency for both floristics and soils for the Ohio sites under logarithmic growth ranged from 8 to 50 years with a median of 33 years. Years required to achieve floristic functional equivalency for the Colorado sites ranged from 10 to 16 years with a median of 13 years. Restoration lag costs per acre (0.4 ha) in Ohio ranged from $3460 to $49,811 per acre with an average of $16,640 per acre (2000 US$). Lag costs as a percentage of total restoration costs ranged from 5.6% to 52.8% with an average of 25%. Restoration lag costs per acre to achieve full floristic equivalency in Colorado ranged from $22,368 to $31,511 per acre with an average $27,392 per acre. Time lag costs as a percentage of total restoration costs ranged from 44% to 53% with an average of 49%. Findings of this research suggest that society is currently incurring significant wetland restoration costs due to time lags of mitigation sites. Requiring the posting of an interest accruing performance bond can serve to internalize the time lag costs to the permittee and provide an incentive for more cost-effective wetland restoration efforts.
A payments for ecosystem services (PES) system came about in South Africa with the establishment of the government-funded Working for Water (WfW) programme that clears mountain catchments and riparian zones of invasive alien plants to restore natural fire regimes, the productive potential of land, biodiversity, and hydrological functioning. The success of the programme is largely attributed to it being mainly funded as a poverty-relief initiative, although water users also contribute through their water fees. Nevertheless, as the hydrological benefits have become apparent, water utilities and municipalities have begun to contract WfW to restore catchments that affect their water supplies. This emerging PES system differs from others in that the service providers are previously unemployed individuals that tender for contracts to restore public or private lands, rather than the landowners themselves. The model has since expanded into other types of ecosystem restoration and these have the potential to merge into a general programme of ecosystem service provision within a broader public works programme. There is a strong case for concentrating on the most valuable services provided by ecosystems, such as water supply, carbon sequestration, and fire protection, and using these as ‘umbrella services’ to achieve a range of conservation goals. The future prospects for expansion of PES for hydrological services are further strengthened by the legal requirement that Catchment Management Agencies be established. These authorities will have an incentive to purchase hydrological services through organisations such as WfW so as to be able to supply more water to their users.
Wetlands are among the most productive and economically valuable ecosystems in the world. However, because of human activities, over half of the wetland ecosystems existing in North America, Europe, Australia, and China in the early 20th century have been lost. Ecological restoration to recover critical ecosystem services has been widely attempted, but the degree of actual recovery of ecosystem functioning and structure from these efforts remains uncertain. Our results from a meta-analysis of 621 wetland sites from throughout the world show that even a century after restoration efforts, biological structure (driven mostly by plant assemblages), and biogeochemical functioning (driven primarily by the storage of carbon in wetland soils), remained on average 26% and 23% lower, respectively, than in reference sites. Either recovery has been very slow, or postdisturbance systems have moved towards alternative states that differ from reference conditions. We also found significant effects of environmental settings on the rate and degree of recovery. Large wetland areas (>100 ha) and wetlands restored in warm (temperate and tropical) climates recovered more rapidly than smaller wetlands and wetlands restored in cold climates. Also, wetlands experiencing more (riverine and tidal) hydrologic exchange recovered more rapidly than depressional wetlands. Restoration performance is limited: current restoration practice fails to recover original levels of wetland ecosystem functions, even after many decades. If restoration as currently practiced is used to justify further degradation, global loss of wetland ecosystem function and structure will spread.
Ecological restoration is becoming regarded as a major strategy for increasing the provision of ecosystem services as well as reversing biodiversity losses. Here, we show that restoration projects can be effective in enhancing both, but that conflicts can arise, especially if single services are targeted in isolation. Furthermore, recovery of biodiversity and services can be slow and incomplete. Despite this uncertainty, new methods of ecosystem service valuation are suggesting that the economic benefits of restoration can outweigh costs. Payment for Ecosystem Service schemes could therefore provide incentives for restoration, but require development to ensure biodiversity and multiple services are enhanced and the needs of different stakeholders are met. Such approaches must be implemented widely if new global restoration targets are to be achieved.
Linking biophysical aspects of ecosystems with human benefits through the notion of ecosystem services is essential to assess the trade-offs (ecological, socio-cultural, economic and monetary) involved in the loss of ecosystems and biodiversity in a clear and consistent manner. Any ecosystem assessment should be spatially and temporally explicit at scales meaningful for policy formation or interventions, inherently acknowledging that both ecological functioning and economic values are context, space and time specific. Any ecosystem assessment should first aim to determine the service delivery in biophysical terms, to provide solid ecological underpinning to the economic valuation or measurement with alternative metrics. Clearly delineating between functions, services and benefits is important to make ecosystem assessments more accessible to economic valuation, although no consensus has yet been reached on the classification. Ecosystem assessments should be set within the context of contrasting scenarios - recognising that both the values of ecosystem services and the costs of actions can be best measured as a function of changes between alternative options. In assessing trade-offs between alternative uses of ecosystems, the total bundle of ecosystem services provided by different conversion and management states should be included. Any valuation study should be fully aware of the „cost‟ side of the equation, as focus on benefits only ignores important societal costs like missed opportunities of alternative uses; this also allows for a more extensive range of societal values to be considered. Ecosystem assessments should integrate an analysis of risks and uncertainties, acknowledging the limitations of knowledge on the impacts of human actions on ecosystems and their services and on their importance to human well-being. In order to improve incentive structures and institutions, the different stakeholders - i.e. the beneficiaries of ecosystem services, those who are providing the services, those involved in or affected by the use, and the actors involved at different levels of decision-making - should be clearly identified, and decision making processes need to be transparent
"Compensation to landowners for forest-derived environmental services has gained international recognition as a mechanism to combat forest loss and fragmentation. This approach is widely promoted, although there is little evidence demonstrating that environmental service payments encourage forest stewardship and conservation. Costa Rica provides a unique case study in which a 1996 Forestry Law initiated environmental service payments and prohibited forest conversion to other land uses. We examined these novel policies to determine their influence on landowner decisions that affect forest change, carbon services, and connectivity in a 2425 km2 biological corridor. We used Landsat images to compare land-cover changes before and after 1996, and linked these data to landowner surveys investigating land-use decisions. Carbon stocks and storage in secondary forests were also examined. Forest change observations were corroborated by landowner survey data, indicating that the 1996 Forestry Law and environmental service payments contributed positively to forest retention and recruitment. Socioeconomic conditions also favored forest protection. Rates of natural forest loss declined from -1.43% to -0.10%/yr after 1996. Forest cover and connectivity were maintained through tree plantations and secondary forest recruitment, although forest heterogeneity increased as these forest types sometimes replaced natural forest. Carbon storage in secondary forest approached levels in primary forest after 25-30 yr of succession, although few landowners retained natural regeneration. Secondary forests will persist as minor landscape components without legal or financial incentives. The Costa Rican experience provides evidence that environmental service payments can be effective in retaining natural forest and recruiting tree cover within biological corridors."
How can environmental degradation be stopped? How can it be reversed? And how can the damage already done be repaired? The authors of this volume argue that a two-pronged approach is needed: reducing demand for ecosystem goods and services and better management of them, coupled with an increase in supply through environmental restoration. Restoring Natural Capital brings together economists and ecologists, theoreticians, practitioners, policy makers, and scientists from the developed and developing worlds to consider the costs and benefits of repairing ecosystem goods and services in natural and socioecological systems. It examines the business and practice of restoring natural capital, and seeks to establish common ground between economists and ecologists with respect to the restoration of degraded ecosystems and landscapes and the still broader task of restoring natural capital. The book focuses on developing strategies that can achieve the best outcomes in the shortest amount of time as it: ⢠considers conceptual and theoretical issues from both an economic and ecological perspective ⢠examines specific strategies to foster the restoration of natural capital and offers a synthesis and a vision of the way forward Nineteen case studies from around the world illustrate challenges and achievements in setting targets, refining approaches to finding and implementing restoration projects, and using restoration of natural capital as an economic opportunity. Throughout, contributors make the case that the restoration of natural capital requires close collaboration among scientists from across disciplines as well as local people, and when successfully executed represents a practical, realistic, and essential tool for achieving lasting sustainable development.
Initiatives to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) are providing increasing incentives for forest
protection. The collateral benefits for biodiversity depend on the extent to which emissions reductions and biodiversity conservation
can be achieved in the same places. Globally, we demonstrate spatial trade-offs in allocating funds to protect forests for
carbon and biodiversity and show that cost-effective spending for REDD would protect relatively few species of forest vertebrates.
Because trade-offs are nonlinear, we discover that minor adjustments to the allocation of funds could double the biodiversity
protected by REDD, while reducing carbon outcomes by only 4 to 8%.
Assessing Ecological Restoration
In the wake of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, the analysis of ecosystem services, and their relationship to biodiversity, has become one of the most rapidly developing research themes in environmental science. At the same time, ecological restoration is widely being implemented as a response to environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. Rey Benayas et al. (p. 1121 , published online 30 July) link these themes in a meta-analysis of the impacts of ecological restoration actions on provision of ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation. The analysis of 89 published restoration projects worldwide establishes that ecological restoration does, in general, have positive impacts on both biodiversity and provision of ecosystem services. These effects are especially marked in the tropics. Thus, ecological restoration actions may indeed deliver benefits, both in terms of biodiversity conservation and supporting human livelihoods.
On the eve of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, it is timely to assess progress over the 10 years since its predecessor in Rio de Janeiro. Loss and degradation of remaining natural habitats has continued largely unabated. However, evidence has been accumulating that such systems generate marked economic benefits, which the available data suggest exceed those obtained from continued habitat conversion. We estimate that the overall benefit:cost ratio of an effective global program for the conservation of remaining wild nature is at least 100:1.
South Africa is running out of water supply options. One option, however, is to control invasive alien plant species (IAPs) within water catchment areas and in riparian zones. The National Water Act and subsequent documentation provide a guide for the use of economic instruments to manage invasive alien plant species at a national, but also at a water management area level. This paper determines the method and level of such an invasive alien plant control charge as part of the water resource management charge.
This paper investigates the durability of entrepreneurial marine protected areas (EMPAs) by exploring the role of the private sector in marine conservation. Set within a wider set of social science questions around the marine protected areas as negotiated interventions, we focus on whether and how tourism entrepreneurs can instill a long-term vision for marine conservation, funding and management, thereby overcoming commonly cited implementation and enforcement failures in state-led marine parks. The analysis is based on an empirical comparison of the Yayasan Karang Lestari coral restoration project in Pemuteran on the Northwest coast of Bali, and the marine tourism park around the island of Gili Trawangan off the west coast of Lombok in Indonesia. Our results show that the private sector is able to increase awareness of conservation amongst tourists and coastal communities, provide new income alternatives, and provide financial capacity to support marine conservation activities. It does not, however, appear to have the capacity to create durable, institutionalised arrangements without state support. These findings feed into a wider discussion on the formation of EMPAs, the role of alternative organisational structures and technologies in facilitating change in coastal areas, and how traditionally economic concepts such as entrepreneurship can contribute to a wider understanding of marine conservation governance.
Workable financial mechanisms are essential to abate greenhouse gas emissions. Deforestation, which contributes a large proportion of total global emissions, must be avoided as an effective emissions-reduction tactic, and to alleviate biodiversity loss and poverty. However, incentives to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) have had mixed and suboptimal success because of opportunity costs and administrative and technical issues, in particular, leakage, permanence, and additionality. We show that these latter concepts can be ambiguous, potentially contrived and in some cases, generate perverse outcomes. Encumbering avoided-deforestation projects with these administrative shackles risks massive increases in global deforestation and a concomitant loss of biodiversity, ecosystem services and emissions-reduction opportunities. We offer a solution built on a proven insurance-based hedging principle, a concept we call iREDD, that could indirectly address specific technical and administrative challenges, whether real or contrived. Project-specific iREDD insurance policies and premiums would be negotiated upfront using a simple assessment of risk based on governance quality, the integrity of management plans, liquidity, monitoring and evaluation frameworks, and political acceptability. iREDD acts as both an incentive for prudent forest management given the seller's potential financial windfall if forests are diligently managed, and guarantees not to disenfranchise the buyer.