Global priority areas for ecosystem restoration

Bernardo B N Strassburg^{1

2

3

4}, Alvaro Iribarrem^{5

6}, Hawthorne L Beyer⁷, Carlos Leandro Cordeiro^{5

6}, Renato Crouzeilles^{5

6

8}, Catarina C Jakovac^{5

6

9}, André Braga Junqueira^{5

6

10}, Eduardo Lacerda^{5

6

11}, Agnieszka E Latawiec^{5

6

12

13}, Andrew Balmford¹⁴, Thomas M Brooks^{15

16

17}, Stuart H M Butchart^{14

18}, Robin L Chazdon^{6

19

20

21}, Karl-Heinz Erb²², Pedro Brancalion²³, Graeme Buchanan²⁴, David Cooper²⁵, Sandra Díaz²⁶, Paul F Donald^{14

18

24}, Valerie Kapos²⁷, David Leclère²⁸, Lera Miles²⁷, Michael Obersteiner^{28

29}, Christoph Plutzar^{22

30}, Carlos Alberto de M Scaramuzza⁶, Fabio R Scarano⁸, Piero Visconti²⁸

Affiliations

¹ Rio Conservation and Sustainability Science Centre, Department of Geography and the Environment, Pontifical Catholic University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. b.strassburg@iis-rio.org.
² International Institute for Sustainability, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. b.strassburg@iis-rio.org.
³ Programa de Pós Graduacão em Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. b.strassburg@iis-rio.org.
⁴ Botanical Garden Research Institute of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. b.strassburg@iis-rio.org.
⁵ Rio Conservation and Sustainability Science Centre, Department of Geography and the Environment, Pontifical Catholic University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
⁶ International Institute for Sustainability, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
⁷ School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia.
⁸ Programa de Pós Graduacão em Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
⁹ Forest Ecology and Management Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
¹⁰ Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
¹¹ Department of Geography, Fluminense Federal University, Niterói, Brazil.
¹² Department of Production Engineering, Logistics and Applied Computer Science, Faculty of Production and Power Engineering, University of Agriculture in Kraków, Kraków, Poland.
¹³ School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.
¹⁴ Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
¹⁵ International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Gland, Switzerland.
¹⁶ World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF), University of the Philippines, Los Baños, The Philippines.
¹⁷ Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
¹⁸ BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
¹⁹ Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.
²⁰ World Resources Institute, Global Restoration Initiative, Washington, DC, USA.
²¹ Tropical Forests and People Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia.
²² Institute of Social Ecology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
²³ Department of Forest Sciences, 'Luiz de Queiroz' College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil.
²⁴ RSPB Centre for Conservation Science, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Edinburgh, UK.
²⁵ Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD), Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
²⁶ Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal, CONICET and Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina.
²⁷ UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge, UK.
²⁸ Ecosystem Services Management (ESM) Program, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria.
²⁹ Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University Centre for the Environment, Oxford, UK.
³⁰ Division of Conservation Biology, Vegetation Ecology and Landscape Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.

PMID: 33057198
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2784-9

Global priority areas for ecosystem restoration

Bernardo B N Strassburg et al. Nature. 2020 Oct.

. 2020 Oct;586(7831):724-729.

doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2784-9. Epub 2020 Oct 14.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Rio Conservation and Sustainability Science Centre, Department of Geography and the Environment, Pontifical Catholic University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. b.strassburg@iis-rio.org.
² International Institute for Sustainability, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. b.strassburg@iis-rio.org.
³ Programa de Pós Graduacão em Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. b.strassburg@iis-rio.org.
⁴ Botanical Garden Research Institute of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. b.strassburg@iis-rio.org.
⁵ Rio Conservation and Sustainability Science Centre, Department of Geography and the Environment, Pontifical Catholic University, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
⁶ International Institute for Sustainability, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
⁷ School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia.
⁸ Programa de Pós Graduacão em Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
⁹ Forest Ecology and Management Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
¹⁰ Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
¹¹ Department of Geography, Fluminense Federal University, Niterói, Brazil.
¹² Department of Production Engineering, Logistics and Applied Computer Science, Faculty of Production and Power Engineering, University of Agriculture in Kraków, Kraków, Poland.
¹³ School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.
¹⁴ Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
¹⁵ International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Gland, Switzerland.
¹⁶ World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF), University of the Philippines, Los Baños, The Philippines.
¹⁷ Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
¹⁸ BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
¹⁹ Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA.
²⁰ World Resources Institute, Global Restoration Initiative, Washington, DC, USA.
²¹ Tropical Forests and People Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia.
²² Institute of Social Ecology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
²³ Department of Forest Sciences, 'Luiz de Queiroz' College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil.
²⁴ RSPB Centre for Conservation Science, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Edinburgh, UK.
²⁵ Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD), Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
²⁶ Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal, CONICET and Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina.
²⁷ UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge, UK.
²⁸ Ecosystem Services Management (ESM) Program, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Laxenburg, Austria.
²⁹ Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University Centre for the Environment, Oxford, UK.
³⁰ Division of Conservation Biology, Vegetation Ecology and Landscape Ecology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.

PMID: 33057198
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2784-9

Erratum in

Author Correction: Global priority areas for ecosystem restoration.
Strassburg BBN, Iribarrem A, Beyer HL, Cordeiro CL, Crouzeilles R, Jakovac CC, Braga Junqueira A, Lacerda E, Latawiec AE, Balmford A, Brooks TM, Butchart SHM, Chazdon RL, Erb KH, Brancalion P, Buchanan G, Cooper D, Díaz S, Donald PF, Kapos V, Leclère D, Miles L, Obersteiner M, Plutzar C, de M Scaramuzza CA, Scarano FR, Visconti P. Strassburg BBN, et al. Nature. 2022 Sep;609(7926):E7. doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-05178-y. Nature. 2022. PMID: 36042334 No abstract available.

Abstract

Extensive ecosystem restoration is increasingly seen as being central to conserving biodiversity¹ and stabilizing the climate of the Earth². Although ambitious national and global targets have been set, global priority areas that account for spatial variation in benefits and costs have yet to be identified. Here we develop and apply a multicriteria optimization approach that identifies priority areas for restoration across all terrestrial biomes, and estimates their benefits and costs. We find that restoring 15% of converted lands in priority areas could avoid 60% of expected extinctions while sequestering 299 gigatonnes of CO₂-30% of the total CO₂ increase in the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution. The inclusion of several biomes is key to achieving multiple benefits. Cost effectiveness can increase up to 13-fold when spatial allocation is optimized using our multicriteria approach, which highlights the importance of spatial planning. Our results confirm the vast potential contributions of restoration to addressing global challenges, while underscoring the necessity of pursuing these goals synergistically.

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Comment in

Prioritizing where to restore Earth's ecosystems.
Ferrier S. Ferrier S. Nature. 2020 Oct;586(7831):680-681. doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-02750-2. Nature. 2020. PMID: 33057186 No abstract available.
Restoration prioritization must be informed by marginalized people.
Fleischman F, Coleman E, Fischer H, Kashwan P, Pfeifer M, Ramprasad V, Rodriguez Solorzano C, Veldman JW. Fleischman F, et al. Nature. 2022 Jul;607(7918):E5-E6. doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-04733-x. Epub 2022 Jul 13. Nature. 2022. PMID: 35831596 No abstract available.
The risks of overstating the climate benefits of ecosystem restoration.
Doelman JC, Stehfest E. Doelman JC, et al. Nature. 2022 Sep;609(7926):E1-E3. doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-04881-0. Epub 2022 Sep 7. Nature. 2022. PMID: 36071204 No abstract available.

References

1. IPBES. Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES Secretariat, 2019).
1. IPCC. An IPCC Special Report on Climate Change, Desertification, Land Degradation, Sustainable Land Management, Food Security, and Greenhouse Gas Fluxes In Terrestrial Ecosystems (SRCCL) (World Meteorological Organization, 2019).
1. Di Marco, M., Ferrier, S., Harwood, T. D., Hoskins, A. J. & Watson, J. E. M. Wilderness areas halve the extinction risk of terrestrial biodiversity. Nature 573, 582–585 (2019). - PubMed
1. Maron, M., Simmonds, J. S. & Watson, J. E. M. Bold nature retention targets are essential for the global environment agenda. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 2, 1194–1195 (2018). - PubMed
1. IPBES. The IPBES Assessment Report on Land Degradation and Restoration (IPBES Secretariat, 2018).

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Global priority areas for ecosystem restoration

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Global priority areas for ecosystem restoration

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