Resource Database

IUCN World Database on Key Biodiversity Areas

The World Database of Key Biodiversity Areas hosts data on Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs). This database can support strategic decisions on protected areas by governments or civil society towards achieving Aichi Biodiversity Targets. It also guides the identification of sites under international conventions and in the setting of private sector policies and standards. The database is managed by the KBA Partnership, which comprises 13 partners and is served by the KBA secretariat hosted jointly by BirdLife International and IUCN.

Relevance for the Short Term Action Plan for Ecosystem Restoration:
The planning of restoration interventions and their location can also draw on assessments of areas of global importance for biodiversity such as IUCN Key Biodiversity Areas. Map data can be used in combination with other data for GIS analysis to identify and prioritize areas for restoration (A2).

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

The IUCN Red List provides regularly updated assessments of conservation status of many species as well as geographic range maps for each of them. It provides the  world’s most comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of animal, fungi and plant species.

Relevance for the Short Term Action Plan for Ecosystem Restoration:
Planning of restoration interventions and their location can draw on spatially explicit information on areas of importance for threatened species, such as those provided here. Range maps can be downloaded for further GIS analysis, and used to prioritize essential areas for restoration based, in line with activity A2.

UN-REDD Programme

The UN-REDD Programme supports countries to apply the UNFCCC’s safeguards, and to conduct land-use planning for REDD+ to deliver multiple environmental and social benefits while reducing risk. REDD+ activities, as defined by the UNFCCC, includes the enhancement of forest carbon stocks, which may be implemented through restoration interventions.

Relevance for the Short Term Action Plan for Ecosystem Restoration:
The UN-REDD website contains resources on stakeholder engagement and gender balance (A3), forest governance (A4), and tenure security (B2). The Multiple Benefits webpage of the UN-REDD Programme contains a number of national and subnational scale spatial analyses of the potential for REDD+ implementation to deliver multiple benefits, which include the conservation of biodiversity, in line with activity A4. Several mapping tutorials and a GIS toolbox are also available to support REDD+ planning and secure multiple benefits.

Asia-Pacific Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) Repository

Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) in the context of REDD+ continues to be a challenging concept. There is no single internationally agreed definition. Neither is there a single way to implement FPIC. It varies across regions, countries, contexts, peoples and communities. There is, however, a growing body of practitioners, be it UN-REDD Programme partner countries, or REDD+ project developers, who have taken the discussion beyond the realm of the rhetoric into actual demonstration. This repository aims to facilitate and encourage knowledge and experience exchange among practitioners as well as those interested to embark on FPIC within the Asia-Pacific region.

Relevance for the Short Term Action Plan for Ecosystem Restoration:
This is a repository for information on a safeguarding system that can be used to engage stakeholders and protect their fundamental rights (A3).

REDD+ Social and Environmental Standards

The REDD+ Social & Environmental Standards provide a comprehensive framework of principles, criteria, and indicators along with Guidelines for their use through a participatory and transparent approach at country level. The Standards and the accompanying Guidelines were developed by the REDD+ SES Initiative through an inclusive participatory process from 2009 to provide a best-practice framework that can be used on a voluntary basis as appropriate and relevant to the country context.

Relevance for the Short Term Action Plan for Ecosystem Restoration:
This is a source for safeguarding systems that can be used to engage stakeholders and protect their fundamental rights (A3).

National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (NBSAPs)

National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (NBSAPs) optimally contain information on geographical areas where restoration would contribute most significantly to achieving national level targets contributing to the Aichi Biodiversity Targets.

Relevance for the Short Term Action Plan for Ecosystem Restoration:
These plans are particularly relevant to activities B1 and B6 as they provide frameworks for nations to align national biodiversity targets, restoration targets and ecosystem-based climate mitigation and adaptation targets.

The International Land and Tenure Facility

The International Land and Forest Tenure Facility is the first and only international, multi-stakeholder financial mechanism exclusively focused on securing land and forest rights for Indigenous Peoples and local communities. It provides grants to implement tenure rights under existing law and policy and shares the knowledge, innovations and tools that emerge. Launched in 2014 by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), the Tenure Facility is dedicated to scaling up recognition of collective land and forest rights globally.

Relevance for the Short Term Action Plan for Ecosystem Restoration:
This resource proposes a framework for countries to coordinate existing national law and policy with indigenous or collective land rights in accordance with activity B2.

Global Landscapes Forum (GLF)

The Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) provides a platform for sharing information on sustainable land use, including restoration, with a focus on connecting, sharing, learning and acting. The Forum is dedicated to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and Paris Climate Agreement. The Forum takes a holistic approach to create sustainable landscapes that are productive, prosperous, equitable and resilient and considers five cohesive themes of food and livelihood initiatives, landscape restoration, rights, finance and measuring progress. It is led by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), in collaboration with its co-founders UN Environment and the World Bank and Charter Members.

Relevance for the Short Term Action Plan for Ecosystem Restoration:
The GLF is of relevance to activity B3, under which educational systems should be employed to share information about restoration activities to raise awareness and connect people to restoration efforts in their communities.

Wealth Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Services (WAVES)

The Wealth Accounting and the Valuation of Ecosystem Services (WAVES) partnership aims to promote sustainable development by ensuring that natural resources are mainstreamed into development planning and national economic accounts. It has published a series of policy briefs on the topic.

Relevance for the Short Term Action Plan for Ecosystem Restoration:
A major step towards the adoption of accounting for natural capital was the adoption by the UN Statistical Commission of the System for Environmental and Economic Accounts (SEEA) in 2012. This provides an internationally agreed method to account for material natural resources like minerals, timber and fisheries, relevant to activity B7.

Global Forest Financing Facilitation Network (GFFFN)

Through its Global Forest Financing Facilitation Network (GFFFN), the UN Forum on Forests provides financing to promote the design of national forest financing strategies to mobilize resources for sustainable forest management, facilitate access to existing and emerging financing mechanisms, including the Global Environment Facility and the Green Climate Fund. The GFFFN serves as a clearing house on financing opportunities and as a tool for sharing lessons learned from successful projects.

Relevance for the Short Term Action Plan for Ecosystem Restoration:
This resource builds an innovative network to provide financing for restoration efforts while also creating a space to share lessons learned, which is in line with activity B9.

Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) Fund

The UN Convention to Combat Desertification has launched the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) Fund, an impact investment fund blending resources from the public, private and philanthropic sectors in support of achieving LDN through sustainable land management and land restoration projects undertaken by the private sector worldwide. The LDN Fund offers financing for the rehabilitation of degraded land and for sustainable business models on land undergoing or at risk of degradation.

Relevance for the Short Term Action Plan for Ecosystem Restoration:
The Fund blends the needs identified in activity B8 with the recommended action in activity B9, leveraging public, private, and philanthropic financial resources to mobilize restoration efforts.

ResTOOL

Bioversity International and a number of collaborators in Colombia produced ResTOOL, an innovative online tool to select climate ready trees and seed sources for tropical dry forest restoration. ResTOOL also takes into account climate change when choosing appropriate material, and includes information about the propagation of more than 300 tree species.

Relevance for the Short Term Action Plan for Ecosystem Restoration:
This resource is relevant for the implementation of activity C1 in that it provides a tool for selecting the appropriate tree species and seed sources for tropical dry forest restoration in Colombia. Furthermore, it aids the selection of tree species that would be best considering predicted environmental and climate changes, in line with activity C2.

Atlas of Living Australia

The Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) is a collaborative, digital, open infrastructure that pulls together Australian biodiversity data from multiple sources, making it accessible and reusable. The ALA helps to create a more detailed picture of Australia’s biodiversity for scientists, policy makers, environmental planners and land managers, industry and the general public, and enables them to work more efficiently.

Relevance for the Short Term Action Plan for Ecosystem Restoration:
The Atlas of Living Australia website can be used together with the Climate Change in Australia website to identify potential tolerance of species used in restoration to future conditions, in line with activity C2.

Climate Change in Australia website

Climate Change in Australia (CCIA) is a comprehensive website and suite of reports providing information about climate change projections for Australia. This body of work updates the previous CCIA research published in 2007.

Relevance for the Short Term Action Plan for Ecosystem Restoration:
The Climate Change in Australia website can be used together with the Atlas of Living Australia website to identify potential tolerance of species used in restoration to future conditions, in line with activity C2.

There is hope for achieving ambitious Atlantic Forest restoration commitments

Achieving ambitious global restoration commitments is a huge challenge. The Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact, created in 2009 as a movement to restore 15 Mha of degraded/deforested lands by 2050, pledged 1 Mha towards the 2020 Bonn Challenge. We documented the restoration of an estimated 673,510–740,555 ha of native forests from 2011 to 2015 in the Atlantic Forest, and expect that a total of 1.35–1.48 Mha will be under recovery by 2020. The Pact is one of the first Brazilian restoration initiatives to monitor an international restoration commitment and to demonstrate that ambitious targets can be reached. Part of this success in large-scale restoration is related to three main Pact activities: (i) development of restoration governance, communication and articulation; (ii) promotion of strategies to influence public policies; and (iii) establishment of restoration monitoring systems. The experience and lessons learned by the Pact could inspire and inform other restoration initiatives worldwide.

Seedlot Selection Tool

In North America, web-based tools to identify whether species at sites will still be suited to future climate conditions include the Seedlot Selection Tool, produced by a collaboration between the US Forest Service, Oregon State University, and the Conservation Biology Institute.

Relevance for the Short Term Action Plan for Ecosystem Restoration:
This tool is in line with activity C2.

Ecological Restoration Alliance of Botanic Gardens

Botanic Gardens Conservation International hosts the Ecological Restoration Alliance of Botanic Gardens (ERA), through which members share the skills, resources and plant materials of Botanic Gardens to scale up restoration activities around the world.

Relevance for the Short Term Action Plan for Ecosystem Restoration:
The ERA website contains many resources relevant to Group of activities C. Of particular importance for activity C1 are an expertise directory, helpful in identifying appropriate measures for restoration, and the Species Recovery Manual, which can be used to boost plant biodiversity within restoration projects. Project descriptions provide many examples of restoration implementation (C5), and contribute to sharing lessons learned, in line with activity D3.

Overcoming pollinator habitat restoration challenges through use of best management practices

Habitat degradation and loss is a primary driver of pollinator decline in the upper Midwest. Restoration of prairie and wooded landscapes is one component of an overall nationwide strategy to recover pollinator populations. This presentation will discuss typical implementation challenges often encountered at the landscape scale and present best management practices for how to overcome them from a practitioner’s standpoint. Focus will be on setting realistic goals, site selection and preparation, seed mix design and procurement, and habitat management with a focus on pollinator-friendly herbicide selection and use. Discussion will also focus on the importance of monitoring to assess trajectory of habitat development and pollinator usage and to track overall restoration success. This webinar was sponsored by Stantec.

The speaker for this webinar is Aaron Feggestad, Stantec Senior Ecologist. Aaron has more than 15 years of experience as a volunteer, researcher, and professional working to restore oak-prairie landscapes. As a senior ecologist at Stantec, Aaron specializes in ecosystem restoration planning and design, natural area assessments, ecological stewardship, and vegetation surveys. He has supervised the restoration of thousands of acres of oak and prairie ecosystems throughout the Upper Midwest. Aaron holds a Master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is a Professional Wetland Scientist, and is active in various industry associations including the Rights-of-Way as Habitat Working Group, where he participates in the pollinator metrics and standards task force. He is a continuing education instructor at the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha where he has taught Landscaping for Pollinator Habitat and Invasive Species 101. In addition, Aaron has been an invited as a speaker and facilitator to share his experience restoring pollinators for pipeline, renewable energy, and transportation clients to improve habitat on rights-of-way.

Water as a Catalyst for Cooperation

This is a keynote talk from the SER 2019 World Conference plenary “Connecting Restoration and Culture.” The speaker is Dr. Azzam Alwash; Dr. Alwash works on issues of water and the environment through Nature Iraq and American University of Iraq, where he is a founding member of the board of trustees. He is focused on promoting cooperation in water management and making water an instrument of peace rather than the source of tension in the future middle east.

Core Principles for Successfully Implementing and Upscaling Nature-based Solutions

Nature-based Solutions (NbS) can be an effective framework for reversing the trend of ongoing degradation of natural resources, by increasing the alignment between conservation and sustainable development objectives. We present the definition and principles underpinning the NbS framework, recently adopted by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and compare it to (1) the Ecosystem Approach that was the foundation for developing the NbS definitional framework, and (2) four specific ecosystem-based approaches (Forest Landscape Restoration, Ecosystem-based Adaptation, Ecological Restoration and Protected Areas) that can be considered as falling under the NbS framework. This critical analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the NbS principles can inform the review and revision of principles supporting specific types of NbS (such as the approaches reviewed here), as well as serve as the foundation for the development of standards for the successful implementation of NbS.

How Standards can Improve Implementation of Global Restoration Initiatives

In this webinar presented by the IUCN-CEM Ecosystem Restoration Thematic Group, SER Executive Director Bethanie Walder discusses how the Society’s International Standards for the Practice of Ecological Restoration can be used to increase the success of restoration projects and, ultimately, improve implementation of global restoration initiatives.

Culture and Restoration of Degraded Landscapes

This is a keynote talk from the SER 2019 World Conference plenary “Connecting Restoration and Culture”;  the speaker is Tangu Tumeo. Tangu is Principal Forestry Officer for the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining of Malawi. A forester by profession and growing expert on Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR), Tangu has come to appreciate the importance of managing trees and forests as part of a broader ecosystem management plan for increased and multiple benefits to communities.

A New World, A New Challenge

This is a keynote talk from the SER 2019 World Conference plenary “Landscape Restoration for Water Security.” The speaker is Dhesigen Naidoo, CEO of South Africa’s Water Research Commission.

Enhancing Water Security – Restoring and Maintaining of the Upper End of the Water Value Chain

This is a keynote talk from the SER 2019 World Conference plenary “Landscape Restoration for Water Security.” The speaker is Christo Marais, the Chief Director of Natural Resource Management Programmes at the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries. He is responsible for the Working for Water, Working on Fire, Working for Wetlands, Working for Ecosystems, and Working for Forests programmes at a national level. In addition to WfW, Christo has played a leading role in the development of investments in ecological infrastructure and delivery of ecosystem services through his involvement in: the Forest Trends – Katoomba Group; the International Ecosystem Services Partnership Conferences; establishment of the Drylands Medupi Leadership Initiative aimed at restoring degraded areas in the Lephalale; and the development of a land user incentives programme within DEFF to unlock private sector resources.

Water Governance at Source: Equity, Ownership, and Restoration at Grassroots

This is a keynote talk from the SER 2019 World Conference plenary “Landscape Restoration for Water Security.” The speaker is Dr. Wanja Dorothy Nyingi, the Head of Ichthyology at the National Museums of Kenya where she studies freshwater fish biodiversity and has authored the first guide to Common Freshwater Fishes of Kenya (2013). Since 2010, Wanja has also served as Coordinator of the Kenya Wetlands Biodiversity Research Team (KENWEB), a multi-disciplinary international team composed of scientists working on East African wetlands and aquatic ecosystems.

Making the Economic Case for Ecological Restoration: What Does it Take to Convince Investors & Decision-makers?

This is a keynote talk from the SER 2019 World Conference plenary “Economics of Ecological Restoration.” The speaker is Lucy Emerton, an environmental economist specializing in ecosystem valuation and the development of innovative financing mechanisms and economic incentives for biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration, climate adaptation and mitigation, and sustainable land and water management. Her experience spans more than 70 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Australasia and Latin America.

Nature-based Solutions Bibliography

This interactive bibliography on Nature-based Solutions allows you to explore publications on the role or use of biodiversity and ecosystems to 1) address impacts from climate change, 2) help store carbon or reduce carbon emissions, and 3) promote ecosystem-health in the context of climate change. Maps show numbers of publications focusing on different habitats, regions, the societal challenge that a nature-based solution is applicable to, and the broad type of NbS under study (NbS approach).

Restoring Reef Ecosystems & Innovative Financing to Support Ecological Restoration

This is a keynote talk from the SER 2019 World Conference plenary “Economics of Ecological Restoration.” The speakers are Boze Hancock and Leah Carriere. Boze Hancock is the Senior Marine Habitat Restoration Scientist for TNC’s Global Oceans Team, based at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography. Boze has over 30 years of experience in marine research, working on the ecology, fisheries, management, and restoration of coastal marine resources and habitats. Leah Carriere is on The Nature Conservancy’s NatureVest team, Leah coordinates Blue Bonds for Conservation, a TED Audacious Project winning initiative that works with the governments of Small Island Developing States and coastal countries.

Ecological Restoration Training Virtual Library

A virtual library of both web-based resources and PDF articles relevant to restoration efforts in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest, including restoration practices for wetlands and lakes and streams.

Ecosystem Restoration in Deeper Waters

Anne-Mette Jørgensen, North Sea Futures, talks about decommissioning obsolete oil and gas platforms and how they might be used to restore wider North Sea ecosystems  followed by Daphne Cuvelier, University of the Azores, on the restoration of deep-sea ecosystems from mining impacts.