Restored nature hits record 252mn hectares, but still off target

Countries are restoring about 252 million hectares of nature, a record level according to a United Nations report published Thursday, but this still falls short of global 2030 targets.

“This report captures the largest documented restoration effort in history,” said Doreen Robinson at the UN Environment Programme in Nairobi at a press conference.

The restored area is equivalent to the size of Argentina or Algeria.

But the report estimates the pace of restoration efforts must “triple” to meet the 2030 target of one billion, and funding will need to increase sharply, particularly from the private sector.

Not there yet

Nature restoration efforts recorded in 149 countries have mostly taken place on land, with 232 million hectares involved, compared with 11 million hectares of inland waters and 5.7 million hectares of marine and coastal waters.

This “lags far behind ambition in both freshwater (inland water) and marine and coastal ecosystems, yet these ecosystems are degrading at the highest rates,” the report warned.

As part of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration from 2021 to 2030, and an international agreement adopted in 2022 known as the Kunming–Montreal framework, states have committed to taking action to halt biodiversity loss and protect the planet.

The Kunming–Montreal framework aims to protect 30 per cent of terrestrial and marine areas by the end of the decade.

Beyond nature restoration, which can include measures such as replanting trees, the process has also boosted employment with one million related jobs created and a goal of reaching 32 million by 2030.

In terms of restoration on land, China is far ahead of other regions, with 137 million hectares, followed by Mongolia, Kazakhstan and Ethiopia.

The report was published during the key biodiversity COP17 summit in Armenia running till the end of the week.