Ecosystem restoration job creation potential in Brazil

Abstract

1. The central motivation to restore ecosystems at a planetary scale has been to reverse degradation and provide multiple environmental benefits, but key global players like governments may be more interested in social outcomes from undertaking restoration, such as job creation. Assessing the job opportunities stemming from ongoing restoration programmes can leverage additional investments for their implementation and support their long-term maintenance.2. Here, we aimed to understand and quantify current and potential ecosystem restoration jobs in Brazil, based on a widely distributed online survey performed in 2020 and led by the main restoration networks in the country. We explored the structure, job distribution and outputs of the national restoration supply chain.3. At the beginning of 2020, 4713 temporary and 3510 permanent jobs were created, nearly 60% of which were generated by organizations specialized in restoration, mainly from the non-profit (48%) and private (37%) sectors.4. Restoration jobs were concentrated in organizations working in one (58%) or two (28%) biomes, and the vast majority were in the Atlantic Forest (85%).Similarly, most restoration jobs were concentrated in the southeast region (61%), with one-third in the state of São Paulo. This geographical distribution was more strongly associated with the states' GDP than with the legal deficit of native vegetation area. 5. Nearly 20% of the restoration jobs were terminated during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.| 1427 People and Nature BRANCALION et al.

Potential aboveground biomass increase in Brazilian Atlantic Forest fragments with climate change

“…The AF concentrates a major part of the national legal deficit of native vegetation—areas deforested on private properties to a larger extent than what legislation allows (Soares‐Filho et al, 2014). This forms the basis of the National Native Vegetation Recovery Plan to restore 12 million hectares, most of the restoration efforts of Brazil have concentrated in this region (Brancalion et al, 2022). It is then critical to address how the AF will be impacted by climate change, as it has far reached consequences for achieving restoration commitments, implementing public policies, and safeguarding human wellbeing for nearly 150 million people who live within the AF boundaries.…”

When necessity meets opportunity: the role of service‐learning projects to complement training, community engagement and knowledge transfer in restoration

“…The weight of restoration is already increasing within the green economy (BenDor et al 2015), generating more jobs per million invested than traditional activities (Garrett‐Peltier et al 2009), providing short‐term and long‐term employment opportunities and creating positive ecological and economic feedback loops (Gann et al 2019). If restoration targets are met, a country like Brazil could potentially create 1–2.5 million jobs (0.42 jobs/ha) related to restoration (Brancalion et al 2022).…”

We asked and #GenerationRestoration delivered: the Joint Special Feature between the British Ecological Society and the Society for Ecological Restoration

“…One theme throughout many of the published studies was the importance of focusing on human well-being (e.g. livelihood security [Lengefeld et al 2022]; poverty alleviation [Nsikani et al 2023]; dismantling inequity [Sigman 2021]; job creation [Brancalion et al 2022]) as a key to meaningfully engaging communities and enlisting support.…”