Introduction – plant‐ and vegetation‐based indicators for ecosystem restoration in a European context

Abstract

In the ongoing global nature and climate crisis, many ecosystems have been lost or are degraded on a large scale. The global report from the International Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem services (IPBES 2019) shows that 75% of global land areas are under heavy human pressure. Loss and degradation of nature is a threat to many aspects of the ecosystems, such as biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and natural assets (IPES 2019). Threats to nature are pervasive, from overexploitation, agricultural expansion, intensification or abandonment, urban sprawl, invasive species, and development of industry, infrastructure and renewable energy.Ecosystem restoration as a tool for combatting land-degradation has gained a wider focus in recent years in policy development. It is now internationally recognized that the degradation and destruction of nature must cease, and UN declared 2021-2030 to be the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration . A nature restoration law was launched in EU in 2023, aiming to restore at least 20% of the EU's land and sea areas by 2030, and by 2050 to expand the restoration measures to all ecosystems in need of restoration (EU 2023). Globally, the Kunming−Montral global biodiversity framework, agreed upon in December 2022, also highlights the importance of ecosystem restoration: by 2030 at least 30% of degraded areas in all ecosystems should be under effective restoration (UN 2022). To meet these internationally set restoration goals, the scientific community has a fundamental task to develop knowledge to support decision-making processes on prioritizations and measures of restoration actions.A key to knowledge building in ecological restoration is monitoring. Monitoring is necessary to be able to successively evaluate if the restoration targets are achieved and to improve best practise to reach the target. In restoration, monitoring of ecological indicators play a fundamental role. The definition of both restoration targets and what determines a successful restoration outcome should be related to indicators. Indicator-based monitoring frameworks are needed to quantify restoration potential, effect, and outcome. Although international standards and principles for ecological restoration have been developed (Gann et al. 2019), and global indicators for monitoring of ecosystem restoration exist (FAO and UNEP 2022), there is still a lack of common evidence-based indicators for nature restoration across Europe. The continued development of scientific based indicators is strongly needed to make policy relevant decisions and to develop restoration appropriate goals and targets across Europe.