Natural capital approaches: shifting the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration from aspiration to reality

Abstract

The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration offers a vital opportunity to advance scaled-up, integrated approaches that reverse ecosystem degradation, biodiversity loss, and climate disruption and deterioration. Combining tools across disciplines is essential to addressing these interwoven, global crises through inclusive, equitable strategies with demonstrable socio-economic benefits. Tools and initiatives described here, including the EcoHealth Network, the System of Environmental Economic Accounting Ecosystem Accounting and its application through the INCASE project in Ireland, and the Natural Capital Project, present ready-made approaches to engage with policymakers and stakeholders in a transparent way. These examples are working to yield accurate indicators revealing the true costs and benefits of restoration policies and projects in both environmental and social terms. We highlight that collaborative efforts, particularly engagement between ecologists, economists, and other stakeholders, are essential to inform the ongoing development of fit-for-purpose natural capital approaches, and that synergies between natural capital and restoration approaches can be further strengthened to raise awareness of, and progress, restoration projects on the scale the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration envisages. We also reflect on the term "natural capital," which is often misunderstood as implying that monetary metrics should take preference over non-monetary arguments or considerations, thereby presenting a barrier to engagement for some ecologists, environmentalists, and stakeholders. Natural capital approaches offer us opportunities to track and support the necessary changes to expand and embed the culture of restoration into decision-making across sectors, highlighting multiple benefits for society and economy.

A review on effective soil health bio-indicators for ecosystem restoration and sustainability

“…An understanding of the full complexity and intricacies of these cycles is necessary to address any ecological processes that may be degraded. A functional ecosystem, which is completely self-perpetuating or natural, is the ultimate goal of restorative efforts (Farrell et al, 2021 ). Since these ecosystem functions are emergent properties of the system, monitoring and management are crucial for the long-term stability of an ecosystem.…”

“…The Natural Capital Project (NatCap), where global partnership existed between the wellbeing of people was aimed via ecosystem restoration and nature-based solutions, and 4. The INCASE project, to test the natural capital collaboration with scientists and stakeholders at a river catchment scale, was developed in Ireland (Farrell et al, 2021 ). Realizing the importance of the subject and growing interest in research, several conferences have been organized in the last few years; to name a few, “The 9th World Conference on Ecological Restoration” by the Society for Ecological Restoration (CIFOR, CGIAR, June 2021) and the National Conference on Ecosystem Restoration, by the University of Florida (July–August 2021) were also conducted recently.…”

From COVID-19 to Green Recovery with natural capital accounting

“…With NCA, which is based on an expansion of economic theory that recognises the importance of the environment, spending packages can be designed, tested, implemented, monitored and modified to achieve progress beyond GDP growth. NCA enables a course towards a more sustainable society to be charted, staying within ecological thresholds (Vardon et al 2021 ) through a process of developing and using the accounts that creates a dialogue between different actors in society, thereby improving understanding, trust and vision (World Bank 2021b ; Farrell et al 2022 ).…”

“…By providing integrated economic and environmental data NCA can improve decision-making for a Green Recovery. It brings together often disparate actors, supporting the alignment of multiple Green Recovery perspectives, shaping recovery packages so they build or improve natural capital and creating incentives for actors to cooperate (World Bank 2021b ) with a compelling example from Ireland (Farrell et al 2022 ). NCA also provides the impetus for improving the governance of natural capital, which too often incentivises degradation of natural (Vardon et al 2021 ).…”

“…NCA has been used by several countries for analysing issues aligned with Green Recovery, including biodiversity conservation and restoration (Coates et al 2020 ; King et al 2021 ; Farrell et al 2022 ), tackling climate change (Pizarro 2020 ), integrated land management (Meijer et al 2020 ) and SDG monitoring (Ruijs et al 2018 ), with many examples from across the world (Vardon et al 2017 , 2019 ; Vardon and Bass 2020 ). Both the theoretical scope and practical examples reveal that NCA can be used in all phases of the typical policy cycle related to Green Recovery (Fig.…”