How Standards-based Restoration will help us achieve Target 2 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

Ensure that by 2030 at least 30 percent of areas of degraded terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine ecosystems are under effective restoration, in order to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, ecological integrity and connectivity.

Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF) - Target 2

COP16 in Cali, Columbia, which runs through to 1 November, 2024 takes place in the third year of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and offers an opportunity to reflect on progress made in the Decade so far. Major international initiatives like the Freshwater Challenge, which calls for 300,000 km of degraded rivers and 350 million hectares of degraded wetlands offer hope that we can restore the fractured relationship between people and nature and meet the goals of Target 2.

UN Decade Flagships, like Altyn Dala, which is also a finalist for the Earthshot Prize illustrate the role of restoration in enhancing the inseparable connection between people and nature. The KM-GBF recognizes that a healthy future for people requires a healthy future for nature, including biodiversity, and that this healthy future cannot be achieved without ecosystem restoration, which includes ecological restoration. And, while Target 2 of the KM-GBF is focused on restoration, it goes hand-in-hand with Target 1, to reduce biodiversity loss, and Target 3, to conserve 30% of our lands and waters. These interconnected targets share a common vision: to create a world where people live in harmony with nature.

So how do we make it happen? A key tool is the Resource Guide to Target 2, co-authored by SER, Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which will be launched on 30 October, during Restoration Day at COP16. It will offer practical guidance for countries to implement and achieve Target 2, including businesses, policymakers, and restoration professionals. We have the science, the expertise and the impetus from the KM-GBF to achieve the goal of placing 30% of degraded land and waters under effective restoration by 2030. Four key factors will help ensure success:

1 - Policy as an enabler?

The EU’s groundbreaking Nature Restoration Law (NRL) is a critical enabling framework that represents a global paradigm shift for restoration. It is the first regulation that decouples restoration from new degradation. Until now, all known restoration regulations have been compensatory, meaning they tie the requirement for restoration to concurrent degradation. If an organization paves over a wetland in Town A, it can pay to create a new wetland, or perhaps even restore a grassland in Town B. The best-case scenario is ecological (and social) net zero. But the global systems that underlie thriving human and natural communities are already disintegrating - ecological net zero isn’t good enough; it’s imperative that restoration result in net benefits to nature and people.

Under the NRL, countries must assess the current levels of degradation as a baseline and deliver national, legally binding plans to ensure that 20% of degraded lands and seas are under effective restoration by 2030.?This offers a powerful blueprint that should be replicated in other nations and regions. But even absent the impetus provided by proactive restoration policies, we have other valuable tools at our disposal.

2 - De-risking restoration funding

Local restoration projects are most often carried out by community members, funded by NGOs or councils with limited budgets. Scaling funding for restoration can be challenging due to long timelines and the difficulty of assessing outcomes. Now, innovative, forward-looking corporations and financiers increasingly understand that restoration is essential for the long-term viability of their business. Organizations are recognizing that flourishing ecosystems and communities are fundamental to the well-being of their employees and customers.

SER’s collaboration with Microsoft is helping implement Standards-Based ecological restoration projects in 20 communities in 10 countries hosting data centers globally. This unique collaboration recognizes the additive value of standards-based restoration to deliver high-impact solutions that help address the biodiversity, desertification, and climate crises.?

Leading re-insurer, SCOR, has developed Restore, a product to insure restoration projects against pre-defined perils. Using a Standard-Based approach to its underwriting process and SER-certified practitioners for claims evaluation, SCOR is helping de-risk investment in ecological restoration.?

These are examples of organizations harnessing SER’s International Principles and Standards for Ecological Restoration (SER Standards) to accelerate restoration around the world. The Standards provide a framework for setting baselines, managing trade-offs and measuring risk that help assess project outcomes and accelerate the practice of ecological restoration.

3 - Apply SER’s Restoration Principles and Standards as a guiding framework?

SER’s Standards are underpinned by eight principles, providing a framework for project planning and execution - including engaging stakeholders, incorporating a reference native ecosystem, and seeking the highest level of recovery possible.

The Standards also offer simple tools such as the Ecological Recovery Wheel for comprehensive project planning and the monitoring of key inputs such as species composition, ecosystem function, and structural diversity compared to a reference baseline. The Social Benefits Wheel offers equivalent metrics for social inputs such as community well-being and sustainable economies. These and other tools are designed to help projects at all scales and across biomes. Even when resources are limited, they support decision-making and enable tracking of progress.

The same scientific, technical, and practical expertise that developed SER’s Standards, has also been applied to the creation of the Global Biodiversity Standard (TGBS). Launched on 25 October at COP16, it is the world’s most scientifically rigorous biodiversity certification. The integration of Standards-Based restoration into TGBS ensures that restoration practices by organizations and governments make a positive, measurable long-term impact on biodiversity, local communities and carbon capture.

4 - Harness the power of community?

SER’s 5,000+ members design, implement, study, regulate, and finance restoration in more than 130 countries across the world, from Sweden to Brazil, from Kenya to Japan. One thread that unites their success is the engagement of local communities. Our catalog of Restoration Stories provides inspiration and blueprints for effective approaches to community-led restoration.

In Cyberjaya, Malaysia, the community-based Ecological Enhancement of Cyberjaya Lake Garden, with the support of the Sepang Municipal Council aims to restore the 15-acre main lake, enhance biodiversity and water quality, and connect the local community to this important piece of nature.?

In Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) territory on the St. Lawrence River, Canada, the Kahnawà:ke Environment Protection Office (KEPO) hosted community events to gather feedback, comments, and suggestions on proposed components to be incorporated into the final design of a project to restore degraded shorelines, improve water flow and restore wildlife habitats.

And in South Central Phoenix, Arizona, a collaboration between Arizona State University (ASU), Audubon Southwest, Tiger Mountain Foundation and the City of Phoenix, is restoring pollinator habitat and informing the public about the important connection between pollinators and their habitat.?The project aims to improve environmental engagement, quality of life, habitat, and health of neighborhoods along the Salt and Gila river corridor in metro Phoenix.?

The UN Decade is helping inspire a global restoration movement, including through its emphasis on youth (#generationrestoration); promotion of restoration flagships; new resources and tools (e.g. the UN Decade Principles and Standards of Practice); global monitoring efforts; and awareness raising through media (the documentary series RESTORE will soon enter its third season). The UN Decade is also driving new collaborations like the Australian Restoration Decade Alliance, which is envisioning and advocating for high-impact action on the KM-GBF across Australia.??

Everyone has a role to play and there are many ways to get involved. In alignment with this year's COP16 theme of "making peace with nature," we believe the successful implementation of the KM-GBF requires strong collaboration between restoration practitioners, policymakers, and the business community. Through collaboration, we can accelerate the Framework's adoption and drive meaningful progress toward global restoration goals.

Visit SER.org for additional tools, resources, guides, restoration stories and our recently launched SER Member Community forum for networking, collaboration and job opportunities.?