Large-scale restoration of degraded natural, semi-natural, productive, cultural and urban ecosystems is needed to meet the objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. To support and scale up efforts to address the urgent need to revive damaged ecosystems, the UN General Assembly proclaimed 2021–2030 the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, with FAO and the UN Environment Programme serving as the lead implementing agencies.

To boost actions for the implementation of the UN Decade, a FAO-led Task Force on Best Practices was established to enhance knowledge dissemination and capacity development efforts. This task force is a growing coalition of 55 organizations bringing together 136 experts from all ecosystems worldwide. The UN Decade was officially launched on 5 June 2021, for World Environmental Day, providing the stage for a series of global events showcasing the results of these joint efforts during the first week of June.

On 1 June, the Task Force on Best Practices held a launchpad viewed to date by more than 300 people, entitled “Disseminating knowledge and developing capacities for restoration” to introduce three key products:

• A set of nine guiding principles for ecosystem restoration developed in partnership with the Society for Ecological Restoration and the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Commission on Ecosystem Management. These principles will be critical for sharing a common vision of ecosystem restoration and deriving criteria on what a good restoration practice is. The principles will be subject to a global consultation process that will be open until 19 July 2021. The final publication will be released in early September 2021 at the IUCN World Conservation Congress.

• The key findings of a global restoration capacity needs assessment together with the perspectives shared during a panel discussion. This discussion drew attention to some important gaps that prevent restoration from happening at scale, such as finance mobilization, development of monitoring systems and decision-support tools, integration and documentation of indigenous and traditional knowledge, coordination of efforts for knowledge dissemination, and development of policies that support restoration. These gaps will serve as the basis for developing priority knowledge products and capacity development initiatives throughout the Decade.

• A template for collecting and sharing good practices for restoration. Practices selected based on the guiding principles for ecosystem restoration will be displayed on platforms and websites associated with the Decade.

On 3 June, in the context of the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) Africa Digital Conference, a second event entitled “Enhancing restoration capacities in African drylands: A decade for action ” was organized by the task force in collaboration with the GLF and the International Union of Forest Research Organizations. The event was divided in two sessions:

• The first, in plenary format and with 326 participants, presented the results of the capacity assessment referred to above, focusing on the gaps and barriers for undertaking restoration in Africa. It was followed by a panel discussion among representatives from academia to help recognize what the existing and missing restoration curricula elements are, how to ensure the sustainability of capacity development efforts, and how existing initiatives, such as the Environmental Leadership & Training Initiative, The Restoration Factory, and the Landscape Academy, could help achieve the Decade´s objectives.

• The second, in workshop format, involved 70 participants including representatives from academia and attendees from the first session, who identified what and how individual, organizational and governance capacities need to be developed to scale up restoration efforts.

For more information contact us at: [email protected].

Faustine Zoveda (FAO) and Andrea Romero Montoya (FAO)