The United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021–2030 (the UN Decade) was proclaimed to address the critical need to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of all types of ecosystems across landscapes and seascapes. Although countries have made ambitious commitments that support progress on the implementation of the UN Decade, ensuring that ecosystem restoration efforts are initiated, continued or upscaled in an effective way, is key to meaningfully achieve those commitments. To this end, the Taskforce on Best Practices led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is currently undertaking several initiatives on capacity development and knowledge dissemination, including the development of i) standards of practice for ecosystem restoration, in partnership with the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) and IUCN’s Commission on Ecosystem Management (IUCN CEM); and ii) a capacity, knowledge and learning action plan for the UN Decade, in collaboration with Forestoration International. Both products were discussed in May 2022 during a side event at the  XV World Forestry Congress (WFC). Additional targeted consultations were held during the thirteenth European Conference on Ecological Restoration (SER Europe) (September 2022, Alicante, Spain) and the Twenty-Sixth Session of the FAO Committee on Forestry (COFO 26) (October 2022, Rome, Italy). Progress achieved on each product and the main outcomes of the consultations are summarized as follows:

1. The standards of practice aim to provide key recommendations on the application of the principles for ecosystem restoration to the entire restoration process. After XV WFC, the standards evolved from a synthesis of existing guidelines from different ecosystem restoration activities (zero draft) to a document organized by components of the restoration process, including planning and design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and maintenance. These components are presented in a sequential order, with subcomponents and practices detailed within each component. This advanced version was shared with 60 participants at a workshop at SER Europe, entitled “Developing Guidance for Effective Ecosystem Restoration”. The participants helped identify i) additional practices to fill gaps for some underrepresented principles; and ii) existing practices that may not be universally relevant or may be unnecessary or redundant. Feedback obtained during the workshop was key to refine the document, which was subsequently launched for global consultation on the UN Decade website, and discussed during a side event during COFO 26.
2. The capacity, knowledge and learning action plan builds on i) gaps and priority areas for capacity development (finance, stakeholder engagement, technical capacity and policy) identified through a global capacity needs assessment; and ii) the stocktaking of existing capacity development initiatives to enhance the capacities of individuals and organizations, and strengthen the enabling conditions of restoration. An initial set of recommended actions to address major gaps was discussed at XV WFC. These actions were the preliminary step for proposing draft terms of reference for five capacity development initiatives that could be implemented throughout the UN Decade. These initiatives are tailored to the needs of practitioners, professors and researchers, community groups, policymakers, extension professionals and the finance sector, and build on existing initiatives, proposing activities to upscale or complement them. They served as the basis for discussion with 50 participants at a SERE 2022 workshop entitled “Enhancing Capacities for Effective Ecosystem Restoration Throughout the UN Decade and Beyond”. The discussion continued during the side event at COFO 26, which resulted in the proposal of two new initiatives to enhance capacities of youth and the private sector for engaging in restoration. Next steps include the organization of additional consultations with targeted groups and identification of synergies with potential partner organizations. 

The final versions of both products will be presented at the fifteenth meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of the Parties, which will be held in December 2022 (Montreal, Canada). 

Andrea Romero Montoya (FAO)