New study - Towards just and transformative social-ecological restoration

[Neil Dawson]

Restoration goes far beyond ecological repair within project timeframes. Instead, restoration goals challenge us to think about how to address the long-term drivers of degradation by enabling a social-ecological trajectory that can support ecosystem restoration and stewardship far into the future. As IPBES assessments continually point out, the drivers of degradation often stem from wealth, consumption and inequality and have caused social, cultural and institutional disruption in addition to environmental harm. The attached study in Nature Sustainability synthesizes literature and cases about restoration and finds that although many restoration projects treat social concerns as secondary concerns to manage, the most effective and promising initiatives are shaped and led by Indigenous Peoples and local communities through revitalizing their knowledge systems and stewardship. Find a summary here, and comments welcome!