Global priority areas for ecosystem restoration

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Environmental Science
• Conservation Biology

Background:

• Ecosystem restoration is vital for biodiversity conservation and climate stabilization.
• Global targets for restoration exist, but priority areas considering benefits and costs are not identified.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and apply a multicriteria optimization approach to identify global priority areas for ecosystem restoration.
• To estimate the benefits and costs associated with restoration in these priority areas.

Main Methods:

• A multicriteria optimization approach was developed and applied.
• Analysis covered all terrestrial biomes to identify priority areas for restoration.
• Benefits (biodiversity, carbon sequestration) and costs were estimated.

Main Results:

• Restoring 15% of converted lands in identified priority areas could prevent 60% of expected extinctions.
• This restoration effort could sequester 299 gigatonnes of CO2, equivalent to 30% of the post-Industrial Revolution atmospheric increase.
• Optimized spatial allocation using the multicriteria approach can increase cost-effectiveness up to 13-fold.

Conclusions:

• Ecosystem restoration offers substantial contributions to addressing global biodiversity and climate challenges.
• Identifying and prioritizing areas for restoration is essential for maximizing benefits and cost-effectiveness.
• Synergistic pursuit of restoration goals across multiple biomes is necessary for achieving multiple benefits.