The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration defines ecosystem restoration as “the process of halting and reversing degradation, resulting in improved ecosystem services and recovered biodiversity. Ecosystem restoration encompasses a wide continuum of practices, depending on local conditions and societal choice” (UNEP 2021). In line therewith, PANORAMA Restoration is the Community for solutions that restore ecosystems or their functions with both ecological and positive socio-economic impacts on the people affected. The solutions cover drylands, watershed and wetland but could also involve restoration of grasslands/pastures, agricultural landscapes, etc.
This Community emerges from the Forest Landscape Restoration Community, hence a special focus is still on the restoration of tree-rich landscapes. Forest Landscape Restoration is the process of regaining ecological functionality and enhancing human well-being across deforested or degraded landscapes. The approach entails more than just planting trees – it is about restoring an entire landscape to meet present and future needs and to provide multiple benefits and land uses over time, which of course counts as an objective of restoring other landscapes as well.
Degradation of ecosystems characterised by nutrient-depleted soils and loss of forests and tree cover, grass, crops and other vegetation is increasing worldwide. This has led to increased amounts of Green House Gases (GHG), unprecedented loss of biodiversity and worsening food security thereby affecting millions of people’s livelihoods globally. Restored landscapes and the services they provide are critical to the well-being of local populations. In addition to providing agricultural, timber and non-timber products, restored landscapes are climate-regulating carbon sinks, serve as crucial wildlife habitats and provide a variety of ecosystem services including water resources. Restoring the ecosystem functions of these landscapes is crucial to conserving biodiversity, adapting to climate change, improving food security, and sustaining life-sustaining watersheds.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ GmbH) are supporting (Forest) Landscape Restoration world-wide with focus on the African continent in the framework of the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100) and others.
Regional initiatives like AFR100 or the Initiative 20x20 are contributing to the Bonn Challenge by bringing together a large number of dedicated practitioners implementing and scaling-up Forest Landscape Restoration in Africa and Latin America. In addition to local organizations, a large number of research institutes, international organizations and associations are committed to restoring landscapes. Every day, these organizations generate a multitude of solutions designed to address challenges across a wide range of contexts, landscapes, and regions. Besides implementing organizations, impact investors and private companies act as agents of change by supporting innovative projects that offer social and environmental improvements with financial returns. Regular collaboration in landscape restoration programs and initiatives fosters the development of knowledge and communication networks, a PANORAMA Community devoted to restoration will structure and foster this knowledge exchange.
Coordinators
