11 Lessons Learned from an Analysis of 5 European Restoration Initiatives.

THE BENEFITS OF ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION

Eleven Lessons Learned from an Analysis of Five European Restoration Initiatives Policy Brief

©2022UnitedNationsEnvironmentProgramme

This policy brief was produced by the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) in collaboration with UN Environment Programme Europe in support of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and of the UN DecadeRestorationFlagshipsinitiative.Thereportisadeliverableofthecollaborativeproject ‘European Restoration Initiatives’ (September 2021 – June 2022). The project aims to promote the implementation of landscape and seascape restoration programmes across Europebyillustratingtherealisedandpotentialbenefitsofselectedrestorationinitiatives.

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Ecosystem restoration has the potential to significantly contribute to reversing biodiversity loss, supporting climate change mitigation and adaptation, and increasing societal wellbeing, including gender equality. In Europe, there are many ecosystems that are degraded to a level at which they no longer support nature and people as they once did. Ecosystem restoration has the potential to reverse this situation.

This policy brief provides the lessons learned from an analysis of ecosystem restoration benefits. The work draws on the experiences of five successful restoration initiatives within Europe: the Altyn Dala, Carpathian Mountains, European Seas, Gökova Bay, and Danube Delta initiatives*.

Policymakers can play an important role in supporting the success of restoration. This brief provides specific recommendations for policymakers that they can consider when supporting restoration initiatives.

CarpathianMountains

*The actual titles of the initiatives are “Altyn Dala Conservation Initiative”, “Carpathian MountainsCentral Europe Ecological Backbone”, “Five Seas Cooperation for Ecosystem Restoration”, “Boosting ClimateChangeResilienceofMarineEcosystemsinSouthwestTurkey”,“RestoringDanubeDeltaWetlands andSteppe”.

Why is it important to know about the benefits of restoration?

Demonstrating the benefits of restoration is important to catalyse new restoration actions across Europe.

Through the efforts of over 200 funders and a thousand organisations, more than 1 2 billion euros have been allocated to restoring over 11 million hectares of land and seascape in Europe since 2010 However, there are only a few studies that assess and quantify the benefits of this work

In any location, some restoration activities will be successful while others will not lead to the expected results

Therefore, restoration initiatives can be considered as experiments where restoration actions can be tested and their benefits understood When initiatives that are tested in this way work well, they can be locally expanded and exported to other areas with confidence

In this context, focussing on how restoration outcomes affect gender, youth, and local communities is useful as it provides a means to understand how the most vulnerable sectors of society can be supported by the restoration Given that some restoration actions could disproportionately affect certain parts of society, the effects of restoration outcomes on them should be considered from the design stage

Where are the restoration initiatives located and in which ecosystems?

What are the restoration goals and activities of the initiatives?

Specific restoration goals and activities that the initiatives carried out are listed below. These initiatives worked closely with local communities to achieve socio-economic benefits. They did this by engaging in consultations on placements of protected areas and green infrastructure, by raising public awareness and by exploring and implementing ways to improve local livelihoods.

Altyn Dala

Started: 2005

Goal: Re-establish a fully functional ecosystem of the steppe, semi-desert, and desert across the historical range of the saigaantelopeinKazakhstan.

Activities: Establishing and managing effectively protected areas (including OECMs*); enforcing species protection with anti-poaching and anti-illegal trade activities; creating ecological corridors and removing linear infrastructure barriers; reintroducingspecies;regeneratingdegradedhabitats;establishingfiremanagementactivities.

Carpathians Mountains

Started: 2020

Goal: Provide a regional approach across seven countries of Central and Eastern Europe to support the implementation of global and European policies and instruments, including the Agenda 2030 and the post-2020 global biodiversity frameworkundertheCarpathianConvention.

Activities: Restoring connectivity for wildlife; species reintroductions; establishing new protected areas and supporting the effective management of existing ones; developing innovative economic approaches and financing models for a sustainabledevelopmentoftheCarpathians.

European Seas

Starting: 2022

Gökova Bay

Started: 2015

Goal: Promote advocacy and support for the application of restoration techniques and approaches, as well as establishing new Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) within Ecologically and Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSAs) and beyond. Work will take place in countries bordering the North-East Atlantic as well as the Baltic, Black, Caspian and Mediterraneanseas.Basedonseveralmultilateralcooperationagreements.

Activities: Applying innovative restoration techniques, analysing regional restoration strategies and building capacity, establishing new MPAs, applying marine spatial planning within EBSAs to advance restoration efforts, creating a knowledgeplatformonmarineandcoastalrestoration

Goal: Restore about 500 km of vulnerable marine habitat along Turkey’s coastline and increase ecological connectivity acrosstheseascapewhileimprovingthelivelihoodsofthelocalfishers.

Activities: Establishing new MPAs containing no-fishing zones (NFZs); increasing patrolling to deter illegal fishing activities; arranging underwater clean-up operations; mitigating the impact of invasive alien species through the engagementoflocalfishersandrestaurants;supportingthesurvivalofapexpredators;protectingandrestoringseagrass meadows.

Danube Delta

Started: 2018

Goal: ImprovetheecologicalintegrityandecosystemfunctionofwetlandandsteppehabitatsintheDanubeDeltaregion, inRomania,Moldova,andUkraine,byrestoringkeynaturalprocesses.

Activities: Clearingchannelsandremovingoldandobsoleteinfrastructure(suchasdams)torestorenaturalhydrological conditions and water quality; introducing keystone species; recreating semi-natural extensive grazing systems with the reintroductionofspecieslikewaterbuffaloandhorses.

What is the range of benefits of ecosystem restoration of the five initiatives?

The benefits of the five initiatives can be split into four categories: biodiversity, climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, and socio-economic benefits. The initiatives showed benefits in all of these areas indicating the widespread positive effects that they are likely to have both on the natural world and on human well-being. Specific benefits of the restoration action for women fishers were also observed in one of the initiatives.

BIODIVERSITY

Improved biodiversity

Betterecosystem function

Betterecosystem connectivity

Benefitstonontargetspecies

Controlofinvasive alienspecies

CLIMATECHANGE MITIGATION

Increasedcarbon sequestration

Decreasedcarbon emissions

CLIMATECHANGE ADAPTATION

Reducedriskof drought

Reducedriskof erosion

Reducedriskof wildfires

Reducedriskof flooding

Increasedisease resistanceofpop.

Adaptivewildlife consumption

SOCIO-ECONOMIC

Improved livelihoods

Neweconomic activities

Improved freshwaterquality

Reducedriskof illegalactivities

The European Seas Initiative is in the process of starting, therefore the benefits of this initiative are potential and not yet realisedandmorebenefitsarelikelytobeidentifiedoncetheinitiativestarts.

Altyn Dala

4.

Carpathian Mountains

European Seas

Gökova Bay

Danube Delta

1.

3.

2.

5.

What are the specific benefits of the main restoration activities of the five initiatives?

Supports the recovery of other species through the establishment of protected areas

Feeds higher trophic levels (predators and scavengers)

Increases fertility of the soil

Cushions the population against future shocks (such as climate change and diseases) Provides local jobs through ecotourism and species protection

Supports carbon storage and carbon sequestration Prevents erosion and landslides

Preserves the populations of carnivores and other forest species

Improves water quality, groundwater levels and hydropower generation

Promotes ecotourism and rural economies

Increases fishers’ catches and fishers’ income

Supports native macroalgae

Increases fish availability (spillover effect)

Protects migratory corridors of marine mammals

Supports climate change mitigation ( e.g. through restoration of macroalgae forests)

Reduces impact of maritime traffic on marine life

Supports climate change adaptation (e.g.through oyster reefs)

Protects biodiversity and ecosystem function

Increases fish biomass

Increases population of apex predators

CO2

CO2 CO2

Supports climate change mitigation through seagrass meadows carbon capture

Supports recovery of endangered species

Reduces invasive species impact

Increases plant and animal biodiversity

Controls invasive plant species

Restores natural and seminatural grassland

Lessons learned from successful restoration initiatives

The lessons learned from the analysis of the benefits of the five restoration initiatives can be framed within the 10 principles for restoration developed by the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. These principles underpin successful restoration initiatives

Lesson 1: Benefits to climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, and socio-economic benefitsshouldbeconsideredasoutcomesandmonitoredinrestorationprojects

Themainfocusoftheinitiativesconsideredwasrestorationofbiodiversity However,theinitiatives provided a number of co-benefits These include increasing carbon capture and storage by ecosystems,increasingresilienceofpeopleandnaturetoprojectedclimaticimpactsandincreasing socio-economicwellbeingbysupportinglivelihoodsanddeliveringarangeofnon-monetarybenefits Thesebenefitsareprovidedbothtocommunitieslocaltotherestorationaswellastothosefurther afield Investments in restoration can also empower women groups and drive progress toward the achievementofgenderequalityandenvironmentaloutcomes

Lesson 2: Addressing underlying causes of ecosystem degradation is an integral part of the restorationprocess

The main degradation drivers and threats were addressed by the five initiatives studied There werealsosomeexcellentexampleswhereadaptationmeasureswereputinplacewhenthethreat could not be completely removed, such as mitigating the impact of invasive alien species by promotingtheirconsumptioninthelocalrestaurants

Lesson3:Enforcingpoliciesandregulationsarekeyactivitiestoobtaintheintendedbenefits. WorkingwithCustomsandBorderagenciesforthepreventionofillegalwildlifetrade,patrolling marine and coastal areas to prevent illegal fishing and involving local communities in the detection of illegal activities were all important for supporting policies for habitat and wildlife protection

Lesson4:Capacitybuildingandparticipatorymanagementisanimportantaspectofrestoration Capacity building with the stakeholders affected by the restoration underpinned all five of the projects as it ensured ownership by the local communities and long-term success of the initiatives For example, local communities were consulted in the placement of green infrastructure to increase connectivity between ecosystems Participatory management and consultationswiththelocalcommunitiesledtoincreasedenforcementofpoliciesandregulations as the communities were aware of the benefits of applying those policies Gender-responsive methodologiesforparticipatoryengagementcanhelpensurethattheviewsofdiversegroupsof womenandmenareconsidered

Lesson 5: Working at both the local and landscape scales provides restoration initiatives with an increasedrangeofbenefits

Theinitiatives,independentoftheirsize,workedatalocalscaleandwiththelocalcommunitieswhile keeping track of the wider landscape by paying attention to the connectivity between ecosystems Thisfocusonconnectivitybetweenareasofhighnaturalvaluestrengthensecosystemresilienceasit promotes genetic diversity and facilitates movement following changes in conditions (eg due to climatechange)andallowsfortheconservationofspeciesthathaveextensiveranges Formostof theinitiatives,trans-nationalcooperationwasneededtoachieveregionalbiodiversitybenefits

Lesson6:Definingclearoutcomesandindicatorsofsuccessfortherestorationhelpswithplanning andimplementationoftherestorationactions.

Havingclearobjectiveshelpedtheinitiativesraiseawarenessfortheneedforrestorationandgain support for the restoration with the stakeholders

Gender equality and equity should also be considered when measuring success and supported with appropriate indicators Having clear indicatorsofsuccessallowedprogresstowardtheseoutcomestobeeasilymeasured Ifsuccessful, raisingawarenessmayalsoreducetheneedforenforcement

Lesson7:Monitoringtheoutcomesofrestorationisimportanttoenableadaptivemanagementandto demonstratethesuccessoftheinitiative.

Monitoring allowed the projects to be managed adaptively by highlighting where the project succeeded and where changes were needed Monitoring also provided data that were used to raise awarenessandinformthedevelopmentofland/seamanagementpolicies Monitoringshouldbebased ontheindicatorsofsuccessthathavebeenidentifiedtoassesstheoutcomesandshouldalsoinclude climateandsocio-economicindicators Indicatorsontheeffectoftherestorationactivitiesongender, youth,andlocalcommunitiesshouldalsobeconsideredtoensurethatthesespecificgroupsthattend tobeconsideredasvulnerablearenotatadisadvantagefromtheimplementationoftherestoration activities

Lesson8:Embeddinglearningmechanismsintorestorationprojectscontributestotheirsuccess Therearemanygapsinknowledgeregardinghowtobestrestorelandscapesandspeciesandhow restoration may affect gender equality outcomes To fill this gap, gender-specific knowledge of indigenouspeoplesandlocalcommunitiesshouldbesoughttoensurethatthediverseviewsof womenandmenareunderstood Learningfromthepracticalrestorationexperienceontheground and sharing these learnings helped improve the success of restoration activities For example, learninghowtobestre-introducegregariousspeciessothatthegroupsremaintogetherrequired monitoringandadjustingtheprocesstomaximisegroupcohesion

Lesson 9: The initiatives’ engagement with local communities is essential for the success of restoration

Engagement with local communities as stakeholders allowed the initiatives to learn from them and to discuss the benefits of restoration with them It also helped to mitigate conflicting interests to reach fair outcomes A gender-balanced engagement ensures that restoration is gender-responsive and inclusive while embedding Traditional Ecological Knowledge of the local communitiescanimproverestorationoutcomes

Lesson10:Governmentcanenablerestorationthroughnewlegislationandimplementationofexisting policies

Policymakersplayedanimportantroleinenablingandsupportingrestorationactionsbydeveloping newlawsormakingexistingonesmorerestoration-friendlyandbysupportingtheimplementationof existing laws Government agencies, such as police forces, provided key practical support by, for example,combattingillegalwildlifetradewithanti-poachingunitsinsupportofrestorationactivities

Lesson11:Restorationcancontributetoachievingthenationalandinternationalgoalsandtargetsfor biodiversityandclimate

Restorationinitiatives,whensuccessful,canworktowardsachievingambitiousglobaltargetsforsustaining lifeonearth Theinitiatives’benefitsforbiodiversity,climatechangemitigation,climatechangeadaptation andsocio-economicbenefits,contributetowardnationalandinternationalgoalsandtargetssuchasthe 2030AgendaforSustainableDevelopmentandthebiodiversity,climateandland-degradationneutrality goalsoftheRioConventionsandalliedglobalinitiatives Therecoveryrateofecosystemsdependsupon many factors It requires long-term commitments and long-term strategies that include financing and stakeholderengagementtoensurethatthebenefitsarerealisedandsustainedinthelongrun

What can policymakers do to support restoration What can policymakers do to support restoration initiatives deliver benefits for nature and people? initiatives deliver benefits for nature and people?

Develop new laws, modify existing ones, and ensure implementation of existing legislation to support the restoration of ecosystems in consultation with the restoration initiatives while ensuring that women, indigenous peoples and local communities, and youth can actively contribute to and benefit from restoration efforts. For example, one of the initiativesworkedwithlawmakerstoensureanamendmentthat preventedamateurfishinginthedesignatednofishingzones.

Ensuretheharmonisationofdifferentareasoflegislationthat may affect ecosystem restoration. This is particularly importantinthecaseoflegislationthatcoversagriculturaland fishing practices influencing how landscapes and seascapes aremanaged.

Reviewagricultural,fishingandotherfinancialincentivesand subsidies to make them more nature-friendly and ensure that restorationactivitiescanalsoaccessthoseincentives.

Incorporatesupportforinternationalgoalsandtargetswithin nationallegislation, such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Rio Convention, the Paris Agreement and otherglobalinitiativesforsustaininglifeonEarth.

Support restoration initiatives with government funding as lack of funding is often one of the main limiting factors to ecosystemrestoration.

Encourage government agencies, such as police forces and customs and border forces, to collaborate with and offer support to restoration initiatives in trying to combat illegal activities against nature. For example, one of the initiatives worked with the Custom and Border authorities to deploy snifferdogstrainedspeciallytoidentifyillegalwildlifetrade.

RESOURCES

Altyn Dala: https://fzs.org/en/projects/kazakhstan/altyn-dala/

Altyn Dala: https://www.acbk.kz/

Altyn Dala Twitter: @AltynDala

Carpathians Mountains: http://www.carpathianconvention.org/

Gökova Bay: https://www.endangeredlandscapes.org/project/gokova-bay-to-capegelidonya/

Gökova Bay: https://www.fauna-flora.org/projects/managing-no-take-zones-alongturkeys-mediterranean-coast/

Danube Delta: https://rewildingeurope.com/areas/danube-delta/

Danube Delta: https://www.endangeredlandscapes.org/project/danube-delta

The Benefits of Ecosystem Restoration: an Analysis of Five European Restoration Initiatives - report: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_46BMTM4NMJWSvKH4kmxmB_VN83X1frb? usp=sharing

Principles for Ecosystem Restoration to Guide the United Nations Decade 2021-2030: https://www.decadeonrestoration.org/publications/principles-ecosystem-restorationguide-united-nations-decade-2021-2030

REFERENCES

1. United Nations Environment Programme – World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Fauna and Flora International and Endangered Landscapes Programme (2020). Funding Ecosystem Restoration in Europe

2. Brooks, H. and Guth, M. (2020). Benefits of restoring Europe: Examples of the biodiversity, climate and wider-socio economic benefits of ecological restoration in Europe. Endangered Landscapes Programme, BirdLife, and United Nations Environment Programme – World Conservation Monitoring Centre.