2050 GOALS:
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1 billion people globally engaged in restoration - 350k+ by 20306
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14+ gT of carbon annually removed from atmosphere
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2075 million hectares of land globally under restoration*
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200 of 230 major watersheds globally under restoration
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quadruple coastal / ocean habitat restoration goals under SDG14
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a global network of thriving, connected, multicultural communities, deeply connected with nature and each other
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powerful, positive seeds of a regenerative civilization & economy.
SYNOPSIS
It's become painfully clear: events are overtaking us. For the survival of humanity, biodiversity, and ecosystem integrity, we are building bold, ambitious, aspirational goals and programs that break outside our business-as-usual conservation, restoration, and climate boxes.
Closely aligning the global movements and structures on ecosystem restoration, climate restoration, biodiversity protection and youth leadership will, we believe, dramatically accelerate, align, upscale and upskill actions, leadership, and impact in this UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030). It will also facilitate the innovation of restoration approaches and the reweaving of our social fabric/
Ecosystem-based climate restoration, a newer field, has the potential to markedly channel funding, policy momentum, and public (especially youth) excitement and support. It also can benefit by deep learning from ecosystem restoration, especially from indigenous practices and values that have stood the test of many millennia.
So we in the Global Restoration Collaborative are convening six global networks which haven't been talking with each other, or at least, not nearly enough: ecosystem restoration technical experts, climate restoration activists, biodiversity conservation and rewilding scientists, youth leaders, women leaderes, and "indigenous cultural bridges" - those people from indigenous cultures who feel drawn to help lead the rest of humanity forward through shared learning and listening.
So we are building dramatic global action and an ambitious acceleration of ecosystem and climate restoration during the already-alarmingly-far-underway UN Decade, through broadening of its strategy with these core elements:
Youth & women leadership and field capacity upskilling:
link and upskill leadership in the field through exchange – primarily between ecosystem restoration and climate restoration global networks, and later also with select field-based biodiversity conservation and regenerative land/ocean networks. Practical, hands-on restoration skills and practice.
Funding and facilitation:
global agencies, other funders dramatically increase funding to link and energize these two fields – one incipient, one older – as a global change grand challenge within and beyond the strategic plan of the UN Decade.
*EverGreening the Earth Campaign targets are to restore 500 million hectares of degrading agricultural lands, scale up leguminous shrubs on 350 m ha, restore tree cover on 575 million hectares of degraded forest lands and urban environments, and regenerate a healthy grass-tree balance on 650 million hectares of degraded pasturelands.This adds up to 2,075 million hectares. See the Global Evergreening Alliance's white paper on this.
Climate/ecosystem restoration logistical collaboration:
identify existing areas, infrastructure, experts, equipment in which the strategic planning work of collaborating partners
in both ecosystem and climate restoration can be closely and cost-effectively aligned for everyone’s practical benefit.
Coalition WILD, Youth4Nature, Global Youth Biodiversity Network, SHE Changes Climate, the Global Green Recovery Collaborative and others have already joined to help shape and accelerate this powerful, linked global capacity initiative. Strategically and for mutual benefit, the Global Restoration Collaborative initiative is a short- and medium-term process, not an organization. Its approach will be increasingly integrated into the Global Evergreening Alliance in the future, with its closely aligned Green Up to Cool Down Campaign and a planned, decentralized global restoration Academy network of supportive, collaborative training and capacity building.
There is much overlap in the interests and goals of youth participants, but few have access to practical, direct, field- and classroom-based training in regeneration skills. Youth leaders and activists will be gainfully energized and empowered with clear information on options for participation, and skills-building in restoring ecosystems and carbon removal. They can also help older colleagues to embrace bolder initiatives and. ideas!
Partnerships between global alliances help all members have impact, learn cross-pollinating lessons, and significantly strengthen many funding proposals.
Specific proposed actions are still in development. But they will fall within these four elements.
Two-way mentorship, participatory learning and cross-pollinating capacity building in practical, field-based restoration skills, community leadership, policy and strategy will not simply be program-based, or restricted to the UN Decade, but an ongoing basis for building the newer, more regenerative, wiser civilization and economy.
Capacity building and cross-pollination learning for youth, women and others has fallen outside the Global Biodiversity Framework, but is universally acknowledged in UN and other initiatives as a cross-cutting priority for the future.
Big, bold and large-scale ambition, with targets, is needed to restore our planet and climate. This involves carefully planned rewilding, including planning with the behavioral sciences to avoid human/ wildlife conflict.
Academic supporters so far
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Osvaldo Sala, Founding Director, Global Drylands Center, Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation.
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Chris Sandbrook, Director, Cambridge University Masters of Philosophy in Conservation Leadership.
Concept note authors:
Cross-pollinator identification & mapping:
map relevant alliances, organizations and people both in IGO, NGO and academic communities keen to collaborate for greater impact; identify their priorities and values.
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Prof Phoebe Barnard, biodiversity scientist, policy strategist and societal futurist, has been a Fulbright Scholar and recipient of the Distinguished Service Award of the Society for Conservation Biology. She coauthored World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency and led the World Scientists’ Warnings into Action: Local to Global action framework published during COP26. A longtime UN negotiator for Namibia and founder of its national biodiversity and climate programs, she is founding CEO, now advisor, of the Stable Planet Alliance (a global coalition of organizations working to reduce human overshoot), affiliate full professor at University of Washington, affiliate researcher at the African Climate and Development Initiative and FitzPatrick Institute, University of Cape Town, mentor to young conservation leaders in Africa and globally, and co-producer of the 2024 global documentary series, “The Climate Restorers: Back to our Future.” This Collaborative is now one of her chief efforts.
Dr Dennis Garrity, former Director-General of World Agroforestry (ICRAF, 2001-2011), is Chair of the Board of the Global EverGreening Alliance, a Senior Fellow at the World Resources Institute, and a Distinguished Senior Research Fellow at ICRAF. He is a systems agronomist and research leader whose career has been focused on the development of small-scale farming systems in the tropics. He has served as Drylands Ambassador for the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, emphasizing the role of agroforestry, evergreen agriculture and landcare as critical to sustainable land management. Like Phoebe and John, Dennis is a determined and energetic advocate for a regenerative society, economy and society.
John Dennis Liu, globally known ecosystem restoration and soil scientist and filmmaker based in Beijing and Kentucky, founded the global Ecosystem Restoration Camps movement and chairs its advisory board. After 15 years as a TV producer and cameraman for CBS News, RAI and ZDF, John studied soil science and ecology and has driven participatory media collaborations in China and other countries leading to the Environmental Education Media Project, EEMP, which he directs. EEMP has distributed >1000 environmental films in China since then, and helped found the China Environment and Sustainable Development Reference and Research Center. John has been a visiting fellow at University of the West of England and Senior Research Fellow for IUCN. John received the Society for Ecological Restoration’s Communications Award and a film, Green Gold about his work by the VPRO won a Prix Italia Award. His classic film Hope in a Changing Climate was named the best ecosystem film by the International Wildlife Festival. John is also ambassador for the Commonland Foundation and actively engaged in building youth leaders.
Noa Steiner supported the development of this concept with strategic policy and organizational networking advice. She is a global biodiversity policy strategist and networker, former Global Policy Officer at BirdLife International, Cambridge University guest lecturer in its conservation leadership masters course, and Conventions and Policy Support Officer at UNEP-WCMC. She is based in Kiel, Germany and follows CBD negotiations and policy priorities closely.
Leonard Iyamuremye, Rwandan climate and biodiversity activist and a global ambassador with Youth4Nature, advocates for financing for youth initiatives globally through storytelling, restoration action on the ground, and three pillars of capacity building, knowledge sharing, and the production of knowledge resources. You can read more about his work here in Top Africa News.
Collaborating and proposed partners:
DRAFT acceleration synopsis collaboratively developed by Phoebe Barnard* and Dennis Garrity** with inputs from John Dennis Liu***, Noa Steiner**** and numerous others from partner organizations
ACCELERATING, ALIGNING, UPSCALING and UPSKILLING
ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION AND CLIMATE RESTORATION GLOBALLY
to pull humanity back from the brink in time
A bold "GLOBAL RESTORATION COLLABORATIVE"
initiated by Stable Planet Alliance
to accelerate progress towards the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration and beyond