Social justice must be at the heart of global restoration initiatives—and not “superficial” or “tokenistic”—if ecosystem degradation is to be addressed effectively, according to new research.
Led by researchers from the University of East Anglia (UEA), the study sought to explore what can make restoration effective for people and nature. The researchers argue that placing social justice at the center of restoration practice remains vital to success, with ecological targets aligned to local social, economic and cultural ones.
The work appears in Nature Sustainability.
Around the world, almost all kinds of ecosystems have been degraded and converted, eroding both the biological and cultural foundations of human well-being. It is estimated that 3.2 billion people have already been adversely affected by land degradation and there are growing concerns for the future food security of all.
This crisis has driven pledges, funding and programs for wide-scale ecological restoration, often as part of biodiversity and climate policy.
The team, led by Prof. Adrian Martin, Dr. Neil Dawson and Prof. Iokiñe Rodriguez of UEA’s School of Global Development, reviewed the published literature on restoration in theory and case studies of practice worldwide. They found a need to reflect on and reframe how restoration is defined and implemented.
“In the face of the climate and biodiversity crisis, global targets for the restoration of degraded lands have become ever more ambitious and urgent,” said Prof. Martin. “While placing justice at the heart of restoration practice is increasingly accepted, there is an unfortunate tendency to address justice in superficial ways, through tokenistic forms of participation and benefit-sharing.
