Following the conclusion of the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity from 2011 to 2020, the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration has been launched in June 2021.
Its purpose is to promote the United Nation goals to facilitate global cooperation for the restoration of degraded and destroyed ecosystems.
This article will give details on United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration within the context of the Civil Services Examination
Learn about International Day for Biological Diversity in the linked article.
Overview of UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
The Decade for Ecosystem Restoration was declared on 5 June 2021. It called for a biosphere restoration equal to the total land area of China. In addition, more stringent efforts towards climate mitigation as well were needed to preserve the ecological makeup of the earth.
The Decade on Ecosystem was first proposed by El Salvador during the Bonn Challenge meeting in March 2018. The proposal put forward by El Salvador called for restoration of about 350 million hectares of degraded ecosystems by 2030.
About 71 countries supported the proposal during the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2018. On 1 March 2019, the UN General Assembly officially adopted the resolution declaring 2021–2030 the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration.
Rationale behind the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
The aim of the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration is balancing ecological, social and developmental priorities with the aim of fostering long term resilience.
Human activities are affecting the capacity of ecosystems to provide these goods and services. Drivers of biodiversity loss and decline in ecosystem functioning include climate change, deforestation, desertification and land degradation, freshwater decline, overexploitation, stratospheric ozone depletion, and pollution.
It is therefore necessary to preserve the ecosystem for future generations.
Ecosystem restoration aims to repair some damage done to the environment and regain ecological functionality. The benefits of a restored ecosystem is increased food and water security, increased climate change mitigation and adaptation Additional benefits obtained from ecosystem generation on average exceed the costs of the initial investment tenfold, whereas the cost of inaction is at least three times the cost of ecosystem restoration.
UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration- Download PDF Here
Find articles related to biodiversity and environment conventions through the following links:
Environment Conventions and ProtocolsNCERT Notes on Biodiversity
| Biosphere Reserves | Climate Change |
| Global Environment Outlook | Living Planet Report |
Aim of UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration
The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration was established in order to
- Build a common vision, prioritizing ecosystem restoration from the global to the local level to accelerate reversal of ecosystem degradation.
- Mainstream ecosystem restoration in policy and planning to address current developmental challenges due to land degradation, biodiversity loss, and climate change vulnerability
- Foster a holistic approach to achieving international commitments and national priorities through ecosystem and landscape restoration
- Enhance cooperation and resource mobilization to increase the flow of financial resources, technologies, knowledge, and capacity building to countries and jurisdictions working to meet national goals and international commitments, including the Sustainable Development Goals, through ecosystem restoration
- Encourage partnerships and investments, promoting a resilient economy by increasing support for smallholders’ generation of value from land use products and potential to contribute to ecosystem restoration
- Promote cooperation between funds providers, governments, civil society, and the private sector to help overcome barriers to scaling up resource-efficient productive systems in association with ecosystem restoration
- Raise awareness of the importance of functional ecosystems for human well-being and productive activities, local development and the economic sustainability of society
The UN Decade aims to promote a concerted and holistic landscape-focused approach to the interdependence of ecosystems, human needs, and biodiversity, to accelerate the progress needed to maintain and restore ecosystems.
Aspirants can find complete information about upcoming Government Exams through the linked article. More exam-related preparation materials will be found through the links given below
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