UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021–2030—What Chance for Success in Restoring Coastal Ecosystems?

摘要

On 1 March 2019, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly (New York) declared 2021–2030the “UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.” This call to action has the purpose of recognizing theneed to massively accelerate global restoration of degraded ecosystems, to fight the climate heatingcrisis, enhance food security, provide clean water and protect biodiversity on the planet. The scaleof restoration will be key; for example, the Bonn Challenge has the goal to restore 350 millionkm2(almost the size of India) of degraded terrestrial ecosystems by 2030. However, internationalsupport for restoration of “blue” coastal ecosystems, which provide an impressive array of benefitsto people, has lagged. Only the Global Mangrove Alliance (https://mangrovealliance.org/) comesclose to the Bonn Challenge, with the aim of increasing the global area of mangroves by 20%by 2030. However, mangrove scientists have reservations about this target, voicing concerns thatit is unrealistic and may prompt inappropriate practices in attempting to reach this target (Leeet al., 2019). The decade of ecosystem restoration declaration also coincides with the UN Decade ofOcean Science for Sustainable Development, which aims to reverse deterioration in ocean health.If executed in a holistic and coordinated manner, signatory nations could stand to deliver on boththese UN calls to action.