Logo image
Balancing the books of nature by accounting for ecosystem condition following ecological restoration
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Balancing the books of nature by accounting for ecosystem condition following ecological restoration

Tina Parkhurst, Rachel J Standish, Suzanne M Prober, Halina Kobryn and Michael Vardon
Scientific reports, Vol.14, 11369
2024
PMID: 38762699
pdf
Published2.00 MBDownloadView
CC BY V4.0 Open Access

Abstract

Australia Biodiversity Conservation of Natural Resources - methods Ecology Ecosystem Environmental Restoration and Remediation - methods
Demand for ecological restoration of Earth's degraded ecosystems has increased significantly since the adoption of The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in December 2022, with target 2 aiming to ensure that at least 30% of degraded ecosystems are under effective restoration by 2030. More recently, in December 2023, the Australian Parliament introduced the Nature Repair Act, which establishes a framework for the world's first legislated, national, voluntary biodiversity market. How can the effectiveness of these ambitious targets be measured? Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) provides a framework to measure changes in ecosystem condition that is applicable across ecosystems and potentially catalogue effects of restoration interventions to drive investment, improvement to practice, and ultimately, to better protect the Earth's ecosystems. However, the framework has not been tested in this context. In this progressive approach, we populated the leading global NCA framework with ecological data to quantify changes in ecosystem condition after restoration. In principle, NCA is fit for purpose, however, methodological refinements and ecological expertise are needed to unlock its full potential. These tweaks will facilitate adoption and standardisation of reporting as efforts ramp up to meet ambitious global restoration targets.

Details

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#6 Clean Water and Sanitation

Metrics

12 File views/ downloads
86 Record Views
Logo image