Global priority areas for ecosystem restoration

• Published in: Nature (London) Vol. 586; no. 7831; pp. 724 - 729
• Main Authors: Strassburg, Bernardo B. N., Iribarrem, Alvaro, Beyer, Hawthorne L., Cordeiro, Carlos Leandro, Crouzeilles, Renato, Jakovac, Catarina C., Braga Junqueira, André, Lacerda, Eduardo, Latawiec, Agnieszka E., Balmford, Andrew, Brooks, Thomas M., Butchart, Stuart H. M., Chazdon, Robin L., Erb, Karl-Heinz, Brancalion, Pedro, Buchanan, Graeme, Cooper, David, Díaz, Sandra, Donald, Paul F., Kapos, Valerie, Leclère, David, Miles, Lera, Obersteiner, Michael, Plutzar, Christoph, de M. Scaramuzza, Carlos Alberto, Scarano, Fabio R., Visconti, Piero
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 29.10.2020; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/158/672; 631/158/854; 704/106/694/682; 704/158/670; Analysis; Animals; Biodiversity; Biomes; Carbon dioxide; Carbon dioxide atmospheric concentrations; Carbon sequestration; Climate change; Conservation of Natural Resources - economics; Cost control; Cost effectiveness; Cost-Benefit Analysis; Ecological restoration; Ecosystem; Ecosystem restoration; Ecosystems; Endangered & extinct species; Environmental restoration; Environmental Restoration and Remediation - economics; Environmental Restoration and Remediation - trends; Extinction; Geographic Mapping; Global Warming - economics; Global Warming - prevention & control; Humanities and Social Sciences; Industrial Revolution; International aspects; International Cooperation; Linear programming; Location; Methods; multidisciplinary; Multiple criteria decision making; Multiple criterion; Optimization; Planning; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sequestering; Socially responsible investments; Spatial variations; Brazil; United States > US
• ISSN: 0028-0836; 1476-4687; 1476-4687
• DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2784-9

Extensive ecosystem restoration is increasingly seen as being central to conserving biodiversity 1 and stabilizing the climate of the Earth 2 . Although ambitious national and global targets have been set, global priority areas that account for spatial variation in benefits and costs have yet to be identified. Here we develop and apply a multicriteria optimization approach that identifies priority areas for restoration across all terrestrial biomes, and estimates their benefits and costs. We find that restoring 15% of converted lands in priority areas could avoid 60% of expected extinctions while sequestering 299 gigatonnes of CO 2 —30% of the total CO 2 increase in the atmosphere, or 14% of total emissions, since the Industrial Revolution. The inclusion of several biomes is key to achieving multiple benefits. Cost effectiveness can increase up to 13-fold when spatial allocation is optimized using our multicriteria approach, which highlights the importance of spatial planning. Our results confirm the vast potential contributions of restoration to addressing global challenges, while underscoring the necessity of pursuing these goals synergistically. Multicriteria optimization identifies global priority areas for ecosystem restoration and estimates their benefits for biodiversity and climate, providing cost–benefit analyses that highlight the importance of optimizing spatial planning and incorporating several biomes in restoration strategies.