TY - JOUR
T1 - Challenges for policy and practice in meeting ambitious ecological restoration targets by 2030: A perspective from Colombia
AU - Aguilar-Garavito, Mauricio
AU - Isaacs-Cubides, Paola
AU - Peña-González, Natalia
AU - Warren-Thomas, Eleanor
PY - 2025/1/14
Y1 - 2025/1/14
N2 - Targets for ecosystem restoration have been made at global, regional, and national scales, but monitoring of progress remains challenging. Differences in definitions, goals, and practices among restoration initiatives, linked to policy drivers and funding sources, add complexity. We evaluate the current state of ecological restoration activity in Colombia, where, since 2012, legal requirements to compensate for environmental damage may be driving widespread restoration efforts, alongside a long history of government and private restoration initiatives. We systematically searched several public databases, and circulated an online survey, to collect records of 675 terrestrial and coastal restoration projects initiated between 1963 and 2021, capturing data on: location, funding, monitoring, ecosystem type and actors. Location was reported for 613 projects at municipality level, and 261 projects at point level. Restoration aims included recovery of ecological processes, hydrological processes, soil erosion, and natural resources. Only 24 % reported any monitoring, with just 2 % monitoring effectiveness. Forty-one percent of projects were enacted under environmental compensation laws. Funding was mostly from within Colombia, with minimal international funding. This work highlights major gaps in the monitoring needed to achieve effective implementation of restoration targets. Enhancing coordination among institutions, and enhancing monitoring, will now be crucial to achieving restoration goals.
AB - Targets for ecosystem restoration have been made at global, regional, and national scales, but monitoring of progress remains challenging. Differences in definitions, goals, and practices among restoration initiatives, linked to policy drivers and funding sources, add complexity. We evaluate the current state of ecological restoration activity in Colombia, where, since 2012, legal requirements to compensate for environmental damage may be driving widespread restoration efforts, alongside a long history of government and private restoration initiatives. We systematically searched several public databases, and circulated an online survey, to collect records of 675 terrestrial and coastal restoration projects initiated between 1963 and 2021, capturing data on: location, funding, monitoring, ecosystem type and actors. Location was reported for 613 projects at municipality level, and 261 projects at point level. Restoration aims included recovery of ecological processes, hydrological processes, soil erosion, and natural resources. Only 24 % reported any monitoring, with just 2 % monitoring effectiveness. Forty-one percent of projects were enacted under environmental compensation laws. Funding was mostly from within Colombia, with minimal international funding. This work highlights major gaps in the monitoring needed to achieve effective implementation of restoration targets. Enhancing coordination among institutions, and enhancing monitoring, will now be crucial to achieving restoration goals.
KW - Compensación ambiental
KW - Compensación por biodiversidad
KW - Fuentes de financiamiento
KW - Prácticas de monitoreo
KW - Políticas públicas
KW - Estándares de restauración ecológica
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.110973
UR - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320725000102
U2 - 10.1016/j.biocon.2025.110973
DO - 10.1016/j.biocon.2025.110973
M3 - Article
SN - 0006-3207
VL - 302
SP - 1
EP - 10
JO - Biological Conservation
JF - Biological Conservation
IS - 110973
M1 - 110973
ER -