Dead planet, living planet

RECOMMENDATIONS

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Prioritize to protect biodiversity and ecosystem ser- vice hotspots, even when partially degraded, to halt further degradation and allow for restoration plan- ning to commence. Conservation, within the context of spatial planning, provides by far the most cost efficient way to secure ecosystem services. This is particularly criti- cal for areas with high degree of land pressures and de- velopment. Ensure that investments in restoration are combined with long-term ecosystem management in both re- stored and in surrounding areas to ensure gradual re- covery. Overseas Development Agencies, International finance agencies and other funders including regional development banks and bilateral agencies should fac- tor ecosystem restoration into development support; job generation and poverty alleviation funding. Infrastructure projects that damage an ecosystem should set aside funds to restore a similar degraded ecosystem elsewhere in a country or community. Pay- ments for Ecosystem Services should include a propor- tion of the payment for the restoration and rehabilitation of damaged and degraded ecosystems. One percent of GDP should be considered a target for investments in conservation and restoration. Apply a multidisciplinary approach across stake- holders in order to make restoration investments successful. Wise investments reduce future costs and future public expenses, but it is imperative that the driving forces and pressures behind the initial degra- dation are addressed in order to secure progressive re- covery and that local stakeholders become involved and benefit from the restoration process. Ensure that restoration projects take into account the changing world: Ecosystem restoration should be implemented in consideration of scenarios for change in

a continually changing world, including climate change and land pressures. Changes in surrounding areas or in the prevailing environmental conditions will influence both the rate of recovery and ultimate restoration success. Restoration needs to address a range of scales from intense hotspot restoration to large-scale restoration to meet regional changes in land degradation. Degree of biodiversity restored is often linked to quality of ser- vices obtained and is intrinsically linked to successful outcome. Ensure that ecosystem restoration is implemented, guided by experiences learned to date, to ensure that this tool is used appropriately and without unexpected consequences, such as the unintended introduction of invasive species and pests and sudden abandonment of restoration targets in the process. Apply ecosystem restoration as an active policy option for addressing challenges of health, water supply and quality and wastewater management by improving water- sheds and wetlands, enhancing natural filtration. Apply ecosystem restoration as an active policy option for disaster prevention and mitigation from floods, tsuna- mis, storms or drought. Coral reefs, mangroves, wetlands, catchment forests and vegetation, marshes and natural ri- parian vegetation provide some of the most efficient flood and storm mitigation systems available and restoration of these ecosystems should be a primary incentive in flood risk and disaster mitigation planning. Enhance further use of ecosystem restoration as a mean for carbon sequestration, adaptation to and miti- gation of climate change. The restoration targets for se- questration includes among other forests, wetlands, ma- rine ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrasses and salt marshes, and other land use practices.

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