Dead planet, living planet

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.

Improve food security through ecosystem restoration. Given the significance of food production and its relations to biodiversity and ecosystems loss, expanded recommen- dations are presented: Strengthen natural pest control: Restoration of field edges, crop diversity and wild crop relatives, forests and wetlands is a tool for improving natural weed, pest and disease control in agricultural production. This should be combined with biological control including establish- ment and facilitation of natural predator host plants and insects, enzymes, mites or natural pathogens. Improve and restore soil fertility: Research and Develop- ment funds into agriculture should become a primary investment source for financing restoration of lost and degraded soils, improve soil fertility and water catch- ment capacity, by investing in small-scale eco-agricul- tural, agro-forestry- and intercropping systems Support more diversified and resilient agricultural systems that provide critical ecosystem services (water supply and regulation, habitat for wild plants and animals, genetic di- versity, pollination, pest control, climate regulation), as well as adequate food to meet local and consumer needs. This includes managing extreme rainfall and using inter-crop- ping to minimize dependency on external inputs like artifi- cial fertilizers, pesticides and blue irrigation water. Support should also be provided for the development and imple- mentation of green technology for small-scale farmers. Improve irrigation systems and reduce evapo-transpira- tion in intercropping and green technology irrigation or rainfall capture systems. Improve water supply and quality and wastewater man- agement in rural, peri-urban, and urban areas through restoration of field edges, riparian zones, forest cover in catchments, extent of green areas and wetland restoration. a. b. c. d. e.

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