The Society for Ecological Restoration released the third edition of its global restoration standards on June 23, shifting the emphasis from doing no harm to actively driving ecological “uplift” and recovery in line with the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’s goal of restoring 30% of degraded ecosystems by 2030.A central feature is the refined “Five-star System,” complemented by the “Restorative Continuum,” tools that measure restoration progress both ecologically and socially.The standards make an explicit “business case” for restoration, framing it as a way to redirect environmentally harmful subsidies toward investments that benefit both biodiversity and economic livelihoods, giving companies and funders a trusted roadmap for action.Experts emphasized that integrating local and Indigenous ecological knowledge alongside science is essential to credible restoration, with one researcher calling for greater involvement from Global South practitioners in shaping future iterations of the standards.
The Society for Ecological Restoration, a U.S.-based conservation organization, published an updated set of standards and principles for restoring ecosystems on June 23, the third edition of the volume since 2016.
