Balancing the books of nature by accounting for ecosystem condition following ecological restoration.

Publisher: Nature Publishing Group Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 101563288 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 2045-2322 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 20452322 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Sci Rep Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: London : Nature Publishing Group, copyright 2011-

Conservation of Natural Resources*/methods ; Ecosystem* ; Biodiversity*; Environmental Restoration and Remediation/methods ; Australia ; Ecology

Demand for ecological restoration of Earth's degraded ecosystems has increased significantly since the adoption of The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework in December 2022, with target 2 aiming to ensure that at least 30% of degraded ecosystems are under effective restoration by 2030. More recently, in December 2023, the Australian Parliament introduced the Nature Repair Act, which establishes a framework for the world's first legislated, national, voluntary biodiversity market. How can the effectiveness of these ambitious targets be measured? Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) provides a framework to measure changes in ecosystem condition that is applicable across ecosystems and potentially catalogue effects of restoration interventions to drive investment, improvement to practice, and ultimately, to better protect the Earth's ecosystems. However, the framework has not been tested in this context. In this progressive approach, we populated the leading global NCA framework with ecological data to quantify changes in ecosystem condition after restoration. In principle, NCA is fit for purpose, however, methodological refinements and ecological expertise are needed to unlock its full potential. These tweaks will facilitate adoption and standardisation of reporting as efforts ramp up to meet ambitious global restoration targets.
(© 2024. The Author(s).)

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Keywords: Ecological condition indicators; Ecosystem accounting; Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework; Natural capital accounting; Nature Repair Act (2023); Nature Repair Market; System of Environmental-Economic Accounting

Date Created: 20240518 Date Completed: 20240518 Latest Revision: 20240521

20250114

PMC11102552

10.1038/s41598-024-62137-5

38762699