Global priority areas for ecosystem restoration

Extensive ecosystem restoration is increasingly seen as being central to conserving biodiversity1 and stabilizing the climate of the Earth2. Although ambitious national and global targets have been set, global priority areas that account for spatial variation in benefits and costs have yet to be identified. Here we develop and apply a multicriteria optimization approach that identifies priority areas for restoration across all terrestrial biomes, and estimates their benefits and costs. We find that restoring 15% of converted lands in priority areas could avoid 60% of expected extinctions while sequestering 299 gigatonnes of CO2—30% of the total CO2 increase in the atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution. The inclusion of several biomes is key to achieving multiple benefits. Cost effectiveness can increase up to 13-fold when spatial allocation is optimized using our multicriteria approach, which highlights the importance of spatial planning. Our results confirm the vast potential contributions of restoration to addressing global challenges, while underscoring the necessity of pursuing these goals synergistically.Fil: Strassburg, Bernardo B. N.. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro; Brasil. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Iribarrem, Alvaro. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Beyer, Hawthorne L.. The University of Queensland; Australia. University of Queensland; AustraliaFil: Cordeiro, Carlos Leandro. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Crouzeilles, Renato. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; Brasil. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Jakovac, Catarina C.. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Braga Junqueira, André. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Lacerda, Eduardo. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro; Brasil. Universidade Federal Fluminense; BrasilFil: Latawiec, Agnieszka E.. University of East Anglia; Reino Unido. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Balmford, Andrew. University of Cambridge; Estados UnidosFil: Brooks, Thomas M.. University Of The Philippines Los Banos; Filipinas. Institute For Marine And Antarctic Studies; Australia. International Union For Conservation Of Nature And Natural Resources; SuizaFil: Butchart, Stuart H. M.. University of Cambridge; Estados UnidosFil: Chazdon, Robin L.. University Of The Sunshine Coast; Australia. University of Connecticut; Estados UnidosFil: Erb, Karl-Heinz. Universitat Fur Bodenkultur Wien; AustriaFil: Brancalion, Pedro. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Buchanan, Graeme. Royal Society For The Protection Of Birds; Reino UnidoFil: Cooper, David. Secretariat Of The Convention On Biological Diversity; CanadáFil: Díaz, Sandra Myrna. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; ArgentinaFil: Donald, Paul F.. University of Cambridge; Estados UnidosFil: Kapos, Valerie. United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre; Reino UnidoFil: Leclère, David. International Institute For Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg; AustriaFil: Miles, Lera. United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre; Reino UnidoFil: Obersteiner, Michael. Oxford Social Sciences Division; Reino Unido. International Institute For Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg; AustriaFil: Plutzar, Christoph. Universitat Fur Bodenkultur Wien; Austria. Universidad de Viena; AustriaFil: de M. Scaramuzza, Carlos Alberto. International Institute For Sustainability; BrasilFil: Scarano, Fabio R.. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Visconti, Piero. International Institute For Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg; Austri

Reply to: The risks of overstating the climate benefits of ecosystem restoration

In the associated Comment, Doelman et al.1 suggest that findings from our recent paper2 overestimate the potential contribution of restoration to climate change mitigation, and suggest that our assumptions were incorrect and that we did not consider practical constraints to the implementation of the scenarios that we presented. We welcome their interest and agree with Doelman et al.1 that realizing the full potential contributions of large-scale restoration to the mitigation of climate change (and conservation of biodiversity) will be challenging. We strongly disagree, however, that we have overestimated the scale of plausible contributions or failed to consider practical limitations to their delivery.The central argument of Doelman et al.1 is that a fraction of each pixel in the subcategory of cropland mosaics from the land-cover product3 that we used1 contains natural vegetation (they cite 40–60%) and a higher current carbon content than we considered, and that accounting for this would significantly affect our estimates of the contribution of restauration to the mitigation of climate change. Although an analysis within our 300 m pixels was beyond the original scope of our global analysis, we decided to investigate the effect on our estimates by accounting for natural vegetation within our mosaic pixels.Fil: Strassburg, Bernardo B. N.. Botanical Garden Research Institute Of Rio de Janeiro; Brasil. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro; Brasil. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; Brasil. International Institute For Sustainability; BrasilFil: Iribarrem, Alvaro. International Institute For Sustainability; Brasil. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Beyer, Hawthorne L.. University of Queensland; AustraliaFil: Cordeiro, Carlos Leandro. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro; Brasil. International Institute For Sustainability; BrasilFil: Crouzeilles, Renato. International Institute For Sustainability; Brasil. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; Brasil. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Jakovac, Catarina. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro; Brasil. International Institute For Sustainability; Brasil. Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina; BrasilFil: Junqueira, André Braga. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro; Brasil. International Institute For Sustainability; Brasil. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals; EspañaFil: Lacerda, Eduardo. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro; Brasil. International Institute For Sustainability; Brasil. Universidade Federal Fluminense; BrasilFil: Latawiec, Agnieszka E.. Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro; Brasil. International Institute For Sustainability; Brasil. University of East Anglia; Reino Unido. University of Agriculture in Kraków; PoloniaFil: Balmford, Andrew. University of Cambridge; Estados UnidosFil: Brooks, Thomas M.. University Of The Philippines Los Banos; Filipinas. International Union For Conservation Of Nature And Natural Resources; Suiza. Institute For Marine And Antarctic Studies; AustraliaFil: Butchart, Stuart H. M.. University of Cambridge; Estados Unidos. Birdlife International; Reino UnidoFil: Chazdon, Robin L.. Global Restoration Initiative. World Resources Institute; Estados Unidos. International Institute For Sustainability; Brasil. University of Connecticut; Estados Unidos. University Of The Sunshine Coast; AustraliaFil: Erb, Karl-Heinz. Universitat Fur Bodenkultur Wien; AustriaFil: Brancalion, Pedro. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Buchanan, Graeme. Royal Society For The Protection Of Birds; Reino UnidoFil: Cooper, David. Secretariat Of The Convention On Biological Diversity; CanadáFil: Díaz, Sandra Myrna. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Donald, Paul F.. Birdlife International; Reino Unido. Royal Society For The Protection Of Birds; Reino Unido. University of Cambridge; Reino UnidoFil: Kapos, Valerie. United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre; Reino UnidoFil: Leclère, David. International Institute For Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg; AustriaFil: Miles, Lera. United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre; Reino UnidoFil: Obersteiner, Michael. International Institute For Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg; AustriaFil: Plutzar, Christoph. Universidad de Viena; Austria. Universitat Fur Bodenkultur Wien; AustriaFil: Scaramuzza, Carlos Alberto de M.. International Institute For Sustainability; BrasilFil: Scarano, Fabio R.. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Visconti, Piero. International Institute For Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg; Austri