Welcome to the UN Decade of Ecological Restoration 🌳
Dear ReWilder,
Welcome to the UN Decade of Ecological Restoration!
You and I are living in extraordinary times. Straddled between precarious worlds of ecological loss, climate change and pandemics, technological advancement, forays into space, the internet…we are overwhelmed with both complex problems and an overload of information. At this important juncture in our common histories, we look to nature-based solutions to better understand our possible futures and how we might solve for them. With the start of the UN Decade of Restoration happening this month, there couldn’t be a more important time to open a discourse around how global and local communities can use Nature-based Solutions to imagine alternative social, ecological and economic realities.
ReWild Africa began its adventure 4 years ago, with the intention to travel, capture and learn more about how we might find solutions to ecological restoration. Today, the 5th of June, on world environmental day, is the start of the UN decade of restoration. As ReWilders we are super excited about this, as this marks the beginning of a global movement for industries, companies, governments etc… to come on board and work together in building back a healthy environment that can support our needs of today and of the generations still to come. Nature-based Solutions have become a growing topic of conversation and we are excited to share this journey alongside you.
The UN Decade of Restoration Explained 🐘
The Decade is a rallying call for the protection and restoration of ecosystems all over the planet. It aims to halt the degradation of ecosystems and restore them to achieve global sustainability and climate change goals. Only with healthy ecosystems can we counteract biodiversity loss and mitigate the effects of climate change to ensure the health of people and the planet.
The UN Decade holds urgency as it coincides with the deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals. This timeline scientists have identified as the last chance to prevent catastrophic climate change. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration aims to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems on every continent and in every ocean. It can help to end poverty, combat climate change and prevent a mass extinction. It will only succeed if everyone plays a part.
So what are Nature-based Solutions? 🌱
‘Nature-based Solutions’ is a term that is gaining traction worldwide and while it might at first seem self-explanatory, these solutions are today at the cutting edge of large-scale Climate Action. Nature-based solutions ask the question ‘Why Reinvent the Wheel?’, but more importantly, these solutions also ask us to remove ourselves from the centre of knowledge production, and instead look to nature for ecological solutions.
If you’re looking for a deep dive, here is the field guide for Nature based Solutions
Examples of Nature-based Solutions in action 🏞
Agroforestry involves deliberate and systematic integration of trees with crops and livestock, which is central to the sustainable management of land and maintenance of healthy landscapes. Regreening Africa uses proven agroforestry techniques adapted to suit the needs of farmers under varying socio-ecological contexts.
Their Impact: Reversing land degradation among 500,000 households and across one million hectares in eight countries in sub-Saharan Africa: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal and Somalia.
By using natural rainwater harvesting, soil conservation and re-greening techniques, Justdiggit is able to improve soil conditions and bring back vegetation to degraded landscapes. Applying nature-based solutions to restore vegetation is the key to bringing down rising global temperatures, and that’s what Just Diggit is doing:
“At Justdiggit, we’ve made a promise to the planet to regreen Africa within the next decade, and our goal is to inspire and empower people all over the world to join us.”
- Biomimicry 🐋
If it’s not a law of nature… it is merely an opinion or hypothesis. Biomimicry is the practice of applying the principles of life to our own human challenges. Like Nature, biomimicry is applicable to almost everything. Recently Learn Biomimicry has created a project-based course that guides learners to practice biomimicry over 6 months, to learn more about the Biomimicry Practitioners course, see here. This cohort is almost full, sign ups close soon!
News from ReWild 🐾
- The GLFx Fostering collaboration for restoration in the Global South’ is going ahead on the 9th of June in collaboration with TEDx and Greenpop. ReWild is showcasing a film on climate change too. You are invited to attend too. Register for free online here.
- Register for the 2021 Society for Ecological Restoration conference here.
- If you are a freelancer interested in working with ReWild, please reach out to us here.
