The brief, titled ‘Restoring Life on Earth: Private-sector Experiences in Land Reclamation and Ecosystem Recovery,’ explains that, while many restoration activities and initiatives are being undertaken or planned, they must be scaled up to realize the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The brief explains that the thirteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP 13) is considering whether to adopt a short-term action plan on ecosystem restoration, calling for the participation of all stakeholders, including the business sector, which is often seen as a source of land degradation rather than as an important player in efforts to mitigate degradation.
The briefing paper presents a number of case studies that: reflect a variety of ecosystems and biomes; demonstrate what the private sector can achieve; and show progress by the private sector in mainstreaming biodiversity conservation and sustainable use objectives. The case studies describe, inter alia: ecological rehabilitation of the Korean Export Processing Zone in Chittagong, Bangladesh; restoration of Banrock Station Ramsar wetlands in South Australia; ecosystem restoration and conservation in the Machu Picchu, Peruvian cloud forest through ecotourism; restoration using a hydroelectric power plant in the south of Brazil; verification of voluntary ecosystem restoration in Mozambique and Sweden; and gains in nature conservation based on compensatory reforestation in the Atlantic Forest, Brazil.
