Supporting and Scaling Up the Restoration Barometer - Spring

Team Members: Suxin Yan, Amy Calitz, Morgan Booher, Stephen Hart, Kerri Hoolihan, Matthew Landin, Max Lulavy, Aidan McKean, Laura Millar, Tessa Owens, Liza Roberts, Tanishka Sachidanand, Leanna Tang, Aliya Tuzhilin, Kate Wister, Chandana Yelkur

Global ecosystem restoration is essential to address biodiversity loss, land degradation, and climate change, yet many countries lack effective tools to monitor progress and evaluate restoration outcomes. The Restoration Barometer was developed to help governments track restoration commitments, but gaps remain in assessing policy effectiveness and climate impacts. Analysis of restoration programs highlighted inconsistencies in policy design, monitoring systems, and climate measurement methodologies, limiting the ability of governments to evaluate progress and secure international funding. Improved policy evaluation and climate monitoring tools are needed to strengthen restoration planning and implementation.

New tools were developed to help governments design effective restoration policies and measure climate outcomes. A policy assessment framework identifies critical components of successful restoration strategies, including governance structures, stakeholder engagement, and monitoring systems. Additionally, a climate measurement tool database enables countries to evaluate carbon impacts across multiple ecosystem types. Case study analysis demonstrated how these tools can identify policy gaps and improve restoration outcomes. Strengthening restoration monitoring systems enhances transparency, improves ecological outcomes, and supports international climate and biodiversity commitments, particularly for countries relying on restoration investments to meet environmental targets.

Learn more about the MPA-ESP Capstone projects.