Earth Today | SIDS Initiative among 10 recognised as ‘groundbreaking’ for nature

THE SMALL Island Developing States (SIDS) Restorative Drive is among 10 initiatives described as groundbreaking and which have been recognised by the United Nations (UN) for their role in restoring the natural world.

Selected as one of the inaugural ‘World Restoration Flagships’, the recognition came recently during the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal and at a special gala event hosted by wildlife filmmaker, Malaika Vaz.

Information out of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is that under the SIDS Restorative Drive, Vanuatu, Saint Lucia and Comoros are “scaling up ridge-to-reef restoration of unique ecosystems and tapping blue economic growth to help island communities rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic”.

“Goals include a reduction in pressures on coral reefs, which are vulnerable to storm damage, so that fish stocks can recover. Ecosystems under restoration also include seagrass beds, mangroves and forests,” notes a December 13 UNEP news release on the subject.

“As well as creating a ‘toolbox’ of solutions for sustainable island development, this flagship aims to amplify the voice of island nations facing rising sea levels and intensifying storms as a result of climate change,” it added.

The other nine initiatives include Trinational Atlantic Forest Pact, which sees Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina engaged in efforts to protect and restore their forests and with some 700,000 hectares already restored; as well as the Shan-Shui Initiative in China. That initiative combines 75 large-scale projects to restore ecosystems, from mountains to coastal estuaries, across the world’s most populous nation.

Together with the other flagships, they aim to restore more than 68 million hectares and create nearly 15 million jobs.

“Transforming our relationship with nature is the key to reversing the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste. These 10 inaugural World Restoration Flagships show that with political will, science, and collaboration across borders, we can achieve the goals of the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration and forge a more sustainable future not only for the planet but also for those of us who call it home,” said UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen in the release.

They are now eligible to receive UN-backed promotion, advice or funding. They were selected under the banner of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, a global movement coordinated by the UNEP and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. It is designed to prevent and reverse the degradation of natural spaces across the planet.