What is hampering current restoration effectiveness?

KEY FINDINGS What is hampering the effectiveness of existing approaches that aim to restore biodiversity and ecosystem function and services? Barriers to effective ecological restoration were identified by two methods: a. three‐stage Delphi process with European experts, and b. a scoping review of the global literature. What is effective ecological restoration? Through a three‐stage Delphi process, European Experts identified effective ecological restoration to be actions which: a. Aim to enhance ecosystem services, functions and biodiversity, b. Assist and hasten natural recovery towards self‐sustaining systems, c. Include prior assessment, monitoring and adaptive management. The Key Findings of this Report refer to these understandings of effective ecological restoration. Findings ‐ Three‐ stage Delphi Process: 1. Restoration is complex, and barriers are numerous, diverse and interconnected. 2. Four key groupings of barriers for effective restoration are: a. Insufficient funding, b. Low political priority for restoration, c. Conflicting interests of different stakeholders, d. Lack of integrated land use planning 1. Key needs to enable more effective ecological restoration by knowledge exchange: a. Overcome gaps in knowledge: understanding of the functioning, structure and dynamics of habitats, including key attributes and management requirements. b. Overcome a lack of best practice knowledge exchange, including platforms to create a collaborative approach in research and practice with continual updating and new insights. c. Overcome flaws in the implementation of restoration protocols: including clear longterm monitoring programmes to learn more about specific contributions and their effects, efficiencies and overall effectiveness of actions in terms of ecological, social, political, economic and governance contexts. Findings‐ Global Scoping Review 1. Key areas for effective restoration are: a. Policy, economy and society, b. Science, c. Practiced. Environment 2. Key barriers for effective restoration are: a. The lack of a long‐term monitoring of restoration outcomes, b. The lack of a clearer definition of goals and planning, c. The lack of effective research methodologies. 3. Key enabling factors for effective restoration are: a. Use of appropriate and well‐tailored restoration techniques, b. Societal integration with the restoration project, c. Success assessment and evaluation.