The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) have named the first World Restoration Flagships for this year, tackling pollution, unsustainable exploitation and invasive species in three continents. These initiatives are restoring almost five million hectares of marine ecosystems – an area about the size of Costa Rica, which co-hosts with France the UN Ocean Conference.
The three new flagships comprise restoration initiatives in the coral-rich Northern Mozambique Channel, more than sixty of Mexico’s islands and the Mar Menor in Spain, Europe’s first ecosystem with a legal personhood. Winning initiatives were announced at an event during the UN Ocean Conference in Nice, France, and are now eligible for UN support.
“After decades of taking the ocean for granted, we are witnessing a great shift towards restoration. But the challenge ahead of us is significant and we need everyone to play their part,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP. “These World Restoration Flagships show how biodiversity protection, climate action, and economic development are deeply interconnected. To deliver our restoration goals, our ambition must be as big as the ocean we must protect.”
The World Restoration Flagship awards are part of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration – led by UNEP and FAO – which aims to prevent, halt, and reverse the degradation of ecosystems on every continent and in every ocean. The awards track notable initiatives that support global commitments to restore one billion hectares – an area larger than China – by 2030.
The Northern Mozambique Channel
This small region boasts 35 per cent of the coral reefs found in the entire Indian Ocean and is considered as its seedbed and nursery. Agricultural run-offs, overfishing, and climate change threaten this economically and ecologically important stretch of ocean.
Comoros, Madagascar, Mozambique, and Tanzania are already working together to manage, protect, and restore almost 87,200 hectares of interconnected land- and seascapes, benefitting both nature and people.
Actions undertaken today to maintain it include restoration of blue and green forests by creating interconnected restoration corridors, mangroves, and coral reef ecosystems, and improving fisheries management. These efforts, championed by the NGO World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and UN agencies alike, encompass multiple levels and sites, spanning both land and seascapes.
With adequate financing, 4.85 million hectares are expected to be restored by 2030. This is expected to improve communities’ well-being and socio-economic development, including a 30 per cent increase in household income in target areas, and create over 2,000 jobs and 12 community-based enterprises, while integrating indigenous practices.
Madagascar’s mangroves already store more than 300 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e), comparable to the annual electricity use in over 62 million homes in the United States. The restoration is expected to increase the capacity of the four countries involved to absorb CO₂ and help tackle climate change.
World Restoration Flagships are chosen as the best examples of ongoing, large-scale and long-term ecosystem restoration by a group of ecosystem restoration experts from the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration’s network. Selection follows a thorough review process with 15 criteria, embodying the 10 Restoration Principles of the UN Decade.
In 2022, the inaugural ten World Restoration Flagships were recognized as part of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, followed with the recognition of seven initiatives in 2024.
Source: Press release
