Understanding Target 2
Target 2 provides a global reference for countries to plan, implement, monitor, and report ecosystem restoration across terrestrial, inland water, coastal, and marine ecosystems.
Adopted by Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2022, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework sets out targets for 2030, and goals for 2050, charting a pathway towards the 2050 Vision of living in harmony with nature. Target 2 focuses on restoring degraded ecosystems in ways that enhance biodiversity, ecosystem functions and services, ecological integrity and connectivity.
TARGET 2
Official wording
Ensure that by 2030 at least 30 per cent of areas of degraded terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine ecosystems are under effective restoration, in order to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, ecological integrity and connectivity.
Key concepts
Ecosystem Restoration
The process of actively managing the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged or destroyed. Actions can range across a continuum, from ecological restoration of natural ecosystems to rehabilitation of transformed ecosystems. The type of restoration, intended outcomes and ecosystem context should be clearly identified.
Effective restoration
The process of actively managing the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged or destroyed. Actions can range across a continuum, from ecological restoration of natural ecosystems to rehabilitation of transformed ecosystems. The type of restoration, intended outcomes and ecosystem context should be clearly identified.
Degraded ecosystems
The process of actively managing the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged or destroyed. Actions can range across a continuum, from ecological restoration of natural ecosystems to rehabilitation of transformed ecosystems. The type of restoration, intended outcomes and ecosystem context should be clearly identified.
All ecosystem types
The process of actively managing the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged or destroyed. Actions can range across a continuum, from ecological restoration of natural ecosystems to rehabilitation of transformed ecosystems. The type of restoration, intended outcomes and ecosystem context should be clearly identified.
Ecosystem Restoration
The process of actively managing the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged or destroyed. Actions can range across a continuum, from ecological restoration of natural ecosystems to rehabilitation of transformed ecosystems. The type of restoration, intended outcomes and ecosystem context should be clearly identified.
Ecological integrity and connectivity
The process of actively managing the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged or destroyed. Actions can range across a continuum, from ecological restoration of natural ecosystems to rehabilitation of transformed ecosystems. The type of restoration, intended outcomes and ecosystem context should be clearly identified.
What Target 2 means in practice
- Countries need to understand where degradation is occurring and identify areas where restoration is appropriate and feasible.
- Restoration objectives and expected outcomes should be explicit, measurable, and linked to biodiversity, ecosystem functions and services, integrity, and connectivity.
- Monitoring should record where restoration is taking place, what activities are being implemented and how progress and effectiveness will be assessed over time.
- National approaches may differ, but transparent definitions, classifications and data management help make reporting coherent and comparable.
- Implementation should be inclusive, rights-based and responsive to national circumstances, with meaningful participation by relevant rights holders and stakeholders.
What Target 2 does not imply
- Restoration can compensate for or justify continued ecosystem degradation.
- All ecosystems must be fully restored by 2030.
- A pledge or commitment alone is automatically counted as area under restoration.
- One restoration model, method or indicator is suitable for every ecosystem and national context.
- Global data can replace country-led assessment, quality control and national reporting decisions.
Monitoring progress
Headline indicator 2.1: Area under restoration
Progress towards Target 2 is tracked through headline indicator 2.1, Area under restoration. The indicator is designed to capture the area where restoration activities are in progress or where restoration activities have been completed and post-completion monitoring is continuing, in accordance with the applicable indicator metadata.
The monitoring framework recommends that information be disaggregated, where possible, by ecosystem functional group, Indigenous and traditional territories, protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and type of restoration activity.
Component and complementary indicators can provide additional information on degradation, ecosystem condition and restoration outcomes. Countries may also use national indicators that reflect their priorities and monitoring systems.
Setting the level of ambition of a national targets requires a baseline. Under the monitoring framework (CBD COP Decision 156/531), the baseline is defined by each Party using a reference period of 2011 to 2020, where data are available. The baseline is measured as the spatial extent of degraded areas within the country at the end of the period.
TECHNICAL LINK
Link headline indicator 2.1 to the current GBF Indicator Repository metadata. The CBD Target 2 guidance page may display legacy numbering in some places; the current monitoring framework adopted in decision 16/31 identifies 2.1 Area under restoration.
How restoration monitoring is coordinated globally
Global coordination brings together country reporting processes, technical methodology, data systems, capacity development and knowledge exchange. The aim is to help countries monitor restoration consistently while retaining flexibility to reflect national ecosystems, institutions, data availability and priorities.
The respective roles are complementary:
The Target 2 Road Map
The Target 2 Road Map is a global partnership under the umbrella of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. It aligns technical efforts and accelerates implementation, monitoring and reporting towards Target 2.
The partnership was established in 2023, recognized by the Conference of the Parties at its sixteenth meeting in 2024, and launched at the twenty-seventh meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice in October 2025. It brings together the CBD Secretariat, FAO, restoration and monitoring organizations, research institutions, technical experts, Indigenous Peoples and civil society.
Why the Road Map exists
Coordinate expertise and reduce fragmentation across organizations, ecosystems and reporting processes.
- Identify and respond to country needs for restoration monitoring and reporting.
- Advance shared methods and ecosystem-specific technical guidance.
- Improve data availability, interoperability, transparency and knowledge on restoration progress.
- Strengthen national and regional capacity and create opportunities for peer learning.
- Increase the visibility of measurable restoration progress and identify where further action is needed.
Scope and mandate
The Road Map provides a platform for coordinated technical support across the restoration monitoring cycle. Its scope includes indicator methodology, ecosystem-specific guidance, data and FERM, national and regional capacity development, Indigenous Peoples restoration monitoring, knowledge exchange and alignment with related global processes.
It supports implementation of CBD decisions and country-led reporting, while also strengthening links with the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and relevant biodiversity, climate change, land degradation and wetland processes.
Expected outcomes
- Timely and targeted methodological, data and capacity support in response to country needs.
- Consolidated guidance for monitoring restoration across terrestrial, inland water, coastal and marine ecosystems.
- Improved data and knowledge on where restoration is taking place and how effectively it is progressing.
- Stronger interoperability among national systems, FERM and other restoration data platforms.
- More visible and meaningful participation of Indigenous Peoples in restoration monitoring, including recognition of rights, governance systems and knowledge.
- Greater coherence across biodiversity, climate change, land degradation and wetland monitoring and reporting processes.
Governance structure
A Leads Group sets the overall objectives and strategic direction of the Road Map. A Coordinator supports day-to-day management, administration and collaboration. The broader partnership connects with the Task Force on Monitoring of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, providing access to a wide network of organizations and experts.
Dedicated working groups address specific technical and thematic priorities.
Working groups
Group | Focus | Illustrative areas of work |
Working group 1 | Indicator development and monitoring guidance by ecosystem type | Terrestrial; inland water; marine and coastal sub-working groups. |
Working group 2 | Data and FERM | Data compilation, interoperability, review workflows and the development and use of FERM. |
Working group 3 | National and regional capacity development | Training, regional support, peer learning and demand-driven technical assistance. |
Working group 4 | Indigenous Peoples restoration monitoring | Recognition and strengthening of Indigenous Peoples participation, knowledge, rights and monitoring approaches. |
Links with the Task Force on Monitoring and related initiatives
The Road Map is a key Target 2-focused deliverable connected with the Task Force on Monitoring of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. This relationship broadens access to technical expertise and supports coherence between Target 2 reporting and wider efforts to monitor the UN Decade.
The Road Map also promotes alignment with related initiatives and reporting processes, including work under the CBD, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Convention on Wetlands and other relevant multilateral environmental agreements and restoration partnerships.
Explore the Target 2 Road Map
View the current governance, working groups, activities, publications and opportunities to contribute.