Addressing ecosystem degradation is critical to accomplishing the global objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Rio Conventions and other global and regional initiatives. To support and scale up efforts to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide and raise awareness of the importance of effective ecosystem restoration, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), through resolution A/RES/73/2841 on 1 March 2019, declared 2021-2030 as the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (UN Decade). FAO and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) are co-leading the implementation of the Decade worldwide, ensuring strong cooperation with countries, other UN agencies and partners. 

All ecosystems (urban, production, cultural, semi-natural and natural) have the potential to be restored. For the UN Decade, ecosystem restoration encompasses a wide continuum of activities ranging from reducing societal impacts to ecological restoration. It means that restoration can happen in many ways and that it is not always possible – or desirable – to return an ecosystem to its original state. In that case, the goal is to optimize ecosystem functions and services, and to improve management practices. 

The strategy of the UN Decade, launched in 2020, proposes three pathways needed to accomplish its mission:   

• Pathway I: Creating a global movement to increase the intent of societies worldwide to restore degraded ecosystems on a large scale;   
• Pathway II: Generating political support for restoration;   
• Pathway III: Enhancing the technical capacities needed to effectively restore ecosystems at scale.

An action plan for the operationalization of the UN Decade strategy was released in April 2023, after consultations with UN Decade partners and with the public. The plan proposes 31 challenges across 12 themes that will be jointly implemented by UN Decade partners. 

The structure of the UN Decade involves an Advisory Board of more than 30 global experts, a network of more than 250 partners and five Task Forces (on Best Practices, Finance, Monitoring, Science and Youth) that collectively mobilize efforts to support its mission.