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ter, can best be met by restoring ecosystem catchments, ri-
parian zones and wetlands, the latter providing services of an
estimated 6.62 trillion USD annually. Challenges of disaster
mitigation and prevention from floods and storms are most ef-
fectively met by reducing deforestation of catchments, restor-
ing wetlands, mangroves and coral reefs. Coastal wetlands in
the US which currently provide storm protection services have
been valued at 23 billion USD annually. In India, mangroves
serving as storm barriers have been noted to reduce individual
household damages from 153 USD/household to an average of
33 USD/household in areas with intact mangroves.
Challenges of land degradation, erosion, overgrazing and loss
of soil fertility, pollination and natural pest control can be met
through more sustainable land use practices and restoration.
Exotic species infestations can in many case be addressed by
restoration, including re-establishing more organic based
farming systems. Organic farming systems have been esti-
mated to provide at least 25% higher ecosystems services than
conventional.
Improving the health and subsequent labor productivity of peo-
ple suffering from water related diseases, currently filling near-
ly half of the Worlds hospital beds, can in part be met through
restoration of catchments and improved waste water manage-
ment. Restoration of wetlands to help filter certain types of
wastewater can be a highly viable solution to wastewater man-
agement challenges. Forested wetlands treat more wastewater
per unit of energy and have a 6–22 fold higher benefit-cost ratio
than traditional sand filtration in treatment plants. Indeed, in
New York, payments to maintain water purification services in
the Catskills watershed (USD 1–1.5 billion) were assessed at sig-
nificantly less than the estimated cost of a filtration plant (USD
6–8 billion plus USD 300–500 million/year operating costs).
Climate change mitigation and carbon sequestration can par-
tially be met through conservation and restoration of carbon
sinks such as forests, more sustainable agriculture and ma-
rine ecosystems. The proposed REDD+ (Reducing Emissions
from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) could lead to an
estimated halving of deforestation rates by 2030, cutting emis-
sions by 1.5–2.7 Gt CO
2
per year at a cost of USD 17.2 billion to
USD 33 billion/year, but with a long term benefits estimated at
USD 3.7 trillion in present value terms. At a global scale, CO
2
emission from peatland drainage in Southeast Asia is con-
tributing the equivalent of 1.3% to 3.1% of current global CO
2
emissions from the combustion of fossil fuel. Conservation,
restoration and reforestation of peatlands drained and logged
for palmoil, timber or cropland are, along with restoration of
mangroves and seagrass communities, important climate mit-
igation measures.
A set of guidelines are recommended to avoid pitfalls of restora-
tion projects. These pitfalls include among others 1) Unrealistic
goals or changes in restoration targets in the process; 2) Im-
proper and partial restoration which creates monocultures with
little ecosystem service capacity compared to reference sites; 3)
Un-intended transplant of non-native invasive pests or species;
4) Lack of monitoring to ensure that restoration results in ris-
ing biodiversity and services in restored ecosystems; 5) Lack of
reduction in the pressures that lead to the loss of ecosystems in
the first place; 5) Lack of adequate integration of stakeholders
and socio-economic issues.
However, as long as these pitfalls are given adequate atten-
tion, evidence from a diversity of ecosystem restoration proj-
ects across the world reveal positive results, typically restoring
25–44% of the original services and biodiversity provided in
comparable ecosystems. Restoration can therefore together
with conservation clearly improve damaged or previously lost
ecosystem services with major positive effects on primary de-
velopment goals in nations worldwide.
Surveys of user and public attitudes also reveal high payment
willingness and public support to restoration projects. Restora-
tion should therefore be considered an important component
and in some cases partial solution to major societal challenges
of development including poverty alleviation, labor productiv-
ity, generation of jobs and prosperity, health and disaster miti-
gation and prevention.