What exactly is an ecosystem and how can it be restored?
The United Nations has declared the decade 2021-2030 as the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The UN Decade runs through 2030, which is the timeline scientists have identified as humanity’s last chance to prevent catastrophic climate change. Nations, activists and artists joined the United Nations in a rallying cry to heal the planet, launching the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Let’s read what exactly is an ecosystem and how can it be restored…
Ecosystem is a place where plants, animals and other organisms, in conjunction with the landscape around them, come together to form the web of life. Here are some types of ecosystem and some of the things that can be done to revive them.
Grasslands and savannahs
Shrublands, grasslands and savannahs are being overgrazed and eroded, converted to agriculture and invaded by alien species. Humans can help them rebound by clearing woody vegetation and re-seeding native grasses. Lost plants and animals can be re-introduced and protected until they are established.
Grasslands and savannahs are where humans evolved millions of years ago.
Mountains
In mountain regions, clearing slopes for farming or houses can trigger dangerous erosion and pollute rivers at their source. Soaring temperatures are forcing species, ecosystems and people to adapt or move. Humanity can counter the trend by reviving forests and restoring the protection they provide against avalanches, landslides and floods.
At least 600 glaciers have vanished in recent decades, affecting water supplies for billions of people living downstream.
Oceans and coasts
Marine ecosystems are under assault from pollution, climate change and overexploitation. But the solutions are as common as the threats. Governments and communities can make fishing and mangrove harvesting more sustainable. They can properly treat sewage and other waste and stop plastic trash from entering the water. Coral reefs, mangroves and seagrasses must be carefully managed and actively.
Seagrass is a hidden climate champion, capturing carbon up to 35 times faster than tropical rainforest.
Peatlands
Peatlands and their massive stores of carbon and water are being drained and converted for agriculture and degraded by fire, overgrazing, pollution and peat extraction. Avoiding dangerous climate change means holding peatland carbon where it is – wet, and in the ground.
Peatlands cover only 3 per cent of the world’s land but store almost one-third of all the carbon in its soil.
Urban areas
Cities and towns can seem like ecological deserts. There’s little room for vegetation amid the houses, roads and factories. Urban areas have huge potential for restoration. Citizen groups and municipal authorities can clean up waterways, let bee-friendly plants grow and create wildlife habitats in parks, schools and other public spaces.
