Exploring patterns for social‐ecological success of ecosystem restoration worldwide

Ecosystem restoration is a crucial response to human‐induced land degradation, which threatens biodiversity and ecosystem functions, poses food and water insecurity and undermines livelihoods, cultural values and human–nature relationships. For restoration to be effective and equitable, it is essential to understand how social and ecological factors interact to shape restoration processes and outcomes. Post‐hoc assessments of restoration projects can provide valuable insights into how different social‐ecological contexts and restoration approaches are intertwined and lead to different restoration outcomes; however, these assessments are not yet mainstreamed in scientific or technical literature.

We selected 30 restoration case studies globally and systematically characterised them through 58 ecological, governance, social and economic variables. The variables were distributed in three subsets focused on the social‐ecological context, the restoration approach and the restoration outcomes. We carried out a hierarchical cluster analysis to identify restoration project typologies according to their restoration approaches. We further described the identified project typologies based on the characteristics of their social‐ecological context and restoration outcomes.

The results show three key aspects that can contribute to both ecologically and socially successful restoration: (a) recognising the importance of local social‐ecological contexts, especially tenure rights, land protection, power dynamics and colonial legacies as well as ecological conditions; (b) supporting adaptive and participatory restoration governance led either by the local population mainly or by the local population and higher‐level institutions jointly; (c) fostering restoration actions that target social and ecological goals broadly, and that incorporate diverse knowledge systems and address questions of equity.

We further highlight the need for continuous monitoring and standardised evaluation of restoration initiatives to strengthen learning and improve future efforts. Although there is no one‐size‐fits‐all solution, we discuss best practice examples and recommendations to successfully achieve social benefits in the context of ecological restoration.