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WRI DIGEST: Earth Day Edition
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Happy Earth Week! This year’s theme is “invest in our planet.” At WRI, we think one of the best investments we can make — for people and for the planet — is restoring degraded landscapes.
Healthy landscapes are critical to everyone’s lives. Forests cool the air, provide clean water and sequester greenhouse gases. Fertile soils are essential for food production. Mangroves protect us from floods and erosion. Land and marine ecosystems provide services to the global economy worth an estimated $125 trillion annually.
Yet the world is rapidly destroying the landscapes on which we all depend. In 2021 alone, tropical forests lost more than 11 million hectares of trees.
In this special Earth Week edition of the WRI Digest, we focus on restoration — where it’s happening, how it’s happening, and the vast benefits restoring degraded landscapes can provide for people, nature and the climate.
Check out our resources below to learn more, or visit WRI’s Global Restoration Initiative.
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Sadik Ibn Abdulai watched as overgrazing and unsustainable agricultural methods turned his family’s farmland in northern Ghana from lush fields to desert. He turned tragedy into triumph by starting Tilaa Ltd., a small business that helps female farmers grow resilient cashew trees and cultivate beehives beneath their shady canopies. The trees revitalize depleted soil, cool the air and hold moisture in the ground, while the nut and honey harvests provide farmers with steady incomes.
Sadik’s story isn’t just a heartwarming tale about improving his little corner of the world, though. As one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people and WRI Managing Director Wanjira Mathai explains, small, locally led projects like Sadik’s are exactly what’s needed to overcome Africa’s triple crises of climate change, ecosystem degradation and poverty. Read more.
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Photo by Sadik Ibn Abdulai
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WRI’s new Restore Local project will receive $100 million over four years from the Audacious Project to support locally led land restoration in three African landscapes: the Lake Kivu and Rusizi River Basin area, the Cocoa Belt of Ghana, and the Greater Rift Valley of Kenya. The project will support AFR100’s continent-wide mission to restore 100 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by 2030.
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When people harm ecosystems through deforestation, mineral extraction, overuse of agricultural chemicals and more, that damage spreads to economies, biodiversity and the climate. Yet every $1 invested in restoring degraded landscapes can lead to economic returns of $7-$10, while generating myriad benefits like water security, flood protection and climate resilience. In this explainer, WRI lays out why and how the world can restore its degraded landscapes. Read more.
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Restoration is about more than land; it extends to the ocean, too. Climate change, overfishing, biodiversity loss and pollution all threaten the world’s “blue economy,” the role of which cannot be overstated: Over 3 billion people rely on the ocean for their livelihoods, and 350 million jobs are linked to the ocean. Analysis shows that every $1 invested in sustainable ocean solutions yields at least $5 in return. Restoring mangroves, for example, can improve fisheries, prevent property damage from floods, curb climate change and more. WRI experts delve into this and other sustainable ocean-based investments. Read more.
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From measuring water use and setting reduction targets, to fixing leaky pipes and installing low-flow toilets, corporations are increasingly working to improve water quality and supply. But they often miss one of the most promising water security measures: nature-based strategies — or, the protection, management and restoration of natural systems. WRI experts offer advice on how businesses can employ nature-based solutions to reduce their water risks. Read more.
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Many people point to forest restoration as a way to curb climate change, where replanted forests sequester carbon in trees and soils. But emerging evidence shows that restoration can provide non-carbon climate benefits, too — in particular, reducing heat and regulating rainfall. Ryan Smith and WRI expert and U.S. Science Envoy Frances Seymour explain. Learn more.
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Healthy forests help provide ample clean water by filtering pollution, regulating rainfall and reducing erosion. Investing in nature-based solutions like forest restoration is an important water management tactic for corporations, governments and more.
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