Through Resolution 73/284, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2021– 2030 to be the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The resolution calls for supporting and scaling up efforts to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide, as well as to raise awareness of the importance of ecosystem restoration.
To support the implementation of the Decade, an FAO-led Task Force on Best Practices was established. The Task Force, comprising 85 members from 32 organizations, lays the ground for knowledge capitalization and dissemination, and for the identification of new knowledge products tied to restoration.
This paper centres on the Capacity Needs Assessment conducted by the Task Force to identify what and whose “system-wide capacities” need to be enhanced to achieve the goals of the Decade. As outlined in the paper, the Assessment focuses on identifying the main gaps and barriers to achieving the restorations goals and promoting technical and functional capacities among individuals, organizations and societies to enable restoration activities in all ecosystems.
