Topic Summary
In 2021, on World Environment Day, the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration was announced. This decade, lasting until 2030, was established to recognize the importance of ecosystem services for people and nature with the ultimate goal of restoring and protecting threatened ecosystems.
As representatives of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), it is your responsibility to set the agenda for and ensure stakeholder engagement in the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP): co-leader of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. Thus, the specific recommendations you issue, ecosystems you prioritize, and methods you utilize to establish global coalitions will ultimately determine the success of this decade.
Environmental science, especially ecosystem restoration, is very place and people based. Local communities, particularly indigenous peoples, play a critical role in maintaining, restoring, and protecting the ecosystems they rely upon. Unfortunately, there exists a deep history of national governments overstepping bounds and pursuing ecosystem restoration and conservation in a way that violates the self-governance and rights of these same communities and people. The goal of this committee will thus not only be to advance the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, but to do so in a way that respects and uplifts the voices of indigenous people and other local communities.
