Economics and optics influence funding for ecological restoration in a nation-wide program
Engert, Jayden E., and Laurance, Susan G.W. (2023) Economics and optics influence funding for ecological restoration in a nation-wide program. Environmental Research Letters, 18 (5). 054020.
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Abstract
Australia is a world leader in habitat loss and species extinction, and for many species, ecological restoration will be necessary for continued persistence. Between 2014 and 2018, the Australian federal government allocated a substantial portion of funding for threatened species recovery to a nation-wide ecological restoration program called ‘20 Million Trees Land-care Program’, which included a competitive grant round. By comparing successful and unsuccessful grant applications, we were able to identify factors associated with restoration funding allocation. We then assessed the Program’s ability to provide benefits to threatened species by analyzing the overlap between restoration projects and threatened species habitat. We found that funding allocation under the 20 Million Trees Program was primarily driven by ‘value for money’ factors, specifically ‘cost per tree’ and number of trees planted. Additionally, projects were more likely to be funded if they mentioned threatened species in the description, but less likely to be funded if they actually overlapped with areas of high threatened species richness. Of the 1960 threatened species assessed, we found that only 9 received funding for restoration projects covering more than 1% of their range. Conversely, we found that utilizing alternative project selection schemes, such as alternative ‘value for money’ metrics or spatial planning methods, could have delivered better outcomes for some of the threatened species most impacted by habitat loss. Our results show that inopportune selection criteria for awarding of funding for ecological restoration can significantly reduce the benefits delivered by programs.
| Item ID: | 78951 |
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| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 1748-9326 |
| Keywords: | Australia, biodiversity loss, ecosystem restoration, large-scale restoration, restoration policy, threatened species, tree planting |
| Copyright Information: | © 2023 The Author(s). Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. |
| Date Deposited: | 08 Nov 2023 00:34 |
| FoR Codes: | 41 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES > 4104 Environmental management > 410405 Environmental rehabilitation and restoration @ 100% |
| SEO Codes: | 18 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT > 1806 Terrestrial systems and management > 180604 Rehabilitation or conservation of terrestrial environments @ 100% |
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