scientific paper
Aligning climate-smart marine spatial planning and ecoscape restoration for global biodiversity recovery
In a Perspective paper published last month in Nature Reviews Biodiversity, researchers from the University of Oxford, University of Lisbon, Stanford University, National Research Council of Italy, University of Alberta, and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, propose pathways to aligning climate-smart marine spatial planning (MSP) and ecoscape restoration initiatives. The team highlights that such alignment can accelerate global biodiversity recovery by catalysing reciprocal synergies.
Co-led by Dr. Lisa Wedding (University of Oxford) and Dr. Catarina Frazão Santos (University of Lisbon), the team includes scientists and practitioners from the United States (Stanford University, and Sound Seas), Italy (National Research Council), and Canada (University of Alberta, and Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity).
Meeting the targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework will require expanding ecosystem restoration across governance domains for marine and coastal ecosystems. Marine spatial planning (MSP), balancing the development of multiple human uses in the ocean with ecosystem conservation, can be an effective vehicle for achieving this aim. The uptake of ecosystem restoration in MSP and the utilization of planning tools to enhance restoration have been called for previously. However, to date, MSP and restoration efforts have proceeded on separate tracks, and biodiversity loss continues. A new approach is thus required to aligning planning and restoration approaches.
To this purpose, the authors outline and discuss four avenues to action that support biodiversity-positive outcomes over the long term: (1) ensure flexible and multi-scaled approaches; (2) make planning community-centred; (3) maintain social–ecological connectivity; and (4) assess climate-related risks and opportunities. The authors further propose metrics that Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity could use to implement and track progress on integrating ecoscape restoration into climate-smart MSP.
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The study ‘Aligning climate-smart marine spatial planning and ecoscape restoration for global biodiversity recovery’ was published in Nature Reviews Biodiversity on Tuesday 20 January 2026, DOI: 10.1038/s44358-025-00116-y. It can be accessed freely here https://rdcu.be/eZNzs.
Image Credit: Puttarat Horwang / Ocean Image Bank / Mangrove Photography Award.
Co-led by Dr. Lisa Wedding (University of Oxford) and Dr. Catarina Frazão Santos (University of Lisbon), the team includes scientists and practitioners from the United States (Stanford University, and Sound Seas), Italy (National Research Council), and Canada (University of Alberta, and Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity).
Meeting the targets of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework will require expanding ecosystem restoration across governance domains for marine and coastal ecosystems. Marine spatial planning (MSP), balancing the development of multiple human uses in the ocean with ecosystem conservation, can be an effective vehicle for achieving this aim. The uptake of ecosystem restoration in MSP and the utilization of planning tools to enhance restoration have been called for previously. However, to date, MSP and restoration efforts have proceeded on separate tracks, and biodiversity loss continues. A new approach is thus required to aligning planning and restoration approaches.
To this purpose, the authors outline and discuss four avenues to action that support biodiversity-positive outcomes over the long term: (1) ensure flexible and multi-scaled approaches; (2) make planning community-centred; (3) maintain social–ecological connectivity; and (4) assess climate-related risks and opportunities. The authors further propose metrics that Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity could use to implement and track progress on integrating ecoscape restoration into climate-smart MSP.
*********************
The study ‘Aligning climate-smart marine spatial planning and ecoscape restoration for global biodiversity recovery’ was published in Nature Reviews Biodiversity on Tuesday 20 January 2026, DOI: 10.1038/s44358-025-00116-y. It can be accessed freely here https://rdcu.be/eZNzs.
Image Credit: Puttarat Horwang / Ocean Image Bank / Mangrove Photography Award.
