Only 252 million hectares, or 25% of the 1 billion hectares committed globally, have been documented as under restoration.
Countries need to triple restoration efforts to meet the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework's 2030 targets.
Terrestrial ecosystems account for 92% of documented restoration, while freshwater and marine ecosystems lag behind.
Asia leads with 185 million hectares under restoration, including 127.4 million hectares in China.
The report warns that documented restoration does not necessarily mean ecosystems have recovered, while degradation continues worldwide.
Only a quarter of the 1 billion hectares committed for ecosystem restoration worldwide has been documented as under restoration, according to a new United Nations report that warns countries must triple their efforts to meet global biodiversity targets.
The report, Nature’s Comeback – Scaling Ecosystem Restoration for People and Planet, published on October 29, 2026, found that nearly 252 million hectares were under restoration globally.
The assessment comes midway through the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) and examines progress towards the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), which calls for at least 30 per cent of degraded terrestrial, freshwater, marine and coastal ecosystems to be under effective restoration by 2030.
Drawing on restoration data from 149 countries covering 12.1 billion hectares of land, the report found that implementation remained far behind global commitments.
It also highlighted the potential benefits of restoration. Restoring 15 per cent of global priority areas could capture an amount of carbon equivalent to 30 per cent of the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide since the Industrial Revolution and prevent 60 per cent of expected species extinctions.
Expanding agroforestry alone could improve food security for 1.3 billion people, the report estimated.
Terrestrial ecosystems accounted for approximately 232 million hectares, or 92 per cent of the total area documented as under restoration.
Freshwater ecosystems accounted for 11 million hectares, or 4 per cent, while marine and coastal ecosystems covered 5.7 million hectares, or about 2 per cent. Another 3.2 million hectares were reported without an ecosystem classification.
Asia accounted for the largest documented restoration area, at approximately 185 million hectares, equivalent to 6 per cent of its land area. Africa reported 33.7 million hectares, or 1.5 per cent.
China alone reported 127.4 million hectares under restoration, equivalent to 13.5 per cent of its land area and 54 per cent of the terrestrial restoration documented globally.
Freshwater and marine ecosystems are among those experiencing the highest rates of degradation, yet they account for only a small proportion of documented restoration efforts.
Across 62 countries, approximately 11 million hectares of freshwater ecosystems were reported as under restoration.
Asia accounted for 7.1 million hectares, including 6 million hectares of peatland restoration in Indonesia. Africa and Europe reported 1.9 million and 1.8 million hectares, respectively.
The report estimated that 63 per cent of remaining freshwater wetlands were degraded. The global Freshwater Challenge aims to restore 350 million hectares of wetlands and 300,000km of rivers.
Freshwater ecosystems face multiple pressures, including pollution, overexploitation, changes to natural water flows, habitat destruction, invasive species and climate change.
Marine and coastal ecosystems face similar threats. The report estimated that between 60 per cent and 66 per cent of these ecosystems were degraded, used unsustainably or affected by cumulative human pressures.
Between 75 million and 199 million tonnes of plastic have accumulated in the oceans, affecting at least 267 species, including marine turtles and mammals.
Around 59 per cent of the ocean is experiencing increasing cumulative human impacts, while only approximately 3 per cent remains relatively intact, the report said.
Globally, 5.7 million hectares of marine and coastal ecosystems were documented as under restoration, representing about 23 per cent of the estimated 25 million hectares required under the biodiversity framework's restoration target for these ecosystems.
However, the report cautioned that insufficient data made it difficult to determine which marine and coastal habitats were being restored.
The report stressed that areas classified as "under restoration" were those where restoration activities had been documented, rather than ecosystems that had necessarily recovered.
It also warned that reporting remained incomplete, particularly for freshwater and marine ecosystems, meaning some restoration activities might not be reflected in the figures.
Differences in national reporting methods and definitions further complicated efforts to assess progress.
“The figures reflect what is monitored and reported,” the report said, adding that gaps between commitments and implementation reflected both incomplete information and actual shortfalls.
Meanwhile, ecosystem degradation continued.
More than 1.56 billion hectares of land, representing over 15 per cent of the global land surface, remained degraded, according to UN data cited in the report.
Since 1970, approximately 384 million hectares of freshwater ecosystems have been lost, with wetlands disappearing three times faster than forests.
A 2024 survey of more than 400 wetlands across 80 countries found that 63 per cent were in poor or fair condition.
Although annual deforestation slowed from 17.6 million hectares in the 1990s to 10.9 million hectares between 2015 and 2025, forest loss continued.
“We cannot expect to fix nature with one hand while we destroy it with the other one,” said Astrid Schomaker, executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
She urged governments to address the underlying causes of ecosystem degradation and invest in monitoring systems to ensure restoration efforts delivered lasting results.
