How we can restore one million hectares of degraded land | Bernardo Strassburg | TEDxBoston

Tue Apr 22, 2025

Land use is often an economic decision, one that has historically led to widespread overuse and destructive practices. A clear-cut forest harvested for the logging industry or to accommodate cattle ranching provides an immediate financial reward, but with a great ecological cost. We've lost nearly three quarters of the world's wildlife population in the last half century as human use has occupied more and more wild land. Without ecosystem restoration on a grand scale, 1 million species are threatened with extinction. This model for large-scale, cost effective ecosystem restoration brings together AI optimization, open science feedback loops, and market-driven solutions to make restoration the best economic choice, not just the ecological one. It can incentivize restoration with double digit returns for investors and improve lives of local populations. The upside is huge. For example, collectively restoring 30% of low productivity degraded land worldwide has the potential to avoid the most devastating biodiversity loss and capture significant amounts of carbon dioxide. The goals of research, policy, economics, conservation, and social justice can all be aligned with thoughtful, restorative land use practices. Bernardo B.N. Strassburg is the coordinator of the Centre for Conservation and Sustainability Science (CSRio), executive director of the International Institute for Sustainability (IIS) and assistant professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio). Bernardo is an economist with a M.Sc. in environmental planning (focused on land-use change and ecosystem services in the Amazon), and Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences, focused on issues related to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+). He has served as a consultant for the United Nations, the World Bank, Conservation International, WWF, and others.Bernardo is dedicated to the responsible use of land and its resources. As a leading academic researcher, policy advisory, and founder, Bernardo works at the intersections, pursuing interdisciplinary solutions to sustainability challenges. At re.green, he is leading projects to restore biodiversity while aligning financial incentives. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

More from TED

View all

1-6 of 50