The final speaker in our spring season of NIOO Seminars on Monday 19 May was Willem Ferwerda, founder of the Ecosystem Return Foundation. Ferwerda is passionate about a topic that's been generating both interest and controversy among ecologists: the idea that damaged ecosystems. can be restored.

Ecosystem restoration is not just an ecologists' pipe dream. Chinese American film-maker John D. Liu has documented a series of projects in which it has already led to astonishing results.

First and foremost among them is the transformation of China's degraded Loess Plateau from the mid-1990s onwards.

Liu stresses that ecosystem restoration should be a win-win proposition: it benefits the environment and reinvigorates local communities. On top of that it creates jobs and makes land productive again, so it makes commercial sense as well.

Scaling up

Willem Ferwerda (1959) -  Executive Fellow Business & Ecosystems at the Rotterdam School Of Management (Erasmus University) and the IUCN Commission On Ecosystem Management - subscribes to Liu's ideas.

But he points out that scale is of the essence: to go from a multitude of small, independent projects to the ambitious goals set by the 2011 Bonn Challenge - 150 million hectares of land restored in 20 years - more commitment is needed on the part of investors and other stakeholders.

That's why - after leading the Dutch office of the IUCN for ten years - Ferwerda founded the Ecosystem Return Foundation in 2013.

Four returns

The ERF is to be "an independent matchmaker between landowners, companies, investors and local organisations." It has already put together a portfolio featuring nine projects in Spain, South Africa, India, the Middle East and Latin America that should be up and running by 2016.

All these projects have been hand-picked because they meet the criteria of what Ferwerda calls the 'four returns':

  • Return of Inspiration: people engagement, innovation, awareness and passion
  • Return of Social Capital: jobs, income, cohesion
  • Return of Natural Capital: fertile soils, carbon storage, water and biodiversity
  • Return on Investment: financial performance, CSR

Family businesses

In addition to these four returns, the projects embraced by the ERF are divided up into three distinct zones: a natural zone, an economic zone and a hybrid zone for initiatives that offer modest economic productivity while restoring the topsoil (e.g. agro-forestry).

Finally, the ERF has set a running time for its projects of 20 years. Ferwerda stresses that time is important for at least two reasons. First of all, the aim is not just to introduce cosmetic improvements but to restart the "ecological engine" of damaged landscapes, which is more complicated. And secondly, restoration projects will only offer a return on investment if stakeholders are willing to commit themselves for the longer term.

That's why Ferwerda is looking to family businesses and pension funds in particular, as these are more likely than regular companies to look beyond the 'quarterlies' and think in terms of generations. That doesn't mean they have to be small though, Ferwerda stresses. "Just think of Walmart. That's a family business!"

Criticisms

Meanwhile, restoration ecology has also drawn some sharp criticisms ever since the term was first coined in the 1980s. Some ecologists are sceptical about a 'one size fits all' approach, and point out that a number of major projects have actually failed in the past.

Also, the economic cost involved in some projects has been so steep that they have alienated public opinion. Without public support, ecosystem restoration projects have very little chance of success.

Ferwerda first of all warns against starting ecosystem restoration projects with "predefined outcomes". He believes it's much better to work closely with stakeholders on what they would consider "value propositions", allowing for greater flexibility as the project progresses. Also, the ERF warns that ecosystem restoration solutions are often presented in unnecessarily complex terms: plenty of proven technologies already exist, so why not focus on those and - very important - keep the language simple!
 

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