Native plant species: A tool for restoration of degraded ecosystem

The CGIAR brought together an international panel to facilitate cross-regional learning on the topic: “Native Plant Species: A Tool for Restoration of Degraded Ecosystems.”

Nearly 40% of the world’s lands are degraded. “Among biodiversity loss and climate instability, land degradation comes many food security and human livelihood consequences such as increased GDP decline, increased cancer rates, and more livestock suffering miscarriages,” shared Mandakh Nyamteseren, Senior Researcher at the Mongolian Academy of Sciences. The destruction of ecosystems is often driven by deforestation, overgrazing, unsustainable agricultural practices, and urban expansion. Native plant species can play a pivotal role in restoring degraded ecosystems.

Why should we care about native plant species?
In an enlightening session, panellists shared why we should care about native plant species:

• Ahmed Alghamdi, Head of Research and Innovation, National Centre for Vegetation Cover for Combating Desertification: native plants are our heritage and legacy.
• Mandakh Nyamteseren, Senior Researcher, Mongolia Research Institute: when you support native species, you keep the identity of the land, you support biodiversity restoration because they support native fauna such as pollinators and herbivores.
• Abdoul Aziz Niane, Coordinator of the Arabian Peninsula Regional Program (APRP) and its Genetic Innovation at ICARDA: native species survive better because they’re adapted to the land, ecosystem and environment, and stabilize soils, enhance water retention, and restore biodiversity better than exotic species.
• MacDonald Bright Jumbo, Senior Scientist, Crop Improvement Operations, ICRISAT: the cost of managing native plant species is lower and it’s less work to protect because they’re more adapted to the landscape (require less inputs such as water, fertilizer and pesticides), and more resilient to changing climates, diseases and pests.

How to grow native plant species in a sustained manner
Niane shared about his field work to gather soil in Syria to create a soil seed bank. The soil seed bank identified the seeds present in the region and under greenhouse conditions, they conducted experiments to learn how the seeds responded to different environmental conditions. This is important because it showed what native species would be most suitable to plant in restoration efforts. While conducting research, Niane shared that “we need to first put communities at the centre, focus on key species, and combine technology and indigenous knowledge.”

In addition to research, Jumbo added that in order for successful growth of native species, monitoring identifies non-native species that are unwanted and that need to be removed so that they don’t outcompete native species.

Saudi Arabia is prioritizing growing native species. The Kingdom established their “Green Initiative” in March 2021 to plant 1 million native trees. And have created national environmental, rangeland, and forest strategies that are committing to not plant exotic species in mountain, coastal and other environments across the country. Policies like this help to drive investment and implementation of restoring land with native species.

Strengthen collaboration to enhance native plant restoration efforts
This panel that the CGIAR Environmental Health and Biodiversity (EH&B) Platform brought together is one example of strengthening collaboration and knowledge sharing on the importance of native plant restoration, as panellists provide key examples of how to do so. The panellists mentioned keyways focus areas such as through research and development, seed banks and nurseries, community engagement and education, policy and advocacy, monitoring and evaluation and partnerships and collaboration. Implementing these will lead to widespread ecological, economic and social benefits.