About ERA
Why?
Restoration of biodiverse ecosystems represents the greatest opportunity to regulate climate; reduce flooding, drought, and wildfires; improve water and air quality; preserve the beauty of nature; and advance the health of humans and endangered species.
The current focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions is completely inadequate to prevent irreversible planetary tipping points in the available time frame unless we take a holistic approach by immediately investing at scale in restoring the ecosystems which regulate climate and enable biodiversity. Biosphere/climate interactions such as the carbon cycle and the water cycle play a significant part in causing the disruptive impacts of climate change.
The Science
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Landscapes dominated by green plants and moist soil radiate much less heat than dead dry dirt because vegetation converts huge amounts of solar energy into water vapor and lofts it away from the earth surface.
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Plants also catalyze vapor condensation which powers atmospheric rivers and water cycles. The green water cycle, mediated by plants, causes heat to radiate out to space, clouds to form, deflects sunlight, brings rain, captures water in soil, and fills aquifers.
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Loss of healthy ecosystems through deforestation, industrial agriculture, waste pollution, and short-sighted water management have amplified warming, storms, fires, floods and droughts.
History
The EcoRestoration Alliance was co-founded in 2021 by Jon Schull as a project of Biodiversity for a Livable Climate (BLC). The initial goal was to challenge "carbon tunnel vision" by competing in the Carbon Removal XPRIZE, so we assembled individuals and organizations who had already regenerated over a million acres, and successfully qualified for the 2024 competition. But more importantly, we became a synergistic group of like-minded people, with a shared conviction that ecosystem restoration is an essential climate strategy.
Following a year of generous support from BLC, ERA's fiscal sponsorship moved from BLC to e-NABLE.earth, while maintaining close ties with BLC.
ERA members have demonstrated that restoring ecosystem functions is effective in sequestering carbon, rebalancing the water cycle, and providing food security and resilience to lands and waters. It is cost-effective and provides numerous co-benefits. Now it is time to apply our methods to the other 20 billion acres of degraded land around the world and to all oceans.
Who We Are + What We Do
The EcoRestoration Alliance (ERA) is a network of scientists, earth stewards, storytellers and grassroots leaders united in the conviction that ecosystem restoration, conservation, agroecology, accelerated rewilding, and allied practices can solve the climate and biodiversity crises.
ERA is an impact network that cross pollinates and co-creates change by:
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Encouraging, supporting and facilitating ecosystem restoration projects worldwide.
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Amplifying voices of scientists and practitioners whose work deepens our understanding of climate/biosphere interactions, and demonstrates the impact of land use change.
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Broadening the climate action narrative beyond emission reduction to emphasize restoration of biospheric functions.
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Enabling youth and others to take responsibility for our shared future by joining the ecosystem restoration movement.
How
ERA’s niche is building synergistic collaborations among effective grassroots organizations and other resource partners to catalyze ecosystem restoration and promote biodiversity.
We convene members, partners and the general public in both virtual and in-person gatherings to co-evolve momentum, develop programs, and collaborate with Indigenous, rural and urban communities worldwide to advance ecosystem restoration, human health, youth leadership, and community development.