11th World Conference on Ecological Restoration Aims to Accelerate Action for Meeting Global Targets

Over 1,400 restoration scientists, practitioners, and policymakers gather in Denver from 30 September to 4 October to accelerate global ecological restoration.

DENVER, CO, UNITED STATES, September 23, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) is hosting the 11th World Conference on Ecological Restoration, SER2025, from 30 September – 4 October, in Denver, Colorado, returning to the United States for the first time in 12 years.

The adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF) in December 2022 was a key milestone for the protection and restoration of biodiversity, prompting ambitious targets from many governments around the world for the active restoration of their lands and seas by 2030. At this mid-point of both the KM-GBF and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, it is imperative that we move from powerful commitments to effective and high-impact action. At SER2025, more than 1,400 of the world’s leading restoration scientists, practitioners, investors, and policymakers will gather in the Rocky Mountains to share innovations and research, participate in training courses and workshops, expand on nature-based solutions, and strengthen local and global collaborations to heal the planet.

Denver’s geography, climate, and key economic drivers, including mining and tourism, have made it vulnerable to land degradation and, as a result, a recognized center of excellence for ecological restoration. River systems originating in Colorado’s mountains supply water to 19 states, but with their headwaters experiencing severe drought, this essential resource is under significant pressure. Extreme dry conditions on Denver’s Western Slope also helped fuel last month’s Lee fire, the fourth largest in the state’s history. While not a silver bullet, ecological restoration can help address these challenges.

We are thrilled to be hosting SER2025 in Denver,” said Brock Bowles, Environmental Protection Specialist at the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety, and Co-Chair of SER2025. “Coloradans are privileged to be surrounded by stunning landscapes and natural beauty. We take great pride in our stewardship of this breathtaking and valuable environment. However, like many communities around the world, Colorado is increasingly affected by the impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss, most visibly wildfires and drought. We are actively working to restore degraded lands and waters. SER2025 is a unique forum for the global restoration community to collaborate and deliver innovative nature-based solutions to tackle these pressing challenges on both a local and global scale”.

“Ecological restoration is not a ‘nice-to-have’ option; it is an essential tool to help our planet and communities thrive. Likewise, the engagement of communities in restoration is important for success. When ecosystems are healthy, so are we,” said Ramesh Ventkataraman, Managing Trustee, Junglescapes Charitable Trust, Co-Chair of SER2025, and member of SER’s Board of Directors. “Small steps can lead to big changes. SER2025 brings together passionate individuals from around the world to share their successes, inspire each other and the broader community, and create lasting change across landscapes and borders”.

Daily plenary sessions will highlight creative and inspiring restoration approaches on land, in freshwater, and in marine systems, exploring how restoration is moving from talk to action at both small and large scales. Speakers will feature groundbreaking projects ranging from the 2024 Earthshot Prize-winning landscape-scale grasslands restoration in Kazakhstan, to Indigenous youth who just completed a first descent by kayak of the recently restored Klamath River. High-level panelists will discuss how the public and private sectors are actively working to incentivize and deliver restoration with as few barriers as possible. Speakers include leaders from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Massachusetts’ Division of Ecological Restoration, Wolakota Lab, the Center for Marine Justice in Colombia, and Mars Petcare.

“The first five years of the UN Decade have elevated an understanding of the need for effective, high-impact ecological restoration to be delivered both locally and at scale. Now it is time to act,” said Bethanie Walder, executive director of SER. “While politicians and governments in some countries may be backing away from previous environmental protection and restoration commitments, profound environmental challenges remain. The global restoration community is committed to elevating restoration as a proactive, solutions-based approach to address environmental and societal concerns. We will continue to advocate for robust and high-impact restoration commitments alongside funding and action to deliver those commitments. I hope we will look back on this year as a catalytic point of inflection in our mission to restore degraded and damaged lands and waters”.

Alongside a packed program of over 800 presentations, seminars, workshops, and trainings, SER2025 is offering 17 field trips led by local experts that showcase ongoing restoration projects across Denver regional landscapes from alpine tundra to wetlands, urban areas, and prairies.

New at SER2025, each day at the conference, SER will announce a finalist in the three categories of its first-ever ecological restoration Hackathon, which took place on 10th and 11th September. With 72 participants selected from 378 applicants, 14 teams competed to develop innovative, practical, and affordable approaches to Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) in ecological restoration. The goal of the competition was to help develop practical MRV tools and solutions that strengthen transparency, build trust, and enable scalable, high-integrity restoration efforts. The event enabled experts from around the world, who were unable to travel to Denver, to participate and contribute to the sharing of knowledge and ideas at SER2025.

Recognizing the power of the arts to inspire action, the program draws on film, music, and visual arts to engage and unite delegates. Local Navajo artist JayCee Beyale was commissioned to create dedicated artwork for this year’s event. On three afternoons during the conference, jam circles, informal musical gatherings, will bring participants together to co-create music and share instruments. On Thursday, 2 October, SER2025 will also host the finale of the 2nd SER Restoration Film Festival. Films by eight finalists will be screened, with winners in four categories announced that evening.

SER's biennial global conference showcases the latest research and innovations in ecological restoration and, most importantly, reminds us that we are a single global community, inspiring the action needed to drive transformational change and deliver on our commitments to restore our lands and seas for the benefit of people and nature.

Florencia Panizza
Claro Communications Consulting
florencia@claro-comm.com
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