The final day of SER2023’s in person component in Darwin brought forth several significant outcomes and exciting announcements. Following an insightful morning plenary featuring Marina Best and Fangyuan Hua discussing the vital role of restoration research in government policies, the event’s closing plenary included a Call to Action and revealed the location for SER2025.
The Darwin Call to Action underscores the urgency of scaling up effective, standards-based restoration efforts worldwide to re-establish a healthy connection between people and nature.
The final plenary speakers emphasized the importance of encouraging governments to realign policies and funding to proactively support inclusive, participatory restoration projects. Marina Best, representing her Métis community and serving as the Indigenous Relations Manager for the National Urban Parks and Ecological Corridors programs at Parks Canada, highlighted the need for locally relevant projects grounded in clear language aligned with local cultures, strong relationships, and access to resources like training. Fangyuan Hua, Conservation Ecologist at Peking University, China, spoke to China’s positive shift in recognizing the importance of natural regeneration within its policies due to scientific community education.
Save the Date! The 11th World Conference on Ecological Restoration (SER2025) will take place in Denver, Colorado, USA. Brock Bowles, SER Rocky Mountains President and Environmental Protection Specialist at Colorado Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety, announced that SER2025 will convene in Denver from September 25 to October 4, 2025, marking the first North American conference since SER’s 5th World Conference in Madison, Wisconsin, in 2013.
