ECONATURES integrates cutting-edge ecological and economic modeling to quantify restoration benefits, costs, and distributional impacts across multiple temporal and spatial scales. The project advances beyond fragmented approaches by systematically integrating multiple values of nature restoration—moving beyond traditional natural capital accounting to incorporate relational, cultural, and intrinsic values alongside instrumental economic benefits. Through fully integrated ecological-economic modeling systems, ECONATURES captures bidirectional feedbacks between ecosystem restoration and economic systems, revealing cascading effects through supply chains, labor markets, and regional economies. Key innovations include AI-enhanced decision support tools enabling real-time optimization of restoration strategies, theory-based benefit transfer methodologies for scaling restoration values across European contexts, and comprehensive policy impact assessment capabilities.
The project delivers practical tools for policymakers to design evidence-based restoration policies, enables investors to assess risks and returns of restoration projects, and provides practitioners with cost-effective implementation guidance.
Through representative case studies across European biogeographic regions and extensive stakeholder engagement, ECONATURES demonstrates methodology applications while ensuring local knowledge integration. The project's outputs directly enable National Restoration Plan development, progress monitoring, and adaptive management, while supporting private sector investment through innovative financing mechanisms including biodiversity credits and payment for ecosystem services schemes.
