Conceptualizing and contextualizing “large‐scale” and “scaling‐up” ecological restoration

Current restoration efforts are lagging behind the extent and pace of environmental degradation. This emphasizes the need and urgency to scale up ecological restoration. This study sought to understand the context of “large‐scale” and “scaling‐up” ecological restoration, that is, what it means, entails, where, and how it is implemented by systematically reviewing 255 relevant articles. Its focus areas included the definition, extent, factors, and strategies associated with "large‐scale" and "scaling‐up". The results show that large‐scale ecological restoration of varied spatial extents has been ongoing since the early twentieth century across regions and ecosystems. There was no guiding definition of “large‐scale” and “scaling‐up” ecological restoration as these concepts remain highly context‐dependent. For example, what is perceived as large‐scale in one context might not be in another. The context depends on geographic location, ecosystem type, culture, intended outcomes, and organizational capacity. However, despite the lack of definitions, the impression of conducting impactful, resilient, capacitated, and stable restoration interventions, regardless of the context, emerged from the literature. Terminologies and themes associated with long‐termism, landscape scales, large investments, organizational capacity, ethical conduct, and strong institutional and societal support were used instead. In conclusion, we define “large‐scale” ecological restoration as restoration interventions aimed at transforming systems such as institutions, culture, politics, and power dynamics to impact more people and places. We suggest defining “scaling‐up” as amplifying the magnitude, frequency, stability, capacity, and speed of systematic impacts from restoration interventions to benefit people and the environment.