Restoration as ecological reparation: integrating ecologically unequal exchange into restoration metrics

Abstract Introduction Ecological restoration is increasingly positioned as a global response to biodiversity loss, yet its metrics rarely account for the transboundary flows of materials, energy, and land that drive degradation. Ecologically unequal exchange (EUE) theory provides a framework for understanding these asymmetric transfers. Objectives I propose integrating EUE into restoration science to reframe restoration as ecological reparation. Drawing on Latin American structuralist and world‐systems scholarship, I outline how this integration transforms restoration metrics and governance. Methods This perspective paper synthesizes ecological economics, world‐systems analysis, and restoration ecology to develop a conceptual framework. I analyze how conventional metrics fail to capture structural injustice and propose alternative biophysical accounting methods. Results Conventional restoration metrics are confined to project boundaries, short monitoring periods, and aggregate ecological outcomes, obscuring the ecological debt accumulated through unequal exchange. Biophysical trade profiles, historically grounded baselines, and multidimensional compensation metrics can align restoration practice with environmental justice. Conclusions Restoration in commodity frontiers should be framed as partial repayment of ecological debt, with funding linked to historical responsibility for resource appropriation and governance centered on affected communities as rightful subjects of reparation.