Ecosystem Restoration Across Political Regimes: Why Are So Many ‘Successes’ Located in Undemocratic Contexts?

International bodies like the United Nations increasingly champion ecosystem restoration as a key tool to combat environmental degradation. Democratic governance is often positioned as a key element of restoration “success.” We compiled a list of restoration “successes” from the UN Restoration Flagship Program and used the Economist Democracy Index to classify each according to the regime type under which restoration took place. Surprisingly, most “successful” restoration initiatives were located in undemocratic contexts. We also assessed country-level restoration pledges against regime type and found that undemocratic governance systems similarly seemed to express a disproportionate commitment to restoration. We present this information together with a discussion on the broader dynamics of democratic development agendas, probing assumptions about democracy as a necessary precondition for environmental success. We forward that the ways different political regimes variously enable or constrain ecosystem restoration have significant implications for global environmental governance, and we urge more critical and nuanced conversations on the complex interface between regime type and restoration outcomes.