Restoration Calculator: Economics of Ecosystem Restoration
The Restoration Calculator project aims to address a gap in restoration planning: the absence of a standardized economic tool to evaluate the costs and benefits of ecosystem restoration strategies. In partnership with Conservation International (CI), Conservation Strategy Fund (CSF) is developing a user-friendly decision-support platform that will help governments, project developers, and investors assess the feasibility, scale, and return on investment of restoration efforts.
This initiative will result in four key deliverables:
- A standardized economic model for evaluating restoration projects;
- A user-friendly online tool that calculates costs, benefits, and potential outcomes;
- A final report detailing the methodology and generating country-specific case studies;
- A suite of training materials, including tutorials and user guides.
Designed for usability across a range of contexts, the tool will incorporate both financial and socio-environmental indicators. Users will be able to input variables such as ecosystem type, restoration method, local labor and material costs, and budget constraints. In return, the calculator will provide actionable outputs: estimates of total investment costs, restored area, carbon sequestration potential, and expected co-benefits like improved biodiversity or non-timber forest product yields. Where local data are limited, the tool will include well-researched default values to ensure broad applicability.
The Restoration Calculator will cover a variety of terrestrial and aquatic landscapes, from riparian and wetland areas to agricultural mosaics and coastal environments, offering flexibility to match national priorities and land-use contexts. In addition to its analytical capacity, the tool will help generate tailored case studies, enabling countries to communicate the economic and ecological value of restoration investments in concrete terms.
The project will be implemented across 20 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, with case studies developed to reflect regional priorities, data availability, and restoration goals. By supporting evidence-based planning, the Restoration Calculator is designed to strengthen policies, align funding with impact, and accelerate global progress on restoration commitments.
Go to our calculators hub and discover all CSF’s free tools to support decision-making.
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Photo: Palm tree nursery, Amazon, Brazil by paralaxis, Shutterstock