Creating new ways to fund ecosystem restoration through tourism
Healthy ecosystems underpin climate resilience, biodiversity and thriving communities. This research develops innovative tools that help make the value of local nature restoration visible, measurable and investable. By combining ecosystem accounting with practical monitoring technologies, the project enables tourism destinations and other sectors to confidently invest in nature-positive initiatives while reducing the risk of greenwashing.
Australian Research Council Discovery DP260101552
Sustainable Development Goals
Griffith University is aligned with the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and committed to creating decent work and economic growth, sustainable cities and communities, and tackling global challenges around climate action and life on land.
Why this research matters
Nature restoration delivers enormous environmental, social and economic benefits, yet many local restoration projects struggle to attract investment because their impacts are difficult to measure.
At the same time, governments, businesses and tourism operators are seeking credible ways to contribute to climate action while avoiding greenwashing.
This project bridges that gap by developing practical tools that demonstrate the real value created through ecosystem restoration and provide new pathways for investment.
The project aims to explore innovative and promising pathways to generate funds for ecosystem restoration, whilst creating business and social value at the tourist destination level.
Our approach
Research impact
Transforming ecosystem restoration into investable action
Our research moves beyond unreliable carbon credit models by connecting ecosystem restoration with tangible business value and visitor engagement.
Key innovations include:
- AI-supported citizen science
- ecosystem accounting
- remote sensing technologies
- collaborative governance
- destination storytelling
- tourism investment models
- practical monitoring frameworks
Together these approaches help destinations inspire visitors while creating measurable environmental outcomes.
Participants of the Cairns project workshop (29 July 2026), hosted by Tourism Tropical North Queensland and Griffith University, bringing together tourism organisations committed to nature restoration.
Meet our researchers
Professor Susanne Becken
Professor of Sustainable Tourism, Griffith Institute for Tourism
Professor Brendan Mackey
Nature-based solutions and ecosystem carbon accounting.
Professor Rod Connolly
AI-powered automated ecosystem monitoring.
Professor Graham Miller
Sustainable business and tourism sustainability indicators.
Dr Pat Norman
Remote sensing and monitoring.
Andrew Buckwell
Research Fellow. Ecosystem service valuation, social benefit-cost analysis, Q-method discourse analysis, and climate change adaptation
Previous outputs leading up to the project
Project information sheet
- Inspired climate action through nature restoration (Download PDF 2.1 MB)
Journal article
- S. Becken, G. Miller, D.S. Lee, B. Mackey, The scientific basis of ‘net zero emissions’ and its diverging sociopolitical representation, Science of The Total Environment, Volume 918, 2024.