Open letter: There are more than just trees and forests to be conserved and restored

40,000 years, are at risk if inappropriate land use practices like soil drainage or large-scale tree planting disrupt natural water cycles. Once open ecosystems are degraded, they rarely regain their original biodiversity and function . Effective restoration remains a challenge, while promising, restored open ecosystems rarely fully recover the complexity, diversity, or resilience of pristine ecosystems (Nerlekar & Veldman, 2020; Pilon et al., 2023; Zaloumis & Bond, 2011). This makes immediate conservation the most effective tool in mitigating biodiversity loss and maintaining ecosystem services. The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration is meaningless without a solid policy to reduce and stop land conversion. Conserving the remaining tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas is the only assurance that future generations will benefit from the services these ecosystems provide. We believe in the potential of restoration, but it cannot replace effective biodiversity protection. Robust environmental policies must be grounded in scientific evidence and prioritize both present and future societal well-being. As scientists and citizens, we emphasize the critical need to conserve what remains of these eco-systems. While science works toward restoring what has been lost, conservation is our best defense against the biodiversity crisis and the loss of essential ecosystem services .