Why the need for Restoration?
All over the planet, natural ecosystems are being degraded through human activities. Tropical rainforests are being cleared and burnt, temperate forests clearcut, the oceans overfished and polluted, wildlife species hunted to extinction, the air and rivers filled with toxic chemicals, and natural landscapes ploughed under or paved over as humans claim more and more of the world for our own ends.
The cumulative effect of all these activities is that the ability of the earth to sustain life has been dramatically reduced - our planet becomes more impoverished, in terms of its biological diversity, every day. Moreover, the scale and intensity of human impact on ecosystems has severely impaired the process of natural regeneration such that now we need to do our part to assist and accelerate it.
What is Earth Restoration?
Earth restoration, or ecological restoration, is the newly-developing science of rehabilitating degraded and damaged ecosystems, or, in more simple terms, the healing of the Earth. Restoration work is underway in a wide variety of ecosystems, ranging from Costa Rica's dry tropical forests and the tallgrass prairies of the midwestern USA to the subtropical rainforests of New South Wales in Australia. From those diverse and wide-ranging situations, some common basic principles are emerging.
The ERS will focus entirely on ecological projects that seek the recovery of damaged or disturnbed ecosystems to their natural state of health and balance.
Principles of Ecological Restoration
Ecological restoration is in fact a natural process which takes place normally in the absence of interference from humans. A good example of this is in the Mount St. Helens region of Washington State in the USA, where a large area of forest was devastated and blanketed by ash from the volcanic eruption there in 1980. Because the forest ecosystem surrounding the affected area is relatively intact, pioneer species have already colonised the land and the whole process of ecological restoration is occurring of its own accord. However, in many situations now the scale and impact of human activities prevent this self-regenerating process of the earth from taking place, so pro-active ecological restoration becomes necessary.
The basic common principles that underlie all restoration work are:
- Mimic nature wherever possible
- Work outwards from areas of strength, where the ecosystem is closest to its natural condition
- Pay particular attention to 'keystone' species
- Utilise pioneer species and natural succession to facilitate the restoration process
- Re-create ecological niches where they have been lost
- Re-establish ecological linkages
- Control and/or remove introduced species
- Remove or mitigate the limiting factors which prevent restoration from taking place naturally
- Let nature do most of the work
- Love has a beneficial effect on all life
Defining Restoration
While the boundaries between conservation and restoration work are sometimes blurred, ERS defines restoration as:
"Returning existing habitats to a known past state or to an approximation of the natural condition by repairing degradation caused directly or indirectly by human activity, removing introduced species, and reinstating indigenous species."
