©Danilo Lima, Agripalm Ambiental
The RRC database contains a wide variety of resources and publications related to ecological restoration, and we are actively working to expand this collection. It is our aim to serve as the principal clearinghouse for information and tools to support the work of researchers, practitioners, land managers, educators, students, and anyone else interested in restoration. Use the filter tool below to search the database by title, author, resource type, keyword, or any combination of these factors.
Although SER does review all entries in the database for relevance and quality, these resources have not been rigorously reviewed or extensively vetted in every case, and SER therefore makes no claim as to their accuracy or accordance with generally accepted principles in the field. The database is provided as a resource for visitors to the SER website, and it is ultimately left to the individual user to make their own determinations about the quality and veracity of a given publication or resource.
If there is a resource we missed, please let us know! We are interested in current books, articles, technical documents, videos, and other resources that are directly relevant to ecological restoration science, practice or policy, as well as resources treating the social, cultural and economic dimensions of restoration.
A typology of worldwide Forest and Landscape Restoration (FLR) projects
Abstract:Recent worldwide commitments, such as the Bonn Challenge and the New York Declaration on Forests, have placed Forest and Landscape Restoration on the agenda of countries worldwide as a means to attain sustainable development goals and mitigate climate change. Given these social and ecological goals, FLR programs should incorporate ecological, social, historical, and economic dimensions in their goals and implementation strategies. However, FLR programs within the Bonn Challenge are mostly in planning or early implementation stages and therefore little is known about their governance arrangements, the incorporation of multidimensionality in their objectives, and the strategies for implementation. Fears exist that unless FLR is more clearly defined and principles and standards drafted, FLR interventions run the risk of falling on a “business as usual scenario” geared toward achieving only a limited number of objectives. We compare projects in the global south led by different actors, multilateral agencies, transnational NGOs and impact investors mostly, regarding their governance arrangements, objectives, and strategies. Our research is not yet finished, but we already find projects are working closely with national governments to better integrate diverse land use policies; they are prioritizing implementation of productive restorative actions, and thus do not emphasize the implementation of various types of interventions for the restoration of multifunctional landscapes.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
Integrated Restoration System – a web-platform for large scale restoration
Abstract:Some countries are seeking to achieve their Bonn Challenge goals and implement their forest landscape restoration commitments. Monitoring the evolution towards the pledged goals is fundamental to ensure the success of these commitments. The Integrated Restoration System – or SIR, the Portuguese acronym, is a web-system with a spatial database that allows and facilitates the management and monitoring of forest restoration projects. SIR’s main objectives are: to register restoration projects and to track their results, from donations (providing high financial transparency) to implementation on the ground. SIR allows the application of ecological forest monitoring protocols through an app developed for the Android System. Additionally, SIR can import information from monitoring systems and store it to analyze results and provide reports describing the evolution of restored areas. The system has the following technical characteristics: LINUX OS; PostgreSQL / PostGIS relational databases; and is built using PHYTON and other free software. Initially, The Nature Conservancy developed SIR for its local partners and its own use. Currently, besides Brazil, SIR is being used in Argentina, with a dynamic dashboard that provides information about restored hectares, estimated sequestered CO2, and financial investments and jobs generated by the country’s restoration activities. Because SIR is developed on an open platform and has a friendly application, it can be adapted for use in other restoration programs worldwide, reporting the evolution of restoration commitments made by different countries, such as the 20×20 Initiative in Latin America, for example.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
Placing marine ecosystem restoration in the context of international policy and global targets: Synergies and trade-offs
Abstract:The recent UN General Assembly Resolution for the UN Decade for Ecosystem Restoration (73/284) is one of a number of resolutions from a variety of conventions and multilateral environmental agreements (e.g. the Convention of Biological Diversity) highlighting the potential for marine ecosystem restoration to bring about the transformative change required. Furthermore, marine ecosystem restoration has the potential to help deliver upon a number of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets. However, in order to move forward and maximise the political will and opportunities currently present, there is a need to clearly understand and articulate the contribution marine ecosystem restoration can make to the delivery of global goals and targets. In order to facilitate this, we explore the pathways, opportunities, synergies, and trade-offs between marine restoration and global aspirations and commitments. We will highlight the role of marine ecosystem restoration as an ‘accelerator’ – providing opportunities to simultaneously meet multiple global goals and targets in a cost effective and ecologically sound manner. The results of this study will provide high level guidance to support national and regional marine ecosystem restoration prioritisation.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
Advancing Forest Landscape Restoration in Sub-Sahara Africa: Articulating knowledge gaps in interventions’ design and in governance challenges and institutional arrangements
Abstract:The momentum of Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) across Africa is increasing with the active involvement of 28 countries in the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative. Like other existing environmental mechanisms well-grounded conceptually, the risk of falling short on intended outcomes in line with FLR’ ambitious promises are high and avoiding such scenario from the early stages of FLR is paramount. Harnessing restoration science knowledge and its social-dimension to help articulate gaps in design and implementation of FLR interventions/schemes is important, and we present our early research efforts in that direction. We provide a literature-informed synthesis of the socio-institutional factors that influence the outcomes of FLR schemes, and a proposed characterization of FLR interventions as part of scholarly attempts to realign FLR conceptual philosophy and principles to its practical forms. First, early insights on the socio-institutional influential factors operating at multiple scales from the household, community, project/program, and government sector indicate governance and cross-sectoral and cross-scale institutional arrangements as one defining major challenge for successful FLR implementation within a defined landscape. Second, we elaborate ten criteria characterizing FLR in current practice in an attempt to reconcile its divergent discourses, definitions, and interpretations across countries and actors, which have implications on its contextual design. The question is to investigate the extent to which differences between conceptual ideas of FLR and practical investments tagged as FLR can affect delivery of its promises to pre-empt potential differences. Future empirical research aiming at framing context-appropriate polycentric governance system and institutional configurations for FLR is ongoing.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
Forest Landscape Restoration, Community Based Forest Management, and the role of social learning in Sub-Saharan Africa: Insights from Malawi
Abstract:As the forest landscape restoration (FLR) paradigm gathers momentum and countries commit to restoring 350 million of hectares of deforested and degraded lands by 2030 under the Bonn Challenge alone, community-based natural resources management (CBNRM) will play a major role in achieving long-term restoration success. Yet CBNRM still faces major challenges to delivering sustainable ecological and social benefits. Some failures have resulted in a CBNRM backlash and recentralization of forest management. Common-pool resources theory and case studies show that successful CBNRM institutions take longer (decades) to build than common project lifespans, highlighting the need for learning and adaptive management. But what happens after CBNRM-based restoration projects/initiatives fail? Do key stakeholders learn from failures to resuscitate restoration? Under what conditions? What are the potential triggers for formal and social (self-) learning? How can such social learning be fostered? What are the implications for CBNRM-based policies for achieving the ambitious FLR goals? We used insights from theory on social learning and adaptive resource management experiences and data collected from quantitative social surveys and qualitative key informant interviews, focus groups, and observation, along with some forest-condition data from the early 2000s to mid-2010. Local/traditional leadership quality, the extent of scarcity-based adversity, economic incentives, existing social capital dynamics, and ecological resilience of common tree species were some of the factors that promote such restorative social learning. Findings highlight the need to consider and foster social learning for sustainable CBNRM-based FLR, describe the implications for policy and future research, and broader implications for Sub-Saharan Africa.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
Pre-approved for CECs under SER's CERP program
Making money grow on trees – How water funds pay for long-term ecological restoration (across five continents!)
Abstract:Ecological restoration often struggles to find revolving funding that will provide a long-term sustainable base for needed activities. Restoration is rarely a one-off ‘event’ so being able to secure this funding can be paramount in ensuring that ecological benefits accrue and are sustained over time. Water funds, a tried and tested approach, originally from Latin America, but now globalising fast, offer interesting insights into how this can be achieved. By providing a robust governance and financing framework that sees downstream ‘beneficiaries’ pay for upstream ‘restoration’, water funds can provide a platform that delivers not only restoration at an impressive scale, but which ensures its longevity in the face of increasing economic and societal pressures. This short IGNITE talk, using the business case behind the Greater Cape Town Water Fund as an example, will highlight how a water fund comes about and how it delivers on a range of aspects surrounding the ‘Economics of Restoration’, including job creation, long-term investment, payment for ecosystem services, and a route to public sector funding. Other examples, ranging from Brazil and Peru to Botswana, will show how a range of ecological restoration can thus be funded. For those interested in knowing more, TNC will be happy to share findings from ongoing scientific research that looks at how to standardise both “business cases” and develop a flexible financial model that can support others’ efforts to replicate these successes.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
Pre-approved for CECs under SER's CERP program
Proactive projects: Prerequisite for real revegetation of western USA rangelands
Abstract:Tens of millions of acres of public rangelands in Western USA are seriously degraded, resulting in low productivity along with increased vulnerability to wildfires, erosion, and endangered status for native plants and wildlife. Currently, most public agency sponsored revegetation on these rangelands is emergency seeding in response to cyclical wildfire events. This unpredictable cycle leads to a boom or bust marketplace for revegetation seed as supplied by private sector seed collectors and farmers, engendering higher overall prices and seed shortages of critical plant species and their ecotypic germplasms needed for specific wildlife habitat recovery. The end result is compromised vegetation reestablishment efforts and thus further rangeland degradation. To break this untenable cycle, a non-public agency driven resolution has been initiated for presentation to those in the U.S. Congress with stature and influence in management of public wildlands: “That federal funds at the rate of $150 per acre be earmarked to plan, prepare, and seed at least one million acres of proactive revegetation projects per year on public rangelands in the Western USA.” Planned projects reduce wildfire frequency and severity through mitigation of weedy fuels such as cheatgrass and establishment of more fire-resistant vegetation. Planned projects assure the availability and affordability of the best possible plant materials needed to generate balanced, diverse, and productive rangeland ecosystems. Planned projects greatly improve such ecosystem services as purifying water and air, controlling erosion, providing nutrient recycling, supporting animal life, and supplying resources for human use and recreation.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
Pre-approved for CECs under SER's CERP program
Biodiversity responses to restoration of linear features associated with oil and gas exploration in boreal peatlands of western Canada
Abstract:Exploration of Alberta’s oilsands has fragmented much of the boreal forest in the Province, with thousands of kilometers of linear features (mainly seismic lines) constructed. Seismic line restoration has become important for the oil and gas industry, with treatments mostly focused on reducing line use and access. Mounding and tree planting is a commonly used treatment in peatlands, as mounds provide higher ground, improving seedling establishment/survival, increasing topography, and reducing wildlife and human traffic. Mounding/planting has broader implications on local recovery and ecological properties than those related to functional restoration, which can be useful to assess restoration success. We evaluated habitat conditions and biodiversity (ground invertebrates and plants) three years post-treatment application in relation to untreated lines and the adjacent forest. Results show higher ground water content on the line compared to the adjacent forest, with no differences between treated and untreated lines. However, higher natural regeneration was observed on mounds compared to untreated lines and the adjacent forest. Plant richness was similar among habitats; however, invertebrate richness was lowest on mounded sites. Invertebrate abundance and plant percent cover was lowest in mounded sites. Species composition of plants and invertebrates was different among habitats (forest, mounded vs. untreated), with mounded sites the most different. Although restoration has influenced habitat conditions relative to those of untreated lines, it is still too soon in the recovery trajectory to evaluate whether mounding improves habitat conditions compared to those in the reference forest. Thus, longer term monitoring is required to better assess restoration success.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
Pre-approved for CECs under SER's CERP program
Standards for certification of forest restoration projects in Spain
Abstract:Since 2010 WWF has been analyzing the forest restoration situation in Spain and some important deficiencies in public policies were detected. Forest Restoration Projects only address degradation symptoms, and are not effective in integrating social, economic, and ecological aspects. Projects do not include maintenance and monitoring or public participation processes, and they invest excessively in reforestation, forgetting about other actions needed to recover a degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystem. In order to improve this situation WWF began developing a certification system for forest restoration projects. The main objective of the standards is to establish when a forest restoration project can be verified with a common and standardized methodology that takes good restoration practices under consideration. The WWF Standards have been developed to be applied to forests in any of Spain’s biogeographic regions (Atlantic, Mediterranean and Macaronesian). In 2011 a first draft was agreed upon by an expert group. In early 2012 an independent audit was developed to validate the standards (8 principles, 33 criteria and indicators defined) in a field test at two places affected by wildfires in different regions in Spain. The working group debated the suggestions made by the auditors and agreed on the final document. Now it will be applied in a large-scale restoration project in Valencia to set an example. WWF Standards have not been certified by any Accreditation Entity yet. We are aware that SER is developing a standard and we want to share our regional experience and seek collaboration to complete this process.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
Pre-approved for CECs under SER's CERP program
Ajabu’s Adventures in Wonderland: Theater as a powerful tool for student and community engagement, education, experience, and transformation in a restored indigenous forest in Africa
Abstract:“Ajabu in Wonderland” is Brackenology’s Kenyan-themed iteration of the story Alice in Wonderland with purpose—to wonder at restored African indigenous forest and to investigate through drama the ecological principles that will help sustain it. The re-imagined characters in the show are animals indigenous to the Afromontane forest, such as Thick-Tailed Bush Baby, Dung Beetle, Sykes’ Monkey, Civet Cat, and Colobus Monkey. The Jabberwocky is a poacher, the Queen is an unscrupulous land developer, and the main character, Ajabu, is a Kenyan child searching for her rabbit, taking the audience on an interactive journey to meet the animals in the show, learn bits of ecological wisdom, experience African storytelling customs and culminate with cheering “Forests Forever!” This exciting, interactive show is a performance experience to engage and educate local students and communities on the critical importance and value of indigenous forests to the sustenance of human, animal, and plant life. Measurement of pre-show attitudes to forest conservation, along with post-show transformation of those same attitudes gauge the effect of interaction with the content of the presentation. According to Kenneth Kwok in the article, Drama-Based Teaching is on the Rise, drama “can deepen learning when the students make an emotional connection with what they’re studying.” With the show, “Ajabu’s Adventures in Africa” Brackenology hopes to do just that—deepen people’s understanding of and emotional connection with the indigenous forest and the critical need to protect it as something that sustains us all. Forests forever!
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
Pre-approved for CECs under SER's CERP program
Monitoring insect diversity and assemblages to assess restoration progression in an 800-ha restoration plot in south India
Abstract:The presence or re-appearance of desired faunal species is one of the main indicators of restoration progression as per the revival wheel methodology prescribed by the SER restoration standards. One of the largest groups of fauna in a restored terrestrial plot are insects and they are considered reliable indicators of ecosystem recovery. First, insects are highly sensitive to changes in habitat conditions and hence more accurate indicators of restoration progress than avian and mammalian species which show higher adaptability to disturbed conditions. Second, diverse insect assemblages depend on a wide range of micro-habitats and ecological niches. Hence their presence is a strong indicator of the revival of ecosystem diversity. Third, insects play a key role in the recovery of the fundamental aspects of a disturbed site i.e. soil, moisture and vegetation cycles, which form the basic building blocks of a restoration project. This presentation discusses an initiative to survey insect diversity and use this as a monitoring tool in a large-scale restoration project in a dry deciduous forest ecosystem in the Western Ghats of India, a biodiversity hotspot. The six-month study of insect diversity helped assess linkages between the species identified and their habitat and food/prey preferences. This in turn helped assess recovery of associated micro-habitats, vegetation, and prey diversity. Key ecosystem services provided by these insect species were also documented. The study of extended ecosystem linkages associated with prey species provided interesting insights. Over 160 insect species from 12 orders and 54 families were observed, providing a useful baseline.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
Pre-approved for CECs under SER's CERP program
Monitoring of a long-term, large-scale restoration experiment in the thicket biome of the Eastern Cape, South Africa, using remote sensing
Abstract:Intensive goat farming has transformed more than a million hectares of subtropical thicket in South Africa from a dense closed-canopy shrubland into an open savanna-like system. Restoration of the degraded thicket landscapes can be achieved by planting truncheons of spekboom (Portulacaria afra). To determine the efficacy of such restoration, a large-scale restoration experiment comprising 331 quarter-hectare, fenced plots with 12 different treatments (including inter alia different size and spacing of cuttings) was established over an area of ~75,000 km² in 2007. The experiment has only been monitored twice in 12 years, primarily because of resource constraints in collecting data from 331 plots over a distance of more than 1,000 km from east to west. Given that the plots are visible in satellite imagery, we used remote sensing data (NDVI) to derive an index of spekboom growth in each plot over 10 years. We plotted this index against on-the-ground measurements of spekboom truncheons (including stem diameter, canopy diameter, and survivorship) as well as a wide range of soil variables (including pH, sand, silt, clay, stone volume, N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Na, and C). The index was strongly positively correlated with all on-the-ground measurements of the truncheons, indicating that remote sensing is an appropriate, cost-effective way of monitoring the experiment. The quantified relationships between the index and soil properties (e.g. positive correlations with base cations and silt; and negative correlations with stone volume) are of value for restoration p ractitioners selecting landscapes for restoration using spekboom truncheons.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
Pre-approved for CECs under SER's CERP program
A risk-based framework for completion criteria development
Abstract:This paper presents a framework for developing risk-based completion criteria. The framework defines a process to develop site-specific completion criteria for mining landscapes, incorporating risk-based assessments and associated monitoring. The framework builds on regulatory guidance and the recent release of the SER International Standards, in which closure or completion criteria are defined as “a detailed description of the measurable outcomes required at a restored site before restoration or rehabilitation works can be considered by a regulator as completed.” While the framework has been informed by evidence from the mining industry in Western Australia, it is relevant to other landscapes requiring rehabilitation or restoration. A review of relevant literature and research, stakeholder interviews and survey, three case studies, and a workshop informed the framework, resulting in identification of six steps in the development of completion criteria. These include post-mining land use, aspects and closure objectives, references, attributes and risk-based prioritisation, criteria development, and monitoring. The framework enables more effective identification of rehabilitation or restoration outcomes through systematic post- mining land use decision making and objective setting and the implementation of adaptive management processes that effectively link monitoring, trajectory assessment and activity implementation. This provides greater certainty and confidence for regulators and industry, assisting in a greater number of mines being successfully rehabilitated or restored and, ultimately, relinquished in a manner that delivers more effective outcomes for the environment and communities. This published framework, the first of its kind, is transferable, nationally and internationally, to other projects requiring land rehabilitation and restoration.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
Pre-approved for CECs under SER's CERP program
Rehabilitation within the KwaZulu-Natal National Botanical Gardens, South Africa: A review of the Kingfisher Lake habitat enhancement, rehabilitation monitoring indicators and citizen science
Abstract:The KwaZulu-Natal National Botanical Gardens in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, is a green escape within an urban jungle. Within the Gardens is Kingfisher Lake, which was built in the 1980s and quickly became overwhelmed by sediment in the early 2000s. This was largely as a consequence of the extensive forestry and urban developments that have mobilised large volumes of sediment within the catchment. GroundTruth, appointed by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), created a remediation plan, involving the dredging of Kingfisher Lake and the enhancement of the upstream wetland habitat. The enhancement of the wetland habitat looked to encourage the deposition of sediments to ultimately reduce the frequency of dredging of the Lake. Following the completion of the rehabilitation, ongoing monitoring has been undertaken to measure the response of the system. Indicators such as vegetation response, water turbidity, and Dragonfly Biotic Index (DBI) were used to measure fluctuations in the system’s functioning and condition. The location of the rehabilitation site within a publicly accessible area has increased opportunities for public participation. School groups have visited the rehabilitation site and learned about wetland rehabilitation and ecosystem monitoring using miniSASS, DBI, and water clarity tubes. The Gardens include a large number of opportunities for the incorporation of citizens into the ongoing monitoring of the site through the introduction and application of citizen science tools. An investment into public awareness on this project may encourage the continued collection of monitoring data, whilst enhancing the relationship between the community and its ecological environment.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
Pre-approved for CECs under SER's CERP program
What is to be restored? Contribution from landscape sustainability science to landscape restoration
Abstract:Landscape sustainability science (LSS) can make a profound contribution to a better understanding of the concept of landscape restoration (LR) and its application. Diverse global and national initiatives and agreements seek to promote ecological restoration at the landscape scale. The Global Partnership on Forest and Landscape Restoration is a network based on a landscape approach and responds to the Bonn Challenge to restore 150 million hectares. However, we believe that little consensus exists on the definition and methodological approaches needed to apply LR. The objective of this work is to discuss a definition of LR from a landscape ecology perspective and discuss some implications and practical challenges. LR can be defined as the planned process of recovering the capacity of a landscape to consistently provide long-term ecosystem services essential for improving human well-being. In other words, LR seeks to improve key attributes of a landscape including composition, configuration, and dynamics that are spatially interacting with ecosystem processes, biodiversity (at different levels of organization), and ecosystem services. We present a case study to discuss implications of this definition and exemplify practical challenges of how to deal with LR by integrating these key attributes. The study landscape is located in the core of a biodiversity hotspot, with a substantial loss of natural ecosystems, a landscape profoundly transformed by economical drivers, and an explicit need from local community and relevant stakeholders to recover essential ecosystem services in order to improve their well-being.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
Pre-approved for CECs under SER's CERP program
Defining the decision space for ecological restoration at the landscape scale
Abstract:Given the immediate need to meet global restoration targets (e.g., UN Aichi Targets and Sustainable Development Goals), the restoration community is ramping up efforts to develop national and regional restoration plans and to develop monitoring and assessment frameworks. Central to these efforts is the need to ensure that activities that are planned and implemented under restoration initiatives are restorative and have the potential for both strong biodiversity conservation and human wellbeing outcomes. For example, ecological restoration by definition aims to repair degraded ecosystems and, therefore, restoration planning at the landscape scale should focus on identifying degraded landscapes. In addition, restoration plans must consider biodiversity conservation and ecological complexity and sustainability, in addition to the ecosystem’s goods and services of interest to stakeholders. Despite widespread agreement on these principles, the international community lacks comprehensive and widely endorsed guidelines for landscape-scale restoration. In this presentation, case studies of assessments of priority areas for landscape restoration will be used to explore the need for landscape-level guidelines. In addition, a framework for defining the decision space for ecological restoration planning will be proposed. The framework and guidelines will provide a tool for decision-makers, stakeholders and scientists to use in both restoration planning and assessment and will assist with separating ecological restoration and restorative activities from other areas of ecosystem management.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
Pre-approved for CECs under SER's CERP program
Rewilding as an approach to large landscape restoration: An update on the work of the IUCN CEM Rewilding Task Force
Abstract:Rewilding as an approach to large landscape restoration has been gaining substantial traction. We describe it as the process of restoring native ecosystems, following major human disturbance, to create a complete food web at all trophic levels as a sustainable and resilient ecosystem using biota that would have been present had the disturbance not occurred. Rewilding can be seen on a continuum of ecological restoration towards increased ecosystem integrity and autonomy and reduced human impact and intervention. It is complementary to other conservation approaches, such as protection and community conservation, which so far have failed to stop the continuous decline of species and degradation of nature. Rewilding has an important social dimension, engaging communities in the restoration of “wild” nature and providing hope for healthier ecosystems. The IUCN CEM Task Force on Rewilding consults with a broad community of experts and practitioners and aims to provide IUCN with a clear understanding of rewilding and a link to CEM priority areas. So far, the task force conducted a systematic review of the literature, developed initial guiding principles and performed a survey of rewilding pioneers. Two workshops in the US and Europe were held with academics, advocates, and rewilding practitioners. The workshops highlighted similarities and differences between the two continents in the ecological and human aspects of rewilding. A set of principles emerged as part of an ongoing development. The next steps aim to broaden the expertise and geographic scope and more workshops are planned in 2019 (online) and early 2020 (India).
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
Challenges and opportunities of Forest Landscape Restoration implementation in the context of Latin America (20X20 Initiative) and Africa (AFR100)
Abstract:Both Initiative 20×20 in Latin America and the African Forest Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100) support the Bonn Challenge and the New York Declaration. Together the initiatives are aiming to achieve 163 million hectares by 2030. To achieve these ambitious goals it is crucial to consider the specific opportunities and challenges faced in each region and within contrasting landscapes in both regions. This presentation will cover the status for both Latin America and Africa informed by a horizon scanning exercise to better understand the existing social and ecological complexity associated with Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) across regions. This regional assessment will draw on a global assessment of the future of forests conducted by WWF Global Science and Forest Team. This approach consists of identifying the current and emerging trends shaping the future of forests and assessing which of those constitute either threats or opportunities. This review allows WWF to inform strategic thinking and planning for Latin America and Africa. This assessment concludes with some reflections on approaches for WWF, which apply also to other organizations for decision making and action, which entail, first, adopting longer-term and system change solutions; second, harnessing the opportunities for achieving impacts at scale; and third, shifting to a more positive agenda for forests. Above all it sets the basis for a solid Forest Landscape Restoration strategy in WWF that is focused on implementation, on the ground results, and achieving impacts at scale.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
Managing dynamic freshwater ecosystems with the competing demands of built environments and biodiversity: An assessment of the rehabilitation of the Dawidskraal wetlands, South Africa
Abstract:This paper considers some of the challenges affecting rehabilitation projects where protection of urban infrastructure that potentially compromises ecosystem function and sustainability is required in an area with high conservation value. It provides critical assessment of the outcomes of major structural interventions and early-stage evaluations of rehabilitation outcomes. The Dawidskraal wetlands are extensive valley-bottom wetlands, dominated by palmiet – a South African endemic. The wetlands lie within the Harold Porter National Botanical Gardens in Betty’s Bay on land largely owned and managed by the South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI). Complicating their management is the heritage of inappropriate past development, resulting in residential floodplain development and a restaurant, parking area, and other infrastructure within the botanical gardens. In 2005, a large flood resulted in severe erosion of this infrastructure, collapse of an old diversion structure downstream, and the passage of a major portion of wetland flows out of the extant channel and onto a nearby road. The road surface eroded into a deep channel that thereafter conveyed most of the upstream flows, wreaking tremendous damage during subsequent flood events and perpetuating long-term disturbance to important ecosystems, while droughting the wetland. Interventions considered historical photographs and data as well as modeled flood flows. Implemented in 2018, interventions included a flow diversion structure and flood control berm and had to meet challenges around methods to sustain aquatic ecosystems in the eroded flood channel and control invasive indigenous vegetation in places, while being cognizant of local community concerns and safeguarding existing infrastructure.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
Intraspecific trait variation of species commonly used in southwestern United States aridland restoration at early developmental stages
Abstract:In recent decades, quantitative trait-based models have been used to predict how plant communities develop under variable environmental conditions. Trait values obtained from mature plants are typically used to inform such models. These values may not be appropriate for understanding the development of restored communities for two reasons: (1) trait values from different populations of a species may vary, and (2) trait values of mature plants may not reflect seedling traits important for establishment and survival. We measured traits (e.g. specific leaf area, leaf dry matter content, root length) of grass and forb species commonly used in arid land restoration from several populations at different developmental stages. We used Bayesian point estimates of population trait means and variability at each ontogenetic stage and compared them to one another as well as to trait values from the TRY Plant Trait Database or values published in the literature. We found that mean trait values as well as population-level trait variability differed by population, trait measured, and ontogenetic stage for all species. In some cases, differences in trait values at specific ontogenetic stages resulted in unique ordering of populations within a species and often trait values of young seedlings differed greatly from those reported in the TRY Plant Trait Database or the literature. Because traits expressed during early stages of plant growth are critical to plant establishment, a better understanding of variation in seedling traits will inform seed source selection for restoration and improve the use of trait-based models for predicting re-vegetation outcomes.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
Evidence for contrasting functional groups of lianas in restored and reference tropical forests.
Abstract:Functional traits are important predictors of species distributions and abundance, and their response to the environment. During community assembly, species that colonize the newly established habitat must be able to adapt to contrasting environmental conditions, in comparison to the undisturbed forest, and thus belong to contrasting functional groups. Although functional groups are well described for trees, this is not always true for other life forms of the tropical forest. For climbers, compositional differences between restored and reference forests have been observed, although this pattern is yet not completely understood. We assessed some functional traits (specific leaf area [SLA], stem density [SD], seed dispersal syndromes, climbing mechanisms) of the 10 most abundant liana species of 20-yr-old restored forests, versus a well conserved, neighboring forest fragment. We found higher SLA and lower SD for the restored forest species in comparison to the reference forest. While anemochory and leaf tendrils were predominant in both habitats, the proportion of zoochory and autochory were higher in the forest fragment, as well as the proportion of scandic bushes. Within the reference forest, liana abundance was strongly associated with the proportion of canopy deciduous trees and tree density, while in the restored plots the main factor was the level of canopy openness. Differences in predominant functional traits and habitat preferences support the evidence for contrasting functional groups of lianas able to quickly colonize restored forests, in relation to groups adapted to well conserved forests. For colonizing lianas, light availability seems to be the main ecological filter.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
Evaluation of four seed mixes to improve botanical biodiversity in a solar field
Abstract:In 2011, Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania installed a three-hectare, 1.6-megawatt solar field. Half was previously agriculture and half was a low-quality meadow. Following panel install, four seed mixes were installed and evaluated to determine if any mix could serve as an effective, ecologically diverse seed option for solar fields in the region. Mixes were low grass (94% Festuca sp. and 6% Trifolium hybridum), cool and warm season grass (67% Festuca sp., 16% Agrostis sp., 10% Eragrostis hirsuta, 9% Dichanthelium clandestinum), warm season grass and forb (47% Chasmanthium sp., 10% Sporobolus heterolepis, 10% Eragrostis hirsuta, 16% Agrostis sp., 6% Conoclinum coelestinum, 11% Solidago sp.), and colonizing grass (45% Chasmanthium latifolium, 20% Dichanthelium clandestinum, 20% Agrostis sp., 15% Eragrostis spectabilis). All treatments were applied to both previous land use areas. Drill seeding was used between panels, areas under panels were hand seeded, and all areas had Avena sativa as a cover crop. All areas were mowed approximately three times a year when plants began to shade the panels. Three years following, most species had little or no establishment. Eragrostis hirsuta and Conoclinum coelestinum performed the best where seeded. Seven years following, treatments resulted in little differences. Generally, forbs were crowded out by grasses and forbs that did naturalize were present before treatment installation. Fully shaded areas were dominated by the invasive Microstegium vimineum. Overall, there is no one-size-fits-all solution for seeding a solar field to improve botanical biodiversity. Results indicate success depends on past land use, microclimates, and management after seeding.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
Typologies and outcomes of ecological infrastructure restoration investment models
Abstract:A sizable investment gap exists in South Africa for the sustainable and scaled funding of landscape-wide interventions to restore and/or rehabilitate functionally critical ecological infrastructure (EI). Such interventions have considerable potential to address water insecurity and contribute to the development of sustainable livelihoods. The analysis of existing EI restoration investment models can reveal the characteristics of the current investment landscape, provide a generalised understanding of effective implementation models amidst local complexities, establish the suitability for up- and outscaling, identify gaps, and interrogate barriers to investment. We used existing documentation and stakeholder interviews to compile an inventory of water-related EI interventions in the Berg-Breede and uMngeni catchments, South Africa. Analysis revealed eight typologies, which were refined and validated through a stakeholder process, and subjected to a post-hoc analysis to determine (dis)similarities of characteristics. Key distinguishing characteristics between contrasting typologies included the complexity and size of financial flows, the complexity of partnership arrangements, the changeability of mandates and goals at each funding step, the type of EI being restored/rehabilitated, and the model used (and constraints) for contracting workers. Four scalable typologies were identified that offer opportunities for greater investment across spatial scales with other typologies offering contextualised value in close collaboration with local communities. We conclude that a range of EI intervention typologies with differing biophysical and socioeconomic outcomes should be available to different types of investors. New models of investment from private sources are needed to augment the current, mostly public investment profile.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
Livelihoods and ecological infrastructure interventions: What are the benefits for workers involved?
Abstract:Ecologists, hydrologist, and restoration scientists in South Africa have contributed substantially to the knowledge on how interventions in ecological infrastructure, such as alien clearing and wetland restoration, can increase surface water flows, groundwater infiltration, and water quality with additional benefits for disaster risk reduction (floods, droughts and fires). Much less research exists on the socio-economic benefits of these interventions. Although scholarly efforts have hypothesized that the interventions can support livelihoods (the capabilities, assets, and activities required for a means of living) in multiple ways, empirical evidence on the linkages remains limited. In short, the literature mentions that interventions might provide livelihood benefits both directly (e.g. job creation) and indirectly (e.g. reliable access downstream to sufficient and clean water). Interventions might also enhance livelihood diversification, strengthening and providing development opportunities for economic sectors such as sustainable agriculture, agri-tourism and eco-tourism, the development of new value chains based on cleared biomass, restoration-related activities such as plant nurseries, and enhanced agricultural production. This paper reports on the empirically examined livelihood outcomes of ecological infrastructure interventions (primarily clearing of alien species) for those people employed by a variety of projects. Drawing on household surveys (n=150) conducted with workers across two districts and 4 municipalities in the Western Cape, we examined people’s motivations for getting involved in the projects, the more direct benefits (such as new income and consumption opportunities provided by the projects), and other less obvious outcomes, such as increasing social networks, new skills, and decreasing crime rates.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
Strengthening the evidence for building resilience in ecosystem-based adaptation in Namaqualand: Ecological infrastructure, livelihoods, and benefits of natural resource management interventions
Abstract:Conservation South Africa (CSA) is an affiliate of Conservation International. CSA’s key focus is restoration of South Africa’s rangelands and sustainable land use management, working in South Africa’s biodiversity hotspots and promoting regional economic development that values nature. The Namakwa District of the Northern Cape is likely to experience increasing temperatures, aridity, and water stress in the face of climate change. Adaptation strategies, including Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA), will be critical to sustain agriculture and maintain ecological infrastructure. It is cost-effective to build farming communities’ resilience to climate change by restoring nature’s capacity to retain soil, provide fodder, replenish aquifers, store water, and reduce impacts of floods. The Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries in South Africa has been successfully implementing a Natural Resource Management (NRM) programme that has been contributing to restoration of rangelands for decades. The NRM programme, although contributing towards adaptation, is not explicitly demonstrating and measuring the impact of its intervention in terms of Ecosystem-based Adaptation. The programme as an EbA also has significant potential to unlock further investment into ecological Infrastructure and to support socioeconomic benefits for NRM workers and surrounding communities. A case study conducted by CSA in the Namaqualand (Northern cape), shows how NRM programmes implemented through partners within South Africa’s semi-arid rangelands are through low cost interventions supporting Ecosystem-based Adaptation, both from a biophysical and socioeconomic perspective. Recommendations are discussed as to how the NRM programme can provide EbA to benefit effectiveness and unlock further investment to build resilience in communities.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
Leveraging institutional scale investment in ecological infrastructure: Challenges and opportunities for South African institutional investors
Abstract:The presentation will explore, from the perspective of institutional investors, some of the challenges with respect to mandates, risk/ return, benchmarks, performance measurement, and regulations. Similarly, the paper will explore some of the opportunities with respect to long-term systemic risk mitigation, uncorrelated returns, and diversification.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019
Publication Date: 2019
Defining ‘green’ for ecological infrastructure bonds
Abstract:Increasing awareness among governments, companies, and financial institutions has spurred interest in ‘green’ labeled bonds and other investment vehicles as a mechanism to reduce risk and increase sustainability. Commonly used as long-term debt instruments, green bonds are issued by governments, companies, and other institutions to finance or re-finance assets or activities with environmental benefits. They may also be an efficient source of funding for ecological infrastructure (EI). EI encompasses a highly diverse set of natural features that support socio-economic and environmental processes. EI assets can be maintained and enhanced through capital and operating expenditures by governments, businesses, communities, and individuals. Science-based criteria are essential to investor confidence in the sustainability dimensions of the green bonds they purchase. Such criteria should be designed to ensure that bond proceeds are used to enhance climate change mitigation, adaptation, and resilience of communities, infrastructure, and ecosystems. To maximize their potential contribution to global sustainability goals, green bond criteria should accommodate the full diversity of potential EI assets and enhancement activities (e.g. protection, restoration, sustainable use, warning systems), while also recognizing complicating factors such as transboundary issues. This discussion will explore principles and strategies for developing robust, broadly applicable, widely accepted green bond criteria. Specific examples from current practice will be shared.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
Restoration as a prominent solution to food-energy-water nexus challenges
Abstract:The food-energy-water (FEW) nexus framework considers tradeoffs between food, energy, and water sectors in order to achieve effective, integrated solutions to natural resource challenges. Despite the capacity of restoration to address challenges at the intersection of human and ecological systems, and the acknowledgement of the central importance of ecosystem services to FEW systems, restoration has received little focus as a prominent solution within the FEW nexus framework. Additionally, the FEW nexus framework has not been leveraged in the field of restoration as a way to analyze cross-sector benefits of restoration to human systems. Restoration should be a prominent component of effective solutions to FEW nexus challenges because of its ability to increase and protect ecosystem services and mitigate impacts of FEW systems on ecosystems. Integrating across sectors, disciplines, and landscapes, restoration contributes to solutions that improve human livelihoods and protect ecosystems. Further, the FEW nexus provides an effective framework for analyzing and conveying the benefits of restoration to human communities, helping to promote restoration as a prominent solution to challenges at the nexus of human and natural systems. The objective of this presentation is to clarify the capacity of restoration to address FEW nexus challenges and to address the utility of the FEW nexus for promoting the benefits of restoration for human communities.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
The economic case for sustaining the marshes of southern Mesopotamia
Abstract:With limited water resources, there is increasing demand on water from various stakeholders in Iraq. Upstream stakeholders use the water for agriculture using sumerian flood irrigation techniques. These irrigation techniques were adequate when there was a flood pulse that healed the farmlands from salt, however, with building dams upstream, floods have stopped and the agricultural lands in Iraq have become more saline with time, reducing productivity. In order to provide an incentive for decision makers to dedicate adequate water resources for the marshes, Nature Iraq in 2008 conducted a series of interviews with 256 families throughout the central marshes to evaluate the economic output form the central marshes and compare that to the productivity of farms. In 2016 a smaller effort was conducted to update the numbers, and in both cases, there are convincing data that prove that the economic output from water (especially marginal water) invested in the marshes has equal or better results for the overall economy summary of both studies will be presented.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019
Modelling the interlinkages between food-energy-water and agricultural production in northern Ghana
Abstract:The increasing complexity between individual land management, farming area scarcity, and water availability is of emergent concern in Sub-Saharan Africa. Agricultural production requires huge natural resources, which is why decision-makers have to consider the demand and supply of food, energy and water. Applying the three elements in an action concept allows to identification of synergetic benefits, exploring holistic relations and trade-offs in agro-ecosystems. Taking the Bolgatanga region in Ghana as a study site, we will present a systemic decision-making framework to investigate the interconnectivity between a social network analysis as an appropriate tool to highlight stakeholder complexities within the food-energy-water concept. The approach combines data analytics, participatory methods, and modelling aspects toward a better coordination between key stakeholders, land management, and ecosystem restoration. The study scope will show how understanding relationships between institutions and the private and public sector can be a prerequisite for harmonizing policy-making in restoring degraded land. We found that collaborative advances in social-ecological sciences provide an approach to analyse agronomic and biological techniques. Consequently, we will discuss land management strategies to protect the soil from erosion in order to strengthen agricultural production.
Resource Type:Audio/Video, Conference Presentation, SER2019Publication Date: 2019