Resource Database

River restoration: A strategic approach to planning and management

River restoration can be supported by a combination of policies, strategies and project-level plans. These different instruments should be aligned and develop synergies with one another, as well as with other regulatory and planning instruments. This includes river basin, development, and conservation plans.

Success from the ground up: Participatory monitoring and forest restoration

The potential of participatory monitoring in forest restoration and related forest management activities is explored in this review through multiple case studies, experiences, field tests and conceptual discussions. The review seeks to deepen and broaden our understanding of participatory monitoring by teasing out the lessons learned from existing knowledge and mapping a possible path forward, with the aim of improving the outcomes of forest restoration initiatives.

Relevance for the Short Term Action Plan for Ecosystem Restoration:
This resource emphasizes the importance of developing participatory monitoring programs with stakeholders, particularly relevant for activity D1, adjusting restoration activities based on monitoring data collected, relevant to activity D2, and communicating lesson learned in line with activity D3.

The economic case for landscape restoration in Latin America

Degraded lands—lands that have lost some degree of their natural productivity through human activity—account for over 20 percent of forest and agricultural lands in Latin America and the Caribbean. Some 300 million hectares of the region’s forests are considered degraded, and about 350 million hectares are now classified as deforested. The agriculture and forestry sectors are growing and exerting great pressure on natural areas. With the region expected to play an increasingly important role in global food security, this pressure will continue to ratchet up. In addition, land degradation is a major driver in greenhouse gas emissions in the region. Forest and landscape restoration can offer a solution to these increasing pressures.

Tracking adaptation success for community level watershed development in India

This working paper presents a joint effort by the World
Resources Institute and the Watershed Organisation Trust
(WOTR), a Watershed Developement (WSD) implementing and research organization
based in Pune, India, to develop an adaptation monitoring and evaluation (M&E) or tracking system to track success
of WSD projects in terms of achieving climate change
adaptation objectives.

Evaluating the process of ecological restoration

We developed a conceptual framework for evaluating the process of ecological restoration and applied it to 10 examples of restoration projects in the northern hemisphere. We identified three major phases, planning, implementation, and monitoring, in the restoration process. We found that evaluation occurred both within and between the three phases, that it included both formal and informal components, and that it often had an impact on the performance of the projects. Most evaluations were short-term and only some parts of them were properly documented. Poor or short-term evaluation of the restoration process creates a risk that inefficient methods will continue to be used, which reduces the efficiency and effectiveness of restoration. To improve the restoration process and to transfer the knowledge to future projects, we argue for more formal, sustained evaluation procedures, involving all relevant stakeholders, and increased and improved documentation and dissemination of the results.

Nature-based Solutions to address global societal challenges

This report has been prepared as part of an effort by IUCN to define its position on Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and plan for future work to advance this concept and support effective implementation of NbS to enhance ecosystem services provision and address societal challenges. The report proposes a definitional framework for NbS, including a set of general principles for any NbS intervention. The report also defines the scope of NbS as an umbrella concept embracing a number of different ecosystem-based approaches.

Cooperative Extension: A model of science-practice integration for ecosystem restoration.

International standards for the practice of ecological restoration, 1st edition (Archived – outdated)

*** NOTE: This document, International Standards for the Practice of Ecological Restoration, has been superseded by the 2nd edition. ***

The first edition includes Principles and Key Concepts (hereafter, the Standards), provides standards to guide practitioners, operational personnel, planners, managers, regulators and funding agencies involved in restoring degraded ecosystems anywhere in the world – whether terrestrial, freshwater, coastal or marine. It places ecological restoration into a global context, including its role in conserving biodiversity and improving human wellbeing. The key principles and concepts underpinning the Standards further develop definitions, principles and concepts contained in the SER Primer (www.ser.org), other SER foundation documents (including Keenleyside et al. 2012), and the SER Australasia-developed standards (McDonald et al. 2016). The Standards expand these conceptual frameworks to clarify the degree of recovery represented by ‘ecological restoration’ in times of global changes including anthropogenic climate change and other rapid environmental changes.

Mangrove restoration: To plant or not to plant?

Mangrove planting has become hugely popular. The majority of planting efforts are however failing. A more effective approach is to create the right conditions for mangroves to grow back naturally. Mangroves restored in this way generally survive and function better. This leaflet aims to contribute to best practice by exploring the question that everyone involved in mangrove restoration should ask: ‘To plant or not to plant?’

USACE Presents Buffalo Ecosystem Restoration

Presented by SERMWGL. Speakers from the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District discussed the Times Beach, NY Confined Disposal Facility Restoration Project, and how lessons learned in promoting native flora establishment and invasive species control have been used at similar projects in the region and across the nation

EPA Process and Quality Assurance Practice for Restoration Projects

Presented by SERMWGL. Speakers from USEPA and CSRA spoke about “EPA Process and Quality Assurance Practices for Restoration Projects”.

Selecting the Right Native Seed Mix for Your Project

Presented by SERMWGL. Speakers from Ohio Prairie Nursery discussed the importance of proper seed mixes in restoration.

Conserving and Restoring Layered Landscapes

Marion Hourdequin and David Havlick, co-editors of the book Restoring Layered Landscapes, discuss the challenges of restoring and conserving layered landscapes, which they define as “landscapes with complex histories shaped by ongoing interactions between humans and nature.”

SMOKE: A short story about an ancient phenomenon

This webinar, presented by Curtin Professor Kingsley Dixon, noted authority on smoke germination, runs through the background and history of this important discovery and the remarkable scientific journey to the discovery of the compounds in smoke that stimulate germination. The webinar also goes through the step-by-step process for building your own smoke apparatus for treating seed and making smoke water.

Restoring the Living Skin of the Earth: Biocrusts in Dryland Restoration

Matthew Bowker, Kristina Young, and Henry Grover of the Forest-Rangeland Soil Ecology Lab of Northern Arizona University are working towards incorporating biological soil crusts into the restoration picture. In this webinar, they will share their progress and plans for restoring biocrusts using the following approach: 1) Develop optimal culturing techniques; 2) Maximize field survivorship; 3) Develop, build and test field delivery mechanisms; and 4) Integrate techniques with current restoration practices.

Dune Conservation Along Lake Michigan

Dr. Ed Hansen and Suzanne DeVries-Zimmerman of Hope College present on dune ecology and management in this webinar, hosted by the Society for Ecological Restoration and SER Midwest-Great Lakes Chapter.

How to create and Sustain a State-based Ecological Restoration Division

Tim Purinton, Samantha Woods and Paul Davis discuss the development of the Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration: how it works, what it has accomplished and how it could be a model for other states, followed by a case study of the Herring Creek dam removal and a Q&A session.

Using seed zone to select genetically appropriate plant materials

Using seed zones to select genetically appropriate plant materials from the SER Great Basin Chapter, The Great Basin-Native Plant Project and Fire Science Exchange, the BLM Plant Conservation Program, and the US Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station. Goal one of the National Seed Strategy is to have available and use genetically appropriate seed for restoration. Holly Prendeville, Research Geneticist, USFS PNW, Corvallis, Oregon, explains provisional and empirical seed zones and discusses tools available that allow us to use seed zones to select genetically appropriate plant materials for restoration.

The incredible diversity of sagebrush chemistry

The incredible diversity of sagebrush chemistry and its potential value in restoration from the SER Great Basin Chapter, The Great Basin-Native Plant Project and Fire Science Exchange, the BLM Plant Conservation Program, and the US Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station. Sagebrushes (Artemisia, subgenus Tridentatae) are champion chemists and famous for their abundant and complex volatile bouquets. The chemical make-up of sagebrushes plays important roles in plant fitness and survival and is an unseen but fundamental component of sagebrush habitats. Justin Runyon, Research Entomologist, USFS RMRS, Bozeman, MT discusses the diversity, distribution, possible functions, and potential use in restoration of sagebrush chemistry, focusing on volatiles.

Conserving biodiversity through ecological restoration: the potential contributions of botanical gardens and arboreta

In the face of ever-increasing destruction and degradation of ecosystems and landscapes worldwide, there is critical and growing need for ecological restoration to maintain both biodiversity and the quality and quantity of ecosystem services. The term holistic restoration has been used for efforts with these dual goals. Botanical gardens and arboreta often have the full range of skills and resources needed to accomplish ecological restoration, including the ability to identify the appropriate species composition of reference ecosystems, to plan and design succession strategies, to propagate and cultivate trees and other plants for successful reintroduction, to monitor the success of restoration, and to play an important role in education and capacity building and serve as advocates for ecological restoration as part of a new paradigm of sustainability.

Ecological restoration and ecological engineering: Complementary or indivisible?

Ecological engineering and ecological restoration are distinct disciplines, both of which are urgently needed to reverse global environmental damage. Relative to ecological restoration, ecological engineering provides outcomes that are more predictable but with lower diversity. It also aims to provide higher functionality with respect to one or a few ecosystem services, relative to ecological restoration which aims at full, long-term recovery of lost ecosystem services. Ecological engineering generally incurs higher maintenance costs and provides lower values of natural capital than ecological restoration.

Quality Control & Assurance for Ecosystem Restoration Projects: Chicago District Success Stories As Example: IERQC Webinar

Topic:  Quality Control & Assurance for Ecosystem Restoration Projects: Chicago District Success Stories As Example

Presenter: Frank Veraldi, US Army Corps of Engineers

The Huron Pines Megalist: IERQC Webinar

Topic:  The Huron Pines Megalist
Presenter: John Leisen, Huron Pines

Developing Measurable Project Objectives for Ecological Restoration: IERQC Webinar

Topic: Developing Measurable Project Objectives for Ecological Restoration

Presenter: Brick Fevold, CSRA

Restoration at Kankakee Sands: IERQC Webinar

Topic: Restoration at Kankakee Sands

Presenters: Ellen Jacquart, The Nature Conservancy

Data Quality and Quantity Considerations in Florida Wetland Mitigation: IERQC Webinar

Topic: Data Quality and Quantity Considerations in Florida Wetland Mitigation

Presenter:  Kelly Reiss, University of Florida

Monitoring of the Two Hearted River Connectivity and Sedimentation Reduction Project: IERQC Webinar

Topic:  Monitoring of the Two Hearted River Connectivity and Sedimentation Reduction Project

Presenter: Emily Clegg, The Nature Conservancy

QC Checks in Ecological Restoration: IERQC Webinar

Topic: QC Checks in Ecological Restoration
Presenter: Brick Fevold, CSRA

Field Samples to Spreadsheets: Biological Assessment Protocols as a Series of Methods: IERQC Webinar:

Topic:  Field Samples to Spreadsheets: Biological Assessment Protocols as a Series of Methods

Presenter:  James Stribling, Tetra Tech

Assessment of Project-level Quality Documentation for Ecological Restoration Projects: IERQC Webinar

Topic: Assessment of Project-level Quality Documentation for Ecological Restoration Projects

Presenter: Blume, Telech, and Amos, EPA and CSGov