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Ecological Restoration

“Ecological restoration is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed.”

Damages can be caused for example by overgrazing, agriculture, urbanization, road construction or natural catastrophes and lead to soil degredation, desertification, extinction of species and poverty. Ecological restoration draws on a wide range of ecological concepts.

The UN has declared 2021 - 2030 as the decade of Ecosystem Restoration. Restoration goals reflect political choices and differ by place and culture. Ecological restoration draws on a wide range of ecological concepts.

Examples

Paani Foundations Water Cup Challenge
Satyamev Jayate Water Cup, billed as a “people's movement against drought”, is the primary event organized by Paani Foundation every year starting late March-early April up to late May-early June. The Indian state of Maharashtra has a history of recurring droughts and acute water shortage throughout the last several decades. The reasons for this are both man made and natural. Famous Bollywood Star Aamir Khan hosted a talk show about this issue and went on to found the Paani Foundations Water Cup, a competition between villages of the area to see which one could build the best water saving structure. The Foundation provides training on technical aspects and social leadership to a small number of representatives from each village before the competition

Regreening the desert with John D. Liu | VPRO Documentary | 2012
Loess Plateau - China
Used to be fertile but agricultural pressure and overgrazing eroded the land. Farmers where living in poverty under the threat of floods, mudslides and famine. In 1994 a project was started to transform the plateau to restore its fertility.

Royal Botanic Garden in Tal Al-Rumman - Jordan
Farmers where banned from letting their animals graze in this area for 3 years. Plants that where thought to be extinct reemerged.

Ethiopia
Ground could not store water during the rainy season. Local People and Prof Legesse Negash got together to solve the problem. Indigenous trees and plants where planted which allowed rain to enter the ground gradually and streams reappeared. Villages in the area had ground water again. They no longer have to ask the government for support, there is food security. Wildlife reapperad.

Rugezi Wetland - Rwanda
Not enough farmland for the growing population put strain on the available soil and degraded it. People where forced to move down from the hills into the Rugezi Wetland and drained it. This damaged not only the ecosystem of the marsh but also the capital Kagali which is dependant of the water power generated by the water flowing through the wetland. Government helped the farmers restoring the hillsites for farming.

How the UN is Holding Back the Sahara Desert
a plan to built a belt of trees from Dakar in the west to Djibuti in the east across the Sahel Zone in Africa to stop the expansion of the Sahara. Trees are planted in a dug out half moon shape to better retain water. The technique is actually native to the Sahel Zone but was forgotten over time

Ecosia - the search Engine that plants trees

Critique

While we can successfully restore biodiversity, structure, and function to a degraded ecosystem, ecological restoration is not a substitute for conservation, nor should the promise of restoration be used to justify destruction or unsustainable use. In reality, restoration may not succeed in re-establishing the full assemblage of native species or the full extent of the original ecosystem’s structure and function.