Many natural areas have been partly destroyed or degraded through the direct or indirect action of mankind. However, this damage need not be total or permanent. To some extent habitats and ecosystems can be restored on a local basis provided that the materials (e.g. species) and expertise exist. Restoration is a positive process that can be used to great effect in conservation, but can also be misused to seduce us into inappropriate use of resources.

By reading this chapter students will gain an understanding of the aims and scope of ecological restoration, the variety of restoration projects and their challenges, together with the advantages and limitations of the concept.

Introduction

The rise of ecological restoration as a valuable process in conserving biological diversity has largely come about through the need to restore damaged and degraded land arising from agricultural and industrial activity. Early and groundbreaking work in the discipline has been made largely by scientists and land managers engaged in restoring large areas of heavily degraded land to something functional (e.g. Leopold 1949; Bradshaw 1983). As the discipline has matured, more searching questions about goals of restoration have been asked and definitions sought from the community or ecosystem perspective. The end users of this information are most commonly planners and developers, but increasingly ambitious conservation objectives are being set.

When we think of restoration, the repair of a painting may come to mind, and what wemay perceive of this is the act of returning the object to its pristine condition.