A new article published in Science calls on parties to global agreements, such as the United Nations’ New York Declaration on Forests, to take up a set of holistic guiding principles for restoration projects.
The authors—experts from the fields of ecology, economics, law, political science, geography, and philosophy—outlined the principles as part of an interdisciplinary working group on restoration funded by the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC).
“Global initiatives point towards ecological restoration as a solution to many of the world’s environmental problems. However, current understanding of the term is so broad that it encompasses efforts that are not consistent with ecological science,” said Katharine Suding, a community ecologist at the University of Colorado and lead author of the paper.
“It’s critical that policy and planning documents consider in detail what restoration means and what it looks like to ensure these projects have meaningful, long-term results.”