Ideals and pragmatism in the justification of ecological restoration

Hertog, Iris; Turnhout, Esther

doi:10.1111/rec.12680

Cited by 11 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Steinwall (2015, p 32) introduced the concept of a “dilemma of intervention,” exploring how practitioners might discern how to intervene in nature. Hertog and Turnhout (2018, p 1222) presented a “dilemma of what to restore to,” encapsulating a longstanding debate on the role of reference ecosystems (Denevan 1992; Harris et al 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Dilemma of Scale: competing imperatives for global restoration

Sigman

2021

Restoration Ecology

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Social-ecological restoration (SoER) embraces the nested interdependence of societies and ecosystems. An outpouring of SoER research has substantively shaped the global restoration agenda and will continue to play a critical role as the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration unfolds. In this article, I argue that global restoration ambitions are limited by two competing imperatives in SoER literature. The first imperative seeks to generalize restoration standards and metrics through rapid coordination and scaling. The second imperative seeks to upend problematic power dynamics, demanding social inclusivity and site specificity at levels that tend to resist scaling. Although these imperatives do not necessarily compete in theory, they often do in practice. Relying on a synthesis of key articles and expanding on the concept of "social-ecological mismatches" (Cumming et al. 2006), I examine how the prevailing SoER research discourse creates a confounding landscape for restoration practitioners, who face what I term the "Dilemma of Scale." I explore how this dilemma perpetuates systems of global inequality and inhibits efforts to effectively animate initiatives like the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. I suggest that the Dilemma of Scale can be effectively mitigated by (1) identifying values that span both imperatives and work to decouple SoER projects from systems of exploitation and oppression and (2) expressly incorporating historical methods into SoER research and projects.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Dilemma of Scale: competing imperatives for global restoration

Sigman

2021

Restoration Ecology

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“…Nevertheless, we should recognise that the "living nature" ideal was a positive development compared with the preceding, technically orientated regime. The current emphasis on good ecological functioning can be viewed as a shift from an anthropocentric, via a biocentric to an ecocentric view of nature [34]. The latter emphasizes well-functioning ecosystem processes, naturalness, and the integrity of nature as a whole, and corresponds well with the restoration goal of similarity to surrounding vegetation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This could be the historical situation at a chosen point in time, or a local site that has the required characteristics, assuming that close resemblance will ensure good ecological function [32]. Restoration goals, and implicitly the understanding of what constitutes a good reference, have changed over time in response to increasing knowledge development and changing values [33,34]. In addition, methods of assessing restoration success are constantly under discussion [35,36].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Restoration in Hydropower Development—Lessons from Norway

2018

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Hydropower is expanding globally and is regarded a key measure for mitigating climate change, but it also results in major environmental degradation, both at local scale and more widely. We can learn lessons about how restoration can be used to alleviate these problems from failures and successes in countries with a long history of hydropower development, such as Norway. Here, hydropower projects grew larger over time, and in the 1960s, the emerging environmentalist movement started to challenge hydropower developments because of their negative impacts on the environment. The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate then appointed a landscape architect who became very influential, particularly due to his skills in aesthetics and photo documentation. He developed principles for designing self-sustaining environments which he called "living nature", and in particular proposed methods of restoring barren, unattractive, alpine spoil heaps. Later, restoration methods and goals have changed in response to new insights and the changing goals of ecological restoration. Here, we present current best practice for the alpine biome and sum up general lessons in three points: restoration can represent a sustainable, 'third way' in the conflict between conservation and development; including a wider group of professionals may improve restoration goals and methods, and effective use of visual communication can be a good way of gaining support for new restoration principles.

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“…RE has become a well-established branch of ecology that aims to recover degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystems (SER, 2002) through a suite of tools developed within the discipline for accelerating the recovery of damaged ecosystems (see Hobbs, 2018;Perring et al, 2015;Rohr, Bernhardt, Cadotte, & Clements, 2018). While there is much debate about ethical and philosophical issues in restoration (see Clewell & Aronson, 2013;Hertog & Turnhout, 2018;Keulartz, 2012;Wortley, Hero, & Howes, 2013), there is also much practical experience in restoring ecosystems to inform aspects of a CE (see Hobbs, 2017;Holl & Aide, 2011;Rohr et al, 2018). In these terms, CE and RE scholars and practitioners should work together to define restorative protocols, guidelines, and procedures in relation to CE activities in the ecosphere.…”

Section: Restorationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Restorative and regenerative: Exploring the concepts in the circular economy

Morseletto

2020

J of Industrial Ecology

209

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The most recognized definition of the circular economy is that it is a restorative and regenerative economy. Despite the wide use and importance attributed to the concepts of "restoration" and "regeneration," they are rarely defined or explained in the circular economy literature. In this context, this study critically examines the two terms, while providing guidance on their future utilization and development. Specifically, the study investigates the origin of the concepts, their adoption in frameworks that anticipated the idea of the circular economy, and their connotations in the circular economy literature. The examination supports the need for clear and distinct definitions, combined with precision in usage. From a review of the literature, restoration is a better-defined concept than regeneration, although it needs conceptual re-enforcement relative to the biological/ecological aspects of the circular economy. This study suggests looking in the direction of restoration ecology, a well-established branch of ecological research. Conversely, regeneration is a symbolic/evocative term with little practical application in the context of circular systems except in the case of certain agricultural practices. Until new conceptual developments intervene, regeneration does not seem to be applicable to the economy as a whole and because of this, might be abandoned as a guiding principle of the circular economy. Unlike regeneration, restoration can be considered a core principle because it has widespread application and can be a point of reference for circular applications. This does not preclude the possibility that other concepts may be needed to augment restoration. K E Y W O R D S biological and technical cycles, circular economy, circular economy guiding principles, industrial ecology, restorative and regenerative concepts 1 INTRODUCTION In 2012, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) introduced the concept of a circular economy (CE) as "an industrial economy that is restorative or regenerative by intention and design" (EMF, 2013, 7), and later as "restorative and regenerative by design and aims" (EMF, 2015a, 2). Since then, the definition of the CE as restorative and regenerative has come into common use, or at least has reverberated thousands of times throughout both academic and non-academic literature. This definition is by far the most employed one in CE studies (Kirchherr, Reike, & Hekkert, 2017). To give a flavor of this, up to the end of 2019, Google Scholar counts over 700 entries for the combination of "circular economy" and "restorative and regenerative" and almost 400 for "circular economy" and "restorative or regenerative." The majority of quotations are verbatim from EMF sources, although some authors provide a modified or slightly expanded version of the EMF definition (e.g.

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Ideals and pragmatism in the justification of ecological restoration

Cited by 11 publications

References 27 publications

The Dilemma of Scale: competing imperatives for global restoration

The Dilemma of Scale: competing imperatives for global restoration

Environmental Restoration in Hydropower Development—Lessons from Norway

Restorative and regenerative: Exploring the concepts in the circular economy

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