Professional certification in ecological restoration: improving the practice and the profession

Nelson, Cara R.; Bowers, Keith; Lyndall, Jennifer; Munro, John W.; Stanley, John T.

doi:10.1111/rec.12484

Cited by 15 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Businesses also respond well to incentives; agencies could build incentives into restoration contracts to guide businesses to desired outcomes. Clear responsibilities, accountability, feedback loops, and monitoring procedures, as well as education and certification (see Nelson et al ) can also help restoration businesses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The business perspective in ecological restoration: issues and challenges

Mohr

Metcalf

2017

Restoration Ecology

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Much of the practice of restoration is conducted by businesses-contractors, consultants, designers, engineers. Restoration businesses interact with a variety of stakeholders to complete projects on time and on budget, and to achieve ecological and business objectives. Our research explores the business perspective in restoration; it is based on data collected from businesses (contractors, consultants, design engineers), agencies, and nongovernmental organizations involved in a Superfund cleanup project in Montana, one of the largest river restoration efforts ever. Our findings highlight several areas restoration businesses must navigate. First, restoration businesses must juggle potentially competing goals, maintaining ecological integrity while achieving profitability objectives. Second, these businesses must manage the risk that arises from variability in the natural environment as well as individuals' risk tolerances. Third, they must navigate the disconnect between "science" and "practice," including how to best monitor restoration projects. Fourth, they must make decisions about new techniques and innovations. Fifth, on-the-ground implementation must acknowledge that personnels' motives and expertise might conflict with original plans. We discuss these findings in relation to relevant scholarly research, offering implications for theory and practice. For example, the business of ecological restoration requires learning over time to be profitable while achieving the desired ecological and social outcomes; restoration businesses leverage monitoring in pursuit of adaptive management and engage "frontline personnel" as important voices in the restoration process. Understanding the business of restoration adds an important perspective in the complex dynamics of social-ecological systems.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The business perspective in ecological restoration: issues and challenges

Mohr

Metcalf

2017

Restoration Ecology

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“…Assessment of restoration efforts or professional certification in ecological restoration is essential for developing ecological restoration methods (Hobbs & Norton, ; Nelson, Bowers, Lyndall, Munro, & Stanley, ; Nilsson et al, ). Several standards for ecologically successful restoration have been proposed (e.g., Kollmann et al, , McDonald et al, ).…”

Section: Implications For Future Monitoringmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of restoration approaches on the Inner Mongolian Steppe based on criteria of the Society for Ecological Restoration

Feng

Zhou

2020

Land Degrad Dev

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Ecological restoration is becoming an increasingly common management tool worldwide. However, a challenge still exists on how to effectively monitor restoration outcomes and evaluate restoration success for ecological restoration managers. In this review, the goal is to evaluate whether the research in a degraded area has been sufficient for fostering efficient restoration measures and follow‐up of restoration success based on the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) criteria. We selected the Inner Mongolian Steppe (IMS) in China as a model system. This area has been the subject of substantial research over the most recent years to understand degradation processes and restoration outcomes. We put together the variables used to assess degradation and restoration needs in the IMS and analyzed restoration results based on SER's nine criteria for evaluating restoration success. We found that the accomplished research in the IMS only partially supplied the data needed for evaluation of restoration success. The available results were sufficient for a proper evaluation of species composition and tentatively supported assessments of another seven criteria but not self‐sustainability. Grazing exclusion led to the fastest and most successful recovery of degraded steppe, but landscape‐scale processes during restoration in the IMS are still incompletely known. Our review supports large‐scale restoration of the IMS and emphasizes the need for long‐time monitoring for a more complete evaluation of the outcome of the IMS restoration following all SER's criteria.

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“…Therefore examples of collaboration among private sector actors and scientific institutions for implementing habitat restoration programs should be made available to support further joint projects. The professional certification program in ecological restoration of the Society for Ecological Restoration may open further possibilities for increasing the quality of performance (Nelson et al ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Restoration prioritization for industrial area applying multiple potential natural vegetation modeling

Török

Csecserits

Somodi

et al. 2017

Restoration Ecology

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Scaling‐up ecological restoration demands the involvement of private sector actors. Experience regarding science‐based habitat restoration programs in the sector should be made available to support further joint projects. In our case, hierarchical restoration prioritization was applied to select best target for habitat reconstruction at a Hungarian industrial area. Multiple potential natural vegetation model, a novel approach, supported restoration prioritization satisfying both ecological (sustainability and nature conservation value) and other needs (feasibility, rapid green surface, amenity, and education value). The target that met all priorities was the open steppe forest that has a mosaic arrangement with open and closed sand steppes. The potential area of this xero‐thermophile oak wood is expected to expand in Hungary with climate change, therefore the selected target has a likelihood of long‐term sustainability, if established. A matrix of sand steppes was created first at the factory area in 2014–2015, and tree and shrub saplings were planted in this matrix. The seeding induced rapid changes in vegetation composition: the second year samples became close to reference sand steppes in the principal component analysis ordination space. Tree and shrub survival was species dependent, reaching a maximum of 52 and 73% for tree and shrub species, respectively. One tree and 2 shrub species did not survive at all. Altogether 53 of 107 target species have established. So far, restored vegetation development confirmed the suitability of the applied hierarchical prioritization framework at factory scale.

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Professional certification in ecological restoration: improving the practice and the profession

Cited by 15 publications

References 5 publications

The business perspective in ecological restoration: issues and challenges

The business perspective in ecological restoration: issues and challenges

Evaluation of restoration approaches on the Inner Mongolian Steppe based on criteria of the Society for Ecological Restoration

Restoration prioritization for industrial area applying multiple potential natural vegetation modeling

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