Restoration, reclamation, and rehabilitation: on the need for, and positing a definition of, ecological reclamation

Abstract

Within the burgeoning field of restoration ecology, defining the concept of reclamation relative to rehabilitation and ecological restoration is important to enhance comparability between studies, as well as to enable clear communication of project specific methods and goals. The Society for Ecological Restoration's international standards (SER Standards), second edition, defines reclamation as “the process of making severely degraded land fit for cultivation or a state suitable for some human use.” However, we posit that this definition, and its anthropogenic focus, does not well match how the term is often used by practitioners, and in some legal or agency documents. Further, the relationship between restoration, rehabilitation, and reclamation is unclear. We propose a more specific term and definition, ecological reclamation: “the process of assisting the recovery of severely degraded ecosystems to benefit native biota through the establishment of habitats, populations, communities, or ecosystems that are similar, but not necessarily identical to surrounding and naturally occurring ecosystems.” This definition emphasizes that the objective of a reclamation project may not be direct human use, and begins to better distinguish between ecological reclamation, rehabilitation, and ecological restoration; however, more work and discussion on these relationships is required. Distinguishing these terms will result in better comparisons between studies, improving current and future literature reviews. Further, this term will also enable practitioners to better define project goals, and enhance communication to stakeholders, practitioners, and researchers.

Ecosystem restoration, regeneration and rewilding

“…In this special Collection, we focus on these three terms - ecological restoration, regeneration, and rewilding (ERRR) - as terms that capture actions most clearly driven by ecological goals. Other terms, including ‘remediation’ or ‘rehabilitation’, are also on this spectrum but tend to be tied more closely with ecosystem services, functionality, and human-centred outcomes [ 8 ]. As the need and demand for nature-centred solutions continues to grow, it is essential that we advance our efficacy in these fields as a global community rather than in isolated silos.…”

Editorial: Desertification and Rehabilitation

“…A further differentiation of terms between restoration, rehabilitation and reclamation has been highlighted recently by the SER (Gerwing et al, 2021) which observes that when rehabilitation occurs on mined lands or post-industrial sites, it is sometimes, but not always, called reclamation; suggesting that reclamation could be considered as conceptually nested within rehabilitation. In practice, the delineation between these two terms, as well as their relationship to ecological restoration, is unclear.…”

Methodology for determining the scope of reclamation works when forming recreational zone in the quarry residual space

“…The relevance of disturbed lands restoration by surface mining is strengthened in countries with powerful mineral reserves, since the mining heritage has left thousands of disturbed lands [4], which have not been fully restored [5].…”