James Aronson,

CEFE, CNRS, France & Missouri Botanical Garden.

ja42014@gmail.com

Expert workshop: Drylands and Forest & Landscape

Restoration FAO Headquarters, Rome, 28 April, 2016

Overview of monitoring tools from the

perspective of restoration ecology and natural

capital

Explicit and clear linkages among

objectives of 3 Cs; effective ecosystem

restoration & RNC are the best conduits.

Blignaut, J, J Aronson, R de

Groot 2014. Ecological Engineering 65:54-61.

Aichi Biodiv. Target 15: 15% of degraded ecosystems to be “restored” by 2020.

CBD biodiversity

UNFCCC climate change

UNCCD land

degradation

ER & RNC

The ”How” of Restoration Matters Forest and Landscape Restoration (FLR) is about more than trees

• Focus on landscapes • Restore ecological functionality • Allow for multiple benefits • Recognize that a suite of interventions are possible • Involve stakeholders • Tailor to local conditions • Manage adaptively • Avoid conversion of natural ecosystems

Based on Maginnis et al. (2005)

Guiding principles of forest landscape restoration

Lars Laestadius, GPFLR, Day 1.

More good advice from Lars, as summarized this morning by Cesar Sabogal:

• Ambition (Objectives)

• Action (Restoration)

• Outcomes (Benefits, side effects)

Are basic terms used coherently?

• Restoration, Rehabilitation, Reintegration?

• Degradation (vs. change; transformation)

• Landscape?

Ecological restoration is the process of assisting the recovery

of an ecosystem that was degraded, damaged, or destroyed.

--Society for Ecological Restoration

http://ser.org/resources/resources-detail-view/ser-international-

primer-on-ecological-restoration

From restoration ecology, since 1993, >24 “vital” ecosystem attributes (biology, ecology, hydrology, etc.) • And, >12 attributes of restored ecosystems, e.g., SER

Primer 2004, Clewell and Aronson 2013.

• What about landscape level? • Socio-economic & enabling indicators already

discussed yesterday… What about landscape ecology & human ecology? See Aronson & Le Floc’h 1996. Restor. Ecology.

Choosing attributes of the restored ecosystem we seek helps in planning and monitoring & evaluation. • Structure, composition & functioning (ecological). • Cost-effectiveness of the investment. • Integration in larger landscapes.

Clewell, A. F. & J. Aronson 2013. Ecological Restoration: Principles, Values, and Structure of an Emerging Profession. http://islandpress.org/book/ecological-restoration-second-edition

Ecol. Rehabilitation focuses on functions & services; productivity.

Ecological Restoration also aims to recover full ecosystem content & structure.

Cf. historic continuity, processes & pattern; biodiversity, Ecosystem services; ability of restored ecosystem to adapt to changing conditions.

SER 2004. Primer of Ecol. Restoration

degraded land is “the state of land which results from the persistent decline or loss in biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services that cannot fully recover unaided within decadal time scales”. IPBES 2015…..

SER 2004. Primer of Ecol. Restoration

Limits to ecosystem recovery

Reco

very

(%

)

Reference level or pre-disturbance state

Recovery

Recovery ‘debt’

Time after restoration begins

(years to centuries)

70-80 %

Moreno Mateos et al. 2012; PLoS Biology; Rey Benayas et al. 2009; Science

Biodiversity

Functionality

Chaves R, et al. 2015. On the need of legal frameworks for assessing restoration projects success: new perspectives from São Paulo state (Brazil). Restoration Ecology 23:754-759. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/rec.12267

ALSO, pls look at:

• Murcia C, MR Guariguata et al. 2015. Challenges and prospects for scaling-up ecological restoration in response to international treaties: Colombia as a case study. Conservation Letters. http://dx 10.1111/conl.12199

• Ecological – economics axis...good starting place:

A Cost-Benefit Framework for Analyzing Forest Landscape Restoration Decisions. https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2015-018.pdf

The Land Degradation Surveillance Framework (LDSF)

Tor-G. Vagen March 25, 2015

in Biodiversity, Land Degradation, Deforestation, Soil Mapping.

For starters, use appropr. reference models How to select or construct an ecosystem of reference? BASELINE CONDITIONS NOT ENOUGH!!!!!! • Aronson J, et al. 1993. Restoration Ecology 1: 8-17. • Aronson J, et al 1995. On the need to select an ecosystem of

reference, however imperfect. Restoration Ecology 3: 1-3.

• Aronson J & E Le Floc'h 1996b. Vital landscape attributes: missing tools for restoration ecology. Restoration Ecology 4: 377-387.

• White PS & JL Walker 1997. Restoration Ecology 5: 338–349. Balaguer L, et al. 2014. Historical references in restoration ecology: Redefining a cornerstone concept. Biol. Conservation 176:12-20.

Multiple references approach

Suganuma MS, Durigan G 2015. Indicators of restoration success in riparian tropical forests using multiple reference ecosystems. Restor. Ecol. 23: 238–251.

Renewable natural capital (a stock) = natural & semi-cultural ecosystems (& native biodiversity – the living component of ecosystems) Ecosystem goods and services (EGS)= dividends (=

fluxs) that flow from Nat Cap (= savings account; legacy, inheritance, patrimony, endowment, etc.)

Institutions & human

Judgments determining

(the use of) services

* Ecosystems & Biodiversity *

Services

Management & restoration for

sustained use

(Flood control, Crop polli-

nation, etc.

Feedback between

value perception

and use of eco-

system services

Functions

( e.g . slow

water

passage,

biomass)

( e.g . vegetation

cover or Net

Primary

Productivity

Biophysical

Structure

& processes

(contribution

to health,

safety, etc)

Benefits

Human wellbeing

(socio - cultural context)

Total

economic

Value

* - aka NATURAL CAPITAL….After de Groot et al 2010. In: The Economics of

Ecosystems and Biodiversity: Ecological and Economic Foundations. Pp. 9-40.

Restoring Natural Capital (RNC) includes:

a) restoration of degraded ecosystems,

b) ecological economic rehabilitation

production systems (farms, mariculture, etc.)

c) ecological improvements in extraction,

urbanization, transport, etc.) &

d) incorporation of awareness of the value of

natural capital into daily activities.

James Aronson , CNRS, MBG, SER.

(ja42014@gmail.com)

PLEASE VISIT :

•www.rncalliance.org

•www.ser.org

•www.teebweb.org

Southern Costa Rica; Using giant stakes of natgive fig trees to jumpstart tropical forest restoration.

See https://mbgecologicalrestoration.wordpress.com/2016/02/04/reforesting-with-figs/

Restoring riparian woodland. Ica, Peru.

See https://mbgecologicalrestoration.wordpress.com/

How to handle the attributes (or indicators)?

• 2. Methods to combine (MCA) biophysical, cultural, social, and economic attributes across range of biophy. & cultural matrices.

Aronson J, JN Blignaut, SJ Milton et al. 2010. Restor Ecol 18:143-154.

Cf. Wortley L, et al. 2013. Evaluating Ecological Restoration Success: A Review of the Literature. Restor. Ecol. 21: 537–543.

Brancalion PHS et al. 2014. Cultural ecosystem services and popular perceptions of the benefits of an ecological restoration project in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Restoration Ecology 22: 65-71.

EMPLOYEES’ perceptions? (ARISE project, S. Africa)

Source: Blignaut JN, et al. 2011. The ARISE project in South Africa. In: Egan D et al, eds. Human Dimensions of Ecological Restoration. Integrating Science, Nature & Culture. Island Press, Washington DC. Pp 207-219.

Use of the five types of capital for analysis of effectiveness, esp. Human, social & financial… What about multi-criteria analysis?

Additional reading:

* SER Primer on Ecological Restoration. 2002. Nine attributes of a restored ecosystem.

• Standards for Australia. See: http://www.seraustralasia.com/pages/standards.html

* Mansourian, Vallauri & N. Dudley 2005. Forest Restoration in Landscapes.

* David Lamb. 2011. Regreening the Bare Hills. (Asia-Pacific Region).

*** D. Lamb 2014. Large-scale Forest Restoration.

* SER – Island Press Book Series “Science & Practice of Ecol. Restoration”

• Clewell A & J Aronson. 2007, 2013. Ecological Restoration.

• Aronson, Milton & Blignaut, eds. 2007. Restoring Natural Capital.

• Rieger et al. 2013. Project planning & Management for Ecological Restoration.

Aronson, Clewell & Moreno-Mateos 2016. Ecological restoration and ecological engineering: Complementary or indivisable? Ecological Engineering 91:392-395.

Mills AJ, et al. 2015. Prescribing Innovation within a Large-Scale Restoration Programme in Degraded Subtropical Thicket in South Africa. Forests 6(11):4328–4348. Murcia C, Aronson J 2014. Intelligent tinkering in ecological restoration. Restoration Ecology 22(3):279–283.

Murcia & Aronson 2014. Intelligent Tinkering in Ecosystem restoration Rest. Ecology 22(4).

Decision parameters • Ecological

• Socio-economic

• Technological

Ecological Decision Parameters

• Ecologically vulnerable,

• Wider ecological benefit,

• Potential for unassisted recovery, &

• Large-scale relative ecological impact.

Van Dover et al. 2013. Marine Policy. DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2013.07.006

Anthropocentric Decision Parameters

• Ecosystem benefits,

• Governance,

• Costs,

• Societal pressure,

• Financial incentives, &

• Wider socio-economic impacts.

Van Dover et al. 2013. Marine Policy. DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2013.07.006

Technological Decision Parameters

• Likelihood of success,

• Technical feasibility, &

• Technological advancement.

Van Dover et al. 2013. Marine Policy. DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2013.07.006

New nexus: science, practice & policy.

Aronson, J. & S. Alexander 2013. Ecosystem Restoration is now a global

priority. Restoration Ecology 21: 293-296.

Blignaut, J.N., J. Aronson, & M. de Wit 2014.The Economics of

Restoration. Annals New York Acad. of Sciences 1322: 35–47.

Words matter! Need clear concepts, definitions, & objectives to

work together. Why restore (and rehabilitate)? what? Where?

When? ….for whom? Who benefits? Who should pay?