Underlying principles of restoration

Abstract

The term restoration is used in many ways; however, it normally implies return to an original state. In ecological restoration, it should be thought of as applying to whole ecosystems. It must be remembered that options, such as rehabilitation or replacement, exist that may be more practicable than restoration. The components of restoration are the chemical and physical aspects of the habitat and the species themselves. Each of these may require specific treatment, but natural restorative processes should be used wherever possible; in fact, natural processes may be sufficient once the degrading influences have been removed. Because the process of restoration is progressive, the criteria of success are not easy to define. The most important point is that ecosystem development should be on an unrestricted upward path. From this, it follows that successful restoration is a serious test of our ecological understanding. Resume : Le terme restauration est utilise dans plusieurs sens, mais il suppose normalement un retour a l'etat initial. Dans le domaine de l'ecologie, il faut voir la restauration comme s'appliquant a des ecosystemes complets et se souvenir que d'autres solutions, comme la rehabilitation et le remplacement, peuvent etre plus realistes. La restauration vise a la fois les aspects chimiques et physiques de l'habitat et les especes elles-memes; chacun de ces volets peut exiger des mesures particulieres, mais il faut autant que possible se fier aux mecanismes naturels de restauration. En fait, si on a elimine les sources de degradation, ces mecanismes sont souvent suffisants. Comme la restauration est un processus progressif, il peut etre difficile de fixer des criteres de reussite. Il faut avant tout se rappeler que l'ecosysteme doit se developper sans entrave dans le sens d'une amelioration. La reussite d'une telle operation met a rude epreuve notre comprehension de l'ecologie. (Traduit par la Redaction)