Restorative management aims to imitate the natural processes of ecological resilience "Resilience (Ecology)"), for example, by first introducing pioneer species (through seeding, expression of the soil seed bank "Seed Bank (Ecology)"), construction of ecological engineering works, sometimes even with the reintroduction of locally extinct species) to move the environment towards a more natural "self-care" stage. To adapt to environments and their evolution, differentiated management is necessary. Restorative management of a forest is not carried out in the same way as that of a marsh.

Paradoxically, the manager can also use punctually in space and time, processes that for people imply a degradation of the environment: erosion that produces gravel, logging or controlled fire to locally restore clearings, clearing to de-eutrophize the environment or uncover seeds buried for several decades, cutting down some trees and leaving them on the ground to restore the dead wood resource necessary for saproxylophagous communities (see Saprophagy and Xylophagy), etc.

When large herbivores have disappeared from the area, the manager can use mechanical means (mechanical mowing and removal of cut herbaceous plants), as well as live auxiliaries such as sheep, cows, goats, horses, donkeys, etc. They maintain the environment by dispersing seeds and propagules of many organisms in a manner similar to that of wild animals. Hares and rabbits can help keep areas of moorland or short grass etc.

Although man is the cause of the dispersal of many species, often becoming invasive in their new environment, human activities and movements have above all been powerful factors of homogenization (landscape, but also genetic, taxonomic and functional),[12]​ very unfavorable for the maintenance of biodiversity. By favoring ubiquitous species to the detriment of endemic species—much more varied—the anthropogenic homogenization of living beings (in English biotic homogenization)[12]​ has serious, immediate and also delayed impacts, particularly on ecological and evolutionary processes.[12]​.

Ecologists[12]​ advocate for a better study of the implications of this homogenization for conservation and for the rapid promotion of proactive, restorative and adaptive management, which involves in a better controlled way the human component of the "anthropic mixer" that man has represented for the planetary biota.[12]​.

Rewilding is one of the important topics in the ecological restoration of watercourses, which must be done within the framework of the water network (rivers, lakes, streams, etc.) of the territory. Its objective is to restore the good ecological state of the watercourse, or to get as close as possible.

However, removing artificial obstacles (dams, diversion dams) or demolishing cement slopes or sheet piles to return the area to more natural characteristics is not enough to recreate the large alluvial areas of dead arms and braids that existed decades or centuries before, nor to fully restore the ecosystem services associated with them.

A poorly performed action can sometimes cause the channel to become deeper, with an increase in turbidity and a decrease in the water table and, therefore, in the levels of the adjacent springs and the nearby basin.

In 2007, the Seine-Normandy Water Agency recommended in its Manual for the hydromorphological restoration of watercourses[13]​ that, before carrying out any rewilding operation, it be carefully studied on a case-by-case basis:

Today, scientists are developing prediction models to better understand the consequences of river restoration actions.[14]​.

This management mode can—after scientific evaluation—be based on the reintroduction of functionally important species (for example, the beaver, due to its ability to restore and maintain wetlands, pollinating insects, symbionts of the species to be restored, etc.).

Scientists and natural space managers may consider reintroducing certain recently extinct species into an environment (large herbivores, large carnivores) that played essential functional and ecological roles, when these roles cannot be achieved with human restorative management.

This is the case of the aurochs and the tarpans (a wild horse), reconstituted in certain European natural areas. It is also planned to experiment (in a confined environment) with introductions such as the lion or the African elephant in North America to respectively "replace" the species of cave lions and mammoths that did not survive prehistoric hunting.[15]​.

Among the organizations that promote restorative management at an international level are the UN, through the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), and the FAO. They do so within the framework of the world convention for biodiversity, but with a tendency to bring actions to combat desertification and to protect the climate closer to this topic (project presented at the UN convention for biodiversity in Nagoya in 2010, in the biodiversity pavilion).

On a smaller scale, the European Union, the AEWA network, the pan-European ecological network, the Group of 77 or the Mesoamerican biological corridor zone are developing their own. strategies for the management, protection and restoration of biodiversity, together with the UN.

Governments and many national organizations contribute to this, as well as the regions and local communities where protected areas and ecological restoration strategies must be applied.

Protected area managers rely on scientific networks, scientific advice and the sharing of experiences to improve their knowledge. Finally, the network of local NGOs is at the origin of most projects and the creation of protected spaces.

Contenido

La evaluación ecológica de las acciones de restauración ecológica se desarrolla a medida que se reciben los resultados. Muestra al menos una eficacia parcial de muchas medidas de restauración, pero a veces escasa y, a menudo, constreñida por ciertos límites.

Evaluación: Por ejemplo, un reciente metaanálisis[16]​ de 89 operaciones de restauración ecológica llevadas a cabo en una amplia gama de ecosistemas alrededor del mundo mostró cierta eficacia: de media, la biodiversidad aumentó un 44 %, y los servicios del ecosistema, un 25 %, en ambos casos respecto a los valores iniciales del ecosistema degradado que se pretendía restaurar. Sin embargo, los valores de estos 2 indicadores se mantuvieron bajos en comparación con los ecosistemas de referencia intactos. Los autores concluyeron que la restauración de la biodiversidad sí puede contribuir a mejorar el nivel de los servicios del ecosistema, particularmente en los ecosistemas tropicales terrestres, con los límites que ellos especifican.

Para el caso de los humedales, Moreno-Mateos et al. (2012) analizaron los resultados del obras de ingeniería ecológica en 401 humedales restaurados y 220 creados (basándose en estructuras biológicas). En el momento de la evaluación, las comunidades vegetales y el funcionamiento biogeoquímico (almacenamiento de carbono en los suelos, etc.) estaban respectivamente un 26 % y un 23 % por debajo de los valores observados para los sitios de referencia.

Para el dominio marino, otros autores[17]​ creen que es urgente intentar al menos una restauración mundial de las pesquerías. Esto requiere restaurar los ecosistemas marinos. Sin embargo, en 5 de los 10 ecosistemas bien conocidos en 2009, la productividad de la pesca estaba en declive.[17]​ En 7 de estos ecosistemas se alcanzó o superó el nivel de sobreexplotación de recursos. El 63 % de las poblaciones de peces evaluadas en todo el mundo necesitaba un plan de recuperación, e incluso se necesitaban ritmos de explotación más bajos para detener el colapso de las especies vulnerables.

La actividad pesquera se puede combinar con los objetivos de conservación mediante la agrupación de acciones de gestión restaurativa diversificada, incluidas las prohibiciones y restricciones de captura y la adaptación de las artes de pesca, según el contexto local (que, por lo tanto, debe seguirse).[17]​ El impacto de las flotas pesqueras internacionales y la falta de alternativas reales a la pesca complican las perspectivas de recuperación de la pesca en muchas regiones pobres, lo que pone de relieve la necesidad de una perspectiva mundial sobre la recuperación de los recursos marinos.[17]​.

Boundaries

Several have been described:

Restorative management aims to imitate the natural processes of ecological resilience "Resilience (Ecology)"), for example, by first introducing pioneer species (through seeding, expression of the soil seed bank "Seed Bank (Ecology)"), construction of ecological engineering works, sometimes even with the reintroduction of locally extinct species) to move the environment towards a more natural "self-care" stage. To adapt to environments and their evolution, differentiated management is necessary. Restorative management of a forest is not carried out in the same way as that of a marsh.

Paradoxically, the manager can also use punctually in space and time, processes that for people imply a degradation of the environment: erosion that produces gravel, logging or controlled fire to locally restore clearings, clearing to de-eutrophize the environment or uncover seeds buried for several decades, cutting down some trees and leaving them on the ground to restore the dead wood resource necessary for saproxylophagous communities (see Saprophagy and Xylophagy), etc.

When large herbivores have disappeared from the area, the manager can use mechanical means (mechanical mowing and removal of cut herbaceous plants), as well as live auxiliaries such as sheep, cows, goats, horses, donkeys, etc. They maintain the environment by dispersing seeds and propagules of many organisms in a manner similar to that of wild animals. Hares and rabbits can help keep areas of moorland or short grass etc.

Although man is the cause of the dispersal of many species, often becoming invasive in their new environment, human activities and movements have above all been powerful factors of homogenization (landscape, but also genetic, taxonomic and functional),[12]​ very unfavorable for the maintenance of biodiversity. By favoring ubiquitous species to the detriment of endemic species—much more varied—the anthropogenic homogenization of living beings (in English biotic homogenization)[12]​ has serious, immediate and also delayed impacts, particularly on ecological and evolutionary processes.[12]​.

Ecologists[12]​ advocate for a better study of the implications of this homogenization for conservation and for the rapid promotion of proactive, restorative and adaptive management, which involves in a better controlled way the human component of the "anthropic mixer" that man has represented for the planetary biota.[12]​.

Rewilding is one of the important topics in the ecological restoration of watercourses, which must be done within the framework of the water network (rivers, lakes, streams, etc.) of the territory. Its objective is to restore the good ecological state of the watercourse, or to get as close as possible.

However, removing artificial obstacles (dams, diversion dams) or demolishing cement slopes or sheet piles to return the area to more natural characteristics is not enough to recreate the large alluvial areas of dead arms and braids that existed decades or centuries before, nor to fully restore the ecosystem services associated with them.

A poorly performed action can sometimes cause the channel to become deeper, with an increase in turbidity and a decrease in the water table and, therefore, in the levels of the adjacent springs and the nearby basin.

In 2007, the Seine-Normandy Water Agency recommended in its Manual for the hydromorphological restoration of watercourses[13]​ that, before carrying out any rewilding operation, it be carefully studied on a case-by-case basis:

Today, scientists are developing prediction models to better understand the consequences of river restoration actions.[14]​.

This management mode can—after scientific evaluation—be based on the reintroduction of functionally important species (for example, the beaver, due to its ability to restore and maintain wetlands, pollinating insects, symbionts of the species to be restored, etc.).

Scientists and natural space managers may consider reintroducing certain recently extinct species into an environment (large herbivores, large carnivores) that played essential functional and ecological roles, when these roles cannot be achieved with human restorative management.

This is the case of the aurochs and the tarpans (a wild horse), reconstituted in certain European natural areas. It is also planned to experiment (in a confined environment) with introductions such as the lion or the African elephant in North America to respectively "replace" the species of cave lions and mammoths that did not survive prehistoric hunting.[15]​.

Among the organizations that promote restorative management at an international level are the UN, through the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), and the FAO. They do so within the framework of the world convention for biodiversity, but with a tendency to bring actions to combat desertification and to protect the climate closer to this topic (project presented at the UN convention for biodiversity in Nagoya in 2010, in the biodiversity pavilion).

On a smaller scale, the European Union, the AEWA network, the pan-European ecological network, the Group of 77 or the Mesoamerican biological corridor zone are developing their own. strategies for the management, protection and restoration of biodiversity, together with the UN.

Governments and many national organizations contribute to this, as well as the regions and local communities where protected areas and ecological restoration strategies must be applied.

Protected area managers rely on scientific networks, scientific advice and the sharing of experiences to improve their knowledge. Finally, the network of local NGOs is at the origin of most projects and the creation of protected spaces.

Contenido

La evaluación ecológica de las acciones de restauración ecológica se desarrolla a medida que se reciben los resultados. Muestra al menos una eficacia parcial de muchas medidas de restauración, pero a veces escasa y, a menudo, constreñida por ciertos límites.

Evaluación: Por ejemplo, un reciente metaanálisis[16]​ de 89 operaciones de restauración ecológica llevadas a cabo en una amplia gama de ecosistemas alrededor del mundo mostró cierta eficacia: de media, la biodiversidad aumentó un 44 %, y los servicios del ecosistema, un 25 %, en ambos casos respecto a los valores iniciales del ecosistema degradado que se pretendía restaurar. Sin embargo, los valores de estos 2 indicadores se mantuvieron bajos en comparación con los ecosistemas de referencia intactos. Los autores concluyeron que la restauración de la biodiversidad sí puede contribuir a mejorar el nivel de los servicios del ecosistema, particularmente en los ecosistemas tropicales terrestres, con los límites que ellos especifican.

Para el caso de los humedales, Moreno-Mateos et al. (2012) analizaron los resultados del obras de ingeniería ecológica en 401 humedales restaurados y 220 creados (basándose en estructuras biológicas). En el momento de la evaluación, las comunidades vegetales y el funcionamiento biogeoquímico (almacenamiento de carbono en los suelos, etc.) estaban respectivamente un 26 % y un 23 % por debajo de los valores observados para los sitios de referencia.

Para el dominio marino, otros autores[17]​ creen que es urgente intentar al menos una restauración mundial de las pesquerías. Esto requiere restaurar los ecosistemas marinos. Sin embargo, en 5 de los 10 ecosistemas bien conocidos en 2009, la productividad de la pesca estaba en declive.[17]​ En 7 de estos ecosistemas se alcanzó o superó el nivel de sobreexplotación de recursos. El 63 % de las poblaciones de peces evaluadas en todo el mundo necesitaba un plan de recuperación, e incluso se necesitaban ritmos de explotación más bajos para detener el colapso de las especies vulnerables.

La actividad pesquera se puede combinar con los objetivos de conservación mediante la agrupación de acciones de gestión restaurativa diversificada, incluidas las prohibiciones y restricciones de captura y la adaptación de las artes de pesca, según el contexto local (que, por lo tanto, debe seguirse).[17]​ El impacto de las flotas pesqueras internacionales y la falta de alternativas reales a la pesca complican las perspectivas de recuperación de la pesca en muchas regiones pobres, lo que pone de relieve la necesidad de una perspectiva mundial sobre la recuperación de los recursos marinos.[17]​.

Boundaries

Several have been described: