Sunday, August 21, 2011

Natural Processes for the Restoration of Drastically Disturbed Sites
Instructor: David Polster
Language: English

Natural processes have been “restoring” natural disturbances since the beginning of terrestrial vegetation on the earth about 400 million years ago.  Natural systems have developed to address all of the problems associated with un-vegetated sites.  Bare rock is colonized by lichens while shifting sands are revegetated with stout rhizomatous grasses and mat-forming woody species.  Understanding how these natural processes that have evolved over millions of years operate, allows us to use these processes to solve some of the toughest reclamation challenges facing us.  This workshop will provide participants with a new way of looking at the restoration of challenging sites.  By taking clues from how natural systems restore analogous natural disturbances we can design restoration programs to re-integrate human disturbances with the natural successional trajectories that lead to effective ecological restoration of our most severely disturbed sites.

Principles of Ecological Restoration and Their Application
Instructor: Andre Clewell
Language: English

The workshop identifies the principles of ecological restoration. The application of these principles will be demonstrated by examples from actual restoration projects. The workshop begins with an overview on how various human values are fulfilled through ecological restoration. These include ecological values, socioeconomic values, cultural values, and personal values. Then the ecological attributes are identified that we want to achieve in a restoration project. These include biophysical attributes, the re-initiation of ecosystem function, and the emergent attributes of resilience and sustainability. The selection of an appropriate target ecosystem for restoration will be addressed with respect to restoration under changing environmental conditions. The reasons will be identified on why it is important to return an impaired ecosystem to its historical trajectory of ecological development, and not necessarily to its former state. Steps in the preparation of a reference model on which restoration plans are based will be presented. Strategies for conducting a restoration project will be introduced and evaluated with respect to the intensity of effort needed to attain restoration goals. The critical roles of stakeholders and the local community will be emphasized in all aspects of project work. The ways that SER can assist you in your project work will be identified.

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