tag:theconversation.com,2011:/es/topics/restoration-ecology-42355/articlesRestoration ecology – The Conversation2023-03-28T12:15:57Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1990492023-03-28T12:15:57Z2023-03-28T12:15:57ZA shortage of native seeds is slowing land restoration across the US, which is crucial for tackling climate change and extinctions<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517710/original/file-20230327-16-yltw9r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3994%2C2814&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Planting native plant seeds on sand dunes at Westward Beach in Malibu, Calif., to stabilize the dunes.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/sara-cuadra-watershed-program-coordinator-with-the-bay-news-photo/1234406431">Al Seib / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Spring is planting time for home gardeners, landscapers and public works agencies across the U.S. And there’s rising demand for <a href="https://www.wildflower.org/plants-main">native plants</a> – species that are genetically adapted to the specific regions where they are used. </p>
<p>Native plants have evolved with local climates and soil conditions. As a result, they generally require less maintenance, such as watering and fertilizing, after they become established, and they are hardier than non-native species. </p>
<p>Many federal, state and city agencies <a href="https://law.pace.edu/sites/default/files/Team%20%233%20Brief.pdf">rank native plants as a first choice</a> for restoring areas that have been disturbed by natural disasters or human activities like mining and development. Repairing damaged landscapes is a critical strategy for <a href="https://www.decadeonrestoration.org/">slowing climate change and species loss</a>. </p>
<p>But there’s one big problem: There aren’t enough native seeds. This issue is so serious that it was the <a href="https://doi.org/10.17226/26618">subject of a recent report</a> from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. The study found an urgent need to build a native seed supply. </p>
<p>As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=EAP10S8AAAAJ&hl=en">plant scientists</a> who have worked on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-campanelli/">ecological restoration projects</a>, we’re familiar with this challenge. Here’s how we are working to promote the use of native plants for <a href="https://nenativeplants.psla.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3415/2022/08/netcr97_09-2.pdf">roadside restoration in New England</a>, including by building up a seed supply network.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Landscapers and land managers explain the benefits of planting native plants.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>The need for native plants</h2>
<p>Many stressors can damage and degrade land. They include natural disasters, such as wildfires and flooding, and human actions, such as urbanization, energy production, ranching and development. </p>
<p>Invasive plants <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-021-02478-8">often move into disturbed areas</a>, causing further harm. They may <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2017.04.008">drift there on the wind</a>, be excreted by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1366-9516.2005.00195.x">birds and animals that consume fruit</a>, or be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2001)051%5B0095:HAGPDG%5D2.0.CO;2">introduced by humans</a>, unintentionally or deliberately.</p>
<p>Ecological restoration aims to bring back degraded lands’ native biological diversity and the ecological functions that these areas provided, such as sheltering wildlife and soaking up floodwater. In 2021, the United Nations launched the <a href="https://www.decadeonrestoration.org/">U.N. Decade on Ecosystem Restoration</a> to promote such efforts worldwide.</p>
<p>Native plants have many features that make them an essential part of healthy ecosystems. For example, they provide long-term defense against invasive and noxious weeds; shelter local pollinators and wildlife; and have <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/reducing-erosion-with-native-plants.htm">roots that stabilize soil</a>, which helps reduce erosion.</p>
<p>Restoration projects require vast quantities of native seeds – but commercial supplies fall far short of what’s needed. Developing a batch of seeds for a specific species takes skill and several years of lead time to either <a href="https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/26618/chapter/2#2">collect native seeds in the wild or grow plants to produce them</a>. Suppliers say one of their biggest obstacles is unpredictable demand from large-scale customers, such as government and tribal agencies, that don’t plan far enough ahead for producers to have stocks ready.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517737/original/file-20230327-1159-1tiu2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Dozens of small potted seedlings sprouting in large trays." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517737/original/file-20230327-1159-1tiu2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517737/original/file-20230327-1159-1tiu2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517737/original/file-20230327-1159-1tiu2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517737/original/file-20230327-1159-1tiu2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517737/original/file-20230327-1159-1tiu2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517737/original/file-20230327-1159-1tiu2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517737/original/file-20230327-1159-1tiu2v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Wyoming Big Sage seedlings growing in a greenhouse. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the Shoshone-Paiute Tribe are working together to produce native seedlings to restore public lands in Idaho that have been damaged by wildfires.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/xkGQ6Q">Bureau of Land Management Idaho/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<h2>Restoring roadsides in New England</h2>
<p>Most drivers give little thought to what grows next to highways, but the wrong plants in these areas can cause serious problems. Roadsides that aren’t replanted using ecological restoration methods may erode and be taken over by invasive weeds. Ecological restoration provides effective erosion control and better habitat habitats for wildlife and pollinators. It’s also more attractive. </p>
<p>For decades, state transportation departments across the U.S. used non-native cool-season turfgrasses, such as fescue and ryegrass, to restore roadsides. The main benefits of using these species, which grow well during the <a href="https://extension.psu.edu/the-cool-season-turfgrasses-basic-structures-growth-and-development">cooler months of spring and fall</a>, were that they grew fast and provided a quick cover.</p>
<p>Then in 2013 the <a href="https://www.newenglandtransportationconsortium.org/">New England Transportation Consortium</a> – a research cooperative funded by state transportation agencies – commissioned our research team to help the states transition to native warm-season grasses instead. These grasses <a href="https://extension.psu.edu/warm-season-grasses">grow well in hot, dry weather</a> and need less moisture than cool-season grasses. One of us, John Campanelli, developed the <a href="https://nenativeplants.psla.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3415/2022/08/netcr97_09-2.pdf">framework for selecting plant species</a> based on conservation practices and identified methods for establishing native plant communities for the region.</p>
<p>We recommended using warm-season grasses that are native to the region, such as <a href="https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/schizachyrium/scoparium/">little bluestem</a>, <a href="https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/eragrostis/spectabilis/">purple lovegrass</a>, <a href="https://plantfinder.nativeplanttrust.org/plant/Panicum-virgatum">switchgrass</a> and <a href="https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/tridens/flavus/">purpletop</a>. These species required less long-term maintenance and less-frequent mowing than the cool-season species that agencies had previously used. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517743/original/file-20230327-24-1vtcmc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Dense tall switchgrass plot with some leaves turning red." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517743/original/file-20230327-24-1vtcmc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517743/original/file-20230327-24-1vtcmc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517743/original/file-20230327-24-1vtcmc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517743/original/file-20230327-24-1vtcmc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517743/original/file-20230327-24-1vtcmc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517743/original/file-20230327-24-1vtcmc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517743/original/file-20230327-24-1vtcmc.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Switchgrass is native to the U.S. Northeast. It grows very upright, can tolerate dry soil and drought, and produces seeds that are a good winter food source for birds.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://extension.unh.edu/blog/2021/02/what-are-some-best-native-ornamental-grasses-landscapes">Peganum via University of New Hampshire Extension</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>To ensure sound conservation practices, we wanted to use seeds produced locally. Seeds sourced from other locations would produce grasses that would interbreed with <a href="https://www.environment.fhwa.dot.gov/env_topics/ecosystems/roadside_use/vegmgmt_rdsduse18.aspx#">local ecotypes</a> – grasses adapted to New England – and disrupt the local grasses’ gene complexes. </p>
<p>At that time, however, there was no reliable seed supply for local ecotypes in New England. Only a few sources offered an incomplete selection of small quantities of local seeds, at prices that were too expensive for large-scale restoration projects. Most organizations carrying out ecological restoration projects purchased their bulk seeds mainly from large wholesale producers in the Midwest, which introduced non-local genetic material to the restoration sites.</p>
<h2>Improving native seed supply chains</h2>
<p>Many agencies are concerned that lack of a local seed supply could limit restoration efforts in New England. To tackle this problem, our team launched a project in 2022 with funding from the New England Transportation Consortium. Our goals are to increase native plantings and pollinator habitats with seeds from local ecotypes, and to make our previous recommendations for roadside restoration with native grasses more feasible.</p>
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<p>As we were analyzing ways to obtain affordable native seeds for these roadside projects, we learned about work by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/eve-allen-b84a38188/">Eve Allen</a>, a master’s degree student in city planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For her thesis, Allen used supply chain management and social network analysis to identify the best methods to <a href="https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/145170">strengthen the native seed supply chain network</a>. </p>
<p>Her research showed that developing native seed supplies would require cooperative partnerships that included federal, state and local government agencies and the private and nonprofit sectors. Allen reached out to many of these organizations’ stakeholders and established a broad network. This led to the launch of the regional Northeast Seed Network, which will be hosted by the Massachusetts-based <a href="https://www.nativeplanttrust.org/documents/1063/221027_Symposium_PR.pdf">Native Plant Trust</a>, a nonprofit that works to conserve New England’s native plants. </p>
<p>We expect this network will promote all aspects of native seed production in the region, from collecting seeds in the wild to cultivating plants for seed production, developing regional seed markets and carrying out related research. In the meantime, we are <a href="https://dailycampus.com/2023/02/10/university-of-connecticut-faculty-members-are-working-to-revive-native-plants-on-the-roadside-of-new-england/">developing a road map</a> for new revegetation practices in New England. </p>
<p>We aim to build greater coordination between these agencies and seed producers to promote expanded selections of affordable native seeds and make demand more predictable. Our ultimate goal is to help native plants, bees and butterflies thrive along roads throughout New England.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199049/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Native plants help damaged landscapes by stabilizing soil, fighting invasive species and sheltering pollinators. Two horticulture experts explain what they’re doing to help develop new seed sources.Julia Kuzovkina, Professor of Horticulture, University of ConnecticutJohn Campanelli, PhD Student in Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, University of ConnecticutLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1976692023-02-28T13:25:15Z2023-02-28T13:25:15ZWolf restoration in Colorado shows how humans are rethinking their relationships with wild animals<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512301/original/file-20230226-1807-nfapm8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=58%2C9%2C6416%2C4465&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A gray wolf in Yellowstone National Park.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nps.gov/media/photo/gallery-item.htm?pg=0&id=ceaf48b2-2bbd-465e-8371-c9d722b2c7a4&gid=25c97bd8-155d-451f-675e208be082fe26">NPS/Jim Peaco</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>From <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2057065-the-15-biggest-comebacks-in-sports">sports</a> to <a href="https://www.insider.com/celebrity-career-comebacks-2018-5#eminem-released-a-comeback-album-in-2017-16">pop culture</a>, there are few themes more appealing than a good comeback. They happen in nature, too. Even with the Earth <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/05/nature-decline-unprecedented-report/">losing species at a historic rate</a>, some animals have defied the trend toward extinction and started refilling their old ecological niches.</p>
<p>I’m a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=jn11FLMAAAAJ&hl=vi">philosopher based in Montana</a> and specialize in environmental ethics. For my new book, “<a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262047562/">Tenacious Beasts: Wildlife Recoveries That Change How We Think About Animals</a>,” I spent three years looking at wildlife comebacks across North America and Europe and considering the lessons they offer. In every case, whether the returnee is a bison, humpback whale, beaver, salmon, sea otter or wolf, the recovery has created an opportunity for humans to profoundly rethink how we live with these animals. </p>
<p>One place to see the rethink in action is Colorado, where voters <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Colorado_Proposition_114,_Gray_Wolf_Reintroduction_Initiative_(2020)">approved a ballot measure in 2020</a> mandating the reintroduction of gray wolves west of the Continental Divide. Colorado’s Parks and Wildlife Agency has released a <a href="https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/Wolves/DRAFT-CO-Wolf-Plan.pdf">draft plan</a> that calls for moving 30 to 50 gray wolves from other Rocky Mountain states into northwest Colorado over five years, starting in 2024.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.aldoleopold.org/about/aldo-leopold/">Aldo Leopold</a>, the famed conservationist and professor of game management at the University of Wisconsin, believed that moral beliefs <a href="https://www.aldoleopold.org/post/understanding-land-ethic/">evolve over time</a> to become more inclusive of the natural world. And what’s happening in Colorado suggests Leopold was right. Human attitudes toward wolves have clearly evolved since the mid-1940s, when <a href="https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/people-predators/wolves-in-colorado-history-and-status-8-007/">bounties, mass poisoning and trapping</a> eradicated wolves from the state.</p>
<p>Recovering animals encounter a world that is markedly different from the one in which they declined, especially in terms of how people think about wildlife. Here are several reasons I see why societal attitudes toward wolves have changed. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Wolves released in northwest Colorado will wear GPS collars that enable wildlife managers to track them.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>The importance of keystone species</h2>
<p>The idea that certain influential species, which ecologists call <a href="https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/keystone-species-15786127/">keystone species</a>, can significantly alter the ecosystems around them first <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.185.4156.1058">appeared in scientific literature in 1974</a>. Bison, sea otters, beavers, elephants and wolves all exert this power. One way in which wolves wield influence is by preying on coyotes, which produces <a href="https://doi.org/10.1139/Z08-136">ripple effects across the system</a>. Fewer coyotes means more rodents, which in turn means better hunting success for birds of prey.</p>
<p>Wolves also cause nervous behaviors among their prey. Some scientists believe that newly returned predators create a “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2019.01.004">landscape of fear</a>” among prey species – a term that isn’t positive or negative, just descriptive. This idea has shifted thinking about predators. For example, elk avoid some areas when wolves are around, resulting in ecological changes that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-015-3515-z">cascade down from the top</a>. Vegetation can recover, which in turn <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/the-big-scientific-debate-trophic-cascades.htm">may benefit other species</a>. </p>
<h2>Insights into pack dynamics</h2>
<p>Animal behavioral science research has provided pointers for better wolf management. Studies show that wolf packs are less likely to prey on livestock <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0113505">if their social structure remains intact</a>. This means that ranchers and wildlife managers should take care not to remove the pack’s breeding pair when problems occur. Doing so can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2597">fragment the pack</a> and send dispersing wolves into new territories. </p>
<p>Wildlife agencies also have access to years of data from close observation of wolf behavior in places like <a href="https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/wolves.htm">Yellowstone National Park</a>, where wolves were reintroduced starting in 1995. This research offers insights into the wolf’s <a href="https://greystonebooks.com/collections/rick-mcintyre">intelligence and social complexity</a>. All of this information helps to show how people can live successfully alongside them. </p>
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<h2>Predators provide economic value</h2>
<p>Research has also demonstrated that wolves provide economic benefits to states and communities. Wisconsin researchers discovered that changes in deer behavior due to the presence of wolves have saved millions of dollars in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2023251118">avoided deer collisions with cars</a>. These savings far exceed what it costs the state to manage wolves. </p>
<p>Wolf recovery has been shown to be <a href="https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3577&context=icwdm_usdanwrc">a net economic benefit</a> in areas of the U.S. West where they have returned. The dollars they attract from wolf-watchers, photographers and foreign visitors have provided a valuable new income stream in many communities. </p>
<p>Predators do kill livestock, but improved tracking has helped to put these losses in perspective. Montana Board of Livestock numbers show that wolves, grizzly bears and mountain lions caused the loss of <a href="https://liv.mt.gov/Attached-Agency-Boards/Livestock-Loss-Board/Livestock-Loss-Statistics-2022">131 cattle and 137 sheep</a> in the state in 2022. This is from a total of 2,200,000 cattle and 190,000 sheep. Of the 131 cattle, 36 were confirmed to be taken by wolves – 0.0016% of the statewide herd. </p>
<p>According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, dogs, foxes and coyotes in Montana <a href="https://www.nass.usda.gov/Statistics_by_State/Montana/Publications/News_Releases/2021/MT-Sheep-Predator-Loss-02102021.pdf">all killed more sheep and lambs than wolves did</a> in 2020. Even eagles were three times more deadly to sheep and lambs than wolves were. </p>
<p>Actual costs to ranchers are certainly higher than these numbers suggest. The presence of wolves <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ajae/aat100">causes livestock to lose weight</a> because the animals feed more nervously when wolves are around. Ranchers also lose sleep as they worry about wolves attacking their livestock and guard dogs. And clearly, low statewide kills are small comfort to a rancher who loses a dozen or more animals in one year. Margins are always tight in the livestock business.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">A northern Colorado rancher discusses options for protecting his cattle from wolves, which already are naturally present in the state.</span></figcaption>
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<p>What’s more, predators’ economic impacts don’t end with ranching. In Colorado, for example, elk numbers are likely to decline after wolves are reintroduced. This may affect state wildlife agency budgets that rely on license fees from elk hunters. It may also affect hunting outfitters’ incomes. </p>
<p>In my view, voters who supported bringing wolves back to Colorado should remain deeply aware of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106656">the full distribution of costs</a> and support proactive compensation schemes for losses. They should be mindful that support for wolf reintroduction <a href="https://theconversation.com/will-colorado-bring-back-wolves-its-up-to-voters-147244">varies drastically between urban and rural communities</a> and should insist that effective mechanisms are in place ahead of time to ensure fair sharing of the economic burdens that wolves generate.</p>
<h2>A new ethical playing field</h2>
<p>Despite these complexities, the idea of the “big bad wolf” clearly no longer dominates Americans’ thinking. And the wolf is not alone. Social acceptance of many other wildlife species <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13493">is also increasing</a>. For example, a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12885">2023 study</a> found that between <a href="https://www.umt.edu/news/2023/02/020623bear.php">80% and 90% of Montanans</a> believed grizzly bears – which are recovering and expanding their presence there – have a right to exist. </p>
<p>Aldo Leopold famously claimed to have experienced an epiphany when he shot a wolf in New Mexico in the 1920s and saw “<a href="https://mountainscholar.org/bitstream/handle/10217/178142/FACF_Rolston_Rediscovering-RethinkingGreenFire.pdf">a fierce green fire</a>” dying in her eyes. In reality, his attitude took several more decades to change. Humans may have <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Man-the-Hunted-Primates-Predators-and-Human-Evolution-Expanded-Edition/Hart-Sussman/p/book/9780813344034">an ingrained evolutionary disposition</a> to fear carnivorous predators like wolves, but the change ended up being real for Leopold, and it lasted.</p>
<p>Leopold, who died in 1948, did not live to see many wildlife species recover, but I believe he would have regarded what’s happening now as an opportunity for Americans’ moral growth. Because Leopold knew that ethics, like animals, are always evolving.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197669/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher J. Preston has received funding from the National Science Foundation, Humanities Montana, and the Kone Foundation. </span></em></p>Less than a century ago, Colorado hunted, trapped and poisoned all the wolves within its borders. Today it’s restoring them – a change that reflects a profound shift in human thinking.Christopher J. Preston, Professor of Philosophy, University of MontanaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1840632022-08-09T03:58:15Z2022-08-09T03:58:15ZOnce the fish factories and ‘kidneys’ of colder seas, Australia’s decimated shellfish reefs are coming back<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468119/original/file-20220609-23-bh99c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C15%2C3493%2C2313&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia once had vast oyster and mussel reefs, which anchored marine ecosystems and provided a key food source for coastal First Nations people. But after colonisation, Europeans harvested them for their meat and shells and pushed oyster and mussel reefs almost to extinction. Because the damage was done early – and largely underwater – the destruction of these reefs was all but forgotten. </p>
<p>No longer. We have learned how to restore these vital reef systems. After a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-29/oysters-and-mussels-to-return-to-port-phillip-bay-research-plan/6356404">successful pilot</a> in 2015, there are now 46 shellfish reef restorations underway – Australia’s largest marine restoration program ever undertaken. It’s not a moment too soon. There’s just one natural reef remaining for the Australian flat oyster, which is teetering on extinction. </p>
<p>How did shellfish reefs go from forgotten to frontline? Our <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cobi.13958">new research</a> shows how this historical amnesia was overcome through a national community of researchers, conservationists, and government and fisheries managers.</p>
<p>This matters, because oysters and mussels are <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-surprising-benefits-of-oysters-and-no-its-not-what-youre-thinking-90697#:%7E:text=Their%20filter%2Dfeeding%20improves%20water,and%20even%20soak%20up%20carbon.">ecological superheroes</a>. As we restore these reefs, we give local marine life a real boost and support human livelihoods reliant on healthy seas. These cold-water reefs play a similar role to coral in tropical seas. They give hiding places and food to baby fish, filter seawater and defend coastlines against erosion from waves. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468127/original/file-20220610-16526-8lsi1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468127/original/file-20220610-16526-8lsi1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=946&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468127/original/file-20220610-16526-8lsi1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=946&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468127/original/file-20220610-16526-8lsi1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=946&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468127/original/file-20220610-16526-8lsi1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1188&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468127/original/file-20220610-16526-8lsi1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1188&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468127/original/file-20220610-16526-8lsi1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1188&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Large-scale shellfish reef restoration projects began with a single pilot in 2015 and soared to 46 projects nationwide by 2022.</span>
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</figure>
<h2>What killed our original shellfish reefs?</h2>
<p>Just 200 years ago, shellfish reefs carpeted Australia’s temperate regions, filling up sheltered bays and estuaries around over 7,000 kilometres of coastline. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-29818-z">Archaeological research</a> from Queensland shows First Nations people were sustainably harvesting local shellfish reefs over at least 5,000 years, replenishing oyster populations by building reefs with stone and shell. </p>
<p>This ended as Europeans took the lands and waters from Traditional Owners. Shellfish became one of colonial Australia’s first fisheries. Oysters were fished extensively for food, while their shells were burnt to manufacture lime for fertiliser and cement. If you walk past a colonial-era building, look at the mortar. Chances are, a <a href="https://blogs.sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/cook/oyster-shells/">lot of oyster shells</a> went into it. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-worlds-most-degraded-marine-ecosystem-could-be-about-to-make-a-comeback-110233">The world's most degraded marine ecosystem could be about to make a comeback</a>
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<p>Even though the wild fishery ended a century ago, these shellfish weren’t able to return. That’s because they can’t just grow on bare sand. Their preferred substrate is the shells of their ancestors, left behind on the sea bottom. Once substrate was scraped by dredge or smothered by sediment, there was nowhere for baby oysters and mussels to settle and grow. </p>
<p>Today, there’s just one small natural flat oyster reef (<em>Ostrea angasi</em>) and six remnant Sydney Rock oyster (<em>Saccostrea glomerata</em>) reefs remaining, across <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0190914">all Australian waters</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468151/original/file-20220610-28309-o1wfy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468151/original/file-20220610-28309-o1wfy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468151/original/file-20220610-28309-o1wfy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468151/original/file-20220610-28309-o1wfy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468151/original/file-20220610-28309-o1wfy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468151/original/file-20220610-28309-o1wfy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468151/original/file-20220610-28309-o1wfy0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Colonial oyster fishers used oyster dredges, rakes, and shovels to scrape oysters from the seafloor.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">State Library of South Australia</span></span>
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<h2>How to kick-start shellfish reef restoration</h2>
<p>Shellfish can’t recover by themselves. But it turns out with a little human help, they can. Think of it as making up for our unsustainable use.</p>
<p>For a decade before the first large-scale restoration, recreational fishing groups and community groups worked on smaller projects, sometimes with government backing. </p>
<p>To begin larger-scale restoration work, we first had to remember how it used to be.
Because the ecological collapse of Australia’s shellfish reefs was so profound, they were almost <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cobi.12452">lost to human memory</a>. Historical records guided us as to what a restored ecosystem should look like, and where these reefs used to be.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468128/original/file-20220610-25216-oin2ra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468128/original/file-20220610-25216-oin2ra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=324&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468128/original/file-20220610-25216-oin2ra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=324&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468128/original/file-20220610-25216-oin2ra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=324&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468128/original/file-20220610-25216-oin2ra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468128/original/file-20220610-25216-oin2ra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468128/original/file-20220610-25216-oin2ra.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=407&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Australia’s only surviving native flat oyster reef (Ostrea angasi) is in eastern Tasmania. Flat oyster reefs were dredged to obliteration over thousands of kilometres of southern Australian coastline.</span>
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<p>Our job was made easier because of the huge benefits shellfish reefs provide to marine life. Intact oyster and mussel reefs are natural fish factories providing nursery habitats for economically important fish species like bream and whiting. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-surprising-benefits-of-oysters-and-no-its-not-what-youre-thinking-90697">The surprising benefits of oysters (and no, it's not what you're thinking)</a>
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<p>Even better, these filter-feeding shellfish are the kidneys of the coast, cleaning water cloudy with sediment or overloaded with nutrients. A single oyster can filter 100 litres of water a day. Shellfish reefs also act as living defences against the energy of waves, store carbon in their shells and help protect intertidal communities from the warming climate through shade and moisture at low tide. </p>
<p>People working on reef restoration turned to our thriving oyster and mussel farming industry to understand their life cycles and what they needed to thrive. The fact these farms are successful indicated many areas remained suitable for shellfish reefs. </p>
<p>Environmental NGO The Nature Conservancy connected the <a href="https://www.natureaustralia.org.au/what-we-do/our-priorities/oceans/ocean-stories/restoring-shellfish-reefs/">emerging reef restoration community</a> as well as bringing practical experience from longer-running shellfish restoration projects in America. Reef restoration work is now being led by conservation NGOs, local and state governments, and, increasingly, by community groups. </p>
<p>So does it work? Yes. It’s as if the oysters have been waiting for this opportunity. Many human-made reefs have been settled by millions of baby oysters within months of construction, such as the largest project to date, the 20 hectare <a href="https://theconversation.com/huge-restored-reef-aims-to-bring-south-australias-oysters-back-from-the-brink-77405">Windara Reef</a> in South Australia. Some restored reefs are closing in on oyster densities in line with natural reefs.</p>
<h2>Looking forward</h2>
<p>We hope the rapid rise of shellfish reef restoration is the beginning of a new era for large-scale marine restoration in Australia. </p>
<p>Today, community-led restorations are <a href="https://ozfish.org.au/projects/moreton-bay-shellfish-reef-restoration/">growing in scale</a> and number, and public support for shellfish restoration is widespread. </p>
<p>It is an impressive story. This is a national program of recovery showing significant successes with a relatively modest investment. These restoration efforts show large-scale action to repair nature can work – and work quickly – when experts from a range of disciplines work with communities towards a common goal. </p>
<p>As the restored oyster and mussel reefs mature, we will see more fish in our seas and more recreation and tourism opportunities emerging. That, in turn, could give more communities the idea to restore their own shellfish reefs. Together, we can bring back the reefs which lived in our cooler seas for millennia. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/huge-restored-reef-aims-to-bring-south-australias-oysters-back-from-the-brink-77405">Huge restored reef aims to bring South Australia's oysters back from the brink</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184063/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dominic McAfee receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christine Crawford receives funding from The Nature Conservancy for short-term contracts.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian McLeod received funding from the National Environmental Science Program Marine Biodiversity Hub. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sean Connell receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Gillies does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Only 200 years ago, Australian waters were full of oyster and shellfish reefs. Then they collapsed. Now large scale restoration efforts are underway.Dominic McAfee, Postdoctoral researcher, marine ecology, University of AdelaideChris Gillies, Adjunct Associate Professor in marine ecology, James Cook UniversityChristine Crawford, Senior research fellow in marine biology, University of TasmaniaIan McLeod, Professorial Research Fellow in Marine Biology, James Cook UniversitySean Connell, Professor, Program Director of Stretton Institute, Program Director of Environment Insitute, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1574412021-05-24T15:13:22Z2021-05-24T15:13:22ZRewilding: four tips to let nature thrive<p>What would rewilding mean for a country like the UK? Bringing back wolves and bears? Returning the land to how it looked in prehistoric times? How will people fit into this wild and unimaginably different place? Questions like these abound whenever rewilding is in the news. </p>
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<iframe id="noa-web-audio-player" style="border: none" src="https://embed-player.newsoveraudio.com/v4?key=x84olp&id=https://theconversation.com/rewilding-four-tips-to-let-nature-thrive-157441&bgColor=F5F5F5&color=D8352A&playColor=D8352A" width="100%" height="110px"></iframe>
<p><em>You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, narrated by Noa, <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/audio-narrated-99682">here</a>.</em></p>
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<p>In essence, rewilding involves giving more space and time to nature. Instead of managing ecosystems to preserve particular species, rewilding is intended to reverse environmental decline by letting nature become more self-willed. That means allowing wildlife the freedom to flourish and habitats to regenerate naturally.</p>
<p>But without clear principles to guide these processes, rewilding has become a trendy buzzword that is often used indiscriminately. This has invited wildly different interpretations, sparked debates and caused controversy that has discouraged governments from developing it into policy. </p>
<p>This could be about to change though. </p>
<p>We’ve published <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cobi.13730">a set of guiding principles</a> which specify what rewilding should involve and how it should be done. This is the result of one of the most comprehensive international studies on rewilding to date, reviewing best practices and the latest science, instigated by the <a href="https://www.iucn.org/commissions/commission-ecosystem-management/our-work/cems-thematic-groups/rewilding">International Union for the Conservation of Nature</a> and involving hundreds of experts. Without further ado, here are the dos and don'ts of rewilding.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three wild horses in a clearing." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402339/original/file-20210524-23-cfy73w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C317%2C3264%2C2125&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402339/original/file-20210524-23-cfy73w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402339/original/file-20210524-23-cfy73w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402339/original/file-20210524-23-cfy73w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402339/original/file-20210524-23-cfy73w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402339/original/file-20210524-23-cfy73w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402339/original/file-20210524-23-cfy73w.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Konik wild horses recreate the natural grazing patterns of extinct species at the Cambrian Wildwood in West Wales.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Coetir Anian/Cambrian Wildwood</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<h2>Don’t (always) start with wolves</h2>
<p>The objective of rewilding is boosting the health of an ecosystem by increasing the number of species and how much they can all interact. A fully restored ecosystem would have top predators, but there are a lot of missing parts – the plants, prey animals, fungi – that should be put back first to ensure that larger species have an appropriate food source and habitat to support them. </p>
<p>It might not be appropriate for lots of other reasons to reintroduce wolves to a particular place at the moment, but in the meantime, bringing back <a href="https://www.natureconservation.wales/project/beaver-reintroduction-wales/">beavers</a>, <a href="https://www.arc-trust.org/saving-sand-lizard">lizards</a> and <a href="https://butterfly-conservation.org/news-and-blog/the-science-behind-the-chequered-skipper-re-introduction">butterflies</a> is brilliant too.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402317/original/file-20210524-17-sks2ql.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A view of someone holding a dormouse." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402317/original/file-20210524-17-sks2ql.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402317/original/file-20210524-17-sks2ql.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402317/original/file-20210524-17-sks2ql.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402317/original/file-20210524-17-sks2ql.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402317/original/file-20210524-17-sks2ql.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402317/original/file-20210524-17-sks2ql.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402317/original/file-20210524-17-sks2ql.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Dormice need a helping hand too.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Back on our Map/University of Cumbria</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>The UK government has the chance to support the reintroduction of species by including funding for it in its new <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/environmental-land-management-schemes-overview">environmental land management schemes</a>. As opposed to the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy, which paid farmers a subsidy based on the size of the land they owned, the new schemes would offer payments to farmers and land managers in return for supporting nature recovery across the landscape. </p>
<p>Within these schemes, funding could be allocated for the <a href="https://www.rewildingbritain.org.uk/support-rewilding/our-campaigns-and-issues/natural-regeneration">natural regeneration</a> of habitats, instead of interventions like tree planting. This would mean moving away from setting fixed targets and managing habitats to suit one species, which might feel risky, but it would let scientists see how natural processes operate when they are given room, and what <a href="https://knepp.co.uk/the-results">unexpected things arrive</a>. This can change our understanding of how ecosystems work and where species can thrive if landscapes become healthier. </p>
<h2>Do reconnect people with nature</h2>
<p>Rewilding involves reducing harmful human pressures and promoting natural processes in ecosystems. This shouldn’t mean excluding people though. Rewilding should actually help people develop a more positive relationship with the natural world that involves compassion for all species and a spirit of learning from nature rather than seeking to dominate it.</p>
<p>This can be done through <a href="https://www.cambrianwildwood.org/people/">school trips</a>, <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel/2021/03/uk-revolutionary-rewilding-projects">holidays in rewilding sites</a> and voluntary work opportunities like <a href="https://treesforlife.org.uk/into-the-forest/rewilding/">tree planting</a>, wetland restoration and wildlife surveys. A greater emphasis on the natural world in primary and secondary education could also help guarantee the long-term success of rewilding efforts by nurturing enthusiasm from an early age.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/forget-environmental-doom-and-gloom-young-people-draw-alternative-visions-of-natures-future-102004">Forget environmental doom and gloom – young people draw alternative visions of nature's future</a>
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<h2>Don’t alienate rural communities</h2>
<p>The prospect of rewilding has made some people in the countryside anxious. Farmers in particular worry that their livestock, land and way of life are under threat, either from reintroduced predators or new directives to manage the land differently.</p>
<p>Including local people at every stage of a rewilding project is very important. To ensure this, staff working on rewilding projects need to be based locally so they are available for a chat or to discuss concerns. They shouldn’t just rely on formal consultation – where communities fill in surveys or participate in organised meetings.</p>
<p>Ideally, rewilding projects should be driven by local people who could organise and set the agenda for how their land is managed. They should also directly benefit from <a href="https://rewildingeurope.com/rewilding-in-action/nature-based-economies/">associated businesses</a>, like wildlife tours. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A group of people standing in a valley bottom surrounded by trees and hills." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402318/original/file-20210524-13-rao71g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/402318/original/file-20210524-13-rao71g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402318/original/file-20210524-13-rao71g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402318/original/file-20210524-13-rao71g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402318/original/file-20210524-13-rao71g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402318/original/file-20210524-13-rao71g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/402318/original/file-20210524-13-rao71g.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rewilding projects shouldn’t impose ideas from above that were devised elsewhere.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stephen Carver</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Do think about the future</h2>
<p>Some people worry that rewilding harks back to a time before modern man or even earlier – to when woolly mammoths stalked the Earth. Looking back can allow us to see what has been lost and what could be revived, but rewilding isn’t about rewinding the clock. It’s about looking to the future and the challenges nature will face.</p>
<p>By enabling species to move through reconnected habitats and traverse entire landscapes, wildlife populations can be rebuilt. This would ensure the healthy functioning of an ecosystem isn’t dependent on a few isolated creatures, and it’s a practical way to help nature adapt to threats like climate change and new diseases, as species will have more freedom to move if pressures in one place escalate. </p>
<p>The UK government has <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/936567/10_POINT_PLAN_BOOKLET.pdf">committed</a> to protect 30% of UK land by 2030 by creating new national parks and Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. But landowners need commitments from the government and funders so they know that restoring woodland and wetlands won’t cost them money down the line. <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/environment-bill-2020/10-march-2020-nature-and-conservation-covenants-parts-6-and-7">Conservation covenants</a> – introduced in the 2020 Environment Bill – could provide a mechanism for landowners to stipulate how their estate is managed in perpetuity. So land can become, and remain, wild hundreds of years into the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157441/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sophie Wynne-Jones is a trustee of the Cambrian Wildwood – an advisory and unpaid position.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Convery is a trustee of the not-for-profit Lifescapes Project.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steve Carver receives funding from ESRC and NERC.</span></em></p>By studying where rewilding has worked well around the world, we’ve worked out the dos and don'ts.Sophie Wynne-Jones, Lecturer in Human Geography, Bangor UniversityIan Convery, Professor of Environment & Society, University of CumbriaSteve Carver, Senior Lecturer in Geography, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1585872021-04-15T13:48:30Z2021-04-15T13:48:30ZJust 3% of Earth’s land ecosystems remain intact – but we can change that<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395248/original/file-20210415-14-160u1nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1744%2C1148&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cheetahs in the Serengeti in Tanzania.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">A J Plumptre</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Few things excite biologists more than contemplating the parts of the world still relatively free of human damage. For the last 30 years, scientists intent on protecting Earth’s biodiversity have sought to enshrine targets for preserving and expanding these remaining areas of wilderness.</p>
<p>But what actually is wilderness, and how do we know when we’ve found it? Most people would call anywhere that’s remote and with few human inhabitants wilderness, but for scientists, it’s more complicated. Most scientific definitions of wilderness centre on the concept of “intactness”. If the basic structure of a habitat, such as a forest, is intact and there is little evidence of human impact, then it is often considered wilderness. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.15109">Studies</a> conducted over the past decade have tried to map how intact ecosystems are on a global scale using satellite imagery. Their estimates suggest that between 20% and 40% of the planet’s land surface could be considered ecologically intact. But what can be detected by satellites is a poor measure of how wild a habitat actually is. Beneath the seemingly intact canopy, the extinction of large mammals and birds through hunting and introducing invasive species and diseases has depleted the biodiversity of the world’s wilderness areas.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An aerial view of the Amazon forest and river." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395262/original/file-20210415-23-1x8antx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395262/original/file-20210415-23-1x8antx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395262/original/file-20210415-23-1x8antx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395262/original/file-20210415-23-1x8antx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395262/original/file-20210415-23-1x8antx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395262/original/file-20210415-23-1x8antx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/395262/original/file-20210415-23-1x8antx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">What lies beneath? Fewer animals and fewer interactions between species compared to several centuries ago.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/top-view-amazon-rainforest-brazil-558184051">Gustavo Frazao/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ffgc.2021.626635/full">new study</a>, my colleagues and I used a different definition of intact ecosystems that considers whether all species known to have occurred in an area are still present and whether they’re sufficiently abundant to play their ecological roles, such as top predators or seed dispersers. We set the benchmark at AD1500, which means that only parts of the world which are as ecologically intact as they were 500 years ago – with the same complement of species at similar levels of abundance – could be considered wilderness.</p>
<p>We discovered that only 2.8% of the planet’s land surface fits this description. These patches, each 10,000 square kilometres or larger, are scattered in various places around the world. They include the Nouabale-Ndoki National Park in the Congo, the Serengeti-Ngorongoro in Tanzania, the Alto Rio Negro indigenous territory in the Amazon forest, the Great Siberian Polynya in northern Russia and Kawésqar National Park in southern Chile. These are very rare and special places that should be conserved, but only 11% of them fall within a protected area.</p>
<h2>The decade of restoration</h2>
<p>Just a tiny fraction of Earth’s land ecosystems are as intact as they were 500 years ago. What might it take to restore them?</p>
<p>Clearly, where a species has gone extinct, the original wilderness cannot be revived. But where species have been locally eradicated but survive elsewhere, there’s hope for restoring an ecosystem’s integrity by reintroducing species. This will take a significant commitment from governments and multinational bodies, as reintroduction can be costly and difficult. The original threats to wildlife have to be eliminated to ensure success.</p>
<p>But we predict that ecosystems with communities of wildlife at historical levels of abundance and activity could be restored on up to 20% of Earth’s land. Focusing on areas of the world where the habitat appears intact from satellite images, we identified places where five or fewer large animal species have been lost and where it might be feasible to return them. </p>
<p>For example, some protected areas in the Congo Basin have lost forest elephants, but these areas are still large and remote enough and with plenty of intact habitat to support this species. Reintroducing elephants here could be successful if hunting can be brought under control.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394008/original/file-20210408-13-11y0nal.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A world map highlighting areas where" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394008/original/file-20210408-13-11y0nal.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/394008/original/file-20210408-13-11y0nal.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394008/original/file-20210408-13-11y0nal.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394008/original/file-20210408-13-11y0nal.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394008/original/file-20210408-13-11y0nal.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394008/original/file-20210408-13-11y0nal.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/394008/original/file-20210408-13-11y0nal.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Reintroducing between one and five species to many wilderness areas could boost how ecologically intact they are.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">A J Plumptre</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As the world considers <a href="https://www.cbd.int/">a new framework</a> for managing biodiversity, the integrity of ecosystems is emerging as an important goal. The UN has also called the 2020s the “decade of restoration”, when national efforts should turn to restoring degraded habitats.</p>
<p>Repairing the world’s most damaged habitats is undoubtedly important, but there’s an opportunity to restore relatively intact habitats to something resembling their former glory. Instead of just conserving them, let’s be ambitious and try to expand these rare and pristine patches by reintroducing long-lost animals. If successful, these intact sites can serve as an invaluable reminder of what the rest of the world has lost, and a useful benchmark from which to measure what is truly wild.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158587/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Plumptre does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>One-fifth of Earth’s land could be restored to wilderness by reintroducing animals and improving management.Andrew Plumptre, Key Biodiversity Areas Secretariat, Cambridge Conservation Institute, University of CambridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1545782021-02-24T11:11:34Z2021-02-24T11:11:34ZHow we turned a golf course into a haven for rare newts, frogs and toads<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385907/original/file-20210223-14-cnfbpy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4992%2C3325&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/common-frog-rana-temporaria-single-reptile-167747600">Erni/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Around two in five amphibian species are <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/">threatened with extinction</a> around the world. In Britain, all of our native frog, toad and newt species have <a href="https://www.newnaturalists.com/products/amphibians-reptiles-collins-new-naturalist-library-book-87-9780007308620/">declined since 1945</a>, with one species – <a href="https://www.arc-trust.org/pool-frog">the pool frog</a> – dying out in the 1990s. Climate change, disease and invasive species all have a hand in this, but one of the greatest <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/gcb.14739">pressures</a> facing amphibians is the loss of their habitat. As more land is developed for houses, roads and shops, those wild and marshy patches where amphibians thrive are scrubbed from maps.</p>
<p>Setting aside land in nature reserves can help protect biodiversity, though on their own, these islands of natural habitat cannot provide enough space to revive wider communities of wildlife. Since much of the UK’s land is <a href="https://www.countryfile.com/news/who-owns-england-history-of-englands-landownership-and-how-much-is-privately-owned-today/">in private hands</a>, conservationists need to think about how nature can be encouraged on land occupied by businesses, including farms, estates and golf courses.</p>
<p>We are two ecologists who are dedicated to restoring habitats for amphibians wherever we can. By working with land managers of all kinds, we’re figuring out how to repopulate modern landscapes with these creatures. Here’s what we’ve learned so far.</p>
<h2>Getting landowners onside</h2>
<p>Perhaps the most famous amphibians in literature are the unfortunate newts and frogs of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, which end up in the witches’ brew on <a href="https://forreslocal.com/visiting/what-to-see-and-do-in-forres/macbeth/">Forres heath</a> in the Scottish Highlands. Over 400 years later, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10344-014-0863-7">our own research</a> has shown that populations of great-crested newts face a different kind of toil and trouble. </p>
<p>For centuries, ponds existed on British farmland to water livestock, which offered habitats for amphibians to breed in. But nowadays, sheep and cattle drink from troughs and many wetlands which once sustained wildlife have been drained to create timber plantations and golf courses.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384495/original/file-20210216-13-5pe7qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A large and speckled newt on dry soil." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384495/original/file-20210216-13-5pe7qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384495/original/file-20210216-13-5pe7qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384495/original/file-20210216-13-5pe7qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384495/original/file-20210216-13-5pe7qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384495/original/file-20210216-13-5pe7qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384495/original/file-20210216-13-5pe7qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384495/original/file-20210216-13-5pe7qu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Highland great-crested newt.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">David O’Brien</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Any plan to halt the decline of Britain’s amphibians must be compatible with different types of land use. So in 2014, we sat down with people working in forestry, farming and a local golf club to develop a plan for <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2688-8319.12038">restoring 25 ponds</a> in the Scottish Highlands, focusing on Forres and the areas around Inverness which have seen the greatest loss of ponds.</p>
<p>Rather than imposing rules on land managers, we talked with them about their interests and what they saw as important. Pride in their heritage and the opportunity to be seen as good stewards of the land were what most motivated those we spoke to. </p>
<p>One of the sites had been in the owner’s family since the 17th century, and the farmers felt a connection to their land and the wildlife that lived on it. “I may never notice the newts in the pond,” one said. “But I’m glad to know they’re there.”</p>
<p>The golf pro, who had grown up near the course where he now worked, remembered catching newts and tadpoles as a child and wanted his grandchildren to be able to see them too. He used his influence with the club committee to convince them that a pond wouldn’t just be good for nature, but would improve the appearance of the course. </p>
<p>The ground staff joined in to manage vegetation around the ponds to ensure places for the animals to feed outside of the breeding season. Whenever we now survey this pond for species, we’re greeted by golfers who’re proud of “their frogs and newts” and want to know how they’re doing.</p>
<h2>Creating the perfect pond</h2>
<p>We had permission to start restoring habitats on private land, but how can you tell if what you’re making is right for the species you’re trying to help? Luckily, we had a pretty good idea of what makes the perfect pond because we had 25 years’ worth of data gathered by citizen scientists, as well as <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10750-016-3053-7">our own observations</a> of ponds filled with amphibians. </p>
<p>Everything from the slope of the nearby bank, the presence of fish and insects and the kind of plants which fringed the pool were carefully considered. We then designed ponds ideal for all five amphibian species native to the Scottish Highlands – the common frog, common toad, and smooth, palmate and great-crested newts.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384494/original/file-20210216-13-1vaj7ed.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A pond amid a boggy scrubland with trees in the background." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384494/original/file-20210216-13-1vaj7ed.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/384494/original/file-20210216-13-1vaj7ed.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384494/original/file-20210216-13-1vaj7ed.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384494/original/file-20210216-13-1vaj7ed.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384494/original/file-20210216-13-1vaj7ed.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384494/original/file-20210216-13-1vaj7ed.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/384494/original/file-20210216-13-1vaj7ed.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One of the first new ponds to be colonised, which now has breeding common frogs and three newt species.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">David O’Brien</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Newts rarely travel more than a few hundred metres, and if the nearest pond is further away or if there’s a barrier like a busy road, they won’t be able to move between ponds. This can lead to inbreeding and leave populations vulnerable to extinction. If a pond dries up for several breeding seasons then it won’t be recolonised once it’s refilled with water. For this reason, we restored former ponds and created new ones close to occupied ponds.</p>
<p><a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/2688-8319.12038">Five years on</a>, 24 out of the 25 ponds are inhabited by amphibians. After surveying our ponds and comparing them with 88 long-established ones in the area, we were delighted to find that not only were all five species breeding in them, including the locally rare great-crested newt, but on average our ponds held more species than the pre-existing ones. We’ve stayed in contact with all the land managers and they remain committed to conservation. </p>
<p>And the one pond with no amphibians? Unfortunately, an error led us to construct a pond that wasn’t quite right. But we accidentally created the perfect pond for a rare dragonfly called the white-faced darter instead. Now we can’t wait to find out what other species might have made our ponds their homes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/154578/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David O'Brien works for NatureScot (formerly Scottish Natural Heritage) which funded part of this project alongside Forestry and Land Scotland.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Jehle does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Britain’s native amphibians are in steep decline thanks to wetlands disappearing and ponds drying up.David O'Brien, PhD Candidate in Wildlife Biology, University of SalfordRobert Jehle, Reader in Population Biology, University of SalfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1479682021-01-05T13:07:45Z2021-01-05T13:07:45ZIn a time of social and environmental crisis, Aldo Leopold’s call for a ‘land ethic’ is still relevant<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376804/original/file-20201229-15-87q2t6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=32%2C0%2C3609%2C2714&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In 1935 Aldo Leopold bought a depleted Wisconsin farm and restored it to prairie grassland.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/8Uct8x">Bill Hall, AOC Solutions/USFWS/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>An ongoing reckoning with race in American history has drawn attention to <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-rise-of-the-american-conservation-movement">racism in the environmental movement</a>. Critiques have focused on themes such as <a href="https://www.uuworld.org/articles/problem-wilderness">forced removal of Indigenous peoples</a> from ancestral lands, early conservationists’ <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/D/bo44309831.html">support for eugenics</a> and the <a href="https://e360.yale.edu/features/how-green-groups-became-so-white-and-what-to-do-about-it">chronic lack of diversity</a> in environmental organizations.</p>
<p>They also have scrutinized the racial views of key figures such as <a href="https://www.californiasun.co/stories/john-muir-biographer-he-was-no-white-supremacist/">John Muir</a> and <a href="https://www.history.com/news/teddy-roosevelt-race-imperialism-national-parks">Theodore Roosevelt</a>. Critics argue that these men valued pristine lands but <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/environmentalisms-racist-history">cared little about poor and Indigenous people who occupied them</a>.</p>
<p>Some observers say the same about <a href="https://www.aldoleopold.org/about/aldo-leopold/">Aldo Leopold</a>, born Jan. 11, 1887. Leopold was a prominent conservationist who wore many hats – author, philosopher, forester, naturalist, scientist, ecologist, teacher. Because he was devoted to <a href="https://online.ucpress.edu/phr/article/84/2/195/81132/Pestered-with-Inhabitants-Aldo-Leopold-William">protecting wilderness</a> and also expressed concern about the social and ecological impacts of human population growth, detractors have called him a callous misanthrope at best and <a href="https://theconversation.com/american-environmentalisms-racist-roots-have-shaped-global-thinking-about-conservation-143783">racist at worst</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376799/original/file-20201229-23-rnqw5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Leopold seated on large tree stump with dog" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376799/original/file-20201229-23-rnqw5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376799/original/file-20201229-23-rnqw5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376799/original/file-20201229-23-rnqw5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376799/original/file-20201229-23-rnqw5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376799/original/file-20201229-23-rnqw5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376799/original/file-20201229-23-rnqw5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376799/original/file-20201229-23-rnqw5i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Forest Assistant Aldo Leopold and dog ‘Flip’ at land cut by trespassers, later set aside as part of the Apache National Forest, Arizona, 1911.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/foresthistory/6678734785/">J.D. Guthrie/Forest History Society/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=BzS9qCsAAAAJ">Leopold biographer</a>, conservationist and historian, I think this argument misses the mark. It’s true that Leopold did not fully acknowledge the historic trauma of Native American dispossession and genocide, or explicitly recognize how the impacts of land exploitation fell disproportionately on the poor and on Black and Indigenous people and people of color. But he came to believe that Western ethical frameworks had to expand to embrace land, as he wrote in his book “<a href="https://www.aldoleopold.org/about/aldo-leopold/sand-county-almanac/">A Sand County Almanac</a>,” as “a community to which we belong.” He called this idea “<a href="https://www.uky.edu/%7Ersand1/china2017/library/Leopold1.pdf">the land ethic</a>.”</p>
<h2>Caring for land and people</h2>
<p>Aldo Leopold was a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s42532-020-00043-6">transformative figure</a> in the evolution of conservation in the U.S. and globally. Trained as a forester, he contributed to the development of fields ranging from soil conservation and wildlife ecology to environmental history and ecological economics. </p>
<p>Early in his career, while working for the U.S. Forest Service in the 1920s, Leopold argued for protecting roadless public wildlands – what would come to be designated as <a href="https://www.justice.gov/enrd/wilderness-act-1964">wilderness four decades later</a> – as a novel form of land use. Automobiles were just entering the landscape, and the federal government had begun funding <a href="https://uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295982205/driven-wild/">road and highway construction</a> across the country. Leopold pushed to give roadless lands special protection that left them open to hunting, fishing, camping and other uses compatible with their less-developed character.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376800/original/file-20201229-23-omfgcu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Wilderness sign in U.S. national forest" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376800/original/file-20201229-23-omfgcu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376800/original/file-20201229-23-omfgcu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376800/original/file-20201229-23-omfgcu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376800/original/file-20201229-23-omfgcu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=429&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376800/original/file-20201229-23-omfgcu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376800/original/file-20201229-23-omfgcu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376800/original/file-20201229-23-omfgcu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More than 111 million acres on U.S. federal lands are protected as wilderness today – an idea first proposed by Aldo Leopold.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/xz8TZ2">Jason Crotty/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>Leopold’s rationale for wildland protection would later evolve to embrace a broader range of cultural, scientific and spiritual values. But he could only dimly foresee how wildlands would come to provide the basis for revitalizing communities and cultural connections, from <a href="https://www.humansandnature.org/healing-sacred-earth">Wisconsin prairies</a> to <a href="https://uapress.arizona.edu/book/the-nature-of-desert-nature">Southwest deserts</a> to <a href="http://www.wild.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Dec09-IJW_Meyer.pdf">German forests</a> and beyond.</p>
<p>But Leopold’s conservation thinking <a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/landscape-reform">never focused exclusively on wildlands</a>. He worked to integrate land protection with care for more populated landscapes, from farms, forests and rangelands to whole watersheds and urban neighborhoods. He acted to repair damaged ecosystems and rebuild depleted wildlife populations, providing foundations for such modern fields as <a href="https://doi.org/10.3417/2016037">ecological restoration</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1023/B:LAND.0000004458.18101.4d">landscape ecology</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13526">conservation biology</a>. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376796/original/file-20201229-49513-te6ocx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Aldo Leopold seated outdoors" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376796/original/file-20201229-49513-te6ocx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/376796/original/file-20201229-49513-te6ocx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376796/original/file-20201229-49513-te6ocx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376796/original/file-20201229-49513-te6ocx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376796/original/file-20201229-49513-te6ocx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376796/original/file-20201229-49513-te6ocx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/376796/original/file-20201229-49513-te6ocx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=592&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Aldo Leopold at his shack on the Wisconsin River near Baraboo, Wisconsin, circa 1940.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://news.wisc.edu/uw-madison-offers-free-leopolds-land-ethic-online-course-and-february-event/">UW Digital Archives</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p>“A Sand County Almanac” was published in 1949, a year after Leopold’s death. It is required reading in many courses on U.S. environmental thinking. I believe this is because of its lyrical prose but also because it connects the older conservation movement and contemporary environmentalism.</p>
<p>In the broad arc of Western conservation history, the land ethic represented a move away from viewing land as a commodity to be exploited and toward something more aligned with Indigenous views on intergenerational obligations and human kinship with other species. I believe it may contribute to further progress in realizing an ethic of <a href="https://www.humansandnature.org/earth-ethic-robin-kimmerer">responsibility and reciprocity</a> among people, and between people and land.</p>
<h2>Leopold, race and conservation</h2>
<p>Several recent <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/889qxx/its-time-for-environmental-studies-to-own-up-to-erasing-black-people">articles</a> and <a href="https://grist.org/article/why-does-environmentalism-have-a-dark-side/">commentaries</a> have characterized Leopold as a racist or white supremacist. This view reflects particular claims that pertain not only to Leopold as an individual but to the conservation movement generally. </p>
<p>As I see it, labeling Leopold racist oversimplifies his wilderness advocacy and his effort to understand human population pressure as a factor in environmental change. It also fails to appreciate <a href="https://islandpress.org/books/aldo-leopolds-odyssey-tenth-anniversary-edition">critical shifts</a> in Leopold’s ethical outlook in the final years of his life. In his draft foreword to “A Sand County Almanac” he wrote: “I do not imply that this philosophy of land was always clear to me. It is rather the end-result of a life-journey….”</p>
<p>As Leopold was an early leader in the development of population ecology and wildlife management, it’s not surprising that he considered whether these fields could offer perspective on <a href="https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/the-malthusian-moment/9780813552712">human population growth</a>. He knew this was sensitive territory, and explored such notions cautiously, looking at population and how it interacted with affluence, consumption, education and technological change. </p>
<p>In encouraging citizens to be more mindful about their consumer choices, he redefined conservation as “<a href="https://loa.org/books/380-a-sand-county-almanac-other-writings-on-ecology-and-conservation">our attempt to put human ecology on a permanent footing</a>.”</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1023558269829300225"}"></div></p>
<h2>The land ethic and social evolution</h2>
<p>Although Leopold never advocated harsh or coercive population control measures or steps that could be viewed as racially motivated, he was not as visionary on social justice matters as he was on conservation issues. In his extensive writings you can find occasional statements and phrasings that now read as awkward, inept and naive. In an essay on pine trees, for example, he employed an archaic stock phrase, flippantly remarking that white pines “adhere closely to the Anglo-Saxon doctrine of free, white, and twenty-one.”</p>
<p>However, Leopold was also a lifelong reformer who understood the fundamental connections between social and ecological well-being. Based on that understanding, he worked to advance an ethic of care that united humans’ need for justice and compassion toward one another and toward the living land. </p>
<p>The land ethic as Leopold framed it was not elitist or exclusionary. It <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s42532-020-00044-5">explicitly embraced people</a> as members of the “land community,” without placing conditions on that membership. Its tenets inherently subvert racist and white supremacist attitudes.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Leopold composed “The Land Ethic” in the summer of 1947 as the clouds of World War II were still dissipating. Global conflagration and the deployment of destructive new technologies tempered his characteristic progressive outlook. He wrote – albeit in the gendered language of the time – that “It has required nineteen centuries to define decent man-to-man conduct and the process is only half done; it may take as long to evolve a code of decency for man-to-land conduct.” </p>
<p>Leopold saw that an ethic had to be a collective cultural effort, ever emerging “in the minds of a thinking community.” Today, as people around the world struggle to address complex and interconnected social and environmental crises, our shared future depends on forging an ethic that integrates diverse voices, belief systems and ways of knowing.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147968/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Curt D. Meine is a Senior Fellow with the Aldo Leopold Foundation and the Center for Humans and Nature.</span></em></p>Jan. 11 marks the birthday of conservationist Aldo Leopold (1887-1948), who called for thinking about land as a living community to protect, not a resource to exploit.Curt D. Meine, Adjunct Associate Professor of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-MadisonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1428762020-08-07T12:35:34Z2020-08-07T12:35:34ZOcean warming threatens coral reefs and soon could make it harder to restore them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351413/original/file-20200805-18-1htdsgw.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C29%2C4000%2C2964&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Climate-driven ocean warming threatens healthy coral reefs, like this one in Hawaii.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shawna Foo</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-center zoomable">
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<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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<p>Anyone who’s tending a garden right now knows what extreme heat can do to plants. Heat is also a concern for an important form of underwater gardening: growing corals and “outplanting,” or transplanting them to restore damaged reefs.</p>
<p>The goal of outplanting is to aid coral reefs’ natural recovery process by growing new corals and moving them to the damaged areas. It’s the same idea as replanting <a href="https://theconversation.com/high-value-opportunities-exist-to-restore-tropical-rainforests-around-the-world-heres-how-we-mapped-them-119508">forests that have been heavily logged</a>, or depleted farm fields that <a href="https://theconversation.com/rain-plays-a-surprising-role-in-making-some-restored-prairies-healthier-than-others-133892">once were prairie grasslands</a>. </p>
<p>I have studied how global stressors such as <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=BX92RvYAAAAJ&hl=en">ocean warming and acidification</a> affect marine invertebrates for more than a decade. In a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab7dfa">recently published study</a>, I worked with <a href="https://sustainability.asu.edu/person/gregory-asner/">Gregory Asner</a> to analyze the impacts of temperature on coral reef restoration projects. Our results showed that climate change has raised sea surface temperatures close to a point that will make it very hard for outplanted corals to survive.</p>
<h2>Coral gardening</h2>
<p>Coral reefs <a href="https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/marine-life/coral-reef-ecosystems">support over 25% of marine life</a> by providing food, shelter and a place for fish and other organisms to reproduce and raise young. Today, <a href="https://www.climate.gov/news-features/understanding-climate/climate-change-ocean-heat-content">ocean warming driven by climate change</a> is stressing reefs worldwide. </p>
<p>Rising ocean temperatures cause <a href="https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coralreef-climate.html#:%7E:text=Climate%20change%20leads%20to%3A,to%20the%20smothering%20of%20coral.">bleaching events</a> – episodes in which corals expel the algae that live inside them and provide the corals with most of their food, as well as their vibrant colors. When corals lose their algae, they become less resistant to stressors such as disease and eventually may die.</p>
<p>Hundreds of organizations worldwide are working to restore damaged coral reefs by growing thousands of small coral fragments in nurseries, which may be onshore in laboratories or in the ocean near degraded reefs. Then scuba divers physically plant them at restoration sites. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1N3HNMRd56w?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Outplanting is the process of transplanting nursery-grown corals onto reefs.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Outplanting coral is expensive: According to one recent study, the median cost is about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.12977">US$160,000 per acre, or $400,000 per hectare</a>. It also is time-consuming, with scuba divers placing each outplanted coral by hand. So it’s important to maximize coral survival by choosing the best locations.</p>
<p>We used data from the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration’s <a href="https://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/index.php">Coral Reef Watch program</a>, which collects daily satellite-derived measurements of sea surface temperature. We paired this information with survival rates from hundreds of coral outplanting projects worldwide. </p>
<p>We found that coral survival was likely to drop below 50% if the maximum temperature experienced at the restoration site exceeded 86.9 degrees Fahrenheit (30.5 degrees Celsius). This temperature threshold mirrors the tolerance of natural coral reefs. </p>
<p>Globally, coral reefs experience an annual maximum temperature today of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JC008199">84.9˚F (29.4˚C)</a>. This means they already are living close to their upper thermal limit.</p>
<p>When reefs experience temperatures only a few degrees above long-term averages for a few weeks, the stress can cause <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/19475683.2011.576266">coral bleaching and mortality</a>. Increases of just a few degrees above normal caused <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-just-spent-two-weeks-surveying-the-great-barrier-reef-what-we-saw-was-an-utter-tragedy-135197">three mass bleaching events</a> since 2016 that have devastated Australia’s Great Barrier Reef.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351344/original/file-20200805-290-79gi4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map of global sea surface temperatures, color coded to show bleaching risks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351344/original/file-20200805-290-79gi4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351344/original/file-20200805-290-79gi4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351344/original/file-20200805-290-79gi4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351344/original/file-20200805-290-79gi4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351344/original/file-20200805-290-79gi4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351344/original/file-20200805-290-79gi4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351344/original/file-20200805-290-79gi4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sea surface temperatures on Aug. 3, 2020, measured from satellites. Warning = possible bleaching; Alert Level 1 = significant bleaching likely; Alert Level 2 = severe bleaching and significant mortality likely.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/product/5km/index_5km_baa_max_r07d.php">NOAA Coral Reef Watch</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Warmer oceans</h2>
<p>Climate scientists project that the oceans will <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/2018/03/ar5_wgII_spm_en-1.pdf">warm up to 3˚C</a> by the year 2100. Scientists are working to create coral outplants that can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1721415116">better survive increases in temperature</a>, which could help to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.1978">increase restoration success</a> in the future.</p>
<p>When coral restoration experts choose where to outplant, they typically consider what’s on the seafloor, algae that could smother coral, predators that eat coral and the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.1792">presence of fish</a>. Our study shows that using temperature data and other information collected remotely from airplanes and satellites could help to <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00079">optimize this process</a>. Remote sensing, which scientists have used to study coral reefs for almost 40 years, can provide information on much larger scales than water surveys.</p>
<p>Coral reefs face an uncertain future and may not recover naturally from human-caused climate change. Conserving them will require reducing greenhouse gas emissions, protecting key habitats and actively restoring reefs. I hope that our research on temperature will help increase coral outplant survival and restoration success.</p>
<p>[<em>Get our best science, health and technology stories.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/science-editors-picks-71/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=science-best">Sign up for The Conversation’s science newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/142876/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shawna Foo receives funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.</span></em></p>Hundreds of organizations are working around the world to restore damaged coral reefs. New research shows that rapid ocean warming threatens these efforts.Shawna Foo, Postdoctoral Research Scholar, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1338922020-06-05T12:04:17Z2020-06-05T12:04:17ZRain plays a surprising role in making some restored prairies healthier than others<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327388/original/file-20200412-6948-13gxbir.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=48%2C42%2C3935%2C2951&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A restored prairie in southern Michigan.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lars Brudvig</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Prairies once covered an enormous area of North America, but today have been <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/1312365">reduced to a small fraction</a> of this historical range. Imagine an area the size of Texas, the second largest state, shrinking over the course of decades to an area the size of Massachusetts, the sixth smallest state. </p>
<p>Prairie grasslands <a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/grasslands/ecoservices/index.shtml">produce a lot of benefits</a>, such as storing carbon in soil, providing habitat for wildlife and protecting the land from erosion. <a href="https://www.nps.gov/miss/learn/nature/prairesthome.htm">Government agencies</a>, <a href="https://www.americanprairie.org/restoring-the-prairie">conservation organizations</a> and <a href="https://e360.yale.edu/features/in_us_midwest_restoring_native_prairie_ecosystems_kessler">homeowners</a> are working to restore native prairie ecosystems in many parts of the central U.S., but it’s a daunting challenge. Often newly planted restoration sites end up covered with weeds.</p>
<p>I am an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=FicmXq4AAAAJ&hl=en">ecologist</a> and have worked with other researchers for a decade to find the most effective ways of restoring prairies in the midwestern United States. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-62123-7">Research we published in 2020</a> points to a reason why planted prairies can fail, one that few had considered earlier: the weather during the year they are planted. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/e_-Qo7IBxEw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge in central Iowa is farmland that has been restored with native plants.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Restoring ecosystems to solve environmental problems</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ser.org/page/SERStandards/International-Standards-for-the-Practice-of-Ecological-Restoration.htm">Ecological restoration</a> improves the health of ecosystems that have been degraded – for example, <a href="https://theconversation.com/restoring-the-everglades-will-benefit-both-humans-and-nature-56052">returning water to drained wetlands</a> or <a href="https://theconversation.com/restoring-tropical-forests-isnt-meaningful-if-those-forests-only-stand-for-10-or-20-years-107880">replanting heavily logged forests</a>. It’s an important strategy for tackling many of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.</p>
<p>Research shows that repairing damaged ecosystems provides <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1172460">critical habitat for plants and animals</a>. It <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.12989">slows the impacts of climate change</a> by drawing down carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. It <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12257">enhances crop pollination</a>, prevents soil loss and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1620229114">keeps fertilizers out of waterways</a>. For all these reasons, the United Nations recently declared 2021-2030 to be the <a href="https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/press-release/new-un-decade-ecosystem-restoration-offers-unparalleled-opportunity">Decade on Ecosystem Restoration</a>. </p>
<p>But these projects can produce widely inconsistent results, even on similar sites where similar techniques have been used. Researchers are starting to understand that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12938">restoration success</a> depends on multiple factors, but why some projects succeed and others fail is largely still a mystery. We want to predict outcomes so that agencies can direct scarce funding to sites where the work is most likely to succeed. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327392/original/file-20200412-186332-1rvlyx0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327392/original/file-20200412-186332-1rvlyx0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327392/original/file-20200412-186332-1rvlyx0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327392/original/file-20200412-186332-1rvlyx0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327392/original/file-20200412-186332-1rvlyx0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327392/original/file-20200412-186332-1rvlyx0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327392/original/file-20200412-186332-1rvlyx0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly visits a purple cone flower within a restored prairie in southern Michigan.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lars Brudvig</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Decimated prairies</h2>
<p>Before European settlement, prairies were the <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/1312365">most expansive ecosystem in North America</a>, covering much of the Midwest and Plains. Today, however, most of them have been converted largely to farmland, thanks to their fertile soil. Prairie grasslands are nearly extinct east of the Mississippi River. </p>
<p>As a result, a huge number of plant and animal species that once thrived in those regions have little habitat remaining. Some, like <a href="https://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/insects/posk/index.html">Poweshiek Skipperling butterflies</a> and <a href="https://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/plants/prairief.html">prairie fringed orchids</a>, are now at risk of extinction.</p>
<p>By spreading the seeds of prairie plants onto old farmlands, land managers can restore these ecosystems. As new grasslands grow, managers periodically conduct prescribed fires and remove weeds with herbicides to promote the prairie plants. In time, insects and birds will return to restored prairies from nearby areas. </p>
<p>I’ve been to hundreds of restored prairies. Strikingly, no two have been the same. Some are rich communities of prairie plants, while others are packed with weeds – that is, nonprairie plant species. This variation can be vexing to land managers who are seeking to restore prairies in particular ways, for particular species. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327391/original/file-20200412-174608-1y3q2cf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/327391/original/file-20200412-174608-1y3q2cf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327391/original/file-20200412-174608-1y3q2cf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327391/original/file-20200412-174608-1y3q2cf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327391/original/file-20200412-174608-1y3q2cf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327391/original/file-20200412-174608-1y3q2cf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/327391/original/file-20200412-174608-1y3q2cf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Seeding a prairie restoration on former farmland in southern Michigan in 2007.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jerry Stewart</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In past studies, colleagues and I have identified a number of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12135">factors explaining why no two prairies are alike</a>. They include specific soil type, the number of plant species spread as seed to initiate restoration and the frequency of prescribed fires. These findings show that although restoration outcomes vary, at least they do so for reasons that are either easily known or under land managers’ control. But our new research indicates that this isn’t always the case.</p>
<h2>Rainy planting years cause problems</h2>
<p>Land managers widely acknowledge that planting-year weather can affect a restoration, but up to now, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1526-100X.2010.00714.x">few scientists had tested this idea</a>. Restorations planted during rainy years should be more successful, meaning that they will support a greater diversity and abundance of the native plants that we seed on the land. But it’s hard to test this hypothesis because it requires many study sites, planted under differing weather conditions.</p>
<p>Our team worked at 83 restored prairies in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan that had been planted two to 19 years earlier. We recorded which plant species lived within each site, and then determined the weather conditions that affected each prairie during the year it was planted. </p>
<p>Our results were surprising. We expected that rainy years would promote successful restorations, but instead they produced prairies with more abundant and diverse weeds. These effects were comparable to or larger than the influence of other important factors such as soil conditions, the length of time since the last prescribed fire and the age of the project. </p>
<p>Weeds were more abundant in prairies that had been restored during rainy years as much as 19 years earlier. These sites also had relatively fewer native prairie plant species. </p>
<p>Why would dry planting years ultimately lead to more successful restoration than wet years, even though native prairie plants <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.12708">perform better with more water</a>, as we showed in a previous study? Unfortunately, weeds are super-responders to water. We suspect that this explains why they gained dominance and suppressed prairie plants during wet planting years.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/339633/original/file-20200603-130912-n64yd0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/339633/original/file-20200603-130912-n64yd0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/339633/original/file-20200603-130912-n64yd0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339633/original/file-20200603-130912-n64yd0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339633/original/file-20200603-130912-n64yd0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339633/original/file-20200603-130912-n64yd0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339633/original/file-20200603-130912-n64yd0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/339633/original/file-20200603-130912-n64yd0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Projected changes in average precipitation across the Midwest for the middle of the current century (2041-2070) relative to the end of the last century (1971-2000) if greenhouse gas emissions remain at current levels.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://nca2014.globalchange.gov/report/regions/midwest">USGCRP</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Working around the weather</h2>
<p>Our results show that land managers need to guard against detrimental planting-year weather conditions – a challenge that is likely to become increasingly important in the future. Climate change is <a href="https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20180001312.pdf">increasing springtime rainfall</a> in the Midwest, which may <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2011.07.002">particularly benefit weeds</a>. </p>
<p>[<em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>To manage the weed burden during wet planting years, managers can mow frequently, repeat seed-spreading in a later year or even avoid planting during anticipated high rainfall years. Humans can’t control the weather, but understanding how weather affects restoration can help managers maximize projects’ chances of success.</p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.discovermagazine.com/author/anna-funk">Anna Funk</a>, a former graduate student at Michigan State University, was lead author of the study on which much of this article is based.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133892/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lars Brudvig receives funding from the United States National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>Restoring former prairies that have been plowed under for farming delivers land, wildlife and climate benefits. But a new study finds that the weather plays a surprising role.Lars Brudvig, Associate Professor of Plant Biology, Michigan State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/925062018-04-06T10:46:13Z2018-04-06T10:46:13ZCoral reefs are in crisis – but scientists are finding effective ways to restore them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213292/original/file-20180404-189807-a40t0z.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Juvenile blue tang sheltering in restored staghorn coral.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mark Ladd</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>These are bleak times for coral reefs. <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aan8048">Warming ocean waters</a>, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep31374">disease outbreaks</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-016-1489-x">pollution</a>, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00338-016-1489-x">sedimentation</a>, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00267-016-0696-0">careless scuba divers</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0190232">destructive fishing practices</a>, and a host of other global and local stressors are decimating coral populations at unprecedented rates. </p>
<p>If there is any silver lining to these events, it may be that many of the disturbances killing corals are acute: They occur just for a short period of time and then disappear, potentially allowing corals to recover before the next disturbance. But as stressors become more and more frequent, humans may have to help foster corals’ recovery. </p>
<p>Many organizations are working to combat coral loss by restoring corals to damaged reefs. But some approaches are more likely to be successful in restoring coral populations than others. </p>
<p>Making reef restoration faster and more efficient will require creative approaches. In a new <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/fee.1792">study</a>, we describe how to harness the power of key ecological processes, including predation, competition and nutrient cycling, to make coral restoration more successful.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bktS8G9kwFc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Coral reef restoration in the Florida Keys.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Underwater nurseries</h2>
<p>Coral restoration has seen a meteoric rise in popularity in the past 15 years. By our count, more than 150 operations are growing nursery-raised corals and transplanting them to degraded reefs just in the Caribbean. They include nongovernmental organizations like the <a href="http://coralrestoration.org/">Coral Restoration Foundation</a> and <a href="https://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/caribbean/regional/caribbean-a-revolution-in-coral-restoration-3.xml">The Nature Conservancy</a>; federal, state and local government agencies, such as the <a href="https://coralreef.noaa.gov/">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a>; universities; and private companies, such as the Iberostar hotel chain. </p>
<p>Jointly, these organizations restore tens of thousands of corals to reefs every year. Early results are promising. Across the Caribbean large fractions of restored corals are typically surviving past the first 1-2 years of transplantation.</p>
<p>The process starts by collecting a few finger-sized fragments from wild corals and transferring them to coral “nurseries” located in clear water with ideal growing conditions. Some groups grow corals on giant PVC structures that look like coral Christmas trees. Others use cinder blocks, old reef rocks or wire stands.</p>
<p>Within a year the new corals are more than 10 times larger – about the size of a volleyball, at least for the fastest-growing species. At this point they can either be fragmented again to create more nursery broodstock or transplanted to a degraded reef site.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213293/original/file-20180404-189824-1vem1gd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213293/original/file-20180404-189824-1vem1gd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213293/original/file-20180404-189824-1vem1gd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213293/original/file-20180404-189824-1vem1gd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213293/original/file-20180404-189824-1vem1gd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213293/original/file-20180404-189824-1vem1gd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213293/original/file-20180404-189824-1vem1gd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213293/original/file-20180404-189824-1vem1gd.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Selecting corals to be outplanted for restoration from the Coral Restoration Foundation nursery in the Florida Keys.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mark Ladd</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>It takes a village to restore a reef</h2>
<p>A major goal of coral restoration is to revive populations of stony corals that provide structure and habitat for the rest of the coral reef community, including soft corals, urchins, lobsters and fish. However, as restoration efforts expand around the globe, it is becoming increasingly clear it is not enough just to outplant corals. Healthy coral reefs are diverse communities with many intricate relationships between species that live on and around them.</p>
<p>To begin filling this knowledge gap, we dug through the literature on coral restoration to get an idea of how others are restoring corals to degraded reefs. We found that most experiments have focused on the best ways to grow corals in nurseries or the number of transplanted corals that survive.</p>
<p>But just as it takes more than replanting trees to bring back a thriving forest, restoring coral reefs will require more than putting corals back onto reefs. Surprisingly, few studies to date have measured how coral restoration affects important members of coral reef communities, like fishes, urchins, and diverse types of coral.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213297/original/file-20180404-189830-18xiu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213297/original/file-20180404-189830-18xiu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213297/original/file-20180404-189830-18xiu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=286&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213297/original/file-20180404-189830-18xiu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=286&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213297/original/file-20180404-189830-18xiu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=286&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213297/original/file-20180404-189830-18xiu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213297/original/file-20180404-189830-18xiu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213297/original/file-20180404-189830-18xiu2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=359&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Healthy coral reefs are diverse, complex ecosystems.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.noaa.gov/media-release/noaa-awards-more-than-8-million-for-coral-reef-conservation">NOAA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Grazers and guardians</h2>
<p>It is well-known that herbivorous species – the grazers of the sea – are <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160262">critical to healthy coral reefs</a>. Fishes and urchins eat seaweeds that otherwise compete with corals for key resources like space and light. Seaweeds can also transmit diseases to corals and can quickly overtake a reef after some of its corals die off if herbivores are not present. </p>
<p>In our study, we propose that coral restoration efforts can benefit from concentrating coral outplants in areas where many grazers are present, such as near existing urchin populations or reefs where herbivorous fish are abundant. By doing so, corals are more likely to survive and grow quickly, and can begin to attract fish, which in turn will result in more grazing.</p>
<p>Fish also help corals grow by excreting nitrogen, an important nutrient for the symbiotic algae that live inside corals. This allows the algae to give more energy back to corals and make them grow faster. Planting coral at restoration sites in dense aggregations may help attract more fishes, which will fertilize the corals, help them grow and attract more fish. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213294/original/file-20180404-189824-7bcxja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213294/original/file-20180404-189824-7bcxja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213294/original/file-20180404-189824-7bcxja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213294/original/file-20180404-189824-7bcxja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213294/original/file-20180404-189824-7bcxja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213294/original/file-20180404-189824-7bcxja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213294/original/file-20180404-189824-7bcxja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213294/original/file-20180404-189824-7bcxja.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mark Ladd outplanting an experimental colony of staghorn coral.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mark Ladd</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, planting corals too densely can hasten disease transmission and competition between them – factors that can drastically impede the success of restoration. Finding the sweet spot, where corals are grouped densely enough to promote growth and attract fish but not so densely that they spread diseases and complete with each other, should be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.12173">incorporated into restoration design</a>.</p>
<p>Some members of coral reef communities have outsized influence on reef dynamics. Damselfishes are especially important. These small fishes have big attitudes: They fiercely protect their territories, where they garden algae to eat, from all other fishes, no matter how large. But these “Chihuahuas of the sea” can either help or hinder coral restoration. </p>
<p>In the Caribbean Sea, damselfishes often create their algal gardens by killing coral tissue. One of their favorite targets is staghorn coral (<em>Acropora cervicornis</em>), which is the most commonly used coral in restoration. This means that reefs with lots of damselfishes may be poor sites for restoration. Other reefs with many fish species that prey on damselfishes, such as small groupers, may be better choices. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213435/original/file-20180405-189795-9eju3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213435/original/file-20180405-189795-9eju3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/213435/original/file-20180405-189795-9eju3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213435/original/file-20180405-189795-9eju3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213435/original/file-20180405-189795-9eju3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=392&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213435/original/file-20180405-189795-9eju3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213435/original/file-20180405-189795-9eju3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/213435/original/file-20180405-189795-9eju3m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Small but fierce: Damselfish aggressively protect their reef territories.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/MnWFaz">zsispeo</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But on Pacific coral reefs, damselfish protect the corals in their gardens from large coral-eating fishes, such as pufferfishes and parrotfishes. So in the Pacific, damselfish gardens could function as restoration hotpots where outplanted corals can thrive and become established, thanks to their fierce fishy bodyguards.</p>
<h2>Repopulating reefs</h2>
<p>There are many more processes that restoration practitioners can harness to help facilitate repopulating reefs with corals. The future of coral restoration lies in combining experience in growing corals for transplantation with accumulated ecological knowledge about how reefs function. Until now, those two camps generally have operated in separate spaces. With corals in crisis worldwide, it is time to bring them together.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/92506/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deron Burkepile receives funding from the National Science Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark C. Ladd has received funding from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. </span></em></p>With coral reefs in crisis around the world, many organizations are working to restore them by growing and transplanting healthy corals. A new study spotlights techniques that help restored reefs thrive.Deron Burkepile, Associate Professor of Ecology, University of California, Santa BarbaraMark C. Ladd, PhD Candidate studying the ecology of coral restoration, University of California, Santa BarbaraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/824942017-08-25T05:55:08Z2017-08-25T05:55:08ZHealing Colombia’s war-ravaged landscapes<p>“The armed conflict took so much from us”, one young farmer and communications activist tells us, motioning at photographs of devastated avocado plantations on a sweltering July morning on Colombia’s Caribbean north coast. </p>
<p>Our group of international researchers is in El Carmen de Bolívar, the largest town in the Montes de María region, to meet with local media groups that are working to integrate environmental restoration into the peace process of this war-torn nation. </p>
<p>This area, long a Colombian hotbed for organised activism for the rights of small farmers, or <em>campesinos</em>, has also seen horrific violence. Since the 1970s, Montes de María has been host to numerous guerrilla groups and, later, paramilitary organisations.</p>
<p>Bombings, crossfire and bloody massacres forced thousands to flee. According to the NGO <a href="https://www.oxfamamerica.org/static/media/files/contested-spaces-colombia-briefing-paper.pdf">Oxfam</a>, armed violence uprooted 269,000 Colombians annually from 2002 to 2010. At present, one in ten remains displaced.</p>
<p>Humans weren’t the only victims of Colombia’s five-decade armed conflict. In Caribbean Colombia, <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1940082917714229">one of the most biodiverse regions in the world</a>, nature was also deeply affected. </p>
<h2>Nature in danger</h2>
<p>We could rattle off grim statistics like the fact that <a href="http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Nearly-Half-of-Colombias-Ecosystems-at-Risk-of-Collapse-Study-20170818-0004.html">46% of Colombia’s ecosystems are now at risk of collapse</a> and that 92% of the <a href="https://es.mongabay.com/2016/12/colombia-iniciativas-comunitarias-conservar-los-bosques-secos-caribe-antioquia/">tropical dry forests</a> that are typical of the Montes de María region <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1940082917714229">have already disappeared</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183236/original/file-20170824-6648-18e4xkw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183236/original/file-20170824-6648-18e4xkw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1435&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183236/original/file-20170824-6648-18e4xkw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183236/original/file-20170824-6648-18e4xkw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1435&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183236/original/file-20170824-6648-18e4xkw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1803&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183236/original/file-20170824-6648-18e4xkw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1803&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183236/original/file-20170824-6648-18e4xkw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1803&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">La Cansona’s bullet-scarred ceiba tree.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Juan Salazar</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But survivors’ tales speak of deeper truths about how war fractures relationships between humans and their habitats. Farmers tell us about a hundred-year-old <em>ceiba</em> tree in the village of La Cansona that still displays the scars of gunfire.</p>
<p>Soraya Bayuelo, the respected director of Línea 21 Communication Collective, recalls a large tamarind tree in Las Brisas to which a dozen men were tied and then decapitated in March 2000. The tree dried up after that, other activists add, and it only started blooming again after a <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-37211085">government ceasefire with guerrillas</a> went into effect. </p>
<p>The young farmers turned activists also remember stories of how avocados – long the economic engine of the region – came down from the mountains speckled in blood. </p>
<p>Conflict hurt agricultural production, too. An <a href="http://www.banrep.gov.co/docum/Lectura_finanzas/pdf/dtser_171.pdf">analysis</a> by the Centre for Regional Economic Studies of the Banco de la República, Colombia’s central bank, found that avocado production in war-torn 1992 was fully 88.6% lower than in 2012, when the conflict had begun to cool. </p>
<p>More recently, a fungus has taken its toll. Over the past five years, as farmers began returning home from wherever they’d scattered, they found that a Phytophthora pathogen had begun <a href="https://thellamadiaries.com/2017/06/29/disarmament-and-the-avocado/">devastating the area’s avocado plantations</a>. </p>
<p>Can a country heal if its land remains scarred? The farmers and activists we met in Montes de María say no, arguing that without environmental restoration there can be no social reparation. </p>
<h2>The new environmental activism</h2>
<p>Things are, however, slowly improving for Montes de María. </p>
<p>The <em>mochuelo</em> bird and the Cotton-top Tamarin monkey, both of which had retreated or disappeared from the area, are also coming back, if slowly, much like the people displaced from their land. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183366/original/file-20170824-18702-1xsa8gu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183366/original/file-20170824-18702-1xsa8gu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183366/original/file-20170824-18702-1xsa8gu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183366/original/file-20170824-18702-1xsa8gu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183366/original/file-20170824-18702-1xsa8gu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183366/original/file-20170824-18702-1xsa8gu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183366/original/file-20170824-18702-1xsa8gu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A mochuelo bird in captivity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mochuelo_Barranquilla.jpg">Jdvillalobos</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>During our visit, El Carmen de Bolívar, birthplace of one of Colombia’s most celebrated musicians and composers, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucho_Berm%C3%BAdez">Lucho Bermudez</a>, was preparing for a traditional music festival. Across town we heard strains of folk melodies – <em>cumbia</em>, <em>porro</em>, <em>vallenato</em> and <em>fandango viejo</em> – and saw people dancing in public squares.</p>
<p>That’s a sign of change. It’s been almost a year since Colombia first signed a <a href="https://theconversation.com/colombia-has-a-new-peace-agreement-but-will-it-stick-69535">peace agreement</a>, and people are no longer afraid to be out and about.</p>
<p>Still, tensions have not totally disappeared. In the post-war period, environmental conflicts are emerging as the latest <a href="https://www.wola.org/analysis/consolidation-land-restitution-and-rising-tensions-in-montes-de-maria/">threat to the country’s fragile peace</a>. </p>
<p>The young farmers’ collectives we met here, who are part of the community group Jóvenes Provocadores de Paz (Young Peacemakers), are testament to Colombia’s long tradition of <a href="https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/citizensa-media-against-armed-conflict">citizen media initiatives</a>. </p>
<p>During the late stages of the conflict, such groups worked to restitch the country’s social fabric, developing a community-media network to keep people informed and reclaiming public spaces from guerrilla and paramilitary forces. </p>
<p>Today, organisations like <a href="http://www.sembrandopaz.org/political-work/">Sembrando Paz</a> (literally “sowing peace”), whose members are all conflict survivors, have turned their attention to the environment. </p>
<p>This group of farmers in their late teens and twenties has been photographically documenting various <a href="http://www.sembrandopaz.org/partner-communities/alta-montana/">ecological restoration initiatives</a> underway here, visually demonstrating why the Colombian peace process can only succeed if rural livelihoods are transformed and secured. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183229/original/file-20170824-30654-1k6vmon.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183229/original/file-20170824-30654-1k6vmon.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183229/original/file-20170824-30654-1k6vmon.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183229/original/file-20170824-30654-1k6vmon.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183229/original/file-20170824-30654-1k6vmon.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183229/original/file-20170824-30654-1k6vmon.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183229/original/file-20170824-30654-1k6vmon.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Youth Peace Provocateurs’ environmental work is the latest incarnation of a long history of Colombian campesino activism.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Juan F Salazar</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Land of conflict</h2>
<p>Their focus reflects increasing local concern that <em>campesinos</em> previously exiled by violence will soon find themselves displaced by new threats: climate change-induced drought, palm oil monoculture and development. </p>
<p>From the Caribbean coast to the Amazon forests, massive infrastructure projects are afoot in Colombia, bringing gold and coal <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-colombia-mining-idUSKCN18C2KR">mining</a>, dams and highways to areas once too violent and remote for <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/39e07b96-4b3d-11e5-b558-8a9722977189">government investment</a>. </p>
<p>Critics insist that <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13642987.2016.1179031?src=recsys&journalCode=fjhr20">natural resource extraction can’t pay for peace</a>, warning that it will usher in flooding, land grabs and exploitation of protected natural areas. </p>
<p>Proposed hydroelectric ventures have been met by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2015/mar/14/colombians-big-mobilisation-save-countrys-principal-river">massive protests</a>, and the farmers we spoke with promised to continue mobilising to protect their homesteads.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183376/original/file-20170824-18698-1oqo313.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183376/original/file-20170824-18698-1oqo313.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183376/original/file-20170824-18698-1oqo313.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183376/original/file-20170824-18698-1oqo313.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183376/original/file-20170824-18698-1oqo313.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183376/original/file-20170824-18698-1oqo313.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183376/original/file-20170824-18698-1oqo313.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Farmers in the Alta Montaña region have vociferously protested environmentally damaging infrastructure developments. Here, they prepare to march.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.sembrandopaz.org/es/category/politico/%22">Sembrando Paz Archive</a></span>
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<p>The 2016 peace agreement supports the protestors’ position that Colombia must rebuild both its social fabric and its environmental health, in theory at least. The accords explicitly state that a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2016/oct/24/peace-colombia-government-guerrilla-environment">sustainable peace</a> requires healthy ecosystems and the sustainable management of natural resources.</p>
<p>Under president Juan Manuel Santos, the government has earmarked significant funding for international <a href="https://www.globalcommunities.org/node/37594">partnerships</a> in Montes de María and for environmental projects, particularly in the <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/06/new-highway-brings-deforestation-to-two-colombian-national-parks/">Amazon region</a>. </p>
<p>But one <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/conl.12199/full">study</a> recently confirmed what people here already knew: these top-down projects have largely failed to integrate communities and respond to local needs, limiting their sustainability and potential for knowledge-sharing.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183378/original/file-20170824-24034-qtrctc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183378/original/file-20170824-24034-qtrctc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183378/original/file-20170824-24034-qtrctc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183378/original/file-20170824-24034-qtrctc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183378/original/file-20170824-24034-qtrctc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183378/original/file-20170824-24034-qtrctc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183378/original/file-20170824-24034-qtrctc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=545&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Young farmers and media activists from Sembrando Paz at work in 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.sembrandopaz.org/es/category/noticias/%22%20zoomable=%22true%22%20/>">Sembrando Paz</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>In some ways, new environmental challenges seem as intractable as armed conflict, but community groups in Montes de María are <a href="http://www.proyectotiti.com/en-us/Communities-Cotton-tops">doubling down on conservation</a>, hoping to show Colombia a path forward.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82494/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Juan Francisco Salazar does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As Colombia seeks to rebuild after fifty years of armed conflict, an emerging conservationist movement is linking lasting peace to healthy habitats.Juan Francisco Salazar, Associate Professor, School of Humanities and Communication Arts, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.