Restoration ecology

This book tells the story of times past, when wetlands were considered as wastelands and decision makers and managers were unaware of their benefits, a time when the adverse impacts of hydropower and irrigation schemes on ecosystems and people downstream seemed unimportant. Today wetland ecosystems are viewed as essential elements in integrated river basin planning, which draws upon the most appropriate modern science and traditional knowledge.

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) advocates an ecosystem approach to environmental management, and spells out the principles in its Appendix 1. However, applying these principles can sometimes be less than straightforward. This book tells the story of an ecosystem approach to the rehabilitation of the lower delta of the Senegal River in Mauritania, in and around Diawling National Park.

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) advocates an ecosystem approach to environmental management, and spells out the principles in its Appendix 1. However, applying these principles can sometimes be less than straightforward. This book tells the story of an ecosystem approach to the rehabilitation of the lower delta of the Senegal River in Mauritania, in and around Diawling National Park.

Large areas of the world's forests have been lost or degraded and landscapes everywhere are being simplified by current land-use practices. In this publication, Lamb and Gilmour present approaches to restoring and rehabilitating the vast areas of degraded, fragmented and modified forests which cover much of the world. They argue that by applying best practice at the site level it is possible to enhance socio-economic and ecological gains at the landscape level.

Forest loss and degradation carry a heavy human and environmental cost throughout tropical, temperate and boreal regions. In response, IUCN, WWF and various government and non-government partners have developed the Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) approach, which focuses on restoring the goods, services and ecological processes that forests can provide at the broader landscape level.