Dead planet, living planet

The conservation of biodiversity is recognised as important due to the role biodiversity plays in underpinning many of the ecosystem services which humans depend upon form their well-being (MA 2005). Furthermore, it is well documented globally that habi- tat loss is a direct driver of species loss, and one mechanism to bring species diversity back to a site is through restoration of the ecosystem or habitat (SER 2010). And while it has been documented that restoration does not necessary achieve the same value of biodiversity or ecosystem services found in intact ecosystems (Benayas et al 2009), there are many good examples of were informed ecological restoration programmes have been able to deliver biodiversity, including the recovery of threatened species and ecosystems (Lindenmayer et al . In press). ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION FOR BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION

Although ecological restoration is now being undertaken throughout the world, evidence regarding the effectiveness of such activities has been lacking. However, a systematic meta- analysis of 89 restoration assessments was recently published in the journal Science, integrating the results obtained from restoration actions in a wide range of ecosystem types from throughout the world. Results indicated that ecosystem res- toration was consistently effective in improving ecosystem services (Banayas et al ., 2009). From the 89 studies, 526 quantitative measures of variables re- lating to biodiversity and ecosystem services were extracted and incorporated into a database. The ecosystem services were clas- sified according to the scheme developed by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA, 2005), which distinguishes four categories: 1) supporting (e.g., nutrient cycling and primary production), (2) provisioning (e.g., timber, fish, food crops),

The services humankind receives from complex ecosystems include regulation of water supplies and water quality, main- tenance of soil fertility, carbon sequestration, climate change mitigation and enhanced food security, to mention a few. Pro- vision of these services is dependent upon the functioning of ecosystems, which is characterized by complex interactions between organisms and their biological and chemical environ- ments. The environmental degradation that has occurred in many parts of the world has a negative impact on such func- tioning, and can reduce the provision of services on which hu- man livelihoods depend. Ecological restoration is increasingly being used to reverse the environmental degradation caused by human activities. One of the key objectives of such restoration is to improve the functioning of degraded ecosystems, to increase both biodi- versity and the ecosystem services provided to humankind.

21

Made with