Rehabilitation and Restoration Of Degraded Forests (PDF) - IUCN

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Chapter 3: Addressing degradation The difference between approaches is illustrated in Figure 2b. In the absence of human intervention the degraded forest at point B may gradually recover some species richness and biomass and move slowly towards its original condition (A). The rate at which this occurs depends on the speed with which species are able to colonise the site; it might be accelerated by human intervention (i.e. restoration). Alternatively, recurrent disturbances (e.g. wildfires or grazing) may further degrade the system and more species may be lost, pushing the system towards point B2. Reclamation is represented by point E, where a tree plantation or crop monoculture has been established. This may have recovered the original biomass (E1) or perhaps even exceeded it (E2) because of site preparation and fertiliser use. Rehabilitation is represented by point F. In this case structure and biomass and some, but not all, of the original species richness have been recovered. Each of these three alternatives (A, F or E) might, theoretically, be applied to any of the several forms of degraded land described above. Some of the more common approaches used in various field situations are described in Chapter 6. Figure 2b. Ecological restoration, rehabilitation and reclamation Biomass, structure, production E2 E1 B2 B1 F Biodiversity If left untreated, the degraded forest (at B1) may degrade further over time to B2 (e.g. following repeated wildfires). Ecological restoration seeks to return the forest to position A; reclamation takes it to E1 or E2 (if site is improved with ploughing or fertilisers) and rehabilitation to F. D A 15
REHABILITATION AND RESTORATION OF DEGRADED FORESTS There has been some debate over whether restoration is ever possible (see Box 4). In practice the question is probably not that important. In most field situations the large extent of degraded land and limited resources often mean that a modest increase in the biodiversity of indigenous species through some form of rehabilitation is the most that can be achieved. Indeed, in many cases social circumstances may make this the preferred option, because of major trade-offs between restoration and human well-being. Attempts at ecological restoration might only be feasible in specialized situations. 3.2 Human well-being aspects The ecological model described above can be complemented by a similar model that describes the relationship between the quality of ecosystem restoration and the improvement that this brings to the well-being of humans living in or near the new forest area. The quality of restoration refers to the extent to which ecosystem integrity has been regained. It includes ecological authenticity (e.g. ecological naturalness, viability, health) as well as the functional effectiveness of the restoration process (e.g. the extent to which watershed protection is established, key ecological processes are regained or the populations of biota are able to reproduce, etc.). Ecosystem integrity is promoted more by restoration than by rehabilitation. The term “human well-being” is necessarily broad, and covers not only benefits such as the market value of forest products (e.g. timber or non-timber forest products) and other ecological services such as watershed protection but also a broader range of benefits that flow from them. The elements of human well-being are described by Fisher, Dechaineux and Keonuchan (1996): • economic benefits in the form of access to material goods (assets, capital, labour availability, credit and availability of cash); • quality of life factors such as health, education, culture and access to services; • equity, meaning how fairly well-being is distributed to different individuals and groups (equity does not imply equality); and • risk and power relations, which are likely to affect the rate at which new activities can be adopted. 16
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