Synopsis - Project Planning and Management for Ecological Restoration - page 231

to determine the required actions on your site to restore missing ecosystem functions and values.
You may need to alter the landform to restore the processes that drive the ecosystem, such as sur-
face water patterns or distance to groundwater. This will sometimes require extensive construction
activity. At other times, you may only need to prepare a design for the installation of vegetation
on appropriate land surfaces. The layout of the plant associations is important, because you will
be trying to mimic the natural occurrence of these plant communities with respect to the char-
acteristics of your site. Moreover, your design will attempt to meet the habitat requirements for
your target wildlife species. In other cases, you may only need to employ management activities to
reintroduce processes such as fire, but you will still face decisions as to what and where to burn. At
times, you will need to use a combination of construction and management activities.
In all instances, you will want to integrate your design with the natural and human-made fea-
tures of the surrounding landscape. Finally, in this day and age of climate change, your design
should take into account how your site can provide high ecological integrity and connectivity to be
resilient in the face of variable weather patterns, extreme events, and changes in natural processes,
such as flood, fire, and pest outbreaks.

7. Decide on a plan for achieving restoration, and put your plan down on paper (or in

digital files) in the form of project documents.

Project documents are essential for communicating the work to be performed, especially when
project implementation will be carried out either by contractors and subcontractors or by different
groups of volunteers who have not been involved with the planning and design of the restoration
project. Depending on the size, complexity, and nature of your project, your project plans may
consist of a single, simple plan or, more likely, as a series of multiple sheets of plan drawings cov-
ering different elements of your project, including specifications. Preparing a bill of materials will
serve many functions; it is a budgeting tool, an analytical tool, and a communication tool. Finally,
your specifications should focus on functionality and include criteria for measuring performance.
Together, these project documents are referred to as the bid package or the contract documents.

8. Conduct detailed planning for the implementation of your project, allowing sufficient

lead time for contracting, purchasing, and other tasks well in advance of your
construction and installation dates.

After you have a plan for your restoration project, there are generally a lot of details that must
be worked out prior to project implementation. Scheduling and construction planning help to
ensure the delivery of materials and equipment when they are needed for installation. A lot of
coordination is involved for materials, equipment, and labor to be available on-site at the proper
time to maintain the project schedule. Contracting out any project work will require sufficient
time for contractor selection. Even if you will be doing all, or most, of the work yourself, you will
need to schedule each aspect of the project work and procure all the necessary materials, services,
and equipment for getting the job done orderly and efficiently.