Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
involved will determine the activity or man-
agement. Projects implemented under an
agency permit or other regulatory require-
ment often require monitoring for three to
five years, whereas some large or otherwise
significant projects can have monitoring re-
quirements that last more than ten years.
The maintenance and monitoring of
a site is often a forgotten aspect of land
management, and if not forgotten, it is fre-
quently poorly resourced with insufficient
staff hours and insufficient funds. External
influences that go unabated can quickly de-
teriorate the condition of the restored area.
Most projects require some form of nurtur-
ing activities following implementation to
facilitate the development of the site and to
ensure that stressors are minimized during
the early stages. So, whether your aftercare
activities include regular weed abatement
or maintenance of barriers, such as fences
or dikes, some form of postimplementation
follow-up treatment is typically necessary to
ensure that the reintroduced processes can
continue to advance instead of being left in
a state of neglect and decline.
Monitoring will document the progress
of the site. Regardless of whether or not your
project has permit or sponsor requirements,
an important aspect of aftercare is site mon-
itoring and documentation. We encourage
all restoration practitioners to collect data and write progress reports to capture what is and is not
working on the site. Our field is young, and the body of knowledge grows each year. We all can
learn from even the simplest, most straightforward project. Communication among practitioners
strongly helps to advance restoration practice.
We have introduced you to the four phases of an ecological restoration project and have dis-
cussed briefly the major actions taking place in each one (fig. 1-1). The chapters that follow will
provide more extensive information and tools to assist in your journey through the restoration
project development process.
FIGURE 1-1. The project development process
involves numerous tasks that each have inputs and
critical products for a successful project.
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