Defining Your Project - Project Planning and Management for Ecological Restoration - page 32

Box 3-2. The Benefits of Goals and Objectives for Ecological Restoration Projects
• Defines what project success should be
• Defines what the project is all about and what the project is not about
• Forms the framework for the restoration project planning and design
• Helps to define the strategy for project implementation
• Helps to promote efficient use of resources by focusing the project
development team on activities that will achieve the desired results
• Forms the basis for postproject evaluation
processes. For example, events such as floods, fire, and drought all tend to precipitate processes
that affect both the physical and the biological levels.
Understanding and interpreting an ecosystem and detecting the missing or poorly performing
functions are the most important tasks in conducting restoration work. This requires a working
knowledge of the ecosystem types you are attempting to restore. The ability to discern the interde-
pendencies and interactions of the various elements that make up a function comes from observ-
ing both healthy and unhealthy ecosystems.
Global concern for wetland loss and quality has generated numerous studies addressing func-
tions of wetlands. Although some functions are unique to wetlands or wetland-type conditions
(Hammer 1997), most of the functions are also present in upland situations (Tongway and Ludwig
2011; Tongway 2010; Friederici 2003). The following list introduces a range of common functions
identified on restoration project sites.
• Transformation of nutrients (primary production)
• Element cycling, including carbon sequestration
• Removal and retention of nutrients and compounds
• Maintenance of local gene pool
• Maintenance of plant populations (diversity)
• Maintenance of animal populations (diversity)
• Maintenance of endangered species (plant and animal)
• Resilience (recovery from disturbance)
• Resistance to invasive species
• Resistance to herbivore outbreaks
• Pollination
• Support of food chains and webs
• Flood hazard reduction
• Erosion control
• Stream bank and shoreline stabilization
• Water retention
• Groundwater discharge
• Groundwater recharge