The ecological success of river restoration in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada: lessons learned
Despite millions of dollars being spent annually to restore degraded river ecosystems, there exist relatively few assessments of the ecological effectiveness of projects. An evidence-based synthesis was conducted to describe river restoration activities in Newfoundland and Labrador. The synthesis id...
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2023
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:ca34415daa0d40c8aca735c9cf6ed534 2023-11-12T04:21:19+01:00 The ecological success of river restoration in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada: lessons learned Skylar W Skinner Anastasia Addai Stephen E. Decker Michael van Zyll de Jong 2023-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-14379-280320 https://doaj.org/article/ca34415daa0d40c8aca735c9cf6ed534 EN eng Resilience Alliance https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol28/iss3/art20 https://doaj.org/toc/1708-3087 1708-3087 doi:10.5751/ES-14379-280320 https://doaj.org/article/ca34415daa0d40c8aca735c9cf6ed534 Ecology and Society, Vol 28, Iss 3, p 20 (2023) canada database ecological evaluation monitoring planning river restoration Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-14379-280320 2023-10-15T00:36:32Z Despite millions of dollars being spent annually to restore degraded river ecosystems, there exist relatively few assessments of the ecological effectiveness of projects. An evidence-based synthesis was conducted to describe river restoration activities in Newfoundland and Labrador. The synthesis identified 170 river restoration projects between 1949 and 2020. A practitioner’s survey was conducted on a subset of 91 projects to evaluate ecological success. When the perceived success of managers was compared to an independent assessment of ecological success, 82% of respondents believe the projects to be completely or somewhat successful whereas only 41% of projects were evaluated as ecologically successful through an independent assessment. Only 11% of practitioners’ evaluations used ecological indicators, yet managers of 66% of projects reported improvements in river ecosystems. This contradiction reveals a lack of the application of evidence to support value-based judgments by practitioners. Despite reporting that monitoring data were used in the assessment it is doubtful that any meaningful ecological assessment was conducted. If we are to improve the science of river restoration, projects must demonstrate evidence of ecological success to qualify as sound restoration. River restoration is a necessary tool to ensure the sustainability of river ecosystems. The assessment conducted in this study suggests that our approach to planning, designing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating projects needs to improve. An integrated-systems view that gives attention to stakeholders’ values and scientific information concerning the potential consequences of alternative restoration actions on key ecosystem indicators is required. Article in Journal/Newspaper Newfoundland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Canada Newfoundland Ecology and Society 28 3 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
canada database ecological evaluation monitoring planning river restoration Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
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canada database ecological evaluation monitoring planning river restoration Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5 Skylar W Skinner Anastasia Addai Stephen E. Decker Michael van Zyll de Jong The ecological success of river restoration in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada: lessons learned |
topic_facet |
canada database ecological evaluation monitoring planning river restoration Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
Despite millions of dollars being spent annually to restore degraded river ecosystems, there exist relatively few assessments of the ecological effectiveness of projects. An evidence-based synthesis was conducted to describe river restoration activities in Newfoundland and Labrador. The synthesis identified 170 river restoration projects between 1949 and 2020. A practitioner’s survey was conducted on a subset of 91 projects to evaluate ecological success. When the perceived success of managers was compared to an independent assessment of ecological success, 82% of respondents believe the projects to be completely or somewhat successful whereas only 41% of projects were evaluated as ecologically successful through an independent assessment. Only 11% of practitioners’ evaluations used ecological indicators, yet managers of 66% of projects reported improvements in river ecosystems. This contradiction reveals a lack of the application of evidence to support value-based judgments by practitioners. Despite reporting that monitoring data were used in the assessment it is doubtful that any meaningful ecological assessment was conducted. If we are to improve the science of river restoration, projects must demonstrate evidence of ecological success to qualify as sound restoration. River restoration is a necessary tool to ensure the sustainability of river ecosystems. The assessment conducted in this study suggests that our approach to planning, designing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating projects needs to improve. An integrated-systems view that gives attention to stakeholders’ values and scientific information concerning the potential consequences of alternative restoration actions on key ecosystem indicators is required. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Skylar W Skinner Anastasia Addai Stephen E. Decker Michael van Zyll de Jong |
author_facet |
Skylar W Skinner Anastasia Addai Stephen E. Decker Michael van Zyll de Jong |
author_sort |
Skylar W Skinner |
title |
The ecological success of river restoration in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada: lessons learned |
title_short |
The ecological success of river restoration in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada: lessons learned |
title_full |
The ecological success of river restoration in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada: lessons learned |
title_fullStr |
The ecological success of river restoration in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada: lessons learned |
title_full_unstemmed |
The ecological success of river restoration in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada: lessons learned |
title_sort |
ecological success of river restoration in newfoundland and labrador, canada: lessons learned |
publisher |
Resilience Alliance |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-14379-280320 https://doaj.org/article/ca34415daa0d40c8aca735c9cf6ed534 |
geographic |
Canada Newfoundland |
geographic_facet |
Canada Newfoundland |
genre |
Newfoundland |
genre_facet |
Newfoundland |
op_source |
Ecology and Society, Vol 28, Iss 3, p 20 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol28/iss3/art20 https://doaj.org/toc/1708-3087 1708-3087 doi:10.5751/ES-14379-280320 https://doaj.org/article/ca34415daa0d40c8aca735c9cf6ed534 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-14379-280320 |
container_title |
Ecology and Society |
container_volume |
28 |
container_issue |
3 |
_version_ |
1782336799035621376 |