Ecological restoration is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed. It aims to re-establish the structure, functions, and species diversity of the original ecosystem. The director of the Gurukula Botanical Center demonstrates how 40 years of conservation techniques, gardening, and restoration practices have helped restore habitats and species in the degraded Western Ghats region of India. She advocates an approach of diagnostic healing and restoration rather than simply conserving what remains or "greening" areas, in order to recreate a healthy alliance between people and their environment.

1. Anu.s
1 st MSc
140506
Aquatic biology&Fisheries

2.  Due to the severe impact humans have already inflicted
on the landscape andthe expensive cost of real estate,
restoring a landscape may be more feasible than other
options
 This is a relatively new fieldandmany advances have
been made
 However, we rarely restore something to its former glory
andfunctionality

3.  Specifically, RE is “the process of intentionally altering a site to establish a
defined, indigenous, historic ecosystem”
 The goal is to emulatethe structure, function, diversityand dynamicsof the
specificecosystem
 Or…moving a degraded systembacktowards one of greaterstructural and
functional diversity
 Maybe able to tracerestoration back to Aldo Leopoldin the1930’s at the
UW arboretum(120ha forest)
 RE drawsuponmany disciplines and subdisciplines of the natural sciences
including landscapeecology, hydrology, geomorphology, soil science,
geochemistry, animal behavior, pop biology, theoretical biology, invasion
ecologyand evolutionaryecology

5. Reclamation
Revegetation
Rehabilitation
Re-creation
Ecological engineering

6.  RE may take many forms: restoration,
enhancement, reclamation, re-creation,
rehabilitation, augmentation, and translocation
 Rehabilitation is simply improving degraded
habitat, maybe not restoring it
 Reclamation may be stabilization of the land
and/or minimizing further degradation
 Re-creation is an attempt to return to historic
condition, accuracy
 Replacement may recreate a site, which may not
be historically accurate
 Enhancement or augmentation are attempting to
add to the degraded condition, but not fully
functional

7.  Ecosystem functioning is regulated by
nutrient cycling , primary productivity and
energy flow between trophic levels
 And also controlled by top- down mechanism
 The ultimate goal of restoration efforts is to
enhance functioning of degraded ecosystem

9.  Restoration of severely degraded soils involves the
restocking of nutrient capital into the soil
 The SOM(Soil Organic Matter) is one of the most
important factor in determining the functioning of
soil(SOM directly increase soil nutrients)
 SOM can be increasing litter input from ecosystem ,
mineralization & import top soil from a surrogate
site
 Quality of litter inputs influence the the rate of
mineralization ,which is usually in proportion to
the nutrient capital in soil

10.  Beach nourishment
 Dune building fences
 Replanting sites where previous failed or die
back is experienced
 Applying fertilizer when required to growth
and seed production
 Transplanting shrubs and trees on the dunes
to facilitate succession
 Controlling invasive non-native plants
 Beneficial soil micro organisms are critical for
successful dune reconstruction

11. Of forest

12.  Abandoning the farms
 Reducing logging
 Reducing livestock
grazing
 Reduce non native
species
◦ Restoration of buffer
zones
◦ Regeneration of
Niches
◦ Reforestation
◦ Direct seeding of
native plants
◦ Enrichment planting

13.  Restoration of critical habitat is essential for enhancing
survival of populations endangered species .
 The critical habitat for endangered species is composed of
complex factors and is specific for each species .
 The hierarchical order used by endangered species in selecting
a critical habitat is :the geographical ranges of the species , the
home of an individual ,the use of particular habitat elements
with in the home range and the actual food items that an animal
selects.
 The success of restoration programs for endangered animals
depends on the integrity of the critical habitat .

14.  Area threshold: is the minimum area of critical
habitat to maintain a viable population.
 Restoration f the critical habitat should establish
an effective size of the breeding population .
 Carrying capacity: The carrying capacity of the
critical habitat is an important factor that always
limits restoration efforts.
 The carrying capacity of a habitat determines
how many individuals of population can exist
there
 GIS technology: GIS model is used to rank
suitable habitats for targeted populations of
endangered species.

15.  Reestablishing the hydrological functioning.
 Aims at building the original hydrological
conditions of degraded site by using
engineering solutions such as building levees
or dams or filling existing drainage systems.
 Effort can effectively restore important
component of the natural hydrology of wet
land.

16.  Seed dispersal into
degraded wet lands are
located adjacent to
pristine or less degraded
wet lands.
 Rhizome pieces can be
dispersed in floodwater
as such propagules can
be effective in
establishing new
populations.
 Introduction of native
plants.
 Strategic seeding .
 Out planting of
seedlings.
 Mature plants , rhizomes
or cutting of native
plants .
 Transplant whole turfs of
wet lands to increase
species richness .
 Control of invasive or
undesirable plants

17.  Prevent nutrient loads through engineering
methods (sediment dredging and removal).
 Increase in zooplankton popultions can result in
lower algal population.
 Biomanipulation: Restoration of the zooplankton
populations is achieved by reducing or removing
temporarily resident fish populations.
 Top –down trophic control of algal populations.
 Prevent vegetation growth towards lakes
 Prevent water pollution from industries , garbages
etc .
 Chemical treatment to raise pH of water
(Acidification)

19.  Information on the geomorphic ,hydrological and
ecological functioning of the river.
 Prevent siltation of the river bed(soil erosion of
agricultural lands is one of the main factors
behind siltation of rivers).
 Introducing irregular flow patterns to increase
the hydrological capacity(introducing gravels).
 Prevent the construction of reservoirs by large
scales in rivers.
 Restoration strategies increase the complexity
and heterogeneity of the river environment.

21.  Rapidly modify geomorphology of river.
 Bed raising .
 Replacement of riffle pools.
 Creation of gravel beds to facilitate fish spawning.
 The general removal of any obstacles to fish
migration.
 Restoration of adjacent wetlands , floodplains, and
embankments to improve river habitats.
 Reduce sediment loading and leaching of
agrochemical into rivers(maintaining buffer zone).
 Natural recolonization of native organisms or
translocation of selected native fish species.
 Remove garbages ,waste

23.  To protect the natural environment;
 To regenerate and restore degraded ecosystems and increase
their productivity and to generate employment through these
activities;
 To decentralise control over nature and natural resources;
 To develop and share an understanding of nature and natural
processes;
 To formulate a national policy for environment and an
appropriate institutional and legal framework in support of the
policy;
 To ensure co-ordinated and integrated Governmental action
aimed at conserving nature and sustainable use of natural
resources;
 To make individuals and institutions more accountable to the
people for their actions impinging on environment and
ecosystem; and
 To monitor the state of environment.

24.  The Ganga action plan was, launched by Shri
Rajeev Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of
India on 14 Jan. 1986 with the main objective
of pollution abatement, to improve the water
quality by Interception, Diversion and
treatment of domestic sewage and present
toxic and industrial chemical wastes from
identified grossly polluting units entering in
to the river.

26.  Prime minister Narendra Modi affirmed to work
for cleaning the river and controlling
Pollution.Subsequently, Namami Ganga
 In the budget tabled in Parliament on 10 July
2014, the Union Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley announced an integrated Ganga
development project titled Namami Ganga and
allocated 2,037 crore for this purpose.
 As a part of the program, government of India
ordered the shut down of 48 industrial units
around Ganga.

28. YAMUNA, the largest tributary of the Ganga river, is all
set to get an "eco health" revamp in the region
 The Yamuna Action Plan (YAP) is a bilateral project
between the Government of India and Japan. It is one
of the largest river restoration projects in India. The
government of Japan, via the Japanese Bank for
International Cooperation (JBIC), has provided
financial aid of 17.7 billion yen to carry out the
project, which is being executed by the National River
Conservation Directorate, the Ministry of Environment
and Forests, and the Government of India.
 The actions include training local people in basic river
and catchment monitoring techniques, environmental
education of school children and providing
sustainable energy use techniques at the local level.

29. (OLD)
PRESENT
STAGE

31.  Gurukula botanical center(wayanad) it is one of
the result of restoration of western ghats.
 Forty years they have been observing how
habitats and species of this mountain biome can
be nurtured to health from conditions of
devastation. It is clear to that forests and
grasslands and other habitats of the Western
Ghats can return.
 suprabha seshan: advocates the Gurukula model
to explain the importance of geographically-
specific biodiversity and its connection to
ecological resilience. Her methodology is about
diagnostic healing and restoration rather than
simply conserving what remains or “greening” the

33. Director of GURUKULA BOTANICAL CENTER

34.  The need to restore natural habitats through
integrated conservation techniques,
gardening, and restoration practice. She
demonstrates the importance of nurturing the
existing links between the health of plants
and climate, survival of animal species,
humans, land, and livelihoods. Her innovation
creates a healthy alliance between people and
their environment.

35.  Restoration is the separate field in ecology.
 It provide an opportunity to recreate our natural
existence .
 It is the scientific study supporting the practice
ofecological restoration, which is the practice of
renewing and restoring degraded, damaged, or
destroyed ecosystems andhabitats in
the environment by active human intervention
and action.
 We can make our ecosystem healthy through
restoration.

37. THANK YOU