Land Restoration

Our project will look at several examples of land degradation and techniques for ecological restoration.

The Society for Ecological Restoration defines ecological restoration as:

‘the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed’.

Source: (Society for Ecological Restoration International Science & Policy Working Group. 2004. The SER International Primer on Ecological Restoration. www.ser.com and Tucson: Society for Ecological Restoration International.)

Land degradation types considered in the TWIRLS project:

• Slate quarry with no native topsoil near Snowdonia National Park, N. Wales
• Urban brownfield site soil contaminated with VOCs (volatile organic compounds) close to a RAMSAR site in N. Wales
• Black schist mine with waterlogging and compaction in Parnitha National Park, Athens, Greece.
• Traditionally restored colliery acidic spoil, Wales.

This lake in Parc Oglio Sud, Italy, used by fisherman and picnic-ers, is an example of how areas disturbed during peat extraction can be restored.

photo: Julie Williamson