History, Ecosystems, and Human Agency in Restoration Ecology

Abstract

　Restoration ecology has been accused of “faking nature,” meaning it pretends that natural systems can be replaced by artificial ones with equal value. The argument is flawed in that it assumes that the reference state for restoration projects is always pristine nature. Mostly, however restoration tries to improve degraded systems and the reference states are formed by human interaction with the environment. Restoration ecology operates on a different scale than other disciplines in ecology as it necessarily involves judgement about the value of nature, and here lies its benefit for conservation.