Category Archives: Recommended Readings

Restoration Ecology

Restoration ecology is the science underpinning the practice of repairing damaged ecosystems. Restoration ecology has developed rapidly over the latter part of the twentieth century, drawing its concepts and approaches from an array of sources, including ecology,
conservation biology, and environmental engineering. We are faced with an increasing legacy
of ecosystems that have been damaged by past and present activities, and it is increasingly
recognized that, in many situations, successful conservation management will need to include
some restoration. This may take many different forms, such as the reintroduction of particular species, removal of problem species such as weeds or feral animals, or the reinstatement of particular disturbance regimes (including fire and flood regimes).  Read more... (4562 words, estimated 18:15 mins reading time)

Can anyone distinguish, define, or refer me to a website that does, between
these terms, referring to work on the land?

Reclamation
Remediation
Restoration

Robt Smithson, and now Nancy Holt and other earthworks/land artists, are
increasingly being given credibility for ecological consciousness by having
performed land ‘reclamation.’ But, on the contrary, I recently wrote for a
forthcoming article,

“Smithson’s constructions Broken Circle/Spiral Hill on commercial gravel
yards in Emmen, The Netherlands, and his subsequent proposed designs for
abandoned strip mines and tailing ponds that have been promoted as acts of
‘reclamation’ do not repair local ecological systems but simply turn sites
of industry into platforms for works of art.”  Read more... (293 words, estimated 1:10 mins reading time)

Grant Kester's short paper 'The Pedagogical (re)turn"

Kester The Pedagogical Re-turn