Ecological Restoration

PGL provides ecological restoration services for wetland, marine, freshwater, and upland ecosystems. (Restoration may be synonymous with other regulatory words like habitat offsetting or habitat compensation.) PGL has specialized expertise to assist our clients with planning, implementation, and follow up monitoring. Also, if you are struggling to put operational meaning to vague restoration conditions from regulators, or have only a conceptual idea of your project, we can help define specific targets. 

What is Ecological Restoration?

A combination of past, present, and future anthropogenic influences drives environmental degradation, damage, and destruction. When applied strategically, ecological restoration is an effective tool that can be used to restore ecosystem services and ultimately support a resilient future. As a scientific and technical practice, it provides the opportunity to improve upon nature’s ecological, cultural, social, and economic values that would otherwise be lost. So, how does it work? 

Ecological restoration is usually a complex process. It requires innovation, patience, and a holistic perspective. The overarching goal is to achieve long-term ecosystem integrity. This is done by collecting baseline information of the study area to identify the cause of environmental harm and determine the current and desired future conditions. Once restoration targets are set, the degrading agents can be manipulated (e.g., removed) to restore ecosystem components and biological processes. 

Usually, a monitoring and maintenance program is then implemented to establish whether the site is on a trajectory towards natural recovery with native vegetation and wildlife. 

Ideally restoration takes place in the same location it exists, however if infeasible in the given area, efforts may turn to habitat offsetting, habitat banking, or habitat compensation. The goal for these methods is to compensate for project-related impacts by remediating a degraded area elsewhere. For example, if a project encroaches on an Environmentally Sensitive Area of a river, the offset plans may include planting native riparian vegetation on a different stretch of the foreshore.