Environmental justice, ecology and restoration: Advancing the agenda

The Environmental Justice (EJ) Working Group of the ESA promotes the engagement of ecologists in addressing environmental injustice issues. EJ demands that there be no disproportionate environmental impact on any one group, and that all groups are fully included in decision-making. Our goal is that all ESA members should understand the relationship between ecology and EJ and should work to address EJ issues. We are promoting these through publications, annual meeting events, and ESA-member initiatives that: 1) educate members in EJ principles, 2) identify ESA members with expertise and interest relevant to EJ, and 3) assist ecologists in identifying EJ-relevant dimensions of their field. We also encourage interactions with other organizations engaged in EJ issues, as well as collaborate with other professional organizations involved in major environmental projects.  Over 500 ESA members have participated in ESA EJ events, and we surveyed these in winter 2007 to assess their interest and involvement in EJ-issues.    In this session, we will present the results of our survey, summarize the insights from ESA 2006 symposium, Linking Ecology and Environmental Justice, and explore the link between restoration ecology and EJ-issues. We will present information on the ongoing effort to form an Environmental Justice Section within ESA and will have draft bylaws available for discussion.  Participants from ESA and SER are invited to join the dialogue, to provide insights, and to develop the agenda for advancing research, outreach, and education.