Training ecologists for action in restoration and management

Background/Question/Methods

As ecologists it is likely that we have all been exposed, at least in some capacity, to terms such as “sustainability”, “green infrastructure” and “low impact design”; all terms directly related to environmental stewardship.  Although the use of these terms is widespread they tend to be especially relevant and widely used at the regional, local and watershed scale, especially as it relates to the developmental of regional master, stormwater and watershed plans.  Many of these regional plans are well conceived relative to desirable goals such as sustainable development and environmental stewardship.  Moreover, in states such as New Jersey regulations related to land development and stormwater management are well conceived and comprehensive in scope.  So, with all of these stewardship focused plans and regulations why is there still continuing degradation of water quality, decreased biodiversity and loss of ecosystem services?

Results/Conclusions

As an environmental consultant and restoration practitioner the principals of sound environmental stewardship should be an essential element of every project that involves a natural resource. However, this is not reality as the stewardship of our natural resources is frequently overlooked or simply avoided as a result of conflicting stakeholder interests, lack of communication between different technical disciplines, poor project design or implementation, political agendas, the general public’s fear of nature and  society’s  failure to embrace change.  This presentation will focus on three topics that either serve as impediments to the application of stewardship principals or foster the continued degradation of natural resources. These topics include, 1) Regulations and Science are not necessarily in synch as regulations are routinely directed toward traditional development and do not necessarily encourage stewardship or emphasize ecologically based restoration, 2) Interdisciplinary Relationships are essential to the successful design and implementation of many restoration or stewardship projects and it is imperative that ecologists are able to communicate their concerns to others on a multidisciplinary project team 3) Education focused on training ecologists to navigate the regulatory process as well as to understand the design, implementation and construction elements of habitat restoration projects is essential relative to project approval and success, especially those projects involving a regulated ecosystem such as a wetland or stream.  It is the intent of this presentation to provide examples relevant to each of the topics identified above to illustrate what ecologists need to do in order to play a more pronounced role in the stewardship of our natural resources.