The original landscape that encompasses the Wilds has undergone major disturbances and alterations through agriculture, extensive surface mining for coal, and subsequent reclamation. Although reclamation activities were largely successful at restoring ground cover, controlling erosion, and providing areas for recreational activity, questions still remain about its biological functionality. The Restoration Ecology program at the Wilds is working on understanding how the land is currently being used by wildlife and exploring ways through scientific endeavor to make further ecological improvements so that it can support maximum levels of indigenous diversity.

Background/Philosophy

Humans depend on ecosystems to provide clean air, clean water, productive soils, and a diversity of plant and animal species. The overexploitation and degradation of ecosystems has had serious consequences at national and global scales. Encompassing disciplines like soil science, plant and animal ecology, forestry, conservation biology, landscape ecology, and hydrology, ecological restoration attempts to reverse these declines in ecological services and biodiversity. This will not be possible, however, without humans or without the understanding of their role in natural processes. The future of natural ecosystems depends not on the protection from humans, but its relationship with the people who inhabit it or share the landscape with it. It is critical to understand the role of human behavior and to create social as well as bio-physical tools and protocols that can be used to carry out successful restoration projects. Ecological restoration can provide a basis for optimism and ultimately hope for the future of our natural landscape. It can be a way of negotiating a relationship between humans and the rest of nature.

The restoration ecology program at the Wilds uses science as a major tool to understand the current state of the environment and to develop methods and practices to helps its recovery. Because it is difficult to predict exact outcomes, restoration ecology in itself becomes an actual experiment. This experiment in community reassembly gives us the opportunity to effectively raise questions and ideas as we go about ecological systems and how they work. Rather than detached observations and analyses, it is an active science and process that moves beyond description of nature into the actual diagnosis and treatment of ecological disorders. We learn from the mistakes and figure out ways to overcome them by learning how to use natural tools to bring about natural stability.

Program Objectives

• To develop a restoration ecology program that promotes and contributes to ecosystem recovery through scientific study and a multidisciplinary approach.

• To advance the science and discipline of restoration ecology and contribute to the development and protocols which will lead to rehabilitation of impaired ecosystems.

• Provide meaningful opportunities for researchers, students, conservation professionals, land stewards, and visitors to learn about and contribute to ecological restoration and conservation.