Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Ecosystem restoration is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem. The community’s role in restoration projects is key. Good restoration includes social and cultural goals determined by stakeholders’ perspectives, making it process-oriented. The idea of using this process both in academia and practice is growing worldwide, and numerous restoration projects have been implemented. However, a gap between research and practice has emerged. There is a lack of a across-site theory that can be relevant to different sites. Using data acquired through the application of the process-oriented framework to the Whangamarino Wetland Restoration Project of New Zealand, the research aims to contribute to the research/practice discussion. It builds a process-oriented theoretical framework collected through literature reviews. It relies on two core concepts, decision-making and cultural significance. Data was collected through qualitative interviews with DoC staff in Whangamarino. The results show that community involvement relies on agency. The objective of the project is to inform larger scale wetland restoration through learning. The Restoration Project is process-oriented to a certain degree.