Conservation and Restoration
Like many of the other sectors, the concepts of conservation and restoration don't relate to one or two specific things; they relate to dozens of different kinds of things. Conservation and restoration can focus on forests or wetlands or fragile reef systems. The programs can be pure in nature such as establishing a hands-off nature reserve, or they can be more complex multiuse programs that allow for some timber extraction or some fishing within reef systems.

But there are projects on a much smaller scale than establishing a national park. There are projects where communities come together to conserve their communal forests, and their communal water systems. These are of particular interest because there are an unlimited number of communities out there that could begin practicing conservation methods. I'm hoping to find through your resourcefulness studies and field guides and manuals that we can post here and make available to field staff around the world to help them work successfully in conservation and restoration projects within their communities.

In the grinding pursuit of fuel wood and building materials hills and valleys throughout the world have been deforested. This seems to have an effect on levels of rainfall (although I haven't seen enough scientific studies on this). But perhaps worse, is that rain simply washes off of denuded hillsides and flows quickly downhill rather than seeping slowly into the soil.

Trees reduce the impact of raindrops on the soil offer barriers to the downhill flow of water creating a situation where water can seep slowly into the soil. This has the positive impact of recharging groundwater -- something that doesn't happen as efficiently with runoff. Springs which communities use for drinking water come from slowly moving groundwater. So restoration projects may take years to come to fruition but provide substantial benefits.

This spring four of the online students worked on projects in different parts of the Caribbean where artisanal fisherman have become surrounded by conservation measures and are now struggling to make a living. On the one hand their overfishing was part of the problem why the conservation measures were enacted, on the other hand they're having difficulty surviving. I'm hoping that my fellow group members will be able to find success stories surrounding some of these conservation issues as well.

Be sure to visit our Conservation & Restoration Working Group.