Welcome to the Marine Restoration Toolbox!
The Marine Restoration Toolbox is a compilation of resources which aim to aid practitioners, authorities and stakeholders in the process of effective marine restoration. The tools have been created in tandem with ongoing restoration efforts in Europe, and are guided by extensive scientific research. The toolbox is structured using the UN Standards of Practice to Guide Ecosystem Restoration.
What is ecosystem restoration?
The term "ecosystem restoration" is an umbrella term that encompasses a number of actions and outcomes. If you are unsure about how to define restoration and about the restoration continuum, you have come to the right place!
Assessment
The assessment component includes the identification and evaluation of the extent and scale of degradation, considering the site and its context within the seascape. Assessment develops a "reference model" from one or more reference sites, which are environmentally similar to the project site. The inventory of initial assessment greatly assists the development of restoration goals, objectives, and the selection of restoration activities (FAO, SER & IUCN CEM, 2023).
Planning and Design
An effective planning and design process ensures that appropriate restoration activities are implemented given the ecological, socioeconomic, and cultural contexts, as well as financial constraints. Restoration targets are defined and goals and objectives are developed based on consultations with stakeholders, rights holders, ecological knowledge holders, and experts. Planning attempts to foresee all of the onsite work that will be undertaken during the project’s implementation. Effective management is a process that can adjust the design based on conditions experienced onsite through adaptive management strategies (FAO, SER & IUCN CEM, 2023).
Implementation
Whilst it is more than just the orchestration of restoration activities, implementation refers to the actions and measures taken in the process. The focus is on maximizing returns for biodiversity, ecosystem health and integrity, anthropogenic climate change mitigation, and human health and well-being. Project goals should be considered in the context of participatory governance, inclusion of local knowledge holders, social fairness, and equity throughout the implementation process (FAO, SER & IUCN CEM, 2023).
Ongoing Management, Monitoring & Evaluation
Ongoing management refers to the actions taken to address changing site or project needs following the completion of planned implementation activities. Monitoring and evaluation focuses on measuring progress towards the restoration targets and the achievement of the project’s goals and objectives. They also enable adaptive management and provide an opportunity to share lessons learned. These components often occur in tandem with one another as both aim to minimize potential regression of the ecosystem back into a degraded state (FAO, SER & IUCN CEM, 2023).
Broad Engagment
Broad engagement is the idea that a wide variety of stakeholders, local ecological knowledge holders, and other groups should have inclusive, genuine, and continuous involvement in the restoration process across all five components. Whilst it is important to engage with all stakeholders, special attention should be given to ensuring the inclusion of local and indigenous communities, women, youth, and other potentially underrepresented groups (FAO, SER & IUCN CEM, 2023).
Sharing
The principle of sharing is applicable to multiple stages of the restoration process. All methods of sharing include the basic concept that stakeholders should be included in every part of the restoration process, with the goal of creating an equitable process that involves everyone (FAO, SER & IUCN CEM, 2023).
Success Criteria
The process of setting and measuring restoration success criteria requires flexibility and alignment with local needs. Care must be taken in selecting success criteria, as this process can lead to other project benefits being undervalued or ignored.
Share resources, experiences or feedback with us!
The marine restoration toolbox development team would love to hear from you! Reach out if you would like to provide resources you think would be valuable to the (marine) restoration community or have any feedback.