Exchanging knowledge for effective landscape and seascape restoration
Landscape and seascape restoration are complex processes, so the ELSP supports organisations to carry out effective restoration by equipping them with the skills, knowledge and resources they need. The ELSP is building a community of practitioners for ecological restoration which maximises the wealth of knowledge, skills and expertise within the network.
A range of events were held across the year to facilitate peer-to-peer learning to support the development of good practice across and beyond projects and to inform wider landscape and seascape management. In 2023, the ELSP held nine webinars to support projects on technical delivery and three knowledge network cafés for projects to discuss issues openly. These included a knowledge network café on #GenerationRestoration, where Cairngorms Connect, SABUKO, and Rewilding Europe shared their experience of building the next generation of landscape and seascape restorationists; and another on Partnership Building where the University of Edinburgh discussed their experiences of using tools from the social sciences to inform processes of partnership building for landscape restoration, enabling new conversations about landscape change amongst diverse stakeholders. They focused on recent work with farmers, restoration practitioners, and other stakeholders in the Cumbria Connect project. The two knowledge exchange visits to the Greater Côa Valley, Portugal and the Cairngorms, Scotland were well attended. We have also enabled projects to participate in training provided by other organisations including Rewilding Climate Solutions and BirdLife International.
“Landscape and seascape restoration requires working at scale, with partners across many sectors, to address complex barriers. Over the year it has been fantastic to see the phase 1 projects share their experiences and learnings with phase 2.”
Sarah Sanders, ELSP Programme Manager
Knowledge Exchange Visit to Cairngorms Connect
Twenty-two ELSP project staff members visited the Cairngorms Connect restoration landscape for a Knowledge Exchange Visit focused on monitoring and evidence-based restoration. Although attendees’ project areas and restoration interventions varied, they shared the challenges and opportunities of collecting data and of implementing restoration at large scales. Outdoor sessions included subjects such as involving local communities in restoration, testing alternative management strategies to learn how to restore most effectively, and how to ensure the longevity of monitoring projects. Habitats under restoration that were visited included peatlands, forests, floodplains and rivers. Topics discussed included restoring deadwood within forests, camera trapping and genetic analyses for understanding predator-prey relationships, peatland restoration approaches, tree cultivation and genetic rescue for mountain woodland restoration, natural forest regeneration by reduction of deer browsing pressure, nature-based enterprises, river re-meandering, and nature-based enterprises to support these activities. Indoor sessions focussed on the ELSP Monitoring Framework, data analysis, and how to get the most out of the monitoring data in terms of communicating change to local stakeholders.