Ecological restoration: A sustainable approach to recover damaged ecosystem

Abstract

Land degradation is of major concern in many countries throughout the world. Thus, timely and effective interventions for ecological restoration have to be made to reverse this degradation process as it is necessary to maintain the status of ecosystem. Restoration includes measures which can be used to return the degraded, fragmented and damaged ecosystem to its original state in which it previously existed. Ecosystem Restoration can, thus, contribute significantly to sustainable approach of ecosystem conservation. It is marked that community can play a very important role in restoring the degraded ecosystems. Practices like Joint Forest Management (JFM) and social forestry provide a visible role of the local communities in planning, management and protection of forests. Women's participation, involvement of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), designing training programmes on JFM and local knowledge on forests are of immense significance for forest management. Moreover, indigenous cultural and ritual practices of the local people in sacred groves provide a tool for protecting biodiversity.