Nature recovery
2 Letting nature lead
2.2 How can we measure the recovery of nature and natural processes?
In 2018, a novel approach for measuring and monitoring progress in rewilding was developed by Torres et al., focusing on the ecological attributes of rewilding.
The ‘Rewilding Score’ – a framework for assessing the recovery of natural processes – evaluates two variables:
- Changes in human forcing (intervention in) ecological processes. This is the extent to which people control or modify natural processes. Changes in the ecological integrity of ecosystems.
- This rewilding assessment framework is innovative because it links changes in human forcing to the recovery of nature and natural processes.
Visual representation of the concept and examples of rewilding score against two axis – Human Intervention and Ecological Integrity.
The assessment of a rewilding score combines ecosystem observation and expert dialogue, based on indicators for each of the two axes. Through this process, it also helps identify new potential rewilding actions, including steps to stop or reduce human intervention that can enhance ecological integrity.
Ecological integrity indicators:
- Terrestrial species composition
- Spontaneous vegetations dynamics
- Harmful invasive species
- Aquatic landscape connectivity
- Terrestrial landscape connectivity
- Natura pest and mortality regimes
- Natural fire regimes
- Natural avalanche and rockslide regimes
Human intervention indicators:
- Deadwood removal
- Carrion removal
- Harvesting of aquatic wildlife
- Harvesting of terrestrial wildlife
- Area of mining and intensity of impact
- Grassland area for hay, crop production and intensity of management
- Forest area for silviculture and intensity of management
- Cropland area and farming intensity
- Population reinforcements
- Artificial feeding of wildlife
Other types of monitoring can also deepen our understanding of the functionality of nature, such as:
- sediment loads and erosion/deposition volumes along a rewilded river
- demographic and behavioural monitoring of recovering keystone species
- changes in vegetation heterogeneity using satellite images of the landscape over time.
These, and many other approaches, help to give us a better understanding of the impact of rewilding efforts.
