Humans have transformed over a third of the existing ecosystems into agricultural fields or cities, or have severely degraded ecosystems through processes of fragmentation, unsustainable harvest, pollution, climate change, or exotic species invasions. The scientific field of restoration ecology attempts to resolve environmental problems that arise from ecosystem degradation related processes. Ecological restoration, as “the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed” (The Society of Ecological Restoration International), strives to bring a compromised ecological system to a less disturbed state and restore some of its functionality. Future-wise ecological restoration projects wish to promote the self-sustainability of an ecosystem, with its both biotic and abiotic elements, without further assistance.
We focus our ecological restoration research on two ecosystems:
+ Over-stabilization of the Western Negev dune system
Phosphate mines at the Tzin – Oron (Northern Arava Valley)
