Monitoring and Evaluating Forest Restoration Success

Background

This chapter reviews the importance of monitoring and evaluation for restoration projects, in order to confirm the hypotheses that shape such projects, to fine-tune management actions, adapt restoration approach on a long-scale trajectory, and to prove results to stakeholders. The chapter presents three case studies of ecological restoration and monitoring throughout the world, including the Southwestern Alps, Vietnam, and the Mediterranean region, as three examples where monitoring and evaluation practices have been in place and are evolving over time.

Conclusions & Takeaways

Three main categories are identified as important to monitor and evaluate: 1) Naturalness/ecological integrity, 2) Environmental Benefits, 3) Livelihoods & Well-being, and the criteria for indicators are: Simplicity, Measurability, Reliability, Relevance, and Timeliness. Tools that exist for monitoring ecological restoration are pointed out to include Restoration plans, Restoration databases, field notes, criteria and indicators, but there is further need for improvement in methodologies, unified procedures among programs, additional financial support for monitoring and evaluation, and further field testing to build knowledge. Overall, the authors also point out the importance of monitoring and evaluation on a multiple hierarchy, landscape scale