We have recently emerged from a period of prolonged environmental stability, when it seemed possible to restore ecosystems to a prior state of biodiversity with relative ease. Now with climate change, sea level rise, and increasing land use impacts, we are scrambling to find out how we can restore and still retain a historical perspective in our work. The SER Primer (www.ser.org) reminds us that ecosystems are dynamic, and that our job is to reestablish the continuation of a temporarily interrupted historic ecological trajectory. This way of thinking requires that we pay more attention to the preparation of the ecological reference and not just use reference ecosystems as templates. It also means that we must heed performance standards in a more sophisticated manner. This talk explores how this altered way of considering restoration can be implemented.

Andre Clewell has practiced ecological restoration since 1979. He has also been engaged in research, policy development, and the advancement of restoration as a profession and conservation strategy. For 22 years, Clewell owned and operated A. F. Clewell, Inc., specializing in the design and implementation of ecological restoration projects. His clients include private corporations (mostly mining companies), NGOs (The Nature Conservancy, etc.), public U.S. agencies (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, etc.), national governments (Saudi Arabia), and transnational organizations (Inter-American Development Bank). He conducted ecological inventories of potential project sites and natural ecosystems to serve as baseline reference sites. He is currently implementing projects on the Tibetan Plateau of SW China to reconnect fragmented forests as habitat for Giant Pandas. Clewell is a founder and past-President of the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER). Among his many writings, he is the author of the internationally acclaimed book Ecological Restoration: Principles, Values, and Structure of an Emerging Profession, and the primary author of SER's principle foundation documents: The SER Primer on Ecological Restoration and Guidelines for Developing and Managing Ecological Restoration Projects, available at www.ser.org.