On the restoration of high diversity forests: 30 years of experience in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

We present a review of more than 30 years of ecological restoration in the Brazilian part of the Atlantic Forest. Based on what has been done in this biome, we try to summarize the main findings and challenges for restoration in this highly threatened forest biome. We found that many past experience...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biological conservation 2009-06, Vol.142 (6), p.1242-1251
Main Authors: Rodrigues, Ricardo R., Lima, Renato A.F., Gandolfi, Sérgius, Nave, André G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biodiversity conservation
Brazil
forest regeneration
literature reviews
natural regeneration
Public policies
public policy
rain
Restoration practices
seeds
species diversity
tropical forests
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Summary:We present a review of more than 30 years of ecological restoration in the Brazilian part of the Atlantic Forest. Based on what has been done in this biome, we try to summarize the main findings and challenges for restoration in this highly threatened forest biome. We found that many past experiences did not result in self-perpetuating forests, for different reasons. Currently, most projects aim to construct self-sustaining communities and no longer see restoration as a deterministic process. We also found that the reconstruction of permanent forest with high diversity is feasible but it depends on the strategies applied and on the surrounding landscape. Although many new techniques have been created (e.g. seed rain management or promotion of natural regeneration), the most used one in the Atlantic Forest is still the planting of many native species from different functional groups. Native species are largely used and perform well even in highly disturbed environments. Today, many projects are trying to produce thousands of hectares of permanent forests and many technical advances are about to be incorporated. But restoration also faces some main challenges to become an effective and widespread means of conserving the Atlantic Forest which are, namely, reducing costs, planning restoration actions at landscape-level, and conforming to socio-political issues. The socio-political tools to overcome such barriers in practice have yet to be developed.
ISSN:0006-3207
1873-2917
DOI:10.1016/j.biocon.2008.12.008