Just as habitats are not degraded overnight, habitat structure and function also take time to become reestablished, even when the best available engineering and scientific techniques are used. Restoration is still a relatively young science, and many habitat restorations completed over the last decade are still becoming established, evolving toward better functioning, and so are

The nine attributes listed below provide a basis for determining when restoration has been accomplished. The full expression of all of these attributes is not essential to demonstrate restoration. Instead, it is only necessary for these attributes to demonstrate an appropriate trajectory of ecosystem development towards the intended goals or reference. Some attributes are readily

Most often, habitat restoration activities are conducted by federal, state, and local government resource agencies, as well as by private and nonprofit groups in order to restore and enhance degraded ecosystems. Even private landowners are restoring habitats on their lands because they are good stewards of the land and believe it is the right thing

Habitat restoration is important for reasons varying from aesthetic and recreational to economic and pragmatic. Wild lands and wilderness have aesthetic properties that help to maintain mental health for millions of people every year. Restoring habitats can facilitate the return of wildlife to disturbed areas for its own sake or for the sake of recreational

Habitat restoration is accomplished through management, protection, and reestablishment of plants by returning abiotic factors (e.g., soil chemistry, water content, disturbance) and biotic factors (e.g., species composition, interactions among species) to historical levels. Properly restored ecosystems demonstrate the historical species diversity of the area instead of one species in monoculture. Reestablishing plants provides a food

Habitat restoration is an intentional activity that initiates or accelerates the recovery of an ecosystem with respect to its health, integrity and sustainability. It involves measures necessary to restore, enhance, or create healthy ecosystems, including the reestablishment of native vegetation and fish and wildlife habitat on disturbed or denuded sites.