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Ecological Restoration in Nova Scotia Provincial Parks
Ecologically 'out of sync'
Many provincial parks, in whole or in part, are 'out of sync' with their natural ecological evolution. This is primarily a result of past farming and forest harvesting that eliminated the natural, climax forest best suited to that area. When these activities ended, and parks were created, disturbance-prone species such as aspens, white birch, balsam fir and white spruce took the place of climax species. The deliberate or unintentional introduction of nonnative and native 'offsite' species (those planted where they are not naturally found) has had a significant ecological impact. |
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Ecological Restoration helps ecosystems get re-established
In some cases, nature can restore itself. In others, nature needs some help. Ecological restoration is initiating or accelerating the recovery of an ecosystem. It is not forest management. It is an attempt to restore ecological integrity (natural ability to regenerate, re-organize, and self-sustain itself after disturbance) to a park's ecosystems. In other words, the goal is to enable the plants and animals, found in an area prior to human disturbance, to re-establish and flourish. Once restored, the ecosystem can usually evolve on its own without further human intervention.
Ecological restoration:
(1) restores and maintains biodiversity,
(2) restores natural ecosystem productivity,
(3) provides linkages to other natural ecosystems within the larger landscape,
(4) eliminates the negative impact of nonnative and offsite species. |
 Beaver Mountain Provincial Park case study |
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