Abstract

In the past two decades, ecological restoration has moved from an obscure and scientifically suspect craft to a widely practiced and respected profession with considerable scientific knowledge and refined on-the-ground practices. Concurrently, forest restoration has become a valued skill of forestry professionals and a popular goal for forest management. Politics and conflicting human valuse, however, continue to confound and derail even some of the most well-intended efforts to restore forest ecosystems. Restoration projects exist within a social context, and they must therefore produce environmental conditions that are not just ecologically sound, but also economically feasible and socially acceptable.