LARC455

This course introduces students to the scientific underpinnings, planning, design, and practical implementation of ecological restoration. The United Nations report (IPBES, 2019) on nature's dangerous decline and accelerating species extinction rates identifies changes in land use as the number one driver of negative impacts affecting 75% of the earth's terrestrial environment. Restoring the ecological functions of land degraded by agricultural practices, mining and industrial despoilation, and urban expansion offers an essential tool for reversing damage to the earth's ecosystems. In addition to a foundation in the knowledge and practice of ecological restoration designed by landscape architects, students learn from a wide variety of restoration case studies documented around the world.