SOCIETY FOR ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION - INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

23rd August - 27th August

Three representatives from the ESRM team and steering committee attended the Society for Ecological Restoration International (SERI) Conference held in Perth. The conference welcomed over 700 delegates representing almost 50 countries.

The Society for Ecological Restoration – International a non-profit organization was established in 1988 and now has 2300 members – individuals and organizations who are actively engaged in ecologically-sensitive repair and management of ecosystems through a broad array of experience, knowledge and cultural perspectives. They are scientists, planners, administrators, ecological consultants, first peoples, landscape architects, philosophers, teachers, engineers, natural areas managers, writers, growers, community activists, and volunteers, among others.

SERI’s mission is "to promote ecological restoration as a means of sustaining the diversity of life on Earth and re-establishing an ecologically healthy relationship between nature and culture."

The conference was designed to provide a forum for scientists and practitioners who look to restoration as a means to conserve the planet’s great assortment of ecosystems and biodiversity. This meeting of minds provided a critical platform to assist in defining the principles of restoration, understanding goals and milestones, debating what ecosystem functions to measure and closing the gap between the science of restoration ecology and the practice of ecological restoration.

With a focus on Making Change in a Changing World, the local conference organizing committee engaged the debate on the impact of a changing world on our restoration capabilities. The meeting hosted an array of themes representing current research and global restoration practices. Themes that are relevant, of high focus and contemporary in Australia held a significant part of the SER International 2009 program.
• Restoration ecology in a changing world
• Linking science with the arts - social and cultural aspects of restoration
• Restoration at the landscape scale
• Ecological restoration of ecosystems and disturbed sites
• Ecological restoration of threatened species, populations and habitats
• Management and technical aspects of restoration
• Disturbance ecology and management
• Economics and legislation of restoration

More information is available at the SERI 2009 Conference website