Ecosystem Restoration: How National Parks Help Damaged Ecosystems Recover

Step outside — into a backyard or a national park — and you are standing in an ecosystem: a web of living things (plants, animals, tiny organisms and people) and non-living ones (the physical environment and the weather), all connected.

Image from the National Park Service's page on ecosystem restoration

What healthy ecosystems give us

People need healthy, intact ecosystems to survive and thrive. They:

• provide clean air, food and water;
• offer places for recreation;
• influence our economies;
• prevent or slow the spread of disease;
• boost resilience to the effects of climate change;
• hold cultural significance.

Nature also gives us medicines and clothing, and improves our mental, physical and community health. People have always been part of nature, and nature part of people.

What throws them off balance

Ecosystems depend on a delicate balance among their parts, so changes large or small can have big — often harmful — effects. Many are human-caused:

• habitat loss;
• invasive species that people introduce;
• pollution.

Others come from changes in the natural environment, such as those driven by climate change.

Channel Islands National Park, close to the California mainland, holds a distinctive and vibrant ecosystem. Photo by the National Park Service

What ecosystem restoration is

Ecosystem restoration means helping damaged or destroyed ecosystems recover. Doing it well requires understanding the tangled relationships among an ecosystem's physical, biological and cultural resources. The National Park Service uses science to keep ecosystems working, with tools like:

• prescribed burning;
• removing invasive species and planting native ones;
• keeping habitats connected, so animals can move freely to reach food and breeding grounds.

Forest restoration in Mississippi National River and Recreation Area. Photo by the National Park Service

Ecosystems don't stop at park boundaries, so restoration depends on working with partners and local communities. With more than 400 parks across all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the territories, and millions of visitors a year, it is no small job.

Funding: the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, signed in 2021, made more than $40 million available through the Department of the Interior for ecosystem restoration in the national parks over several years.

What you can do

1. Grow native plants in your yard.
2. Find and pull invasive plants there, too.
3. Cut back on pesticides, or stop using them.
4. Clean your boots, gear and boats before and after you head out, so you don't spread invasive species.
5. Leave no trace: dispose of waste properly, leave what you find, respect wildlife and be considerate of other visitors.

On your next park visit, look for restoration in action — and tell someone why it matters.

Sources

Based on "I Didn't Know That!: Ecosystem Restoration," National Park Service; a work of the United States government in the public domain.