The Endangered Landscapes Programme is building a future in which landscapes are enriched with biodiversity, establishing resilient, more self-sustaining ecosystems that benefit both nature and people
Photo: Viktar Malyshchyc
Featured Project
Extensive and ethereal, Białowieża (Beloveshskaya Pushcha) is one of Europe’s last great primary forests. The outstanding biodiversity value of this UNESCO World Heritage Site includes one-quarter of the world’s European bison among 59 mammal species plus an astonishing 12,000 invertebrate species. Following decades of exploitation and drainage in the Belarus part of the forest and recent controversial logging in Poland, however, Białowieża is under threat.
Building on experience from Belarus, the project will plan landscape-level restoration of the forest’s hydrology. It intends to adopt a transboundary approach to address the international stalemate over Poland’s intensive logging. The project envisages that returning groundwater to near-natural levels should enable the rewetting of forests, up to 20,000 ha of drained mires and formerly straightened riverbeds.
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There is a real lack of evidence describing the outcomes of ecosystem restoration in Europe – both in terms of the benefits that restoration provides and across different habitats. Such evidence is urgently needed to inform effective restoration policy and strategy. Despite the challenges associated with measuring restoration outcomes, data gathered and communicated effectively could…
14th July 2021
In the third of the rewards of nature restoration guest article series, Felipe Gonzalez Sanchez tells us about the benefits…
July 13, 2021
Criss-crossing trunks at drunken angles, broken lichen-scarred limbs, softly rotting wood beneath further freshly fallen trunks. These might be the…
July 7, 2021
The Endangered Landscapes Programme (ELP) is inviting expressions of interest from organisations and partnerships that share the programme’s vision. This…
July 1, 2021
