What is Restoration?
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A bucket dredge begins
construction of twelve hundred acres of marsh. An additional three thousand
acres of marsh are predicted to grow on this site in the Atchafalaya
Delta, Louisiana. |
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Restoration is defined as the process of reestablishing a self-sustaining habitat that closely resembles the natural condition in terms of structure and function. For America's living marine resources, the goal of "restoration" is to expedite natural processes in rebuilding a healthy, functioning natural ecosystem that works like it did before it was polluted or destroyed with both clean water and healthy habitats.
These habitats support fish and wildlife, and human uses such as swimming, diving, boating, and recreational and commercial fishing. Restoration strives to affect the ecosystem as a whole, supporting numerous species. Restoration also means an actual increase in living marine resource habitats, as measured both by structural and functional characteristics that have the ability to support fish and wildlife.
Restoring our nation's living marine resource habitats will:
- Maintain vital food supplies. Healthy coastal habitats produce more food per acre than the richest Midwestern farmland because of the fertile mix of nutrients from land and sea.
- Protect nature's bounty. Beyond providing food for our consumption, coastal habitats are home to thousands of species of fish, birds, plants, and animals that depend on healthy habitat for their survival.
- Protect human health. The Pfiesteria piscidida outbreak on the Chesapeake Bay - which caused massive fish kills - was also harmful to the humans exposed to the toxic microbe, causing skin lesions and even memory loss. Health risks like these can occur when estuaries and coastal and upland habitats decline. But when they are restored, these habitats produce healthy fish and wildlife that contribute to human health and enjoyment.
- Maintain biodiversity. The coastal and marine environment is the second major source of biodiversity on our planet. Restoring a variety of coastal and marine habitats provides for healthy communities of plants and animals, including endangered and threatened species, to maintain ecological balance within our natural systems.
- Create jobs. There are 28 million jobs in the fishing, tourism and recreational boating industries - all of which depend on healthy coastal habitats for their products and customers. Indeed, estuaries and coastal waters provide essential habitat for 75 percent of America's commercial fish catch and 80 to 90 percent of the recreational fish catch.
- Preserve a way of life. Healthy estuaries and coastal resources support unique, centuries-old cultures, traditions and ways of life dependent upon the marine environment's diversity. For more than 110 million Americans who live near coastal habitats, they are linchpins in people's quality of life: for their scenic beauty, for their recreational opportunities, for their bounty and abundance of life, for their mere presence. Habitat restoration will help maintain these ways of life - and the heritage they embody - for the benefit of future generations.
- Expand our enjoyment. Over 200 million Americans - approximately 70 percent of the entire population - visit coastal habitat annually for vacations, recreation, sport, or sightseeing. Coastal habitats that support living marine resources are matchless educational resources that must be maintained as living laboratories of life. The more we do to restore coastal habitats like estuaries, the more we will be able to experience their amazing bounty.
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