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ENDEIT
Nature in transition

Ecological Restoration

Terra Humana editorial teamLast updated: 2026-10-013 min read

Mediterranean valley with young trees, shrubs and a green stream

In brief

The practice of assisting the recovery of ecosystems that have been degraded, damaged or destroyed, so they regain health, function and resilience.

What is ecological restoration?

Ecological restoration is the practice of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged or destroyed. Its aim is not to build a garden or a plantation but to help a living system regain its own health, biodiversity, structure and capacity to function and adapt. In many European languages the same idea is carried by the word renaturation, literally, returning something to nature.

Restoration covers a wide range of work: stabilising and rebuilding soils, restoring the natural movement and retention of water, guiding plant succession, replanting vegetation, and re-establishing the relationships between plants, animals, fungi and micro-organisms that make an ecosystem whole. The Society for Ecological Restoration sets out internationally recognised principles and standards for this practice, emphasising native reference ecosystems, local knowledge and long-term commitment.

The field has moved to the centre of global environmental policy. The United Nations declared 2021 to 2030 the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, and in 2024 the European Union adopted its Nature Restoration Law, setting binding targets to restore degraded habitats across member states. Restoration is now understood not as an optional extra to conservation but as essential to reversing biodiversity loss and building resilience to a changing climate.

Restoration repairs relationshipsLearning panel: ecological restoration helps a living system regain its own health. It covers stabilising and rebuilding soils, the natural movement and retention of water, guiding plant succession, replanting vegetation, and the relationships between plants, animals, fungi and micro-organisms. The United Nations declared 2021 to 2030 the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, and in 2024 the EU adopted its Nature Restoration Law with binding targets. Terra Humana understands restoration as the repair of relationships: between soil and water, between plants and creatures, between people and the living world; restoration and rehumanization belong together. At Sa Medada the starting point was shaped by grazing, fire and erosion: thin soils, stripped hillsides. The direction: rebuild soil, slow and store water, re-establish native vegetation and productive tree systems. It is judged over decades by whether the system can increasingly sustain itself. TERRAWIKI · LEARNING PANEL Restoration repairs relationships Helping a living system regain its own health. 1WHAT RESTORATION COVERS Soil stabilise andrebuild Water natural movementand retention Succession guide plantsuccession Vegetation replant Relationships between plants, animals,fungi and micro-organisms 2021 to 2030UN Decade on EcosystemRestoration2024EU Nature RestorationLaw with binding targets 2THE REPAIR OF RELATIONSHIPS soilwater plantscreatures peoplelivingworld Restoration and rehumanization belong together. 3PROJECT EDEN AT SA MEDADA runs off Starting point centuries of grazing, fireand erosion: thin soils,stripped hillsides soaks in The direction rebuild soil, slow andstore water, re-establishnative vegetation andproductive tree systems Judged over decades: whether the systemcan increasingly sustain itself. Basis: Society for Ecological Restoration (2019) · TerraWiki: Ecological Restoration

How Terra Humana understands ecological restoration

Ecological restoration is not one activity among many for Terra Humana: it is written into our name and our purpose. The foundation's Italian title speaks of rinaturazione, renaturation, and it is the ground on which everything else stands. We understand restoration as the repair of relationships: between soil and water, between plants and the creatures that depend on them, and ultimately between people and the living world.

We also understand it as slow, humble work. Restoration cannot be rushed or declared complete on a timetable; it is judged over decades by whether a system can increasingly sustain itself. For us this ecological patience is inseparable from the human side of our mission: the two are the same movement, which is why restoration and rehumanization belong together.

Ecological restoration in practice

At Sa Medada, near Jerzu in the Ogliastra region of Sardinia, restoration is the underlying task of Project Eden. Much of the Mediterranean interior has been worn down by centuries of grazing, fire and erosion, leaving thin soils and stripped hillsides. The foundation's work begins there: rebuilding soil and its organic life, slowing and storing water in the landscape so it soaks in rather than runs off, and re-establishing both native vegetation and productive tree systems.

Restoration at Sa Medada draws on several methods documented elsewhere in this knowledge base (natural succession, soil regeneration and syntropic cultivation) combined according to what each part of the land needs. This is early, long-horizon work, and we describe it as a direction and a commitment rather than a finished achievement, documenting honestly what recovers, how fast, and what does not.

Aerial view of Sa Medada with the property boundary

Sa Medada

What this looks like at Sa Medada

Project Eden at Sa Medada is designed restoration on a south-facing slope near Jerzu that rises from 247 to 341 metres. Its first phase is about pioneer plants and water. The groundwork is a set of maps from LiDAR data that show where rain runs off, where moisture gathers and where erosion threatens.

More about Project Eden

Frequently asked

What is ecological restoration?

Ecological restoration, sometimes called renaturation, is the practice of helping ecosystems that have been degraded or destroyed to recover their health, biodiversity and natural functions. It ranges from replanting native vegetation and reviving soils to reconnecting rivers and reintroducing lost species.

How does Terra Humana apply ecological restoration?

Ecological restoration is the core purpose named in Terra Humana's own founding charter. At Sa Medada in Sardinia the foundation repairs soil, restores water retention and re-establishes native and productive vegetation, working to bring degraded Mediterranean land back to life.

Abandoned field in stages: grasses, then broom and rockrose, young oaks behindNext in this themeEcological SuccessionThe gradual process by which the mix of species in an ecosystem changes over time, from pioneers toward a mature community.

Related terms

Wild horses grazing in an open cork oak woodlandRewildingA restoration approach that returns ecosystems to self-sustaining states by reducing human control and letting natural processes lead.Abandoned field in stages: grasses, then broom and rockrose, young oaks behindEcological SuccessionThe gradual process by which the mix of species in an ecosystem changes over time, from pioneers toward a mature community.Dense planting rows with bananas, papaya and young trees, prunings as mulchSyntropic AgricultureA regenerative farming method that grows food by accelerating natural forest succession, developed by the Swiss farmer Ernst Götsch in Brazil.Several hands planting a young tree togetherRehumanizationRestoring the human being as a conscious, caring participant in the living world: the human counterpart to ecological restoration.Olive grove with flowering hedgerows, field margins, a pond and old treesReconciliation EcologyThe practice of fostering biodiversity inside landscapes people actively use, rather than only inside protected areas set aside from them.Young trees of several species in pots, ready for plantingAssisted MigrationDeliberately moving tree species or their seed to areas better suited to the future climate, when they cannot spread there fast enough on their own.

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Sources

  • Society for Ecological Restoration, International Principles and Standards (2019)
  • UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030
  • EU Nature Restoration Law (Regulation 2024/1991)

Last updated: 2026-10-01