Habitat Restoration
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Habitat Restoration
Habitat restoration is the process of repairing damaged, degraded, fragmented, or destroyed ecosystems so that they can once again support native plants, animals, ecological processes, and human communities. Restoration can range from removing a small barrier from a stream to rebuilding wetlands, reconnecting floodplains, restoring forests and grasslands, or recovering coral reefs across entire landscapes.
Modern habitat restoration increasingly focuses not only on restoring individual species but also on rebuilding ecological processes such as natural hydrology, migration, pollination, nutrient cycling, sediment movement, fire regimes, and interactions among species. Projects are commonly evaluated through long-term monitoring to determine whether ecosystems are becoming more diverse, resilient, connected, and capable of sustaining themselves.
Rivers, Streams, Floodplains, and Fish Passage
Freshwater restoration frequently seeks to restore the natural movement of water, sediment, nutrients, fish, and other organisms through river systems. Dams, culverts, channelization, development, and altered floodplains can fragment aquatic ecosystems and prevent migratory species from reaching important spawning and nursery habitat.
Dam removal and culvert replacement can reopen long stretches of rivers to migrating fish. Other projects reconnect rivers with floodplains, restore side channels, add large wood and spawning gravel, stabilize damaged banks, recreate wetlands, and restore riparian vegetation.
Floodplain reconnection is particularly important because seasonal flooding can create productive feeding and rearing habitat for fish while also supporting wetlands, birds, amphibians, and other wildlife. Restored floodplains can additionally store floodwater and improve the resilience of surrounding communities.
Salmon restoration in the western United States illustrates the importance of treating rivers as interconnected systems. Projects increasingly attempt to restore natural watershed processes and habitat diversity rather than simply constructing isolated pieces of habitat.
Wetlands, Marshes, Estuaries, and Coastal Habitats
Wetlands are among the most frequently restored ecosystems. Projects may restore natural hydrology, reconnect tidal flows, remove invasive vegetation, recreate marshes, revegetate shorelines, and convert previously drained or developed land back into wetland habitat.
Restored wetlands provide breeding, feeding, nursery, and migration habitat for fish, waterbirds, amphibians, mammals, insects, and plants. They can also improve water quality by trapping sediment and nutrients, store floodwater, protect shorelines, and increase resilience to storms and sea-level rise.
Estuary restoration often combines tidal-marsh recovery with living shorelines, floodplain reconnection, fish-passage improvements, and restoration of submerged aquatic vegetation. Large projects in places such as San Francisco Bay, Puget Sound, the Chesapeake Bay region, and the Great Lakes demonstrate how restoration can occur across entire coastal landscapes.
Restoration projects may also attempt to recreate the physical processes that historically maintained wetlands. Rather than simply planting vegetation, practitioners increasingly restore water movement, sediment dynamics, tidal exchange, and natural connections among rivers, marshes, estuaries, and coastal waters.
Coral Reefs, Oyster Reefs, Seagrass, and Marine Habitats
Marine habitat restoration includes the rebuilding of coral reefs, oyster reefs, seagrass meadows, mangroves, salt marshes, and other coastal ecosystems.
Coral restoration can involve growing corals in nurseries, propagating genetically diverse colonies, preparing damaged reef surfaces, planting nursery-grown corals, and monitoring their survival and reproduction. Because climate change, warming seas, disease, pollution, and other stresses continue to affect reefs, restoration is increasingly combined with efforts to improve long-term ecological resilience.
Oyster-reef restoration commonly involves rebuilding three-dimensional reef structures and adding oysters to suitable habitat. Mature reefs provide shelter and feeding habitat for fish, crabs, and other organisms while filtering water and influencing nutrient cycling. Protected restoration areas can allow reefs to mature and reproduce without the pressure of harvesting.
Seagrass restoration uses techniques such as transplantation, natural recolonization, protected planting areas, sediment stabilization, and repair of damage caused by boats or other disturbances. Healthy seagrass meadows serve as nursery habitat, stabilize sediments, support food webs, and provide shelter for numerous aquatic species.
Mangrove and living-shoreline projects similarly combine habitat recovery with shoreline stabilization and protection of coastal communities.
Forests, Grasslands, Prairies, and Rangelands
Terrestrial restoration encompasses forests, grasslands, prairies, savannas, shrublands, rangelands, and drylands. Common techniques include reforestation, natural regeneration, native seeding, prescribed burning, invasive-species removal, erosion control, improved grazing practices, and restoration of natural water systems.
Forest restoration does not necessarily mean simply planting trees. Projects may attempt to recover native forest structure, reconnect fragmented habitats, restore natural disturbance regimes, remove invasive species, and encourage natural regeneration.
Grassland and prairie restoration often involves replacing invasive or woody vegetation with diverse native plant communities. Prescribed fire, carefully managed grazing, native seeding, and control of invasive plants can recreate habitat for birds, pollinators, grazing mammals, and other wildlife.
Rangeland and dryland projects increasingly use methods designed to slow runoff, capture water, reduce erosion, restore native grasses, and improve degraded soils. These techniques can simultaneously improve wildlife habitat and the productivity and resilience of working landscapes.
Species Recovery and Wildlife Habitat
Habitat restoration is often a central component of endangered-species recovery. Reintroducing animals into an ecosystem may have limited success if the underlying habitat remains fragmented or degraded.
Restoration projects therefore attempt to increase the amount, quality, and connectivity of suitable habitat. Examples include restoring wetlands for threatened amphibians and birds, rebuilding prairie ecosystems for grassland wildlife, restoring forest corridors, recovering sagebrush habitat, improving salmon streams, and reconnecting landscapes used by migratory species.
In some cases, habitat restoration is combined with captive breeding or reintroduction. Restoring ecological conditions before or alongside reintroduction can improve the chances that released populations become self-sustaining.
Pollinator restoration similarly requires more than planting flowers. Successful habitat may need season-long floral resources, appropriate nesting sites, protection from disturbance, landscape connectivity, and management of invasive species and other threats.
Restoring Ecological Processes
One of the major developments in restoration ecology has been a shift from recreating the appearance of habitat toward restoring the processes that allow ecosystems to function.
Important processes can include:
- natural river flooding and sediment movement;
- tidal exchange in wetlands and estuaries;
- fire in fire-adapted forests and grasslands;
- pollination and seed dispersal;
- predator-prey and herbivore-plant relationships;
- migration and movement between habitats;
- groundwater and surface-water interactions;
- natural regeneration and ecological succession.
Restoring these processes can allow ecosystems to become more self-sustaining and reduce the need for continuous human intervention.
Habitat Connectivity and Landscape-Scale Restoration
Many species depend on several different habitats during their lives. A restored wetland or forest patch may therefore provide limited benefits if it remains isolated from other suitable habitat.
Landscape-scale restoration attempts to reconnect rivers, floodplains, wetlands, forests, grasslands, coastal ecosystems, and wildlife corridors. Connectivity enables animals to migrate, reproduce, find food, respond to seasonal changes, and shift their ranges as environmental conditions change.
Large restoration programs increasingly coordinate projects across property boundaries and political jurisdictions. Government agencies, conservation organizations, private landowners, Indigenous communities, scientists, farmers, anglers, volunteers, and local residents may all participate in restoring interconnected landscapes.
Science, Monitoring, and Restoration Standards
Restoration does not end when construction or planting is completed. Monitoring is necessary to determine whether ecological conditions actually improve.
Researchers may measure changes in vegetation, wildlife populations, fish abundance, hydrology, sediment movement, water temperature, invasive species, biodiversity, habitat connectivity, and ecosystem functions. Monitoring can reveal whether a project is succeeding and whether management practices need to be changed.
International restoration standards increasingly emphasize measurable objectives, reference conditions, biodiversity recovery, ecological integrity, climate resilience, community participation, Indigenous knowledge, and adaptive management.
Restoration success can take years or decades to become apparent. Some ecosystems develop slowly, and short-term increases in vegetation or individual species do not necessarily mean that complex ecological relationships and food webs have fully recovered.
Community-Led Restoration and Human Benefits
Habitat restoration increasingly includes local communities as active participants rather than treating restoration solely as a technical conservation activity.
Community-led projects can combine ecological recovery with employment, stewardship, fisheries, recreation, water security, cultural values, and local livelihoods. Examples range from locally led mangrove and forest restoration in Africa to community-supported river, wetland, prairie, and coastal projects in North America and elsewhere.
Restoration can also produce benefits beyond wildlife conservation. Wetlands and floodplains can reduce flooding, coastal vegetation can lessen erosion and storm impacts, forests can protect watersheds, oyster reefs can filter water, and restored landscapes can provide recreational and economic opportunities.
These overlapping benefits have contributed to the growing use of restoration as a nature-based approach to biodiversity loss, climate adaptation, watershed management, and community resilience.
Challenges and Limits of Habitat Restoration
Habitat restoration is not a substitute for protecting intact ecosystems. Destroying healthy habitat and attempting to recreate it elsewhere can result in the loss of ecological characteristics that may take decades or centuries to develop.
Restoration projects can also fail when the original causes of degradation remain in place. Pollution, excessive water extraction, invasive species, development, altered fire regimes, climate change, habitat fragmentation, and other pressures can undermine restoration efforts.
Effective projects therefore require clear objectives, appropriate ecological knowledge, long-term monitoring, realistic timeframes, adequate funding, and adaptive management. Increasingly, restoration programs seek to address the processes causing degradation while protecting remaining intact habitat.
Conclusion
Habitat restoration has developed from relatively small projects focused on individual sites into a broad field concerned with rebuilding functioning ecosystems and connected landscapes. Rivers are being reconnected with floodplains, wetlands are being re-flooded, dams and barriers are being removed, forests and grasslands are being regenerated, reefs and seagrass beds are being rebuilt, and degraded wildlife habitat is being restored across terrestrial, freshwater, and marine environments.
The strongest restoration approaches focus not simply on replacing plants or creating habitat structures but on restoring the ecological processes, connectivity, biodiversity, and species interactions that allow ecosystems to persist over time. Monitoring and adaptive management are essential because ecological recovery is often gradual and conditions continue to change.
Habitat restoration can recover biodiversity while also improving water quality, fisheries, flood protection, climate resilience, cultural values, recreation, and community livelihoods. Its greatest value, however, comes when restoration is combined with protection of remaining natural habitat and action to reduce the underlying causes of ecosystem degradation.
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General Restoration Science, Standards, Monitoring & Policy
| International Union for Conservation of Nature | IUCN | July 1, 2026
Highlights restoration projects across Africa and shares lessons for scaling ecosystem recovery under the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
| International Union for Conservation of Nature | IUCN | June 24, 2026
Reviews evidence from dozens of African conservation projects to identify approaches that most effectively restore habitat, protect wildlife, and support communities.
| Society for Ecological Restoration | Society for Ecological Restoration | June 23, 2026
Introduces updated international restoration standards emphasizing measurable biodiversity recovery, climate resilience, Indigenous knowledge, and stronger assessment of restoration outcomes.
| Society for Ecological Restoration | Society for Ecological Restoration | June 2026
Presents international principles and standards for planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating ecological restoration projects across terrestrial, freshwater, coastal, and marine habitats.
| U.S. Geological Survey | U.S. Geological Survey | April 1, 2026
Collects research on ecological restoration, wildlife habitat recovery, land reclamation, ecosystem resilience, invasive species, and restoration decision-support tools.
| U.S. Geological Survey | U.S. Geological Survey | March 31, 2026
Describes research on ecological restoration, wildlife responses, post-restoration monitoring, invasive species, wildfire, and science-based adaptive management.
| U.S. Geological Survey | U.S. Geological Survey | March 31, 2026
Focuses on improving restoration effectiveness through standardized monitoring, adaptive management, ecosystem-recovery research, and wildlife-habitat evaluation.
| NOAA Fisheries | NOAA Fisheries | 2026
Describes technical assistance used to design effective habitat projects involving wetlands, fish passage, coral reefs, and other damaged ecosystems.
| U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | EPA | August 28, 2025
Reviews habitat-restoration planning by National Estuary Programs, including revegetation, riparian buffers, open-space protection, wetland recovery, and water-quality improvements.
| United Nations Environment Programme | UNEP | November 4, 2024
Defines ecosystem restoration and explains how recovering damaged terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems can improve biodiversity, climate regulation, soils, fisheries, and human well-being.
| International Union for Conservation of Nature | IUCN | October 2024
Explains how the Species Threat Abatement and Restoration metric can quantify biodiversity gains resulting from habitat restoration and other conservation actions.
| Researchers | Current Biology | May 6, 2024
Shows how ecological theories involving succession, facilitation, dispersal, species interactions, and resilience can improve the effectiveness of ecosystem restoration.
| United Nations Environment Programme | UNEP | April 16, 2024
Introduces the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and the global effort to prevent, halt, and reverse ecosystem degradation.
| USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service | USDA NRCS | 2024
Reviews evidence showing that conservation practices creating or restoring grasslands, shrublands, forests, and wetlands can substantially improve pollinator habitat.
| U.S. Geological Survey Researchers | U.S. Geological Survey | 2022
Presents a framework for measuring fish, vegetation, hydrology, geomorphology, bird, and invasive-species responses to Willamette River floodplain restoration.
| BirdLife International | BirdLife International | August 4, 2021
Presents restoration principles emphasizing ecological integrity, habitat connectivity, biodiversity recovery, local communities, and long-term ecosystem function.
| United Nations Environment Programme | UNEP | January 18, 2021
Reviews coral-restoration methods and principles for designing projects that improve reef resilience, biodiversity, fisheries, and ecosystem services.
| UNEP and FAO | United Nations Environment Programme | 2021
Establishes principles intended to guide effective restoration of degraded terrestrial, freshwater, coastal, and marine ecosystems during the UN restoration decade.
| NOAA Fisheries | NOAA Fisheries | June 10, 2020
Introduces NOAA's Restoration Atlas and thousands of projects involving wetlands, rivers, oyster reefs, coral reefs, and other aquatic habitats.
| Researchers | Science of the Total Environment | April 1, 2020
Uses food-web and resource-niche metrics to measure ecological recovery after restoration and shows that complex biogenic habitats may take substantial time to recover.
| Jennifer M.H. Loch, Linda J. Walters and Geoffrey S. Cook | Food Webs | 2020
Reviews how trophic interactions and food-web structure can be used alongside species abundance to evaluate whether habitat restoration truly restores ecosystem function.
| Péter Török et al. | Biological Conservation | February 2017
Connects ecological theory with practical habitat restoration and examines species selection, dispersal, establishment, community assembly, and appropriate timescales for evaluating success.
Provides monitoring methods for measuring hydrology, geomorphology, connectivity, vegetation, and other changes following large river and floodplain restoration projects.
| David A. Pyke et al. | U.S. Geological Survey | 2015
Provides a science-based framework for deciding where and how to restore sagebrush-steppe ecosystems and greater sage-grouse habitat after disturbance.
Provides a global review of freshwater habitat rehabilitation techniques, their effectiveness, costs, ecological foundations, project prioritization, monitoring, and evaluation.
| San Francisco Bay Area Wetlands Ecosystem Goals Project | San Francisco Estuary Institute | 1999
Reviews lessons from San Francisco Bay habitat-restoration projects and discusses principles for designing, managing, and evaluating restored tidal and wetland ecosystems.
| U.S. Forest Service Researchers | U.S. Forest Service | n.d.
Examines large-scale restoration planning for New Mexico's Socorro Valley using floodplain reconnection, invasive control, wetland enhancement, and native vegetation recovery.
| American Rivers | American Rivers | n.d.
Provides practical resources for restoring damaged rivers through dam removal, culvert replacement, floodplain reconnection, and wetland restoration.
| American Rivers | American Rivers | n.d.
Collects tools, success stories, standards, science, and training resources for restoring rivers, floodplains, and aquatic connectivity.
| American Rivers | American Rivers | n.d.
Provides scientific literature and economic resources on dam removal, floodplain reconnection, stream crossings, restoration standards, and ecological recovery.
| The Nature Conservancy | The Nature Conservancy | n.d.
Examines the economic and public-safety benefits of investing in ecological restoration, including wetlands, forests, floodplains, dunes, and other natural infrastructure.
| The Nature Conservancy | The Nature Conservancy | n.d.
Discusses regulatory and permitting challenges that can delay habitat-restoration and natural-infrastructure projects and proposes ways to improve project delivery.
| U.S. Army Corps of Engineers | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers | n.d.
Explains the Corps' ecosystem-restoration mission and its efforts to recover degraded wetlands, riparian corridors, floodplains, rivers, and other aquatic systems.
| U.S. Geological Survey | U.S. Geological Survey | n.d.
Surveys landscape-scale restoration science used to recover terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and improve management across organizational and state boundaries.
| Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board | State of Oregon | n.d.
Reviews Oregon's watershed and salmon programs, including technical support for restoring streams and enhancing salmonid habitat throughout the state.
Rivers, Streams, Floodplains & Fish Passage
| National Fish and Wildlife Foundation | NFWF | August 20, 2026
Describes new Pecos watershed projects restoring grasslands, streams, native aquatic habitat, and landscape connectivity for pronghorn, birds, fish, and freshwater mussels.
| Kirk L. Krueger et al. | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution | May 19, 2026
Evaluates long-term fish-habitat restoration across western Washington watersheds and emphasizes the importance of accounting for substantial year-to-year habitat variability.
Models how improved juvenile habitat survival could contribute to recovery of endangered spring Chinook salmon in Washington's Wenatchee River Basin.
| U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers | March 25, 2026
Profiles Upper Mississippi projects restoring islands, backwaters, floodplain forest, channels, aquatic vegetation, and other habitat important to fish and wildlife.
| U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers | March 23, 2026
Examines restoration opportunities associated with dam removal on Wisconsin's Kinnickinnic River, a high-quality trout stream degraded by impoundments.
| American Rivers | American Rivers | March 16, 2026
Reviews dam removals completed in 2025 and illustrates how communities are using barrier removal to reconnect rivers and restore aquatic habitat.
| American Rivers | American Rivers | March 16, 2026
Reports record river reconnection through dam removals and discusses benefits for fish passage, wildlife habitat, public safety, and watershed resilience.
| Adam Smith | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | March 12, 2026
Describes restoration of Pennsylvania's Yellow Creek to improve stream function, reduce pollution and erosion, and create healthier habitat for native species.
| Ed Hubbs | Audubon | January 21, 2026
Describes restoration of roughly 300 acres of Nebraska tallgrass prairie through invasive-tree removal and reconnection with existing native grassland habitat.
| California Department of Fish and Wildlife | CDFW | January 20, 2026
Announces funding for sixteen projects protecting, restoring, and enhancing salmon and steelhead habitat in watersheds across California.
Uses more than two decades of monitoring to show how stream-habitat restoration influenced juvenile salmon and steelhead density, growth, size, biomass, and life-history diversity.
| Bianca Martinez Penn | Chesapeake Bay Program | January 8, 2026
Examines how clearer goals, better monitoring, and improved project design can strengthen ecological outcomes from stream restoration across the Chesapeake watershed.
| American Rivers | American Rivers | 2026
Maps U.S. dam removals and documents how eliminating obsolete barriers can reconnect habitat and restore natural river processes.
| National Fish and Wildlife Foundation | NFWF | 2026
Supports Appalachian grassland and aquatic restoration through stream-barrier removal, riparian buffers, improved hydrology, and habitat recovery for wildlife and freshwater species.
| National Fish and Wildlife Foundation | NFWF | 2026
Promotes process-based river restoration through floodplain reconnection, beaver mimicry, riparian planting, improved stream channels, invasive removal, and livestock management.
| Ally Turner | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | June 17, 2025
Profiles process-based stream restoration using beavers and natural hydrological processes to recover degraded streams and riparian habitat in Idaho's high desert.
| American Rivers | American Rivers | March 4, 2025
Reviews 108 U.S. dam removals in 2024, including the Klamath River restoration, and their effects on river connectivity and wildlife habitat.
| National Fish and Wildlife Foundation | NFWF | 2025
Supports restoration of Sacramento Valley floodplains, streams, riparian vegetation, and seasonal aquatic habitat for juvenile Chinook salmon and shorebirds.
| James T. Peterson and Adam Duarte | U.S. Geological Survey | July 2, 2024
Compares restoration of permanent river-channel habitat with periodically inundated floodplains and examines when each strategy produces greater benefits for juvenile salmon.
| U.S. Geological Survey Researchers | U.S. Geological Survey | May 1, 2024
Reviews restoration projects worldwide and finds particularly strong fish responses when projects reconnect fragmented river habitats.
Demonstrates how species-distribution models can identify overlooked salmon habitat and help restoration planners balance ecological benefits, uncertainty, risk, and cost.
| California Department of Water Resources | California DWR | June 23, 2022
Covers construction of the Big Notch project, designed to reconnect roughly 30,000 acres of Yolo Bypass floodplain habitat for salmon and sturgeon.
| Mary V. Santelmann, Alessandra G. Harewood and Rebecca L. Flitcroft | U.S. Forest Service | 2022
Evaluates how stream-habitat enhancement structures affected water temperatures and the availability of cooler microhabitats in an Oregon creek.
| John Kirkland, Carlos M. Polivka and Shannon Claeson | U.S. Forest Service | 2021
Investigates whether engineered logjams used in Pacific Northwest river restoration improve fish habitat and influence salmon populations beyond individual pools.
| U.S. Geological Survey | U.S. Geological Survey | 2021
Examines sediment transport following restoration efforts designed to reconnect Idaho's Yankee Fork with its floodplain and improve aquatic and terrestrial habitat.
| California Department of Water Resources | California DWR | July 2020
Profiles projects restoring salmon spawning gravel, side channels, floodplains, riparian habitat, fish passage, and natural river processes in California.
| John Stanley, F. Thomas Griggs and John Rieger | U.S. Forest Service | 2020
Reviews the historical development of riparian ecosystem restoration in California and lessons from decades of research, experimentation, management, and monitoring.
| California Department of Water Resources | California DWR | July 19, 2019
Describes approval of a major Yolo Bypass project designed to reconnect floodplain habitat and improve migration routes for salmon, steelhead, and sturgeon.
Shows how monitoring scale can affect conclusions about the success of engineered-logjam restoration for juvenile Chinook salmon.
| U.S. Geological Survey Researchers | U.S. Geological Survey | May 16, 2018
Examines seasonal habitat requirements of juvenile Chinook salmon to provide information useful for designing more effective stream-restoration projects.
| Katy Neusteter | American Rivers | March 26, 2018
Explains removal of three Massachusetts dams that restored stream connectivity and habitat for native brook trout, turtles, mussels, and other species.
| Cheryl A. Hayhurst and William R. Short | U.S. Forest Service | 2017
Examines how adding large wood to a California stream changed channel structure, pools, and habitat complexity for salmon and other aquatic species.
| Stephanie Smith | Chesapeake Bay Program | September 7, 2016
Explains how restoring riparian forest buffers provides wildlife habitat, cools streams, stabilizes banks, and filters nutrients and sediment.
| Kathleen A. Dwire, Kristen E. Meyer, Gregg Riegel and Timothy Burton | U.S. Forest Service | 2016
Reviews prescribed fire and mechanical treatments in riparian zones where improving wildlife habitat and ecological function are major restoration objectives.
| American Rivers | American Rivers | 2014
Highlights dam-removal projects that reopened spawning habitat, restored floodplains, improved fish passage, and returned rivers to more natural conditions.
Uses a salmon model to compare degraded and restored stream habitats and identify which habitat improvements most effectively support young fish.
| U.S. Forest Service | U.S. Forest Service | 2013
Documents aquatic and riparian projects including meadow restoration, reconstructed channels, large-wood placement, revegetation, erosion reduction, and recovery of stream habitat.
| Cathy Wilson | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | June 6, 2012
Documents how private landowners and conservation agencies restored spring and river habitats that support Nevada's rare Amargosa toad.
| Steven J. Cooke, Craig P. Paukert and Zeb Hogan | U.S. Geological Survey | January 1, 2012
Identifies scientific, ecological, governance, connectivity, and watershed-scale challenges that frequently prevent river-fish restoration from achieving its goals.
| U.S. Geological Survey Researchers | U.S. Geological Survey | 2012
Establishes pre-restoration measurements for a Washington river project designed to improve juvenile Chinook, steelhead, and bull-trout rearing habitat.
| P.A. Bisson, J.B. Dunham and G.H. Reeves | U.S. Geological Survey | January 1, 2009
Argues that salmon restoration should rebuild natural watershed processes, habitat diversity, connectivity, and ecological variability rather than create simplified idealized habitats.
| U.S. Geological Survey Researchers | U.S. Geological Survey | January 1, 2007
Analyzes hundreds of southwestern river-restoration projects involving riparian management, water quality, instream habitat, and modification of streamflow.
| Bureau of Land Management | BLM | 2007
Describes a cooperative shrub-steppe restoration strategy emphasizing sagebrush recovery, riparian habitat, landscape connectivity, and greater sage-grouse conservation.
| Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife | WDFW | June 2006
Reports long-term monitoring designed to test whether watershed-scale habitat restoration increases salmon production in intensively monitored Washington streams.
| Robert E. Bilby et al. | Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife | June 2005
Describes intensive watershed monitoring used to evaluate how stream and floodplain restoration affects coho, Chinook, steelhead, and cutthroat trout production.
| American Rivers | American Rivers | n.d.
Explains how removing dams, replacing culverts, and reconnecting floodplains can restore river ecosystems while improving water quality and flood resilience.
| The Nature Conservancy | The Nature Conservancy | n.d.
Visits restoration projects involving reforestation, stream recovery, invasive-species removal, and other efforts across Pennsylvania and Delaware preserves.
| The Nature Conservancy | The Nature Conservancy | n.d.
Examines efforts to accelerate Puget Sound salmon restoration through coordinated investment in estuaries, floodplains, farms, and river habitat.
| The Nature Conservancy | The Nature Conservancy | n.d.
Describes restoration and climate-resilience work involving forests, floodplains, controlled burns, invasive-species management, native planting, and collaborative land stewardship.
| U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | n.d.
Describes landscape-scale efforts to protect intact sagebrush and restore degraded habitat threatened by invasive grasses, wildfire, conifer expansion, and fragmentation.
| California Department of Water Resources | California DWR | n.d.
Describes Yolo Bypass projects increasing juvenile-salmon floodplain habitat while improving adult and juvenile fish passage through the Sacramento River system.
| California Department of Fish and Wildlife | CDFW | n.d.
Provides restoration manuals and technical guidance for salmon and steelhead stream habitat, fish passage, monitoring, and aquatic ecosystem rehabilitation.
| California Department of Water Resources | California DWR | n.d.
Describes Feather River habitat restoration through spawning-gravel additions, side-channel improvements, floodplain reconnection, and recovery of natural river processes.
| Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board | State of Oregon | n.d.
Documents landscape-scale initiatives restoring aquatic habitat for salmon and other native species throughout Oregon watersheds.
| Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife | WDFW | n.d.
Details river restoration using native riparian plantings, engineered logjams, floodplain reconnection, and off-channel habitat to benefit salmon and other aquatic wildlife.
| Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife | WDFW | n.d.
Describes streamside planting, engineered logjams, invasive-species removal, and floodplain reconnection used to restore Stillman Creek habitat.
| Washington Department of Ecology | State of Washington | n.d.
Reviews experimental restoration techniques including beaver-dam analogs, floodplain reconnection, river restoration, and habitat-complexity improvements in the Chehalis Basin.
| International Union for Conservation of Nature | IUCN | n.d.
Explains IUCN's work restoring degraded landscapes to improve wildlife habitat, watershed health, biodiversity, climate resilience, and human livelihoods.
| Maryland Department of Natural Resources | Maryland DNR | n.d.
Describes a watershed-scale program prioritizing habitat restoration and pollution reduction where they can produce the greatest improvements for aquatic ecosystems.
Wetlands, Marshes, Estuaries, Lakes & Coastal Habitats
| Jade Arneson | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | July 30, 2026
Profiles invasive-species removal and native tree, shrub, and prairie restoration benefiting bats, pollinators, migratory birds, and people along Lake Michigan.
| Audubon New York | Audubon | July 30, 2026
Explores hands-on wetland restoration at Montezuma and how controlling invasive water chestnut is improving breeding habitat for endangered Black Terns.
| California Natural Resources Agency | California Natural Resources Agency | July 24, 2026
Describes addition of thousands of cubic yards of spawning gravel and side-channel work to improve Feather River habitat for Chinook salmon and steelhead.
| Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife | WDFW | July 1, 2026
Reports construction of a 270-acre restoration project reconnecting intertidal marsh and estuary habitat in the Skagit River delta for Chinook salmon and other species.
| Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife | WDFW | July 2026
Covers restoration of 270 acres of former diked land to intertidal estuary and marsh habitat for juvenile Chinook salmon and other Skagit River wildlife.
| Researchers | Landscape and Urban Planning | July 2026
Examines how the location and sequence of restoration actions across connected coastal habitats can influence fish communities and overall restoration success.
| National Fish and Wildlife Foundation | NFWF | June 12, 2026
Covers Colorado projects restoring rivers, wetlands, wet meadows, grasslands, forests, sagebrush, native fish habitat, and wildlife migration corridors.
| Drew Diallesandro | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | May 15, 2026
Explains how restored oxbow wetlands in Iowa are helping endangered Topeka shiners recolonize habitat and build more resilient populations.
| U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | EPA | April 1, 2026
Explains voluntary wetland restoration and how recovering natural hydrology and ecological functions can improve wildlife habitat, water quality, and flood storage.
| Audubon Great Lakes | Audubon | March 31, 2026
Reports on a 50-acre New York wetland enhancement designed to improve breeding habitat for marsh birds and spawning and nursery habitat for fish.
| U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers | March 25, 2026
Collects ecosystem-restoration projects involving Mississippi River islands, lakes, wetlands, floodplain forests, aquatic vegetation, and fish and wildlife habitat.
| Brent Sodergren | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | March 12, 2026
Profiles landscape-scale restoration in northeast Ohio that converted degraded agricultural and mined land into wetlands, forests, and other wildlife habitats.
| NOAA Fisheries | NOAA Fisheries | March 2, 2026
Reviews the scale of Great Lakes restoration work, including restored wetlands, reopened streams, fish habitat improvements, and cleanup of degraded areas.
| Jessica Collier | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | February 26, 2026
Describes wetland and upland restoration in northeast Illinois involving invasive-plant removal, native seeding, volunteers, pollinators, birds, and improved water quality.
| Nat Miller | Audubon | February 5, 2026
Covers restoration at Powderhorn Lake Forest Preserve that reconnects waterways, improves fish passage, expands marsh habitat, and helps reduce flooding.
| California State Coastal Conservancy | California State Coastal Conservancy | February 2026
Documents community wetland-restoration projects involving coastal dunes, river corridors, native vegetation, wildlife connectivity, and degraded urban wetlands.
| U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers | January 21, 2026
Summarizes planned restoration of Hudson River tidal wetlands, shoreline habitat, side channels, and nearly eight miles of tributary connectivity.
| U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | EPA | January 15, 2026
Explains why restoring Gulf Coast wetlands matters for wildlife habitat, fisheries, water quality, erosion control, storm protection, and coastal communities.
| California Natural Resources Agency | California Natural Resources Agency | January 14, 2026
Shows how tidal-wetland and floodplain restoration in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is creating feeding, resting, and spawning areas for native fish.
| NOAA Fisheries | NOAA Fisheries | 2026
Describes river restoration techniques including dam removal, floodplain reconnection, riverbank restoration, wetland recovery, and improvements to migratory fish passage.
| U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | EPA | 2026
Summarizes Milwaukee Estuary projects restoring wetlands, river corridors, fish passage, native vegetation, and aquatic habitat while addressing contaminated sediments.
| U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | EPA | 2026
Provides reports and case studies documenting habitat restoration, aquatic connectivity, climate resilience, and other conservation work across nationally significant estuaries.
| National Fish and Wildlife Foundation | NFWF | 2026
Describes funding priorities for Klamath Basin river, wetland, riparian, floodplain, forest, and instream restoration supporting salmon, suckers, and other native species.
| Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife | WDFW | 2026
Describes plans to reconnect Columbia River floodplain wetlands that were historically diked and drained, restoring habitat for salmon, waterfowl, and other wildlife.
| Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife | WDFW | 2026
Explains the Estuary and Salmon Restoration Program, which funds shoreline, nearshore, estuary, and salmon-habitat restoration throughout Puget Sound.
| Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife | WDFW | 2026
Reviews tidal-estuary restoration at Leque Island and subsequent monitoring of salmon, birds, vegetation, and other wildlife using the recovered habitat.
| Oregon Department of Environmental Quality | State of Oregon | 2026
Describes contaminated-sediment cleanup combined with shoreline and aquatic habitat restoration around Moore and Wright Islands in the Columbia Slough.
| Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife | WDFW | 2026
Documents collaborative planning for a potential Columbia River floodplain and wetland reconnection project at the Shillapoo Wildlife Area.
Covers restoration of Ramsar wetlands, offshore islands, and coastal habitat in South Australia to improve resilience of seabirds, shorebirds, and marine mammals.
| USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service | USDA NRCS | November 18, 2025
Explains a Wisconsin program using wetland restoration, creation, and enhancement to compensate for unavoidable impacts while improving watershed habitat.
| Ducks Unlimited | Ducks Unlimited | October 3, 2025
Details conversion of former cropland into wetland and native prairie habitat while reducing nutrient runoff into Minnesota and Iowa lakes.
| Ducks Unlimited | Ducks Unlimited | September 18, 2025
Covers restoration of degraded marl prairie at Florida's Fakahatchee Strand Preserve through hydrological repair and replanting native species.
| National Park Service | National Park Service | June 2, 2025
Provides examples of wetland, floodplain, meadow, pond, riparian, and stream restoration projects throughout the U.S. national park system.
| Ducks Unlimited | Ducks Unlimited | April 22, 2025
Describes a decade-long Michigan effort reconnecting thousands of wetland acres with rivers and restoring marsh, floodplain forest, prairie, and fish habitat.
| BirdLife International | BirdLife International | February 2, 2025
Explores wetland conservation and restoration around the world and their importance to migratory birds, biodiversity, flood control, livelihoods, and climate resilience.
| Caroline Ng'weno and John Mwacharo | BirdLife International | February 1, 2025
Describes community restoration of Kenya's Yala Swamp through papyrus regeneration and planting more than 200,000 native trees along the Yala River.
| National Park Service | National Park Service | 2025
Surveys restoration at Redwood National and State Parks involving second-growth forests, logging roads, rivers, prairies, dunes, and invasive plants.
| National Fish and Wildlife Foundation | NFWF | 2025
Details Klamath habitat strategies involving floodplain reconnection, stream structures, riparian planting, wetlands, invasive removal, and broader watershed restoration.
| National Fish and Wildlife Foundation | NFWF | 2025
Identifies restoration priorities for grasslands, wetlands, working agricultural landscapes, wildlife habitat, water conservation, and other ecosystem functions.
| Environment and Climate Change Canada | Government of Canada | 2025
Reviews invasive-species control, wetland recovery, dune restoration, and other habitat improvements for species at risk around Long Point and Walsingham Forest.
| Audubon Great Lakes | Audubon | November 27, 2024
Covers restoration of Lake Superior coastal marsh by creating pools and channels within dense invasive cattails to improve bird and fish habitat.
| California Department of Water Resources | California DWR | November 13, 2024
Covers the 1,600-acre Prospect Island project restoring tidal aquatic habitat for Delta smelt, Chinook salmon, and other fish and wildlife.
| California Department of Water Resources | California DWR | October 2024
Reviews projects restoring spawning habitat, floodplains, fish passage, tidal wetlands, and thousands of acres of habitat throughout California's Bay-Delta system.
| National Park Service | National Park Service | June 1, 2024
Describes efforts at Point Reyes National Seashore to restore hundreds of acres of coastal dunes by removing invasive vegetation and recovering native habitat.
| National Park Service | National Park Service | May 27, 2024
Explains how removing invasive beachgrass and iceplant can restore natural dune movement and habitat for rare plants, birds, and butterflies.
| BirdLife International | BirdLife International | March 19, 2024
Shows how former quarries can be restored into reedbeds, ponds, grasslands, dunes, and other habitats supporting rare birds, amphibians, mammals, and plants.
| U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | February 21, 2024
Explores restoration of Great Lakes Areas of Concern through wetland reconstruction, improved hydrology, pollution reduction, and habitat improvements for fish and wildlife.
| National Park Service | National Park Service | 2024
Chronicles nearly two decades of invasive-plant control that allowed a rare intradunal wetland at Indiana Dunes to recover native biodiversity.
| National Park Service | National Park Service | 2024
Details Point Reyes plans to restore up to 600 acres of dune habitat altered by invasive non-native vegetation.
| Audubon Great Lakes | Audubon | 2024
Highlights major Great Lakes wetland-restoration projects that reconnect lakes, restore marsh habitat, reduce flood risk, and engage surrounding communities.
| Rosemary Hartman et al. | U.S. Geological Survey | 2024
Assesses tidal-wetland restoration in the San Francisco Estuary and identifies research and monitoring needs for improving restored fish habitat.
| San Francisco Estuary Institute | SFEI | 2024
Maps changes in Bay Area tidal and aquatic habitats and provides a tool for measuring progress toward regional wetland-restoration goals.
| Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water | DCCEEW | 2024
Describes restoration of threatened grassland and saltmarsh habitats on French Island through invasive-species control and rehabilitation of degraded areas.
| Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water | DCCEEW | 2024
Focuses on restoring and reconnecting fragmented tropical forest habitat to help threatened species respond to development, invasive species, fire, and climate change.
| National Park Service | National Park Service | September 8, 2023
Describes ongoing restoration of tidal wetlands, estuaries, dune prairie, and forests at Lewis and Clark National Historical Park.
| National Park Service | National Park Service | July 26, 2023
Discusses wetland, prairie, savanna, and former home-site restoration at Indiana Dunes through hydrologic repair, prescribed fire, invasive control, and native planting.
| U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | January 2023
Reviews Texas habitat projects including longleaf-pine restoration, prescribed burning, wetland work, grassland management, and improvements for numerous wildlife species.
| NOAA Fisheries | NOAA Fisheries | 2023
Surveys community-based projects that restore coastal ecosystems and reopen streams while improving habitat for fish and other wildlife.
| U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | EPA | 2023
Reviews National Estuary Program accomplishments involving habitat restoration, climate resilience, nutrient reduction, recreation, community engagement, and watershed partnerships.
| Natural Resources Conservation Service | USDA NRCS | 2023
Outlines expanded restoration strategies for sagebrush, grasslands, forests, rivers, wetlands, aquatic connectivity, and wildlife migration corridors.
| NOAA Fisheries | NOAA Fisheries | November 4, 2022
Shows how removing an obsolete road reconnected Washington wetlands with a creek and created feeding, resting, and rearing habitat for migratory salmon.
| California Department of Water Resources | California DWR | August 2022
Reviews several major California restoration projects involving salmon floodplains, fish passage, tidal wetlands, and other Bay-Delta habitat.
| World Wildlife Fund | WWF | August 27, 2021
Reviews restoration of forest, grassland, and wetland corridors in Nepal's Terai Arc Landscape to reconnect protected areas and improve wildlife movement and genetic exchange.
| UNEP and FAO | United Nations Environment Programme | June 7, 2021
Explores practical restoration approaches for forests, coasts, freshwater, grasslands, peatlands, farmland, mountains, and cities while linking recovery to climate and biodiversity goals.
| United Nations Environment Programme | UNEP | April 30, 2021
Provides an accessible overview of restoring forests, rivers, lakes, grasslands, mountains, oceans, coasts, peatlands, farmland, and urban ecosystems.
| Natural Resources Conservation Service | USDA NRCS | March 15, 2021
Describes projects restoring wetlands, floodplains, grasslands, playas, monarch habitat, wildlife habitat, water quality, and natural hydrologic functions on agricultural landscapes.
| National Park Service | National Park Service | March 5, 2021
Shows how restoration at Muir Beach reconnected Redwood Creek with its floodplain and recovered wetlands, dunes, riparian woodland, and salmon habitat.
| U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | March 4, 2021
Highlights stream-remediation projects designed to improve aquatic habitat for native and sport fishes in the Lake Erie and Lake Ontario watersheds.
| U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 2021
Describes efforts to restore rare Oregon coastal prairie threatened by invasive vegetation while protecting butterflies, native plants, shoreline ecosystems, and other wildlife.
| National Fish and Wildlife Foundation | NFWF | 2021
Describes conservation initiatives restoring Colorado rivers, wetlands, grasslands, sagebrush, forests, and Pecos watershed habitats while supporting working lands.
| USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service | USDA NRCS | 2021
Describes restoration of Montana wetlands and grasslands that now provide important habitat for thousands of waterfowl as well as upland birds, deer, and elk.
| U.S. Army Corps of Engineers | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers | December 27, 2020
Describes plans to restore Hudson River tidal wetlands, side channels, living shorelines, and tributary connectivity while removing barriers to migratory fish.
| U.S. Army Corps of Engineers | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers | December 1, 2020
Announces a major Hudson River ecosystem-restoration plan involving tidal wetlands, side channels, living shorelines, and removal of barriers blocking tributary habitat.
| Jennifer Boudart | Ducks Unlimited | August 25, 2020
Explains how restoring shallow lakes, prairie potholes, and surrounding grasslands improves waterfowl habitat, water quality, groundwater recharge, and flood protection.
| Ducks Unlimited | Ducks Unlimited | June 10, 2020
Describes restoration of drained agricultural land into wetlands and native prairie as compensatory mitigation for development around Sioux Falls.
| National Park Service | National Park Service | 2020
Explains restoration of the Cowles Bog Wetland Complex through hydrological repair, invasive-species control, vegetation management, and reestablishment of native wetland plants.
| California Department of Water Resources | California DWR | December 16, 2019
Explains plans to restore approximately 3,000 acres of tidal and floodplain habitat at Lookout Slough while also reducing regional flood risk.
| Environment and Climate Change Canada | Government of Canada | 2017
Examines restoration and enhancement of temporary wetlands and surrounding terrestrial habitat needed to recover Canada's southern mountain tiger salamander population.
| Ducks Unlimited | Ducks Unlimited | August 15, 2016
Reviews a major San Pablo Bay project designed to reestablish historic tidal-wetland functions across thousands of acres of degraded habitat.
| W.E. Thogmartin, B. Potter and G. Soulliere | U.S. Geological Survey | October 7, 2011
Develops a regional approach for prioritizing wetland protection and restoration where conservation investments can provide the greatest benefits to Midwestern wetland birds.
| U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | EPA | 2009
Describes restoration of maritime forest ridge and marsh habitat in Louisiana's Barataria-Terrebonne estuary using sediment placement and native vegetation.
| Gregory A. Knutsen and Ned H. Euliss | U.S. Geological Survey | 2001
Reviews research on restored Prairie Pothole wetlands, including their wildlife, plant, invertebrate, fish, hydrological, and water-quality functions.
| U.S. Geological Survey Researchers | U.S. Geological Survey | January 1, 2000
Discusses restoration and active management of wetlands to increase habitat quality for waterbirds and other wetland-dependent wildlife.
| Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board | State of Oregon | May 1999
Provides practical guidance for restoring wetlands, streams, riparian zones, fish habitat, hydrology, woody debris, and other aquatic ecosystem functions.
| U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | n.d.
Covers one of the West Coast's largest tidal-wetland restoration efforts and its benefits for San Francisco Bay wildlife and ecosystem recovery.
| U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | EPA | n.d.
Examines constructed wetlands as tools for improving water quality while simultaneously replacing or restoring riparian and wetland wildlife habitat.
| Audubon Florida | Audubon | n.d.
Describes large-scale restoration of marsh and wet prairie at Corkscrew Swamp through shrub removal, hydrological management, and recovery of native vegetation.
| Audubon Great Lakes | Audubon | n.d.
Describes a community-centered Indiana project restoring degraded floodplain wetlands, removing invasive species, planting native vegetation, and improving climate resilience.
| Audubon California | Audubon | n.d.
Explains plans to restore tidal circulation, channels, emergent marsh, and mudflat habitat at Strip Marsh East in San Pablo Bay.
| Audubon Great Lakes | Audubon | n.d.
Describes efforts to restore hundreds of acres of wetlands and shoreline habitat in the Niagara River corridor for vulnerable marsh birds and other wildlife.
| Ducks Unlimited | Ducks Unlimited | n.d.
Examines mapping of historically drained Prairie Pothole wetlands to identify landscapes where restoration can produce the greatest ecological benefits.
| Ducks Unlimited | Ducks Unlimited | n.d.
Presents wetland, floodplain, bottomland forest, and grassland restoration as nature-based solutions for biodiversity loss, flooding, water pollution, and coastal vulnerability.
| Ducks Unlimited | Ducks Unlimited | n.d.
Examines wetland, stream, prairie, and endangered-species habitat restoration carried out through mitigation and conservation banking in the Great Plains.
| Ducks Unlimited | Ducks Unlimited | n.d.
Describes protection and restoration of playas, grasslands, rivers, and other migration habitat across Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico.
| The Nature Conservancy | The Nature Conservancy | n.d.
Describes landscape-scale restoration in Chile that is replacing eucalyptus plantations with native forest and reconnecting biodiversity-rich coastal ecosystems.
| The Nature Conservancy | The Nature Conservancy | n.d.
Chronicles a large Maryland restoration project reconnecting thousands of acres of floodplain with the Pocomoke River and reviving wetland functions.
| U.S. Army Corps of Engineers | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers | n.d.
Reviews restoration of Massachusetts' Malden River through freshwater wetland recovery, aquatic habitat improvement, water-quality measures, and better migratory fish passage.
| U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers | n.d.
Shows how an artificial concrete creek was replaced with a meandering stream containing woody debris, gravel, pools, wetlands, and habitat for salmon and other wildlife.
| U.S. Army Corps of Engineers | Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program | n.d.
Describes Mississippi River habitat restoration using island creation, shoreline protection, dredging, water-level management, floodplain restoration, and secondary-channel improvements.
| U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers | n.d.
Describes conversion of developed land along the Duwamish River into mudflat, marsh, shallow-water, fish, and bird habitat supporting juvenile Chinook salmon.
| U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | n.d.
Explains prairie and wetland restoration using native seeding, restored hydrology, erosion reduction, invasive management, and habitat enhancement for wildlife.
| U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | n.d.
Examines prescribed fire and shrub removal as tools for restoring South Texas coastal prairie habitat needed by the endangered northern aplomado falcon.
| U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | n.d.
Describes prairie seeding, wetland water management, invasive-species control, and other active techniques for improving habitat for birds, pollinators, and wildlife.
| U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | n.d.
Explains restoration of former cropland into wet and upland prairie through native planting, woody-vegetation removal, weed management, and seasonal wetland management.
| National Fish and Wildlife Foundation | NFWF | n.d.
Outlines landscape-scale restoration priorities for Colorado wetlands, riparian corridors, forests, grasslands, sagebrush, migration routes, and urban ecosystems.
| National Fish and Wildlife Foundation | NFWF | n.d.
Supports large-scale projects restoring rivers, coasts, wetlands, forests, grasslands, watersheds, wildlife corridors, and ecological resilience.
| California Department of Water Resources | California DWR | n.d.
Catalogs numerous California floodplain, tidal wetland, river, fish-passage, dam-removal, and wetland-restoration projects associated with state water infrastructure.
| California Department of Water Resources | California DWR | n.d.
Describes California EcoRestore's efforts to recover tens of thousands of acres of tidal, aquatic, riparian, floodplain, wetland, and upland habitat in the Delta.
| World Wildlife Fund | WWF | n.d.
Describes efforts in Kenya's Lake Naivasha Basin to restore degraded forests, protect freshwater resources, reduce land degradation, and recover habitat for birds and other wildlife.
| World Wildlife Fund | WWF | n.d.
Discusses restoring forests, wetlands, grasslands, and other natural ecosystems as a strategy for biodiversity conservation, carbon storage, and climate resilience.
| World Wildlife Fund | WWF | n.d.
Profiles wetland restoration, improved wildlife water availability, and fire management designed to strengthen habitat for gaur, tigers, and other wildlife in Nepal.
| Washington Department of Ecology | State of Washington | n.d.
Explains how restoration settlements are used to recover shorelines, rivers, wetlands, and wildlife habitat damaged by toxic contamination and spills.
| Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife | WDFW | n.d.
Presents a watershed-scale strategy for reconnecting wetlands and side channels, improving salmon spawning habitat, restoring streams, and increasing ecosystem resilience.
| Washington Department of Ecology | State of Washington | n.d.
Explains efforts to compensate for extensive loss of Duwamish estuary habitat by restoring intertidal areas for salmon, birds, and marine invertebrates.
| Wetlands International | Wetlands International | n.d.
Explains peatland restoration through rewetting and revegetation and surveys projects in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America.
| USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service | USDA NRCS | n.d.
Describes restoration of salt marsh, freshwater wetland, native grassland, and pollinator habitat while creating space for marsh migration as sea levels rise.
| USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service | USDA NRCS | n.d.
Outlines practices including prairie restoration, stream rehabilitation, wetland management, riparian buffers, and native plantings for wildlife and pollinators on farms.
| Maryland Department of Natural Resources | Maryland DNR | n.d.
Reviews Maryland habitat programs restoring tidal shorelines, wetlands, riparian buffers, and degraded fields while reducing polluted runoff.
Coral Reefs, Oyster Reefs, Seagrass & Marine Habitats
| Christina Garvey | Chesapeake Bay Program | July 7, 2026
Explains how protected oyster-restoration areas allow reefs to mature, improve water quality, reproduce, and provide complex habitat for fish and crabs.
| Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission | FWC | June 30, 2026
Describes restoration of submerged aquatic vegetation in Lake Harris using protected native-plant enclosures to rebuild fish and wildlife habitat.
| NOAA Office of Habitat Conservation | NOAA Fisheries | June 16, 2026
Explains coral gardening, nursery propagation, outplanting, habitat preparation, genetic management, and large-scale efforts to rebuild degraded coral reefs.
| NOAA Office of Habitat Conservation | NOAA Fisheries | June 5, 2026
Explains NOAA's community-based program for restoring coastal habitat, reopening rivers, rebuilding reefs, and reconnecting wetlands while supporting fisheries and local communities.
| U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | EPA | June 3, 2026
Collects case studies of estuary restoration involving wetlands, shorelines, artificial reefs, watersheds, coastal ponds, and habitat protection.
| Wetlands International | Wetlands International | May 26, 2026
Describes a Kenya initiative strengthening locally led, science-based mangrove restoration through cooperation among communities, practitioners, researchers, and government partners.
| NOAA Office of Habitat Conservation | NOAA Fisheries | May 19, 2026
Explains oyster-reef restoration methods and how rebuilt reefs provide nursery habitat, cleaner water, shoreline protection, and food for fish and other marine species.
| Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission | FWC | April 28, 2026
Reports efforts to restore Lake George's submerged aquatic vegetation through large-scale eelgrass planting and protective enclosures.
| NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office | NOAA Fisheries | March 17, 2026
Summarizes research showing that restored oyster reefs support abundant fish and invertebrates, improve nutrient cycling, and may strengthen commercial fisheries.
| United Nations Environment Programme | UNEP | March 2, 2026
Highlights threatened species recovering as restoration revives degraded wetlands, forests, marine habitats, and other ecosystems around the world.
| NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office | NOAA Fisheries | February 20, 2026
Reports completion of large-scale oyster restoration in ten Chesapeake tributaries and discusses opportunities for integrating oysters with other habitat-restoration efforts.
| NOAA Office of Habitat Conservation | NOAA Fisheries | January 26, 2026
Collects coastal-resilience projects involving coral restoration, oyster reefs, mangrove and seagrass habitat, shorelines, wetlands, and fish habitat.
| NOAA Fisheries | NOAA Fisheries | 2026
Provides an overview of habitat conservation and restoration efforts involving rivers, wetlands, estuaries, coral reefs, fish passage, and damaged coastal ecosystems.
| NOAA Fisheries | NOAA Fisheries | 2026
Explains how scientists monitor restored coral reefs, oyster reefs, wetlands, rivers, and fish-passage projects to determine whether restoration is working.
| NOAA Fisheries | NOAA Fisheries | 2026
Profiles landscapes where NOAA combines habitat restoration, protection, science, and community partnerships to recover rivers, wetlands, reefs, and coastal ecosystems.
| Kim Couranz | Chesapeake Bay Program | September 24, 2025
Celebrates completion of large-scale oyster habitat restoration in ten Chesapeake tributaries and discusses long-term maintenance and expansion.
| NOAA Office of Habitat Conservation | NOAA Fisheries | September 22, 2025
Examines how investments in habitat restoration create jobs while restoring wetlands, rivers, shellfish reefs, coral reefs, and other coastal ecosystems.
| Chesapeake Bay Program | Chesapeake Bay Program | August 12, 2025
Reports progress restoring thousands of acres of oyster reefs and recovering other important Chesapeake aquatic habitats.
| Society for Ecological Restoration | Society for Ecological Restoration | January 13, 2025
Highlights research on grassland, forest, invasive-species, and coral-reef restoration and examines ecological and social factors influencing restoration success.
| Researchers | Ecology of Marine Fish | 2025
Reviews restoration of seagrass beds, shellfish reefs, and other marine fish habitats and examines their role in recovering biodiversity and fisheries.
| Florida Department of Environmental Protection | Florida DEP | 2025
Explains long-term monitoring of Charlotte Harbor seagrass habitat that informs restoration and management of important estuarine nursery grounds.
| Florida Department of Environmental Protection | Florida DEP | December 13, 2024
Surveys Florida seagrass restoration using sediment tubes, transplanted seagrass, natural recolonization, propeller-scar repair, and removal of damaging marine debris.
| Florida Department of Environmental Protection | Florida DEP | December 13, 2024
Discusses mapping, protecting, and restoring damaged seagrass meadows in St. Andrews Aquatic Preserve.
| NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office | NOAA Fisheries | October 28, 2024
Covers living shorelines and oyster-reef restoration designed to protect Virginia shorelines while expanding habitat for fish and shellfish.
| Florida Department of Environmental Protection | Florida DEP | 2024
Profiles restoration of oyster reef, salt marsh, and seagrass habitat along the urban shoreline of Pensacola Bay.
| Researchers | Science of the Total Environment | December 1, 2023
Explores combining ecological restoration with engineering designs that mimic ecosystem-building organisms in reefs, vegetated coasts, peatlands, and other feedback-driven habitats.
| Kim Couranz | Chesapeake Bay Program | July 21, 2023
Reports restoration of more than two square miles of oyster-reef habitat and discusses ecological benefits for fish, water quality, and Chesapeake fisheries.
| Florida Department of Environmental Protection | Florida DEP | February 24, 2023
Describes oyster-reef, living-shoreline, salt-marsh, and seagrass restoration undertaken to address habitat loss in Yellow River Marsh Aquatic Preserve.
| NOAA Fisheries | NOAA Fisheries | July 27, 2022
Profiles experimental oyster-reef restoration designed to recover shellfish habitat while helping protect Georgia salt marshes and shorelines from erosion.
| Caroline Grass | Chesapeake Bay Program | July 27, 2022
Explains the four-stage process used to select, construct, seed, and monitor restored oyster reefs in Chesapeake Bay tributaries.
| Jake Solyst | Chesapeake Bay Program | July 22, 2022
Reports progress rebuilding oyster reefs that provide three-dimensional habitat for fish and invertebrates while filtering Chesapeake Bay water.
Finds that restoration of degraded marine hardbottom habitat can recover underwater soundscapes that help larval fish and invertebrates identify suitable nursery habitat.
| NOAA Office of Habitat Conservation | NOAA Fisheries | March 1, 2021
Provides a visual introduction to Chesapeake oyster restoration and explains how rebuilding reefs improves water quality and habitat for fish and other wildlife.
| Restore America's Estuaries | Restore America's Estuaries | 2021
Introduces community-scale coastal restoration including seagrass planting, oyster reefs, living shorelines, erosion reduction, wildlife habitat, and climate resilience.
| Jake Solyst | Chesapeake Bay Program | October 6, 2020
Surveys forests, streams, oyster reefs, wetlands, and other Chesapeake habitats and explains why restoring each is important to watershed recovery.
| Chesapeake Bay Program | Chesapeake Bay Program | 2020
Shows how oyster castles and native marsh vegetation can restore living shoreline habitat while reducing erosion and improving water quality.
| United Nations Environment Programme | UNEP | December 21, 2019
Reviews global coral-restoration priorities and emphasizes research, collaboration, long-term planning, and reducing the underlying stresses damaging reefs.
| Joan Smedinghoff | Chesapeake Bay Program | August 15, 2019
Profiles ten Chesapeake tributaries selected for oyster habitat restoration based on historic reefs, water quality, salinity, and restoration potential.
Reviews decades of Detroit River restoration involving spawning reefs, soft shorelines, wetlands, green infrastructure, and habitat improvements for fish and wildlife.
| NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office | NOAA Fisheries | August 31, 2018
Explains how sonar mapping, habitat surveys, biological monitoring, and adaptive management guide large-scale Chesapeake Bay oyster-reef restoration.
| Chesapeake Bay Program | Chesapeake Bay Program | 2018
Reviews large-scale oyster-reef restoration across Maryland and Virginia tributaries where habitat loss, disease, and harvesting had severely reduced oyster populations.
| NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program | NOAA | n.d.
Reviews coral-restoration strategies including nursery-grown coral planting, genetic management, habitat improvement, natural recruitment, and resilience-based reef management.
| Food and Agriculture Organization | FAO | n.d.
Examines the role of habitat restoration and rehabilitation in rebuilding depleted marine and coastal fish and shellfish populations and recovering ecosystem productivity.
| Food and Agriculture Organization | FAO | n.d.
Reviews mangrove ecology, degradation, hydrology, restoration, and management of coastal forests that provide habitat for fish, shellfish, birds, and other wildlife.
| BirdLife International | BirdLife International | n.d.
Profiles restoration of forests, rivers, wetlands, grasslands, and marine habitats throughout Europe and Central Asia.
Forests, Grasslands, Prairies, Rangelands & Drylands
| Food and Agriculture Organization | FAO | April 21, 2026
Reports community-led restoration contracts designed to recover degraded forest landscapes around Mount Elgon in western Kenya.
| National Fish and Wildlife Foundation | NFWF | 2026
Supports restoration of interconnected Northern Great Plains grasslands, sage-grouse habitat, wet meadows, prairie-dog ecosystems, migration routes, and Tribal buffalo landscapes.
| U.S. Geological Survey | USGS | 2026
Highlights ecological forecasting research designed to improve restoration-seeding success in degraded western U.S. drylands.
| Jason Johnson | USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service | September 11, 2025
Profiles restoration of degraded Iowa pasture into diverse grassland, pollinator habitat, and wildlife cover using conservation grazing and native vegetation.
| Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water | DCCEEW | 2024
Describes revegetation of former mining areas and weed control intended to restore fragmented rainforest habitat for Christmas Island's threatened birds and crabs.
| U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | August 2023
Describes prairie restoration across multiple sites using prescribed fire, weed control, native plants, fencing, and monitoring to improve butterfly and bird habitat.
| U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | November 16, 2022
Describes more than fifty western projects restoring degraded sagebrush through invasive-grass control, conifer removal, water protection, and wildfire-risk reduction.
| U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | July 25, 2021
Shows how long-term longleaf-pine restoration in Mississippi improves habitat for quail, gopher tortoises, snakes, turkeys, woodpeckers, and other wildlife.
| Tina Shaw | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | 2021
Uses monarch conservation to explain how carefully planned prairie restoration can recover diverse plant communities and habitat for numerous grassland species.
| U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | June 30, 2015
Reports funding for projects restoring and enhancing hundreds of thousands of acres of longleaf-pine ecosystem across the southeastern United States.
Studies whether remnant native forest patches can accelerate low-cost restoration of degraded tropical landscapes in Palau.
| R.J. Fletcher and Rolf R. Koford | U.S. Geological Survey | January 1, 2002
Finds that restored Midwestern grasslands can support bird communities broadly comparable with native prairie while emphasizing the influence of surrounding landscape conditions.
| The Nature Conservancy | The Nature Conservancy | n.d.
Explores the return of buffalo to Tribal lands as both ecological restoration and cultural revitalization of North American grassland ecosystems.
| U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | n.d.
Explains restoration of former Iowa cropland into thousands of acres of native tallgrass prairie and oak savanna using seeds, fire, invasive control, bison, and elk.
| U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | n.d.
Includes shortgrass-prairie and prairie-dog restoration intended to rebuild ecosystem conditions capable of supporting reintroduced black-footed ferrets.
| World Wildlife Fund | WWF | n.d.
Explains how degraded rangelands in northern Kenya are being restored with water-capturing bunds, native grasses, erosion control, and community stewardship for Grevy's zebra.
| World Wildlife Fund | WWF | n.d.
Examines the ecological importance of grasslands and restoration strategies involving native vegetation, sustainable grazing, wildlife conservation, and protection of intact landscapes.
| World Wildlife Fund | WWF | n.d.
Describes large-scale forest protection and restoration initiatives in Brazil, Madagascar, Mexico, Peru, and Vietnam designed to improve biodiversity and ecosystem resilience.
| Food and Agriculture Organization | FAO | n.d.
Provides guidance for restoring degraded landscapes through natural regeneration, ecological restoration, agroforestry, reforestation, and improved management.
| Food and Agriculture Organization | FAO | n.d.
Describes the AFR100 program supporting locally led restoration of degraded forests and landscapes across six African countries.
| Food and Agriculture Organization | FAO | n.d.
Explains forest rehabilitation, reconstruction, reclamation, natural regeneration, and other techniques for recovering degraded forest ecosystems and wildlife habitat.
| Food and Agriculture Organization | FAO | n.d.
Describes restoration of degraded farmland and forest in Kenya's Mount Elgon landscape while improving biodiversity, ecosystem services, and community livelihoods.
| Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission | FWC | n.d.
Describes hydrological restoration, prescribed burning, longleaf-pine recovery, and habitat management used to maintain diverse wildlife communities at Box-R.
Species Recovery, Wildlife & Pollinator Habitat
| Mark Mahmod and Jacob Ogdee | U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | June 30, 2026
Examines how habitat restoration and captive-bred egg releases are being combined to reconnect populations of the endangered Houston toad.
Reviews large-scale projects designed to increase the extent, quality, and connectivity of koala habitat through protection, revegetation, and community-led restoration.
| Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water | DCCEEW | 2024
Identifies targeted restoration and habitat-connectivity work as priorities for recovering threatened species across Western Australia's Yampi Sound landscape.
| Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water | DCCEEW | 2024
Describes habitat restoration, weed and herbivore management, predator control, and improved fire regimes for Australia's threatened mallee bird community.
Explains how revegetation, weed removal, protection of intact ecosystems, and reconnection of fragmented landscapes can restore habitat for Australia's threatened species.
| Courtney J. Conway and Kathi L. Borgmann | U.S. Geological Survey | December 14, 2015
Defines wildlife habitat restoration and identifies planning, monitoring, measurable objectives, reference conditions, and post-restoration evaluation as keys to success.
| Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water | DCCEEW | n.d.
Describes habitat restoration, cultural burning, and feral-cat control benefiting eastern quolls and other threatened wildlife on Bruny Island.
| Oregon Conservation Strategy | State of Oregon | n.d.
Discusses investments in habitat restoration on Oregon's natural and working lands to improve wildlife habitat, carbon storage, and climate resilience.
Landscape-Scale, Community & Multi-Habitat Restoration
| Researchers | Trends in Ecology and Evolution Open | July 11, 2026
Proposes a trait-based framework for diagnosing why restored habitats sometimes remain ecologically incomplete and for rebuilding self-sustaining species networks.
| NOAA Fisheries | NOAA Fisheries | June 8, 2026
Profiles fish-habitat projects in Maryland, Alaska, and Hawai'i that combine restoration with participation by recreational anglers and local communities.
| U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | EPA | 2026
Explains how contaminated properties can progress from environmental remediation to ecological restoration and community waterfront revitalization.
| United Nations Environment Programme | UNEP | 2025
Explains ecosystem management approaches that combine habitat protection, ecological restoration, sustainable resource use, and climate resilience.
| Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water | DCCEEW | 2024
Outlines targeted habitat restoration, invasive-species control, and improved ecological management for threatened plants and wildlife on Tasmania's Bruny Island.
| Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water | DCCEEW | 2024
Identifies habitat restoration, appropriate fire regimes, weed removal, and feral-animal control as priorities for recovering Kakadu and West Arnhem ecosystems.
| Researchers | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution | 2024
Reviews ecological considerations for restoring native-bee habitat, including floral resources, nesting sites, landscape context, project design, and long-term monitoring.
| UNEP and FAO | United Nations Environment Programme | June 3, 2021
Synthesizes evidence for large-scale ecosystem restoration as a response to biodiversity loss, climate change, food insecurity, and degradation of natural resources.
| Researchers | Biological Conservation | 2021
Reviews restoration of pollination, seed dispersal, herbivory, and other plant-animal interactions needed to rebuild functioning terrestrial ecosystems.
| Researchers | One Earth | December 18, 2020
Explains how habitat restoration can counter biodiversity losses caused by habitat destruction, degradation, and fragmentation while rebuilding ecosystem functions.
| The Nature Conservancy | The Nature Conservancy | n.d.
Discusses ecological restoration in Vermont as a tool for repairing ecosystems damaged by invasive species, pollution, land-use change, and climate pressures.
| The Nature Conservancy | The Nature Conservancy | n.d.
Examines restoration of a rare Arizona cienega through invasive-plant control, vegetation management, prescribed fire, and protection of groundwater-dependent habitat.
| Food and Agriculture Organization | FAO | n.d.
Reviews habitat restoration on islands of the western Indian Ocean, including invasive-species control, native canopy recovery, seed-bank management, and monitoring.
