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How does ecological restoration differ from conservation?

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wetland restoration — ecological restoration Wetland restoration along the Târnava Mică (Tîrnava Mică) River in Romania. A former gravel mine (left) was transformed into a functional wetland (right).

While both fields are essential to environmental health, they differ primarily in their objectives and methods.

Ecological restoration is the process of repairing ecosystems that have already been degraded, damaged, or destroyed by human activity. Its goal is to return a site to an earlier, more natural state or to a condition closely related to one that existed before human alteration. This often involves active intervention, such as soil rehabilitation, reintroducing native species, or reestablishing natural disturbance patterns like fire or flooding.12

In contrast, conservation is primarily concerned with preventing further loss of biological diversity. It acts as a "crisis discipline" focused on protecting existing ecosystems, species, and genetic variety from future decline. While conservationists may engage in restoration as one of many "treatment" methods to address biodiversity loss, the field’s overarching mission is to study the causes of environmental degradation and develop strategies to stop it before it occurs.13

In short, conservation aims to protect what remains, while ecological restoration seeks to heal what has been lost.13