Topic summary
Ecosystem restoration
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Ecological restoration.
Rationale
Ecosystem restoration can mitigate climate change through activities such as afforestation. However, afforestation can have negative impacts on biodiversity especially when considering tree-planting initiatives in tropical savannas. The impacts of afforestation on water supply and quality are also debated and vary by region, climate and age of afforestation projects. Forestry-based carbon offsetting is controversial and sometimes critiqued as carbon colonialism. Another driver of restoration projects in the United States is the legal framework of the Clean Water Act, which often requires mitigation for damage inflicted on aquatic systems by development or other activities.