Wildlife Restoration as a Tool for Citizen Participation in Ecosystem Recovery in Mentougou

摘要

Past damage to forest and freshwater ecosystems in Beijing was very severe. Therefore, ecological restoration and environmental protection requires major government interventions, such as: land use restrictions, pollution regulation, investment in reforestation and re vegetation of abandoned quarries. However, traditional government approaches (reducing water pollution through treatment or regulation, re-establishing vegetative cover by tree planting) also have challenges. They may be so narrowly focused on a subset of ecosystem functions (soil conservation or water quality) that they create highly artificial systems that lack important qualities of natural systems, such as biological diversity and aesthetic beauty. There has also been a problem with the sustainability of government-directed ecological construction and pollution control programs over time. Wildlife Restoration projects can serve as a useful complement restoration of ecosystems through regulatory or engineering means.