The Place of Natural Values, Ecology and Technology in Restoration Policy

生态修复涉及到人类试图将物理地点恢复到某些人类干扰之前的某种状态。越来越多的恢复工作正在进行中；在太平洋西北地区转向生物地理层面的生态恢复是世界上最大的努力。然而，科学家们已经证明，几乎不可能知道这些地点可能是什么样子的，或者它们是如何运作的。因此，恢复政策属于“超科学”的范畴，涉及事实和价值的交融。了解恢复价值的影响将有助于推进和制定有效和负责任的恢复战略。该项目将评估自然价值、科学和技术在恢复政策制定中的地位。研究人员将研究太平洋西北部发生的大规模生态恢复问题的两个核心研究问题。首先，目前参与大规模修复工作的个人和机构的具体价值观和道德立场是什么？第二，科学决策在生态修复中的作用是什么？研究人员推测，参与者恢复严重受损的生态系统和野生物种的能力是基于对景观的集体和共同价值观、他们在其中的位置意识、他们与自然的感知关系，以及他们对科学技术恢复生态系统能力的信念。调查将使用文件分析和对参与太平洋西北地区修复工作的人员的调查问卷，以制定个人和机构对潜在修复价值范围的取向的概况。本分析将通过对三个大规模修复工作的比较案例研究来扩展。结果将在学术和专业受众中以演示文稿和期刊文章的形式传播。

Ecological restorations involve human attempts to return physical sites to some state preceding some human disturbances. There are more and more restoration efforts underway; a shift to ecological restoration at the biogeographical level in the Pacific Northwest represents the largest effort in the world. However, scientists have shown it is rarely possible to know what these sites may have looked like or how they function. Restoration policy then lies in the domain of `transcience,` involving the intermingling of facts and values. An understanding of the influence of restoration values will add to the advancement and development of effective and responsible restoration strategies. This project will assess the place of natural values, science, and technology in restoration policy development. The researchers will examine two research questions central to the issue of large scale ecological restoration taking place in the Pacific Northwest. First, what are the specific values and ethical positions of individuals and institutions currently involved in large scale restoration efforts? Second, what is the role of scientific decision-making in ecological restoration? The investigators speculate that the capability of participants to restore severely damaged ecosystems and wild species is predicated on collective and shared values about the landscape, their sense of place in it, their perceived relationship to nature, and their beliefs in the ability of science and technology to restore ecosystems. The investigation will employ both document analysis and a survey questionnaire to persons involved in restoration efforts in the Pacitic Northwest, to develop profiles of individual and institutional orientations to the range of potential restoration values. The analysis will be extended by comparative case study of three large-scale restoration efforts. Results will be disseminated among scholarly and professional audiences in presentations and journal articles.