Ecosystem Restoration Communities are committed to monitoring and improving ecosystems by measuring the effects that restoration approaches and interventions have on soil quality, biodiversity, and local livelihoods. This helps us identify the most effective restoration techniques and provides valuable data to share with other earth restorers and researchers, building evidence and know-how for rehabilitating degraded ecosystems.
Engaging and training people in ecological restoration lies at the core of our mission. That’s why we’re passionate about training and mobilising everyday people from across the globe to collect environmental data through citizen science.
Introducing RestorACTION: a community-driven project
Thanks to recent funding from the European Commission Erasmus+ programme, we’ve partnered with Associazione Rocciaviva in Italy to create “RestorACTION.” This project aims to raise local communities’ awareness and understanding of ecosystem degradation and climate change and empowers them to use accessible solutions to tackle this pressing environmental crisis. And citizen science was placed at the heart of RestorACTION.
Rocciaviva: a hub of restoration activity
Part of the Ecosystem Restoration Communities (ERC) movement, Rocciaviva is located near the hilltop town of Matera in southern Italy’s Basilicata region. Historical clearcutting of forests followed by intensive monocrop agriculture has significantly degraded this ecosystem. However, since 2018, Rocciaviva – an association of biologists, agroecologists, educators, designers, and other Basilicata residents – has been working with local landowners to restore degraded and largely abandoned farmlands.
The degraded landscape of Matera, Basilicata
Community training in ecological restoration
Drawing from their extensive experience in community-led ecosystem restoration in Basilicata and Puglia, Rocciaviva gathered thirty volunteers from the local Matera community. This diverse group included local landowners and farmers, and other citizens interested in creating a better future for younger generations. The volunteers, eager to learn ecosystem restoration techniques and ecological monitoring, committed to participating in on-the-ground ecological research training over two weekends in April and May.
Some of the enthusiastic participants in the trainings
Comprehensive training sessions
The trainings, facilitated by the ERC Foundation’s M&E Coordinator with support from Rocciaviva’s core team members, began by covering key concepts, principles, and frameworks for ecosystem restoration. They emphasised the role and importance of data collection and how to monitor the land using ERC’s two unique frameworks: The Soil Framework, which examines ecological changes due to restoration activities, and the Soul & Society Framework, designed to understand how people are changing as a result of these activities. This theoretical overview empowered participants with a systemic understanding of the cycle of ecosystem degradation and provided the knowledge and skills needed to identify degraded areas.
Morning introduction to restoration ecology in the old ruin of Rocciaviva’s site in Oppido
Getting hands dirty: practical data collection
The volunteers then rolled up their sleeves and had fun gathering baseline ecological data using the BETA version of the new ERC impact monitoring mobile app. Developing this app has been a significant step for ERC, as it aligns with our goal of making user-friendly monitoring tools accessible to everyday people. While the app experienced the usual beta-version hiccups, participants provided valuable feedback to help fine-tune it further.
Some tests to gather baseline data require technical equipment, others simple glass jars!
Biodiversity surveys help us understand and (re)connect with local ecology
Positive feedback and community impact
The overall response from volunteers was really positive. They learned meaningful and important concepts through the training, which provided a more scientific understanding of ecosystem degradation. They also enjoyed discovering actions that anyone can easily implement, and found the experience enriching and also a powerful way to unite communities.
Engaging a diverse group of participants means more knowledge exchange. Here, Forest Therapy expert Antonio examines a rock together with the local permaculturalist and facilitator, Pasquale.
Looking ahead: sharing knowledge and expanding tools
Next on the horizon for RestorACTION is a series of dissemination events to share the project’s learnings and results – first locally, regionally, and nationally in Italy, then globally through an open online event. A handy, onsite version of the ERC Soil Framework is also being developed to more effectively guide field activities, and the app is being further refined before its official launch later this year. The final app will empower ERC leaders at over 60 ERCs worldwide to conduct their own citizen science-based monitoring activities. It will also allow for the capture, storage and sharing of data gathered via an Open Restoration Database, providing earth restorers everywhere with access to reliable scientific data, inspiring them to put on their citizen science hats and take action to reverse ecosystem degradation.
Join us in restoring the planet
Stay tuned for more updates and join us in our mission to restore our planet, one ecosystem at a time!
