The Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) International is like the "ER" bit of its name, in that it is a sort of emergency room for the environment. It undertakes "the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed".
Founded in the US in 1987, SER has now grown well beyond its US base, and has members in 37 countries, with regional chapters throughout North America, Europe, Australia and India. The international conference in Zaragoza (see main article) was, however, its first major gathering outside the US.
SER acts as a forum for theoretical research and the exchange of practical information, and promotes public awareness of, and support for, restoring damaged ecosystems. It also stresses the need to protect indigenous peoples and respect their "traditional ecological knowledge".
Restoration projects range from very small to very big.
Some people contribute to the restoration of Iowa's vanished prairie by planting flowers and grasses from original prairie seed banks in their gardens. This has a small but tangible impact on wildlife.
At the other end of the scale, the Lower Zambezi Valley and Delta Program - an alliance of US and Mozambican conservationists, politicians and local people - aims to periodically re-flood the delta of one of Africa's great rivers to restore its vegetation and wildlife, which has traditionally provided the livelihoods of its human inhabitants.
www.ser.com