Context for Restoration

Abstract

New Zealand has made significant contributions to scientific knowledge underpinning lake restoration work and to the development and testing of management tools. This introductory chapter provides an overview of the history, current context, and policy framework for lake restoration in New Zealand and makes international comparisons. The book draws on recent advances in modelling and monitoring tools, and highlights how improved understanding of lake processes and their interaction with biological communities applies to restoration. Restoration solutions must address catchment as well as in-lake issues, and the socio-cultural considerations which influence the development, implementation and monitoring of lake restoration actions. Accordingly, Chaps. 2-16 are divided into five main sections: Management and modelling, Water quality restoration, Biodiversity restoration, Monitoring and indicators, and Socio-cultural considerations (including the roles of indigenous people and citizen science). New Zealand perspectives are complemented by international feature boxes which reinforce key concepts and highlight differences or similarities in restoration approaches. The feature boxes generally emphasise the ubiquity of the threats to lake ecosystems across the world but also the need to adapt restoration to the individual lake scale.