On Human(made) Nature: A Socio-Legal Conceptual Analysis of Nature Restoration in the North Sea

Abstract

It has been suggested that the growing emphasis on nature restoration reflects a paradigm shift in environmental law and governance. Through a socio-legal analysis of the emerging concept of restoration in law and policy frameworks and in practice in the North Sea, this article reveals that no such shift is currently discernable. It shows that the underpinning conception of ‘nature’ has not changed in the law and governance of restoration, and that restoration thus runs into the same limitations as conventional approaches to conservation rooted in a hegemonic non-relational paradigm. This poses practical challenges for actors currently engaged in restoration initiatives and pre-empts alternative approaches, limiting the transformative potential of the restoration agenda. To overcome this, we propose that centring a relational approach opens up alternative ways of conceptualising and governing nature that are better aligned with the situated experiences, plural values and knowledges of people engaged in restoration practice.