Restoration Advice

Planting a tree is easy. Restoring an ecosystem is hard. We’re here to help.

Do you need advice to address challenges in your restoration project? You’re not alone. Lot’s of projects need it. 

Our team of restoration ecologists provide free, confidential advice. 

We can address most challenges with a couple of zoom calls. If you present us with a really difficult problem, we may come to visit you on the ground to figure it out together.

Contact Us
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Restoration Community Talks

We host renowned restoration experts to discuss methods, techniques & tools in forest restoration. And sometimes we talk amongst ourselves to exchange tips, failures, successes and resources.

All restoration practitioners are invited to join, learn and discuss.

9am CET – Asia, Africa & Europe session

5pm CET – Americas session

Examples

Here are some examples of what other organisations have needed help with. Feel free to contact us with any of these – or entirely different – questions.

Site Analysis

Only ecosystems that are forest under natural conditions should be reforested, in order not to destroy grassland ecosystems.

Is my site a deforested forest ecosystem or a natural grassland? We are happy to figure that out with you.

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Restoration Method

Traditional planting? Applied nucleation? Farmer managed natural regeneration? Agroforestry? Direct seeding? Natural regeneration? 

So many ways of restoring a forest. Which one is best for my site? We are happy to help you find the answer.

Species Selection

Usure which species you should plant at your site? Not quite clear how to analyse a target forest to define a species list? We are happy to help.
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Project Review

Do you feel relatively confident that your project is running well but would like an independent pair of eyes to take a look and spot potential issues? We’re happy to review your project along our restoration standards and recommend improvements.

Monitoring Program Set-Up

What’s the most important data to collect to monitor the development of my restoration site? How many monitoring plots do I need? How can I minimise the amount of work? Who can analyse my data for me? We are happy to help.
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Advisory Team
  • Our Corporate Partnerships Team
    Anna Gee
    Strategic Advisor
    Restoration Ecology PhD Student
    Imperial College, London
  • Our Corporate Partnerships Team
    Oscar Verduzco
    Tropical Botanist
    Plant-for-the-Planet
  • Our Corporate Partnerships Team
    Dr. Peter Borchardt
    Community-Based Restoration Specialist
    CEN Centrum für Erdsystemforschung und Nachhaltigkeit Universität Hamburg
  • Our Corporate Partnerships Team
    Oscar Perula
    Planting Specialist
    Plant-for-the-Planet
  • Our Corporate Partnerships Team
    Dr Fidel Chiriboga
    Biologist, Ecologist, Environmental Scientist
  • Our Corporate Partnerships Team
    Sara Lofqvist
    Restoration Policy PhD Student
    ETH Zürich
  • Our Corporate Partnerships Team
    Julia Maschler
    PhD Student researching Forest Carbon Sequestration
    ETH Zürich
  • Our Corporate Partnerships Team
    David Mathenge
    Restoration Advisor

    • Request Advice

    or 

    Contact advice@plant-for-the-planet.org

    Empowerment & Restoration Research Park

    Our advisory team is based out of our Research Park in Balam-Ku, southern Mexiko.
    Learn More

    Interested in joining the team?

    This is a relatively new project and we are looking for people with extensive restoration experience to support the team.
    Apply here

    Essential Resources for Running a Forest Restoration Project

    Start with…

    Brancalion, P.H. and Holl, K.D., 2020. Guidance for successful tree planting initiatives. Journal of Applied Ecology, 57(12), pp.2349-2361.
    Read

    Holl, K.D. and Brancalion, P.H., 2022. Which of the plethora of tree-growing projects to support?. One Earth, 5(5), pp.452-455.
    Read

    Holl, K.D. and Aide, T.M., 2011. When and where to actively restore ecosystems?. Forest ecology and management, 261(10), pp.1558-1563.
    Read

    Holl, K.D., 2017. Restoring tropical forests from the bottom up. Science, 355(6324), pp.455-456.
    Read

    Di Sacco, A., Hardwick, K. A., Blakesley, D., Brancalion, P., Breman, E., Cecilio Rebola, L., Chomba, S., Dixon, K., Elliott, S., Ruyonga, G., Shaw, K., Smith, P., Smith, R. J., & Antonelli, A. 2021. Ten golden rules for reforestation to optimize carbon sequestration, biodiversity recovery and livelihood benefits. Global change biology, 27(7), 1328–1348.
    Read

    Trillion Trees Guide to Investing in Forest Restoration.
    Read

    Yale Tropical Forest Landscapes Conservation, Restoration & Sustainable Use
    Paid online course

    Dig Deeper

    Stanturf, J., Mansourian, S. and Kleine, M., 2017. Implementing forest landscape restoration, a practitioner's guide. International Union of Forest Research Organizations, 2017, pp.1-128.
    Read

    Holl, K.D., Luong, J.C. and Brancalion, P.H., 2022. Overcoming biotic homogenization in ecological restoration. Trends in Ecology & Evolution.
    Read

    Holl, K., 2020. Primer of ecological restoration. Island Press.
    Read

    Beatty, C.R., Cox, N.A. and Kuzee, M.E., 2018. Biodiversity guidelines for forest landscape restoration opportunities assessments (p. 10). Gland, Switzerland: IUCN.
    Read

    Landscape Restoration

    Landscape Leadership: Catalyse Sustainable Development in Landscapes
    Free online course

    Landscape Finance: Investing in Innovation for Sustainable Landscapes
    Free online course

    Invasive Species

    These resources allow you to check if any of the species you are planting could be invasive in your ecosystem:

    Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (free)
    Read

    CABI Digital Library (partially paywalled)
    Provides detailed information, not only on invasiveness.

    Read

    Global Biodiversity Information Facility (free)
    Read

    Applied Nucleation

    Applied Nucleation Restoration Guide for Tropical Forests
    Read

    Tropical Ecosystems

    ITTO, 2020. Guidelines for forest landscape restoration in the tropics. ITTO Policy Development Series No. 24.
    Read

    Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration

    Rinauldo, T., Muller, A., Morris, M. 2019.. Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) manual. A resource for project managers, practitioners and all who are interested in better understanding and supporting the FMNR movement. World Vision Australia, pp. 196
    Read

    Restoration Priority Areas

    Strassburg, B.B., Iribarrem, A., Beyer, H.L., Cordeiro, C.L., Crouzeilles, R., Jakovac, C.C., Braga Junqueira, A., Lacerda, E., Latawiec, A.E., Balmford, A. and Brooks, T.M., 2020. Global priority areas for ecosystem restoration. Nature, 586(7831), pp.724-729.
    Read

    Yale Tropical Forest Landscapes Conservation, Restoration & Sustainable Use
    Paid online course