Building synergies to leverage the power
of ecological restoration

About the Ecological Health Network

We live in a world of possibilities. Ecological restoration projects exist worldwide in which people are doing heroic work to bring ecosystems back to health. But there is little connection among these sites. The Ecological Health Network is changing that. We work at the intersection of human health & well-being and ecological restoration, where there are answers to some of the most urgent crises of our time.

Green-tailed trainbearer (Lesbia nuna) in Utcubamba Valley, northern Peru. Credit: Thibaud Aronson.

Winter 2025 Newsletter

Read EHN's latest newsletter to explore 2024 highlights and see what lies ahead for us in 2025.

60,000 Seedlings: The Forest Restoration in Ankafobe

In October 2022, our restoration project in a fragment of forest in Madagascar's highlands lost 26ha because of a bushfire. This video shows the efforts made, with remarkable commitment, from the local communities to control the fire as quickly as possible.

Currently the entire zone that was burnt has been replanted with young plants of a diversity of native tree species.  These plants are now being nurtured, mostly by freeing them from smothering weeds.  Assuming that the current dry season is not too harsh and that further wildfires can be prevented, then we expect at least 80% of these plants will become established.

Strengthening seed and plant supply chains in the US Northeast

Ecological restoration remains constrained by chronic commercial shortages of genetically appropriate, viable seeds and plant material of known provenance for most native plant species. EHN is reinforcing and building network connections to help strengthen the US Northeast’s native seed and plant supply chain. As a result of these efforts we have helped establish the Northeast Seed Supply Network.

Eve Allen is the Director of the Northeast Bioregion and manages the Seed and Plant Supply Chain Program at EHN.

Click the button below to sign up to receive email updates and learn about joining the Northeast Seed Supply Network.

Publications

Eve B. Allen, Adam T. Cross, Alan M. Berger, James Aronson. (2024). Restoration seed and plant material supply chains are complex networks. Restoration Ecology. http://doi.org/10.1111/rec.14279

 

Cross, A. T., & Aronson, J. (2023). Editorial: Plant-soil-microbe interactions and drivers in ecosystem development and ecological restoration. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2023.1216016

 

From our colleagues in Australia and the Four Islands Ecohealth Network. Stanhope, J., & Weinstein, P. (2023). Exposure to environmental microbiota may modulate gut microbial ecology and the immune system. Mucosal Immunology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mucimm.2023.03.001

 

Sekera, J., Cagalanan, D., Swan, A., Birdsey, R., Goodwin, N., & Lichtenberger, A. (2023). Carbon dioxide removal–what’s worth doing? A biophysical and public need perspective. PLOS Climate, 2(2). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000124

 

News & Press

The Restorative Landscape Coalition: A new social-ecological impact network takes root in the Eastern United States, Eve Allen, James Aronson, and Sefra Alexandra, Natural History of Ecological Restoration, March 29, 2024

What's happening at EHN? Read our Winter 2024 Newsletter

Native Seed Network Takes Root in the Northeast, Eve Allen, The Barn Raiser, February 19, 2024

Natural history is essential for reviving North America’s Southeastern Grasslands, Eve Allen, Natural History of Ecological Restoration, September 16, 2023