Our Goal
This project aims to restore a fourth of an acre within Discovery Park to a condition of ecological and social health. This work will be done through a series of intentional work parties that take restoration ecology and social dynamics into consideration in the planning and implementing of changes made on site. This project is able to be completed due to the long history of stewardship of and interaction with the land currently designated by some as Discovery Park and also known as PKa'dz Eltue. This site and landscape would not appear the way it does today and without the long history of this land and all the ecological and social communities that have interacted with this place. This team is grateful for the opportunity to steward the land today and work with communities in the Pacific Northwest region on re-establishing a connection to this land, in its history and its future. We urge you to learn more about the history and present state of the land this site is a part of, if you wish to please follow the links at the bottom of this page.
What is Ecological Restoration?
Ecological restoration is a practice that has been classically defined as “...the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed” by the Society for Ecological Restoration (Balensiefer et al. 2004). Assistance by encouraging the establishment of healthy ecological processes, conditions, and functions supports the restoration of disturbed ecosystems and often is necessary to return ecological health to manipulated landscapes. Areas that once were healthy ecological havens for wildlife, plants, and humans alike have been impacted by common disturbances such as land use changes, pollution, extreme weather events, landscape manipulation, and invasive species establishment among others. Ecological restoration aims to increase biodiversity, increase habitat, support natural ecological functions, improve ecosystem resilience, engage in reciprocity, and foster healthy connections between species.
We as a team of five students in collaboration with community volunteers will work to facilitate recovery of the site. The restoration of the site will take on disturbances such as detrimental urban development, climate change, and invasive species. Reference sites, site conditions, and regional ecosystems are being taken into account with the goal of working towards an ecologically healthy landscape. This team understands that restoration is a practice that is ongoing, with no distinct end and that this site will evolve and live on far past the extent of this project. We aim to plant the seeds for the site’s future, and be a part of the connection and change needed to assist the land to health
We as a team of five students in collaboration with community volunteers will work to facilitate recovery of the site. The restoration of the site will take on disturbances such as detrimental urban development, climate change, and invasive species. Reference sites, site conditions, and regional ecosystems are being taken into account with the goal of working towards an ecologically healthy landscape. This team understands that restoration is a practice that is ongoing, with no distinct end and that this site will evolve and live on far past the extent of this project. We aim to plant the seeds for the site’s future, and be a part of the connection and change needed to assist the land to health
How is Climate Change Involved?
Climate change continues to create variable impacts globally, and here in the Pacific Northwest there is an increased need to restore ecosystems to increase their resilience in the face of climate change. Disturbances such as invasive species colonization, increased extreme wildfire events, and variability in hydrological regimes are all issues present in this Pacific Northwest region. Building the site’s resilience to these disturbances is vital to increasing overall ecological health within Discovery Park and the greater Seattle area. In order to increase the health and resilience of the landscapes that support human, plant, and animal life: restoration must be completed. Restoration improves resilience against climate change by supporting ecological harmony such as native plants providing habitat for vital wildlife species to increase biodiversity, or through native grass species whose deep roots support soil health and retain moisture from rainfall. No matter the scale of a project, ecological restoration ensures that we can increase ecosystem services, support resilience, and improve general ecological health of the Pacific Northwest.
Ecological Restoration is Social
In order to fulfill the goal of facilitating a truly restored site, social dynamics must be integrated and included into the work of this project. This team recognizes that we as humans are not a negative force in nature but are intertwined with the natural world. It is our goal to have an ethical and reciprocal relationship with the ecological communities around us. This project will facilitate connections between the team and community members to the ecological systems and communities within and around the site. Connecting communities to their local environments through the time spent at work parties and outreach events during this project will aim to facilitate meaningful relationships with nature that can create a sense of individual responsibility and reciprocity (Light 2006). This ensures that any individual who collaborates with us on this project is forming a personal connection to the plants, animals, and ecological conditions of our site; which will contribute to the social dimension of ecological restoration within and outside of the site.
This site experiences disturbances through the lack of connection and care that has been previously and continually exhibited by local communities. To this end, ensuring that we establish connections between individuals and this land has meaningful ability to influence those who may choose to be future stewards of the land they are local to. Restoration of this site must actively include work to decrease exclusionary practices that restrict marginalized individuals from accessing and forming deep connections to their local ecological systems and green spaces in the city of Seattle. The location of Discovery Park is key in understanding how current disparities impact the entire Seattle community. In order to ensure our work is truly restorative, the team will work to facilitate relationships to all members of our larger Pacific Northwest community and actively engage with environmental justice organizations and under-represented groups and individuals.
This site experiences disturbances through the lack of connection and care that has been previously and continually exhibited by local communities. To this end, ensuring that we establish connections between individuals and this land has meaningful ability to influence those who may choose to be future stewards of the land they are local to. Restoration of this site must actively include work to decrease exclusionary practices that restrict marginalized individuals from accessing and forming deep connections to their local ecological systems and green spaces in the city of Seattle. The location of Discovery Park is key in understanding how current disparities impact the entire Seattle community. In order to ensure our work is truly restorative, the team will work to facilitate relationships to all members of our larger Pacific Northwest community and actively engage with environmental justice organizations and under-represented groups and individuals.
“To restore, then, is to relate to the land in a way that promotes the endurance of certain ecological processes and the self-conceptualization of humans as beneficial parts of the environment. This mutualism of the ecological relationship implies that restoration is a normative relation, that when humans relate to the environment as restorers, they at the same time can improve their moral lot by becoming beneficial members of a natural community.”
- Mihnea Tănăsescu, Ecocene Politics
How Will It Look in the End?
Our hopes for this project are to establish healthy relationships between all species who interact with the project area. We hope to establish plants that will not colonize each other but rather support and protect their ecological community, providing space for wildlife species who rely on the area as habitat. The site is known to be a part of habitat for wildlife species such as the Northern Alligator Lizard and the Spotted Towhee. These habitat areas will be preserved and built upon to increase and protect these non-invasive species habitats and restore their ecological relationships. We aim to establish a Oak Savanna ecotype that will provide ecosystem services to the area such as healthy hydrological regimes and water retention, filtering of runoff to improve water quality, reducing erosion and improving soil health, and increasing overall biodiversity of the area. A full planting plan and detailed species list will be made available soon on this website.
The history of the land at Discovery Park is tumultuous and has been in flux in the use of and relationships communities have or have not had with this place. Over thousands of years due to major ecological and geological events and various human interactions, this land has existed in a variety of different states and forms. To this end, we do not wish to restore this site to one of its many historical conditions. We instead wish to assist the ecological and social communities that establish, interact, and engage with this site towards a place of resilient and sustainable health and interconnectedness. We hope to bring change to this site that will support its ecological and social health far into the future. We are grateful you are here and hope you will join us in this effort!
The history of the land at Discovery Park is tumultuous and has been in flux in the use of and relationships communities have or have not had with this place. Over thousands of years due to major ecological and geological events and various human interactions, this land has existed in a variety of different states and forms. To this end, we do not wish to restore this site to one of its many historical conditions. We instead wish to assist the ecological and social communities that establish, interact, and engage with this site towards a place of resilient and sustainable health and interconnectedness. We hope to bring change to this site that will support its ecological and social health far into the future. We are grateful you are here and hope you will join us in this effort!
For Additional Information, Please Visit Our Further Reading Page
Citations:
Balensiefer, M., Rossi, R., Ardinghi, N., Cenni, M., & Ugolini, M. (2004). SER international primer on ecological restoration. Society for Ecological Restoration, Washington.
Light, A. (2006). Ecological citizenship: The democratic promise of restoration. The humane metropolis: People and nature in the 21st-century city, 169-182.
Tănăsescu, M. (2022). Ecocene politics (p. 95). Open Book Publishers.
Balensiefer, M., Rossi, R., Ardinghi, N., Cenni, M., & Ugolini, M. (2004). SER international primer on ecological restoration. Society for Ecological Restoration, Washington.
Light, A. (2006). Ecological citizenship: The democratic promise of restoration. The humane metropolis: People and nature in the 21st-century city, 169-182.
Tănăsescu, M. (2022). Ecocene politics (p. 95). Open Book Publishers.