Habitat restoration is the process of reestablishing a self-sustaining habitat that closely resembles a natural condition in terms of structure and function—returning a polluted or degraded environment to a successful, self-sustaining ecosystem with both clean water and healthy habitats. These habitats support fish and wildlife and human uses, such as swimming, SCUBA diving, boating, and recreational and commercial fishing.

The goal is to help rebuild a healthy, functioning natural ecosystem that works like it did before it was polluted or destroyed. It involves restoring terrestrial and fish habitat and other natural resources that have been injured by human or natural activities. Through restoration we can set the foundation for natural communities and processes to occur, "jumpstarting" the natural system’s ability to restore its full ecological function. Restoration also means an actual increase in living marine resource habitats, measured both by structure and functional characteristics and by the ability to support fish and wildlife.

Why Do We Need to Restore Habitat?

Restoring the Chesapeake Bay’s living marine resources habitats will:

• Maintain vital food supplies. Healthy coastal habitats produce more food per acre than the richest Midwestern farmland because of the fertile mix of nutrients from land and sea.

• Protect nature's bounty. Beyond providing food for our consumption, coastal habitats are home to thousands of species of fish, birds, plants, and animals that depend on healthy habitat for their survival.

• Protect human health. The Pfiesteria outbreak on the Chesapeake Bay—causing massive fish kills—has harmed human health in those exposed to the toxic microbe, causing skin lesions and even memory loss. That's what happens when estuaries are allowed to decline. But when they are restored, they produce healthy fish and wildlife.

• Maintain the biodiversity of life. The coastal and marine environment is the second major source of biodiversity on our planet. Restoring the natural biodiversity and variety of coastal and marine life provides for healthy communities of plants and animals, including endangered and threatened species.

• Create jobs. There are 28 million jobs in the fishing, tourism, and recreational boating industries—all of which depend on healthy coastal habitats for their products and customers. Indeed, estuaries and coastal waters provide essential habitat for 75% of America's commercial fish catch and 80 to 90% of the recreational fish catch.

• Preserve a way of life. Healthy estuaries support unique, centuries-old cultures, traditions, and ways of life dependent upon the diversity of wildlife for everything from livelihoods to storytelling. For the more than 110 million Americans who live near coastal habitats, they are key to peoples’ quality of life: for their scenic beauty, recreational opportunities, bounty, abundance of life, and for their mere presence. Habitat restorations will maintain these ways of life—and the heritage they embody—for the benefit of future generations.

• Expand our enjoyment. More than 200 million Americans—approximately 70% of the entire population—visit coastal habitat annually for vacations, recreation, sport, or sightseeing. They enjoy swimming, fishing, boating, diving, wildlife viewing, hunting, hiking, and learning. Coastal habitats that support living marine resources are matchless educational resources that must be maintained as living laboratories of life. The more we do to restore estuaries, the more Americans will be able to experience their amazing bounty.

What Is NOAA Doing to Restore Habitat?

Dedicated to restoring habitat, NCBO is involved in habitat protection and restoration activities including:

• large-scale native oyster restoration in Maryland and Virginia

• SAV research and restoration

• community-based restoration

• environmentally friendly shoreline protection and restoration

• water quality monitoring and assessments

• environmental sensitivity index mapping

• air pollution deposition research

• benthic surveys

• coastal zone management coordination

• advancing the science and technology of coastal habitat restoration

• transferring restoration technology to other organizations and individuals

• developing and improving methods for habitat restoration

Is Habitat Restoration Successful?

As with any new experiment or technique, much remains to be done. While great strides have been taken in recreating the shape and dimension of three-dimensional oyster reef habitats in the Virginia portion of the Bay, and marsh plantings have in some site-specific instances stabilized shoreline placement of dredged sediment material, much remains to be learned of the very limited success that has occurred with SAV replantings in the Bay.

Limited financial and other resources make it all the more critical that projects be located where they have the best chance for success. In order to effectively take advantage of those techniques known to work, as well as any new techniques that may emerge from innovative projects, we must ensure that modern restoration technologies, adequate maintenance early on, and long-term protection are ensured to maximize the chances for success. The final goal, ultimately, is whether a functional, diverse community forms and sustains itself within the restored project area.

To accomplish true restoration, criteria must be developed that can objectively measure the success of habitat restoration. This is where the science base of NOAA plays an active role, both in promoting experimentation and innovation in employing new techniques for restoration and in ensuring that adequate and scientifically valid measures and evaluations are made to gauge and document project success and lessons learned for future projects.