Through my work with INFFER, I was lucky enough to travel to Merida, Mexico, in August, to attend the Society for Ecological Restoration International conference. I delivered a presentation on the INFFER assessment that Cesare Pacini, Simone Botticelli and I undertook in Italy during July 2010 on the Lucciola Bella Natural Reserve near Siena (see the blog post). It was lovely to revisit the project, which remains one of my favourites.
During other conference sessions, I especially enjoyed the debates triggered by special sessions on ‘Shooting at a Moving Target’ and ‘Novel Ecosystems’, moderated by Richard Hobbs & John Weins and Eric Higgs, respectively. There was robust discussion about targets in ecological restoration and whether or not they remain relevant in a rapidly changing social, political and environmental context. Some felt that the time for targets has passed while others remain attached to the concept, in spite of the many examples in which they have been misleading, even unhelpful, while still others remain open to discussion.
Personally, I don’t think that targets are the problem per se; rather it’s the way that we develop and use them that causes us grief. I’ve seen many examples of good targets, particularly through my work with INFFER – ones that are realistic and specific and measurable. In fact, ones that are SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achieveable, Realistic and Timebound. I can see many opportunities for goals structured in this way to be extremely helpful in guiding action and investment to achieve desired changes ‘on the ground’.
To make the most of the 42-hour journey to get to Merida, I spent a week exploring the local area including ruins, the Celestun biosphere, Cancun and the city itself, much of this with colleagues from the Ecological Restoration and Intervention Ecology research group at the University of Western Australia, of which I am a ‘token member’. Yucatan is a wonderful place; sites like Uxmal and the Sa-Mah-La cenote, both pictured below, are truly breath-taking. The people are warm and friendly and always happy to let keen tourists practice their Spanish, in many cases in exchange for letting the locals practice their English in return.
Fed by an underground river, the water in Sa Mah La is incredibly cool and refreshing – the perfect antidote to exploring ruins in the heat
The amazing Mayan ruins at Uxmal
An amazing view that is well worth the many narrow steps that must be climbed to see it.
Well, that’s a wrap. Until next time…
