Habitat Restoration
While many existing laws and programs now protect or encourage preservation of many resources and landscapes, there is a clear need to go beyond protection and preservation - to restoration of damaged critical habitats. Habitat restoration is an important and growing element of efforts to preserve our natural heritage. Habitat restoration is a field in the science of conservation that is concerned with the application of ecological principles to restoring degraded, derelict, or fragmented ecosystems. The primary goal of restoration ecology is to return a community or ecosystem to a condition similar in ecological structure and function to that which existed prior to the site disturbance or degradation.
The conservation and restoration of the riparian zone along the Ohio River is the cornerstone of creating a cohesive linear park and one that embodies the natural heritage of this important watershed. The Ohio River Trail Council encourages and supports the restoration and reuse of contaminated lands or brownfields using wildlife habitat enhancements. Restoring greenspace through ecological enhancements modifies a site to increase and improve habitat for plants and animals while protecting human health and the environment. An ecological enhancement includes natural remedial technologies that restores and increases the ecological value of the land. Both the environment and economy benefit if ecological enhancements are included in cleanup and restoration programs. Habitat is defined as a combination of food, water, shelter, and space arranged to meet the needs of wildlife. The target area can be landscaped to attract birds, butterflies, beneficial insects, and small animals. Trees, shrubs, and other plants provide shelter and food for wildlife. The plants utilized provide food and cover and determines the wildlife species attracted to the restored habitat. Also nesting boxes, feeders, and watering sites can be added to improve the habitat. Native grasses are beneficial to wildlife population. These grasses planted provide both cover and foods (forage crop) for many wildlife species, with warm season grass mixtures providing the most benefits. Properly managed fields provide nesting, protective cover, undisturbed nesting sites, insect populations for food, and open travel under a tall grass canopy.