“Ecological Restorations as Practices of Moral Repair”

Abstract

The value of ecological restoration has seen considerable criticism and defense in environmental ethics over the past three decades. Its proponents point to the human and ecological benefits of restoration projects, while its critics characterize restoration as impossible, arbitrary, delusional, or domination. In this paper, I draw attention to the theoretical and practical merits of conceiving ecological restoration as practices of environmental moral repair , building upon and extending Margaret Urban Walker’s work on moral repair and reparative justice. This analysis identifies several notable benefits of a reparative-justice model of ecological restoration while also taking up some significant theoretical and practical challenges.