How Can Storytelling Help Restore Mires? Applying Place-lore Fieldwork Methodology in Ecological Restoration

Abstract

ABSTRACT As ecological restoration changes the landscape and influences various social and ecological actors, restoration also needs to seek methodologies that integrate different kinds of knowledge and create multi-voiced discussions. We show how studying local environment-related narratives, i.e. place-lore, can be adopted in restoration activities. We argue that as place-lore expresses relationships between people and environment and such stories involve semiotic meanings from the environment, they have a great potential to motivate authentic and diverse discussions in restoration. As an example, we focus on wetland restoration and discuss the experience from the LIFE Mires Estonia (2015–2021) project where place-lore fieldwork was integrated with other restoration activities. Results from the project indicated how integrating the study of place-lore into restoration activities facilitates collecting various kinds of valuable data, addressing different stakeholders’ concerns, detecting possible conflicts, and, most importantly, empowers environmental relations and knowledge that benefit restoration outcomes. KEY POLICY HIGHLIGHTS Enabling different, even conflicting viewpoints around ecological restoration is crucial, to prevent closed, hermetic, or dogmatizing communication. Restoration discussions need to be open to methodologies that focus on small-scale local narratives because the ecological expertise that these kinds of narratives express can directly benefit restoration outcomes. Place-lore fieldwork serves as a participatory method that allows for more inclusive and diverse dialogues between restoration experts and people influenced by restoration.