Scaling Up Restoration Efforts in the Pacific Islands: A Call for Clear Management Objectives, Targeted Research to Minimize Uncertainty, and Innovative Solutions to a Wicked Problem

Abstract

Today, restoration of resilient native ecosystems that minimize extinction risk and maximize ecosystem services has never been more important. Success stories, such as that of Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge and papers in this special feature, demonstrate the value in large-scale efforts. However, the number of decision makers involved and siloed agencies responsible for land and nearshore coastal management, incomplete or contradictory knowledge regarding community and ecosystem dynamics, the large costs associated with complete restoration, and the interconnectedness of restoration decisions with social, cultural, policy, and economic dimensions, clearly classify the process of attempting large-scale restoration of degraded systems as a wicked problem. We wish to outline three focal areas that specifically address each of the challenges associated with wicked problems and that may improve the likelihood of achieving restoration goals. First, managers and decision makers must identify clear objectives that will guide decisions regarding restoration actions. Second, research funded through conservation initiatives should be aimed at reducing uncertainty in ways that increase the probability of choosing a set of management actions likely to have a desirable outcome. Finally, we need innovative solutions that borrow from industries that have already discovered economy of scale, as well as partnerships among those in the fields of social science, economics, policy, and the natural sciences. The collection of articles in this special feature illustrate how objective-driven studies, high-value research in areas of uncertainty, and collaborations among economists, cultural practitioners, and scientists can move us toward the identification of optimal solutions. Ultimately, we wish to restore systems in ways that reduce conservation reliance and result in resilient, self-sustaining native ecosystems.