Ecological restoration is an integral part of conservation efforts worldwide. Projects are actioned at all stakeholder levels, with many projects claiming success. However, debate over what constitutes “success” in the context of ecological restoration is long-running. Local communities commonly collaborate with government agencies in restoration projects, with many taking on responsibilities for project management. This study surveyed restoration practitioners in New Zealand at both community and agency levels to explore perceptions of what constitutes restoration “success,” and how this is measured. We found all stakeholders perceived their projects to be successful, although different perceptions of determinants and measures of success were evident. Agencies with ecological management responsibilities claim to follow systems-level attributes of success although monitoring is often limited to standards that are the easiest to measure. Community-based practitioners identify with gains in ecosystem structure, but their measurements of success tend to be of species-focused standards, possibly because of the ease by which such outcomes can be measured and, especially for New Zealand, focused by widespread publicity about threatened species and the impact of invasive species. Also, for long-running projects, perceptions of success may shift as ecological milestones are achieved. Although all restoration stakeholders aspire to universal outcomes of improved ecological status, for many community-based participants, social motivation, and rewards may be as important as their environmental stewardship intentions. We highlight the need to recognize the scientific and social duality of modern ecological restoration, particularly as community engagement is an explicit aspiration of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021–2030.

中文翻译：

---

从社区和机构的角度看生态恢复成功：探索差异

生态恢复是全球保护工作的一个组成部分。项目在所有利益相关者级别都采取行动，许多项目声称取得了成功。然而，关于在生态恢复的背景下什么是“成功”的争论由来已久。当地社区通常在恢复项目中与政府机构合作，其中许多人负责项目管理。本研究调查了新西兰社区和机构层面的修复从业者，以探讨对修复“成功”的构成以及如何衡量这一点的看法。我们发现所有利益相关者都认为他们的项目是成功的，尽管对成功的决定因素和衡量标准的看法明显不同。负有生态管理职责的机构声称遵循系统级的成功属性，尽管监测通常仅限于最容易衡量的标准。以社区为基础的从业者认同生态系统结构的收益，但他们衡量成功的标准往往以物种为重点，这可能是因为衡量这些结果很容易，特别是对新西兰而言，重点是对受威胁的广泛宣传物种和入侵物种的影响。此外，对于长期运行的项目，随着生态里程碑的实现，对成功的看法可能会发生变化。尽管所有恢复利益相关者都渴望改善生态状况的普遍结果，但对于许多基于社区的参与者而言，社会动机、奖励可能与他们的环境管理意图一样重要。我们强调需要认识到现代生态恢复的科学和社会二元性，特别是因为社区参与是联合国 2021-2030 生态系统恢复十年的明确愿望。