Indigenous-Led Ecological Restoration

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).'

This research examines how Indigenous groups navigate institutional and environmental legacies to restore ecologically and culturally significant species. The project advances geographic theory and methods across political ecology, Indigenous studies, geographical sciences, and conservation biology. It investigates the complex relationship between biological conservation and Indigenous Peoples that can lead to innovative conservation efforts that support Indigenous ecological and cultural goals. The study supports Indigenous-led restoration efforts by providing qualitative and geospatial data and charting best practices, and in turn supports proposed federal platforms for biodiversity protection and increased engagement with Tribal Nations. The project advances STEM education by supporting Indigenous students and developing teaching modules and multimedia outlets for the public and Indigenous institutions on Indigenous-led STEM advances.

This project will identify obstacles that face Indigenous-led, ecological restoration by answering the following questions: (1) How do restoration projects negotiate jurisdictional fragmentation, the patchwork of land and land-uses into national parks, forests, other public lands, and private lands to enable adequate habitat for reintroduced species? (2) How do these projects engage with Western conservation science and practice to incorporate Indigenous place-based knowledge systems and goals? (3) How do these engagements shape the resulting model of restoration that results in effective species reintroduction? This project develops a generalizable mixed methods framework that combines interviews, Elder circles, transect walks, and participatory GIS with novel spatial analyses of jurisdictional fragmentation. Project findings will inform researchers about the ongoing role of institutional legacies in shaping conservation efforts, how Indigenous actors work through and alter these structures, and the socio-ecological complexity of reintroducing keystone species.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.