The Ramsar Convention's resources on Wetland Restoration

The STRP Expert Working Group on Wetland Restoration

Restoration Approach: Planting

Background: Planting is used as part of overall restoration methods on many projects and as the sole restoration activity on some projects. Examples include swamp forests in the Mississippi River's alluvial valley, mangroves in southeast Asia, reed marshes along the borders of European lakes, salt marshes in Australia, and others. Different plant species require different methods of site preparation, planting, and care. Seeding, planting of young sprigs or transplants, and planting of older plants, up to about 2 meters tall, have been used. In some situations, planting is necessary to introduce desired species to a site, but in other settings the desired plant species would probably become established on the site through natural colonization, which has prompted some restoration ecologists to suggest that planting is overused in wetland projects.

Advantages: Planting quickly establishes vegetation structure under some circumstances. For wetlands that are isolated from seed or propagule sources, planting can introduce species that would otherwise be permanently excluded from the site. Rapid establishment of plant cover can reduce problems with erosion.

Disadvantages: Many planting efforts fail to establish desired plant communities because of improper handling of stock, poor weather conditions after planting, planting of species that are inappropriate to environmental conditions, inability of planted stock to compete with other species, and grazing by livestock, rodents, birds, and fish. Use of plant stock imported from another site can result in genetic pollution. Also, use of imported stock has resulted in introductions of exotic species in some projects. Planting cannot replace establishment of appropriate hydrology and other restoration activities.

Further information: Benthem, W., L.P. van Lavieren, and W.J.M. Verheugt. 1999. Mangrove rehabilitation in the coastal Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Pp 29-36 In W.J. Streever (ed.) An International Perspective on Wetland Rehabilitation. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.

Galatowitsch, S.M. and A.G. van der Valk. 1994. Restoring Prairie Wetlands, An Ecological Approach. Iowa State University Press, Ames, Iowa, USA.

Nursery for establishment of young mangrove in Thailand. Plants grown in the nursery will be transplanted to restoration sites.

Red mangrove established by planting in Thailand.

Return to STRP Wetland Restoration index page

For further information about the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, please contact the Ramsar Convention Bureau, Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland (tel +41 22 999 0170, fax +41 22 999 0169, e-mail ). Posted 8 January 2001, updated 15 February 2002, Bill Streever and Dwight Peck.