Skip to main content
Journal cover image

Beyond despair: Leveraging ecosystem restoration for psychosocial resilience.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Smith, CS; DeMattia, EA; Albright, E; Bromberger, AF; Hayward, OG; Mackinson, IJ; Mantell, SA; McAdoo, BG; McAfee, D; McCollum, A; Paxton, AB ...
Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
January 2025

Ecosystem restoration has historically been viewed as an ecological endeavor, but restoration possesses significant, yet largely untapped, potential as a catalyst for personal and social transformation. We highlight the opportunity for restoration to enhance community resilience by increasing agency and collective action and countering the pervasive perception that we are powerless witnesses to environmental decline. In this perspective, we take a "bright spots" approach and highlight successful examples of ecosystem restoration that have helped to nurture a sense of place, foster optimism, and cultivate stronger and more diverse social networks. These three individual- and community-level capacities have the potential to lead to increased psychosocial resilience, which is a key component of community resilience. Our aim is to spark discussion and research to better understand how we can transform restoration from a largely technical endeavor to a practice and process through which human-nature relationships are infused with deliberate meaning and human well-being is improved. With current calls to upscale and technologize restoration to meet sustainable development goals, we cannot lose sight of the value of community-engaged ecosystem restoration as a strategy with great potential for psychosocial benefits.

Duke Scholars

Altmetric Attention Stats
Dimensions Citation Stats

Published In

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI

EISSN

1091-6490

ISSN

0027-8424

Publication Date

January 2025

Volume

122

Issue

2

Start / End Page

e2307082121

Related Subject Headings

  • Resilience, Psychological
  • Humans
  • Environmental Restoration and Remediation
  • Ecosystem
  • Conservation of Natural Resources
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Smith, C. S., DeMattia, E. A., Albright, E., Bromberger, A. F., Hayward, O. G., Mackinson, I. J., … Zhao, Z. (2025). Beyond despair: Leveraging ecosystem restoration for psychosocial resilience. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 122(2), e2307082121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2307082121
Smith, Carter S., Elizabeth A. DeMattia, Elizabeth Albright, Abigail F. Bromberger, Olivia G. Hayward, India J. Mackinson, Sydney A. Mantell, et al. “Beyond despair: Leveraging ecosystem restoration for psychosocial resilience.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 122, no. 2 (January 2025): e2307082121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2307082121.
Smith CS, DeMattia EA, Albright E, Bromberger AF, Hayward OG, Mackinson IJ, et al. Beyond despair: Leveraging ecosystem restoration for psychosocial resilience. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2025 Jan;122(2):e2307082121.
Smith, Carter S., et al. “Beyond despair: Leveraging ecosystem restoration for psychosocial resilience.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 122, no. 2, Jan. 2025, p. e2307082121. Epmc, doi:10.1073/pnas.2307082121.
Smith CS, DeMattia EA, Albright E, Bromberger AF, Hayward OG, Mackinson IJ, Mantell SA, McAdoo BG, McAfee D, McCollum A, Paxton AB, Roderer A, Stevenson K, Vidra RL, Zhao Z. Beyond despair: Leveraging ecosystem restoration for psychosocial resilience. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2025 Jan;122(2):e2307082121.
Journal cover image

Published In

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI

EISSN

1091-6490

ISSN

0027-8424

Publication Date

January 2025

Volume

122

Issue

2

Start / End Page

e2307082121

Related Subject Headings

  • Resilience, Psychological
  • Humans
  • Environmental Restoration and Remediation
  • Ecosystem
  • Conservation of Natural Resources