1. Different approaches and meanings of renaturation

1.1 Ecological engineering and environmental restoration

The concept of renaturation is very similar to that of ecological restoration. They both draw on the knowledge of scientific ecology, and more specifically, restoration ecology. This science was formalized in the early 1980s with the creation of the Society for Ecological Restoration in the United States. It defines ecological restoration as "the process of assisting the regeneration of ecosystems that have been degraded, damaged or destroyed" with a view to "re-establishing the previous ecosystem in terms of its specific composition, ecological functioning, the capacity of the physical environment to support living organisms, and its connectivity with the surrounding landscape".