Ecological Restoration based on the Colombian legal system

Most of Latin America and Caribbean (LA&C) countries have adopteda development model based on theover-exploitation of natural resources without understanding that theseresources are finite, its use must beplanned, and reinvestment in the environment should be considered tomaintain the natural capital for thefuture or to avoid damaging other resources.The transformation of natural sys tems due to diverse uses implies theconsideration of different responsesto stop, adjust or revert such transformation. Possible responses includethe preservation of natural areas, improving the use of natural capital andrestoring degraded, damaged or de stroyed ecosystems. The last option,i.e., ecological restoration, has becomea concrete strategy to understand, ad-dress and revert environmental degradation processes (Wilson, 1992; CBD,2010; CBD, 2012) as well as for increasing the biodiversity (Young, 2000), reinvesting in natural capital (Aronson etal., 2006, 2007 a, b), maintaining ecosystem services, improving the qualityof life of a society and as an adaptationmeasure for global change (Harris etal., 2006; Alexander et al., 2011).Currently, Colombia is advancingtowards a commitment with ecological restoration (Murcia & Guariguataet al., 2014; Murcia et al., 2015); forexample, it is one of the few countriesthat has a National Restoration Plan.