FORM 1:
PROPOSAL FOR A NEW FIELD OF TECHNICAL ACTIVITY
Circulation date2020-10-01

Reference number: 293(to be given by ISO Central Secretariat)

Closing date for voting
2020-12-24.
ProposerStandardization Administration of China

ISO/TS/P 293

A proposal for a new field of technical activity shall be submitted to the ISO Central Secretariat,
which will assign it a reference number and process the proposal in accordance with the ISO/IEC
Directives Part 1, Clause 1.5. The proposer may be a member body of ISO, a technical committee,
subcommittee or project committee, the Technical Management Board or a General Assemblycommittee, the Secretary-General, a body responsible for managing a certification system
operating under the auspices of ISO, or another international organization with national bodymembership. Guidelines for proposing and justifying a new field of technical activity are given in
the ISO/IEC Directives Part 1, Annex C.

Proposal (to be completed by the proposer)
Title of the proposed new committee (The title shall indicate clearly yet concisely the new
field of technical activity which the proposal is intended to cover).
Ecological restoration

Scope statement of the proposed new committee (The scope shall precisely define thelimits of the field of activity. Scopes shall not repeat general aims and principles
governing the work of the organization but shall indicate the specific area concerned).
Standardization of all types and all sizes of ecological restoration projects, including their
management, planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting.
Excluded:•

ISO/TC 82/SC7 (Mine closure and reclamation management)☒

The proposer has checked whether the proposed scope of the new committee
overlaps with the scope of any existing ISO committee☐

If an overlap or the potential for overlap is identified, the affected committee has been
informed and consultation has taken place between proposer and committee on
i. modification/restriction of the scope of the proposal to eliminate the overlap,
ii. potential modification/restriction of the scope of the existing committee toeliminate the overlap.

☐

If agreement with the existing committee has not been reached, arguments arepresented in this proposal (under question 7) as to why it should be approved.

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Proposed initial programme of work. (The proposed programme of work shall correspondto and clearly reflect the aims of the standardization activities and shall, therefore, show
the relationship between the subject proposed. Each item on the programme of work shallbe defined by both the subject aspect(s) to be standardized (for products, for example,
the items would be the types of products, characteristics, other requirements, data to besupplied, test methods, etc.). Supplementary justification may be combined withparticular items in the programme of work. The proposed programme of work shall alsosuggest priorities and target dates.)
1. Definition and terminology
The new ISO/TC will initiate work by preparing an overview that characterizes thediscipline of ecological restoration and defines relevant technical terminology. The
characterization will describe what ecological restoration is, how it is accomplished, why
it is needed, and how it is distinguished from related disciplines. It will contribute to build
a common understanding of concepts to support standardization work.
2. Principles, key assumptions, and phases of restoration work
The future standard will identify principles and key assumptions, as well as will describe
the phases of restoration work from conceptual planning to final reporting. Particularemphasis will be given to the preparation of the reference model, which portrays thedesired ecological attributes of an ecosystem to be restored. The ISO/TC will recommend
the ideal way for ecological restoration projects to be structured administratively andmanaged.
3. Standards on specific freshwater aquatic ecosystem
Once this general characterization of the discipline is finalized, the ISO/TC will develop
and prepare specific standards that pertain to the ecological restoration of freshwateraquatic ecosystems. These include rivers, lakes, and wetlands. Catchment (orwatershed) management will be discussed in terms of how aquatic ecosystems can beeffectively recharged.
4. Standards on large-scale ecological restoration
There is a need for developing standards for establishing ecological restoration
programs, whereby the restoration tasks in multiple projects are coordinated into
landscape-scale or regional-scale restoration programs. The ISO/TC will offer
recommendations on how such programs can be managed.

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Indication(s) of the preferred type or types of deliverable(s) to be produced under the
proposal (This may be combined with the "Proposed initial programme of work" if moreconvenient).
Deliverables for the initial work shall consist of ISO International Standards (ISs) and documents thatprovide the principles, needs, history, and other background and qualifications for a complete
understanding of the standards. The deliverables for the initial tasks shall be:

1. Definition and terminology (one standard);•

ISO/TC standard for characterization of ecological restoration and rehabilitation and glossaryof technical terms

2. Principles, key assumptions, and phases of restoration work (six standards);
•
•
•
•
•
•

ISO/TC standard for determining ecological baselines for degraded ecosystems
ISO/TC standard for the development of reference models
ISO/TC standard for conceptual planning of ecological restoration projects
ISO/TC standard for technical planning of ecological restoration projects
ISO/TC standard for onsite implementation of ecological restoration projects
ISO/TC standard for monitoring, evaluation, and ecological restoration project report
preparation

3. Standards on specific freshwater aquatic ecosystem (two standards);••

ISO/TC standard for restoring rivers, lakes, and wetlands
ISO standard for groundwater and catchment management relative to ecological restoration

4. Standards on large-scale ecological restoration (one standard)•

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ISO/TC standard for large-scale ecological restoration

Form 1: Proposal for a new field of technical activity
Page 4A listing of relevant existing documents at the international, regional and national levels.
(Any known relevant document (such as standards and regulations) shall be listed,regardless of their source and should be accompanied by an indication of theirsignificance.)
There are no ISO standards for ecological restoration, although some presented by ISO/TC 82/SC7
for mine closure and reclamation management could be considered as exercises in ecologicalrehabilitation. Other nations and institutions have issued technical standards and guidelines for the
management of impacted ecosystems in order to return them to a useful condition, which were listed
as below.
CountryType ofecosystem

Document title

Reference

PurposeAustralia

Allecosystems

National standards
for the practice of
ecological restorationin Australia

McDonald etal. (2018)

Provide a blueprint of principles andstandards for the restoration
projects in all land and water
ecosystems of Australia.

CanadaProtected
natural area

Principles andguidelines for
ecological restoration

Canadian
Parks Council(2007)

Describe an approach to restorationthat will ensure that parks andprotected areas continue tosafeguard ecological integrity.

Speed et al.
(2016)

Identify the principles, procedures,
and approaches of river restorationand distil the lessons frominternational experiences.

Wang et al.
(2018)

Provide standards and methods forthe restoration of degradedgrassland
Describe a framework for thesustainableutilization
andassessment of marine resource,
protection of marine biodiversity, as
well as the marine ecosystem healthassessment
andecosystem
management.

Ensureconsistent
restoration delivery.

China

River

China

Grassland

China

Queensland

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River restoration: astrategic approach toplanning andmanagement
Technical
specifications for the
restoration of
degraded grassland

Marineecosystems

Technical
specifications formarine ecologicalrestoration

Ministry of
NaturalResources of
the People’s
Republic of
China

All
ecosystems

South East
Queensland
ecological restoration
framework: code ofpractice, guideline
and manual

Chenoweth
EPLa andBushlandRestoration
Services(2012)
River
restoration
centre (2013)
USEPA (2000)

UK

River

Manual of River
Restoration
TechniquesUS

WetlandPrinciples of wetland
restoration

ecological

Aim to help river managers identify
potential restoration techniques foruse in river restoration andsustainable river management.
Help build on the lessons ofrestoration projects and promote
effective restoration

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US

Lake andreservoir

The lake andreservoir restoration
guidance manual

VietnamRiver

Guideline framework
for river restorationin Viet Nam

USEPA (1990)

Hao et al.
(2011)

Help users identify, describe, anddefine the lake issues and describe
the process of developing a sitespecificlakeorreservoir
management plan
Provide understanding of thegenetic requirements for riverrestoration programs for thedecision makers.

One standard drafted by the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) deserves particular mention.
SER is the only international professional organization dedicated exclusively to the science andpractice of that discipline. SER issued aspirational guidelines for ecological restoration and designatedthem as “standards.” Although scientifically sound, thorough, and well-conceived, these “standards”
were presented as explanations and recommendations.

A statement from the proposer as to how the proposed work may relate to or impact on
existing work, especially existing ISO and IEC deliverables. (The proposer should explain
how the work differs from apparently similar work, or explain how duplication and conflict
will be minimized. If seemingly similar or related work is already in the scope of othercommittees of the organization or in other organizations, the proposed scope shalldistinguish between the proposed work and the other work. The proposer shall indicate
whether his or her proposal could be dealt with by widening the scope of an existingcommittee or by establishing a new committee.)Once the proposed ISO/TC has prepared the first seven deliverables which pertain to the performanceof all kinds of ecological restoration projects, the mission of the TC will be to prepare specific standards
for the ecological restoration of freshwater aquatic ecosystems and wetlands. These standards will
instruct project personnel in the planning, implementation, and monitoring of ecological restoration. In
addition, these ecological standards will support the role of ecological restoration in the realization ofsocial, community, and sustainability goals and ecosystem services. The standards will describe how
stakeholders can become engaged in restoration activities.
Current ISO standards for activities related to ecological restoration will not be duplicated or confoundedby standards to be prepared by the proposed ISO/TC. Instead, complimentary standards will fully respect
standards that were previously issued by other ISO/TCs concerned with mine closure (ISO/TC 82/SC7)
and the management of forests, grasslands, and marine ecosystems. For example, complimentarystandards can be prepared for the restoration of groundwater and catchment areas which, in turn, arerequired as elements of mine closure. Moreover, in the process of developing the standards of ecologicalrestoration, proposers will follow the standardization stated in ISO/TC 146 (Air quality), ISO/TC147(Water quality) and ISO/TC 190 (Soil quality). Ecological restoration needs knowledge of interdisciplines. The new standards will extend the applications of the above standards in the field of
ecological restoration.

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A listing of relevant countries where the subject of the proposal is important to theirnational commercial interests.
Ecological restoration can contribute in substantial ways to protecting nature and improving human wellbeing all over the world. Many well-intended projects and programs in recent years, which were
designated as ecological restoration, have underperformed. The standards established by the proposed
ISO/TC will present a robust framework for future restoration projects to achieve intended goals.
Therefore, the outputs of the proposed ISO/TC should be of interest to all nations of the world.
This framework could benefit the attainment of UN sustainable development goals (SDG) and realize alarge array of ecological, socioeconomic, and cultural values. For example, the special UN SDG 15
would facilitate restoration of degraded land and soil in order to achieve a degradation-neutral world by2030. This goal specifically targets the restoration of freshwater ecosystems.
Region-specific issues will be considered and the subgroups of restoration experts in different countries
will be established in the new ISO/TC, for example Australia, Brazil, China, UK, and US.

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Form 1: Proposal for a new field of technical activity
Page 7A listing of relevant external international organizations or internal parties (other ISO
and/or IEC committees) to be engaged as liaisons in the development of thedeliverable(s). (In order to avoid conflict with, or duplication of efforts of, other bodies, it
is important to indicate all points of possible conflict or overlap. The result of any
communication with other interested bodies shall also be included.)Internal organizations which could be engaged as liaisons for the development of the standardsof the proposed new TC:
1. ISO/TC 82/SC 7 Mine closure and reclamation management
2. ISO/TC 146 Air quality
3. ISO/TC 147 Water quality including SC 2 physical, chemical and biochemical methods
4. ISO/TC 190 Soil quality including SC 7 impact assessment
5. ISO/TC 207 Environmental management including SC 5 life cycle assessment and SC
7 greenhouse gas management and related activities
6. ISO/TC 296 Bamboo and rattan
7. ISO/TC 331 Biodiversity
Internal organizations which could be informed as sector-specific primary beneficiaries of the tools
to be developed by the proposed new TC:
1. ISO/TC 224 Service activities related to drinking water supply, wastewater andstormwater systems
2. ISO/TC 234 Fisheries and aquacultures
3. ISO/TC 287 Sustainable processes for wood and wood-based products
4. ISO/TC 92 Fire safety

External organizations:
1. Society for Ecological Restoration (SER)
In 2016, SER published International Standards for the Practice of Ecological Restoration
including Principles and Key Concepts. SER issued a revised 2nd edition in 2019. These SER“standards” offered comprehensive guidance and made wise recommendations. However, SER
imposed no sanctions on projects that do not comply, even though such projects are called
ecological restoration by organizations that sponsor them. In that regard, these are notstandards in a strict sense of that term. The proposed ISO/TC will rely heavily on the expertiseof SER in the process of developing its standards. Two of the persons who prepared thisapplication are respected members of SER who served on the committee that developed the
SER “standards.” We intend to recruit more SER members to serve on the new ISO/TC. SER
maintains local chapters on most continents. We will form liaisons with chapters if any of them
express interest in participation.
2. Society for Ecological Restoration of Beijing (SERB)SERB is the only ecological restoration society recognized by the national government in China.
SERB operates at both a provincial and national level. A liaison with SERB shall be created.
3. International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)IIASA maintains a Center for Landscape Resilience & Management that is involved in many
restoration projects in different countries. A liaison with IIASA shall be created.
4. Australian Association of Bush Regenerators (AABR)AABR specifies restoration protocols in Australia. A liaison will be established with thatorganization.

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Form 1: Proposal for a new field of technical activity
Page 8A simple and concise statement identifying and describing relevant affected stakeholder
categories (including small and medium sized enterprises) and how they will each benefit
from or be impacted by the proposed deliverable(s).
The standards developed by the proposed ISO/TC will improve ecological outcomes. Organizations that
perform restoration according to ISO/TC standards will be assured of attaining full ecological recovery
rather than partial measures, which we recognize as rehabilitation. Government bodies that authorize or
mandate ecological restoration will be ensured that projects conducted in accordance with the ISO/TC
standards will have a highly likely chance of full recovery from a degraded condition. Stakeholders
consisting of individuals and communities that are located in or near restored ecosystems will likewise
benefit from the broad array of values that will be satisfied by well-executed ecological restoration.

An expression of commitment from the proposer to provide the committee secretariat if
the proposal succeeds.
China is willing to undertake the work of secretariat of the new TC and will provide all necessary
resources including financial and human resources as well as facility supports.

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Form 1: Proposal for a new field of technical activity
Page 9Purpose and justification for the proposal. (The purpose and justification for the creationof a new technical committee shall be made clear and the need for standardization in thisfieldshall be justified. Clause C.4.13.3 of Annex C of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1
contains a menu of suggestions or ideas for possible documentation to support andpurpose and justification of proposals. Proposers should consider these suggestions,but they are not limited to them, nor are they required to comply strictly with them. Whatis most important is that proposers develop and provide purpose and justification
information that is most relevant to their proposals and that makes a substantial businesscase for the market relevance and the need for their proposals. Thorough, well-developed
and robust purpose and justification documentation will lead to more informed
consideration of proposals and ultimately their possible success in the ISO IEC system.)Global goals. The United Nations General Assembly declared 2021–2030 as the “Decade on
Ecosystem Restoration,” which positions “the restoration of ecosystems as a major nature-based
solution towards meeting a wide range of global development goals and national priorities.” In practice,
UN programs and publications use the term ecological restoration inconsistently. Attempts to define
ecological restoration have not generated a universal consensus of meaning, and no standards exist for
guiding and evaluating what is to be this “work of the decade.” The proposed ISO/TC will provide thesestandards.
In addition to this UN priority, other exemplary targets for ecological restoration have been established.
The New York Declaration, for example, was signed in 2014 by 32 countries, 19 regions, 56 companies,
16 indigenous people organizations, and 58 NGOs to restore 200 million ha of degraded lands by 2030;
the EU Biodiversity Strategy was agreed by 28 European Union member states to restore at least 15%
of degraded ecosystems; AFR100 aims to bring 100 million ha of land in Africa into restoration by 2030;
Initiative 20x20 is a country-led effort to bring 20 million hectares of land in Latin America and the
Caribbean into restoration. Since 1996, US Army Corps of Engineers has progressively implemented aseries of ecological restoration programmes and regarded the ecological restoration as one of primary
missions of the Civil Works Program. In 2014, Vietnam issued the National Biodiversity Strategy to Vision2020 with Vision to 2030. In 2016, Brazil joined Initiative 20x20 with a pledge to restore 22 million ha ofdegraded land by 2030. In 2019, Australia released Australia’s Strategy for Nature 2019-2030 to
implement the Convention’s Strategic Plan and Aichi Targets. In 2020, China approved the Master Planfor Major Conservation and Restoration Projects of National Important Ecosystems (2021-2035). ISO/TC
standards will ensure that ecological restoration projects adequately satisfy ecological, socioeconomic,
and cultural values.
Ecological restoration, when implemented effectively and sustainably, contributes to protecting
biodiversity; improves human health and well-being; increases food and water security; delivers goods,
services, and economic prosperity; and supports climate change mitigation, resilience, and adaptation.
It is a solution-based approach that engages communities, scientists, policymakers, and land managers
to repair ecological damage and rebuild a healthier relationship between people and the rest of nature.
When combined with conservation and sustainable use, ecological restoration is the link needed to movelocal, regional, and global environmental conditions from a state of continued degradation, to one of net
positive improvements.
Humanity relies substantially on its resource base of natural goods and services, which are recognizedby economists as natural capital. Stated another way, nature sustains us, and we serve our own interests
when we reciprocate and sustain nature by restoring degraded ecosystems. The global humanpopulation and our ecological footprint have expanded to the limits of sustainability, threatening our wayof life and possibly our survival. Ecological recovery is no longer optional. We must repair our planet.
Ecological restoration is the best way to recover lost natural capital and thereby strengthen ourcommunities and institutions and to benefit our welfare.

Aquatic ecosystems. The development of standards for restoring freshwater ecosystems will be an
initial priority of the new ISO/TC. Freshwater ecosystems provide multiple benefits and services tosociety and are essential for reaching the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
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biologically diverse environments and provide numerous products and services on which human wellbeing depends. Given that humans and almost every living being require water, freshwater ecosystems
have significant economic, cultural, aesthetic, recreational and educational value. They help to sustain
the global hydrological cycle, carbon cycle and nutrient cycles. They support water security, provide
potable water, regulate flows and extreme conditions, purify water, and replenish groundwater. Services
also depend on these ecosystems, which provide water for drinking, agriculture, employment, energy
generation, navigation, recreation and tourism. The UN SDG target 6.6 aims to protect and restore waterrelated ecosystems so that they can continue to benefit society, through halting their degradation anddestruction and helping to recover those that are already degraded. However, restoring the degradedwater-related ecosystems is a complex task requiring significant time, resources, and knowledge. The
new ISO/TC aims to establish criteria for technical implementation across different water-related
ecosystems and further to increase the effectiveness of ecological restoration efforts.

Restoration norms. Ecological restoration attempts to recover degraded natural ecological processes
to normal levels of function. Ecological restoration recovers ecological processes to the point whereassistance from restoration practitioners is no longer needed in order for the ecosystem to mature
naturally. In this respect, ecological restoration differs radically from typical engineering projects,
because the endpoint of restoration is an on-going process and not a product or commodity. ISO/TC
standards for ecological restoration will reflect this ecologically sensitive distinction.
The ISO/TC standards will specify that technical implementation will be predicated on a baseline
ecological survey to determine the type and extent of degradation and on the preparation of an ecologicalreference model which describes the ecological state, physical conditions, and normal functional
processes that are intended to be recovered. Restoration implementation procedures are site specific.
They are selected on what will be needed to assist natural recovery from the baseline conditions to thereference state. The reference model is project site-specific and eliminates the need to categorize theecosystem according to an ecological classification system. A report describing the ecological baseline
inventory and the reference model are both prepared prior to initiation of implementation of onsite
restoration activities.

Ecological attributes. Six ecological generic kinds of attributes are recovered in an ecologicalrestoration project. They are physical site conditions, species composition, structural diversity, ecological
functioning, absence of threats, and external exchanges. Physical site conditions refer mainly to thepresence of appropriate substrates or soils and suitable moisture conditions (in terrestrial systems) or
water quantity/quality (in aquatic systems). Species composition refers to the presence of an appropriate
suite of native plants and animals and the absence or rarity of invasive or other inappropriate species,
as determined from the reference model. Structural diversity refers to the biological community structure
in terms of species abundance and the juxtaposition of species, as determined from the reference model.
Ecological functioning refers to the development of normal level of biological function, such as growth,
reproduction, nutrient recycling, energy flow in food chains, and the emigration and dispersal oforganisms. Absence of threats refers to a lack of conditions which would initiate future degradation, suchas the presence of invasive species next to the restoration project site. External exchange refers tonormal functioning with the surrounding landscape, such as moisture inputs and outputs and the normal
passage of wide-ranging fish, birds, and other animals.
Ecological restoration projects recover a degraded ecosystem to a level whereby recovery will continue
without assistance from restoration practitioners. For example, an herbaceous wetland may essentially
recover to an ecologically mature state in only a few years of practitioner assistance. In contrast, aforested wetland may require a decade of practitioner assistance to become established, followed by acentury of continued development without practitioner assistance until the mature ecological state isreached. In other words, practitioner-assisted restoration does not necessarily continue until ecologicalmaturity.

Conclusion. The reason we are presenting this much detail on ecosystems in the application is toemphasize to reviewers that ecological restoration must be evaluated largely in light of qualitative andsometimes unique, onsite conditions. Ecological restoration is not readily amenable to evaluation from

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empirical data as is typical of most architectural, engineering, and agronomic projects. Empiricalevaluation is important in ecological restoration primarily in relation to quantitative aspects of thereference model. Restoration success is determined when a site-specific level of organization has been
attained. Success requires professional judgment based on experience. Judgment is needed, because
natural ecosystems are extremely complex and no two are exactly alike. Furthermore, natural
ecosystems are dynamic and ever-changing. In this regard, restoration and its evaluation have been
compared to shooting at a moving target.
Those of us who prepared this application are thoroughly convinced that restoration can be fairly anduniformly evaluated by a system of well-conceived standards. We have demonstrated the efficacy ofsuch standards in our own restoration project work. Furthermore, there is a great need for standards as
guidance to ensure that restoration projects are properly implemented. Too many shoddy projects havebeen perpetrated in all parts of the world―sometimes with great fanfare―in the absence of standards.
The discipline of ecological restoration is desperately needed to recover a badly degraded planet, but
the work product of that discipline will never rise to an adequate professional level of attainment without
standards that are enforced with sanctions. We stress that ISO/TC standards are urgently needed forthat purpose.

Signature of the proposer
Click here to enter text.

Further information to assist with understanding the requirements for the items above can befound in the Directives, Part 1, Annex C.

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