Given the human pressures on the existing natural systems in the harbor, a critical priority of the program is to secure and protect public and private properties that remain undeveloped. When acquisition is not possible, rigorous restoration must serve as a substitute. Damaged habitat does not necessarily return without intervention. But restoration and mitigation are not cure-alls. It is uncertain whether wetland mitigation, as it is practiced, maintains the goal of no loss or no net loss.
Forest restorations take decades longer to recover full structural and functional values.
In response to these concerns, the HWG developed standard and comprehensive five-year monitoring protocols to be required in any mitigation program to ensure restoration success. These monitoring protocols serve as indicators that help us to gauge our success, correct our failures, and study recovery over time. Sixty acquisition sites and 88 restoration projects have been identified, selected by the presence of federally, state, and locally rare species, size, continuity with other natural areas, imminence of development, and other criteria. Northwest Staten Island is an area of great natural value and development potential, containing some of the most diverse tidal wetlands of New York City. Natural resources damages claims, public works mitigations, and grants are funding several of New York City s most comprehensive forest restorations, as well as salt marsh, freshwater wetland and riparian projects in the Arthur Kill, Jamaica Bay, and Long Island Sound.