Cumulative effects assessment of restoration programs: A framework to assess achievement of regional and programmatic goals

Increasing global investments focused on conservation and restoration of natural resources aim to address challenges presented by climate change and biodiversity loss. Many restoration and conservation program assessments examine individual actions, assuming additive effects only, failing to acknowledge or capture potential synergistic or antagonistic effects across a region or program. Cumulative effects assessments (CEA) provide a more ecologically relevant framework to assess the outcome of large restoration efforts. These assessments are critical given the increasing frequency of projects and the potential for cross-project interaction, yet there are few efforts to document the presence and patterns of cumulative effects for large-scale restoration programs. Understanding both the individual and cumulative effects of projects within a large restoration program can also inform the conceptualization of future large-scale restoration efforts by enabling the full suite of outcomes to be evaluated and considered against no-action scenarios in future planning. Here, we describe the development of a conceptual framework for CEA from large-scale restoration efforts.