Research article An assessment of the effectiveness of a long-term ecosystem restoration project in a fynbos shrubland catchment in South Africa Jennifer M. Fill a, * , Greg G. Forsyth b , Suzaan Kritzinger-Klopper a , David C. Le Maitre b , Brian W. van Wilgen a a Centre for Invasion Biology, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa b Centre for Invasion Biology, Natural Resources and the Environment, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, P.O. Box 320, Stellenbosch, 7600, South Africa article info Article history: Received 25 May 2016 Received in revised form 8 September 2016 Accepted 24 October 2016 Available online xxx Keywords: Acacia Best practice Ecosystem management Invasive alien species Pinus abstract The long-term effectiveness of ecological restoration projects is seldom reported in the scientific liter- ature. This paper reports on the outcomes of ecosystem restoration following the clearing of alien Pinus plantations and associated alien plant invasions over 13 years from an 8000 ha mountain catchment in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. We examined the goals, methods and costs of management, and the ecological outcomes in terms of reduced alien plant cover and native vegetation recovery. While the goals were not explicitly formulated at the outset, they were implicitly focussed on the conservation of water resources, the restoration of biodiversity, and the provision of employment. Initially, most (>90% of the area) was occupied by Pinus and Acacia invasions, mostly at low densities. The cost of control (initial clearing and up to 16 follow-up visits to remove emergent seedlings) amounted to almost ZAR 50 million (14 ZAR ~ 1US$). Although the cover of alien plants was greatly reduced, over 1000 ha still support dense or medium invasions (>25% cover), and the area occupied by scattered Pinus plants increased by over 3000 ha to >5700 ha. A reliance on passive restoration had not yet resulted in full recovery of the natural vegetation. The mean number of species, and total projected canopy cover on 50 m 2 plots was lower in cleared than in comparable reference sites with pristine vegetation (21 vs 32 species/plot, and 94 vs 168% cover respectively). While the project is ongoing, we conclude that the entire area could revert to a more densely-invaded state in the event of a reduction of funding. Several changes to the management approach (including the integrated use of fire, a greater use of power tools, and active re-seeding of cleared areas with indigenous shrubs) would substantially increase the future effectiveness of the project and the sustainability of its outcomes. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Human-induced transformation of ecosystems accelerated during the latter half of the 20th century, leaving very few areas unaffected. The situation has reached a point where conscious trade-offs need to be made regarding the optimal configuration of landscapes that will deliver the most benefit to humanity, in the form of ecosystem services and the protection of biodiversity (Millenium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). As a result, many pro- jects worldwide seek to restore degraded or transformed ecosys- tems to a condition where they will deliver an arguably better set of benefits in future (Perring et al., 2015; Stanturf et al., 2014; Suding et al., 2015). Successful restoration efforts depend on setting specific goals and implementing well-planned, effective operations. Restoration attempts should set clear objectives (Clewell and Aronson, 2007), and then assess whether or not progress towards achieving those goals is being made (Holl and Aide, 2011; Sainsbury et al., 2000). Most assessments of restoration efforts focus on ecological aspects of restoration activities (Brudvig, 2011), but how the projects are implemented and managed should also be evaluated (Suding et al., 2015). Regular monitoring will inform decisions on the allocation of limited resources, and on adaptive management (Epanchin-Niell and Hastings, 2010; Holl and Aide, 2011; Sainsbury et al., 2000), but this is seldom done (Ruiz-Jaen and Aide, 2005). The docu- mentation of case studies and their outcomes over the long-term is * Corresponding author. E-mail address: jenna999@gmail.com (J.M. Fill). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Environmental Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jenvman http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.10.053 0301-4797/© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Journal of Environmental Management xxx (2016) 1e10 Please cite this article in press as: Fill, J.M., et al., An assessment of the effectiveness of a long-term ecosystem restoration project in a fynbos shrubland catchment in South Africa, Journal of Environmental Management (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2016.10.053