Multi-Scale Socio-Ecological Analysis of Restored vs Protected Sites with a Focus on Potentially Contaminated Land

Reversing the biodiversity crisis requires not only the protection of existing ecosystems but also the strategic creation and restoration of habitats. Restoration on post-industrial or potentially contaminated land presents opportunities to expand biodiversity, improve community health, and address persistent deficits in access to nature. Yet the combined social and ecological outcomes of these spaces remain poorly understood, and benefits may be unevenly distributed, with risks of green gentrification and the reinforcement of socio-spatial inequalities.

This research addresses this gap by analysing how restored sites differ from protected ones in their ecological performance, social effects, distributional patterns, and governance conditions. The study integrates national-scale spatial analyses, regional case studies, and qualitative inquiry to generate a holistic understanding of how restoration functions across socio-ecological scales.

At the national level, spatial modelling will assess the distribution of protected versus restored sites in relation to deprivation indices, health and crime statistics, accessibility, and legacies of industrial land use. This analysis will identify whether restored sites are disproportionately located in communities with greater environmental and social need, and protected sites in more affluent areas.

At the regional level, detailed case studies will compare biodiversity outcomes, management approaches, and levels of public engagement across restored and protected sites. Longitudinal national monitoring datasets will be used to evaluate biodiversity trajectories, while residential property valuation data will be analysed to examine whether different site types are associated with measurable off-site changes.

A qualitative component will investigate the experiences, motivations, and challenges of actors involved in ecological restoration, including private developers, NGOs, governmental bodies, and community-led initiatives. This will provide insight into how different governance models shape ecological outcomes and community relationships with restored landscapes.

Together, the project aims to advance understanding of who benefits from habitat creation, how restored sites function relative to protected ones, and how future restoration strategies can maximise biodiversity and equity for greater socio-ecological resilience.