What does landscape reclamation aim to achieve?

Landscape reclamation primarily aims to restore and rehabilitate landscapes that have been altered or degraded, particularly due to human activities such as mining, construction, or other forms of land development. By focusing on creating new landscape features that can effectively replace those that have been lost, reclamation helps to reestablish ecological balance, enhance biodiversity, and improve the functionality of the environment.

This approach often involves not just the restoration of land to its prior state, but also the integration of new elements that may support environmental sustainability and community needs. Creating new landscape features allows for innovative design solutions that can adapt to the altered conditions of the site, ultimately fostering a balance between human use and natural ecosystems.

Preserving existing natural landscapes, while important, is more aligned with conservation efforts rather than reclamation. Restoring historical sites is typically a specialized field focused on cultural preservation, and designing aesthetic gardens for public areas falls under landscape design, which, while related, does not encompass the broader goals of reclamation.