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An interview with a restoration ecologist

Name:Date:

A restoration ecologist explains why bringing a drained marsh back to life meant removing things rather than planting them.

Audio and answer checking: https://joy-english.com/listening/wetland-restoration-interview

Attitude, opinion and inference

Listen and choose the best answer. Some answers are not stated directly.

What misunderstanding does Marisol correct at the start?
- a) That marshes cannot be restored at all
- b) That restoration takes only a few months
- c) That restoration consists mainly of planting
- d) That farmers always oppose such projects
Why did plants reappear once the water returned?
- a) Seeds that had been dormant in the soil began to grow
- b) Volunteers planted them from a nearby marsh
- c) Birds carried the seeds from other countries
- d) The farmers sowed them along the stream
What went wrong because of the farmland upstream?
- a) The water became too salty for any plants
- b) The farmers blocked the stream completely
- c) Soil washed away and buried the seeds
- d) Fertiliser helped a few aggressive reeds crowd out other plants
Why did most farmers agree to the grass strips?
- a) They were paid a large sum of money
- b) They found the strips also protected their own soil
- c) They were required to do so by law
- d) They wanted to attract more birds
What is Marisol's view of bird counts as a measure of success?
- a) They are the only reliable measure
- b) They are less important than the number of visitors
- c) They are useful but can give a misleading impression
- d) They are impossible to carry out accurately
What does Marisol imply about the flood two winters ago?
- a) It persuaded doubters more effectively than written evidence
- b) It destroyed much of the work already done
- c) It was caused by the restoration itself
- d) It made the village decide to leave
Why does Marisol mention the walking path?
- a) It brought in money to pay for the work
- b) It replaced a road that had been closed
- c) It allowed scientists to count plants more easily
- d) It made local people feel the project belonged to them
What does Marisol regret about the project?
- a) Not planting more trees in the first year
- b) Not collecting local people's knowledge earlier
- c) Not measuring the number of birds each week
- d) Not asking the farmers to leave larger strips

Listen for details

Listen again and type the missing word or number. You can write numbers as words or digits.

Marisol has worked on the marsh for ___ years.
Almost no planting took place during the first ___ years.
The number of bird species has risen from nineteen to ___.
The river flooded ___ winters ago.
Families can now come and watch ___ from the walking path.
Farmers agreed to leave a strip of rough ___ along the stream banks.

Answer key

Attitude, opinion and inference

c) That restoration consists mainly of plantingShe says the first four years involved hardly any planting; they mainly removed drainage.
a) Seeds that had been dormant in the soil began to growShe says seeds had been lying dormant for decades and grew when the ground was wet again.
d) Fertiliser helped a few aggressive reeds crowd out other plantsFertiliser favoured aggressive reeds, which crowded out other species.
b) They found the strips also protected their own soilShe says nobody was forced and most agreed once they saw the strip reduced soil loss from their own fields.
c) They are useful but can give a misleading impressionShe says the rise in species is real, but birds fly in from elsewhere, so they can mislead.
a) It persuaded doubters more effectively than written evidenceThe village stayed dry, which did more to win over sceptics than any report.
d) It made local people feel the project belonged to themOnce families could see herons, the project became theirs rather than hers.
b) Not collecting local people's knowledge earlierShe says they kept data on plants but almost none on what local people remembered, and some knowledge was lost.

Listen for details

eleven / 11The presenter says she has spent eleven years on the project.
four / 4She says the first four years involved hardly any planting.
forty-three / forty three / 43She says bird species have risen from nineteen to forty-three.
two / 2She says heavy rain pushed the river over its banks two winters ago.
heronsShe says families can come and watch herons for themselves.
grassThe strip was of rough grass along the stream banks.

Transcript

Presenter: My guest today is Marisol Teixeira, a restoration ecologist who has spent eleven years bringing a drained river marsh back to life. Marisol, when people hear the word restoration, they picture planting. Is that the whole story?

Marisol: Far from it. In fact, our first four years involved hardly any planting at all. What we did was remove things. We blocked the drainage ditches and let the water return. Seeds had been lying dormant in the soil for decades, and once the ground was wet again, plants that nobody had seen since my grandmother's time simply reappeared.

Presenter: That sounds almost too easy.

Marisol: It would have been, had the water been clean. But the farmland upstream was washing fertiliser into the marsh, and that favoured a few aggressive reeds, which crowded out everything else. So we negotiated with the farmers to leave a strip of rough grass along the stream banks. Nobody was forced, and most agreed once they saw that the strip also reduced soil loss from their own fields.

Presenter: How do you know the project has worked? What counts as success?

Marisol: That's the hardest question, and I'd distrust anyone who gives a quick answer. We count bird species, which have risen from nineteen to forty-three, but birds can be misleading, because they fly in from elsewhere. I'm more reassured by the insects and the water quality, which respond to what's happening on the spot. And honestly, the real test is whether it still works after a flood.

Presenter: And has it been tested?

Marisol: Two winters ago, heavy rain pushed the river over its banks. The marsh absorbed so much of the water that the village downstream stayed dry, which, frankly, did more to win over the sceptics than any report I could have written.

Presenter: Were there people who opposed it?

Marisol: Plenty, at first. Some saw it as land going to waste. What changed minds wasn't an argument. It was the walking path. Once families could come and watch herons for themselves, the project stopped being mine and became theirs.

Presenter: If you could do it again, what would you change?

Marisol: I'd have started recording people's memories sooner. We kept careful data on plants, but almost none on what local people remembered of the old marsh, and some of the best guidance came from an elderly neighbour who recalled where the water used to pool. A great deal of knowledge was lost simply because we didn't think to ask.