we must be pragmatic and realistic in our goals. after centuries of irreversible disturbances, we have to understand that old ecosystems are unlikely to return. However, we can support what biodiversity remains, and we can use urban forestry as a means of carbon sequestration.

Many environmentalists advocate for restoring pre colonial ecosystems, but that is simply nostalgia and white-guilt manifesting itself as a stewardship philosophy. How are you going to resurrect the species that have gone extinct since then? Wouldn't it be better to preserve the ones we have now?

if the ecosystem these plants would live in no longer exists, planting them simply sets them up to fail. also, as the climate changes, we will have to adjust our stewardship and figure out what can grow in these new situations.

Lucky for you I'm into that