Navinder Singh

I am Professor of Restoration Ecology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), where I lead research integrating biodiversity conservation, animal ecology, and ecosystem restoration. My work focuses on understanding how species and ecosystems respond to environmental change, particularly climate change and human land use, and how this knowledge can guide effective conservation and restoration strategies.

My research combines field studies, long-term ecological monitoring, movement ecology, emerging technologies, and quantitative modelling to investigate ecological processes across species, ecosystems, and landscapes. I work across boreal forests, rivers, mountain ecosystems, and grasslands, collaborating with researchers, authorities, industry, and local communities internationally.

A central ambition of my research is to advance predictive restoration ecology—moving beyond understanding past ecological changes towards anticipating future ecosystem responses and identifying where and how restoration can deliver lasting benefits for biodiversity and society.

Restoring biodiversity through ecology, innovation and collaboration

The world’s ecosystems are undergoing unprecedented change. Climate change, habitat loss, land-use intensification, pollution and biological invasions are transforming forests, rivers, mountains and agricultural landscapes at a pace rarely experienced in human history. While conserving remaining biodiversity remains essential, it is becoming increasingly clear that conservation alone will not be enough. The future of biodiversity will also depend on our ability to restore ecosystems, recover ecological processes and build resilient landscapes capable of supporting both nature and society.

My research is driven by a simple but fundamental question: How can ecological science help restore biodiversity in a rapidly changing world?

Addressing this question requires us to understand not only how ecosystems respond to disturbance, but also what determines their capacity to recover. Ecological processes rarely operate within the boundaries of individual habitats or ecosystems. Understanding the connections between species, landscapes and ecological functions is therefore essential for developing restoration approaches that work across both terrestrial and aquatic environments.

Throughout my career I have been fascinated by ecological complexity. Understanding why ecosystems differ in their resilience, why some populations recover while others decline, and how species respond to environmental change has shaped my scientific journey—from mountain ungulates in the Himalayas and migratory wildlife across Central Asia to boreal forests, river systems and raptor populations in northern Europe. Although these systems differ enormously, they all address the same fundamental challenge: understanding how ecological systems change through time and how science can help guide their recovery.

Today, restoration ecology provides the framework that brings these interests together. It is a discipline that combines curiosity-driven ecological research with one of the most pressing societal challenges of our time. I see restoration not simply as repairing damaged ecosystems, but as an opportunity to deepen our understanding of ecological processes while developing knowledge that supports conservation, sustainable management and environmental policy.