Hi Scott, definitely a common question! Restoration projects are one of the many gray areas that fall inbetween “wild” and “not wild” (or captive/cultivated or not captive/cultivated) under iNaturalist’s classification.
Technically in iNaturalist’s system, the original planted/seeded plants would be not wild and their offspring would be wild. But good luck figuring that out :) so you will find that most people tend to mark all the plants in restoration areas as wild unless it appears obviously planted. Planted trees and shrubs are a bit easier to tell, but seeded species are very difficult to assess. In my area, extensive seeding/planting goes on even in remnant natural areas, so it’s often impossible to assess whether something is autochthonous to the site/sprang up on its own, or was broadcast by a restoration volunteer or other land manager.
This topic has been extensively discussed on the forum, so I’m going to close it and direct you to the FAQ answer for this popular question as well as some of those previous discussions.
If you do have further questions feel free to open up a related topic, send me a message, or even create a feature request if there’s something about the current system that you think could be improved. Thanks!
Here are a few related topics:
- Establishment Rating for Plants
- Are reintroduced animals wild?
- The category of “cultivated” is problematic for plants in urban landscapes
- Add a flag for translocated wild specimens
- At what point does an anthropogenic introduction become wild?
- Rename “Research Grade”? (discussion and polls)
- Park plants - captive or wild?
- Request for better description of “cultivated/captive”
- Are trees/bushes in ancient hedgerow “cultivated”?