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 RESTORE is a weekly e-bulletin, published by SER International, linking you to the latest, breaking news stories from around the world keeping you up-to-date on a wide variety of topics related to ecological restoration including the latest funding opportunities. RESTORE is free to SER International members and can be subscribed to for only $20/year by visiting: www.ser.org/content/restoration_network.asp. |
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Get Involved / Community-Based Restoration
Seek Leads to Early Projects and Initiatives for History of Restoration
We are interested in documenting projects that represent early attempts at restoration, as defined by SER, or that are related to this form of land management in interesting ways. We are also interested in initiatives related to the development and application of restoration for environmental, educational or scientific purposes, or its use in landscaping, soil rehabilitation, hydrological management and the like. If you have suggestions, please contact me at newacademy@comcast.net, 815-337-6896; or George at George.Lubick@NAU.EDU; 928-523-6211.
Wetland Restoration and Wetland Delineation Short Courses
Professional wetland short courses for practicing engineers, planners, scientists, and resource managers at the Heffner Wetland Building at the Olentangy River Wetland Research Park, Columbus, Ohio. July 9-11, 2008 (3 days) CREATION AND RESTORATION OF WETLANDS with William J. Mitsch and Roy R. "Robin" Lewis, and August 11-15, 2008 (5 days) WETLAND DELINEATION with Ralph W. Tiner, Mark D. DeBrock, Frank Gibbs, and William J. Mitsch.
http://swamp.osu.edu/ShortCourses/index.html
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People in the News
2008 Goldman Environmental Prize Raises the Stakes
Seven grassroots leaders who are challenging government and corporate interests and working to improve the environment and living conditions for people in their communities have won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize this year. In 2008, each individual Prize award will be increased from $125,000 to $150,000.
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2008/2008-04-14-02.asp
Washington: Seattle Forest Donor is One in a Million
He briefly was Seattle's newest millionaire. Now he's the patron saint of Heybrook Ridge. A longtime fan of all things Index - its community, its stunning Cascades setting, its recreational and educational potential - has anonymously donated $500,000 in challenge funds to help save a 95-acre forest that rises along the town's southern edge. Friends of Heybrook Ridge last spring won a reprieve from WB Foresters of Stanwood, which gave the nonprofit until June to raise $1.3 million to purchase the property.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/eastsidenews/2004341712_heybrook11e.html
Maryland Venturing Crew Receives National Environmental Excellence Award
Venturing Crew 202 of Westminster, a co-ed group of youth dedicated to environmental restoration, protection and education, was one of eight groups nationwide to receive $10,000 as part of the Seaworld/Busch Gardens Environmental Excellence Awards program. The award, given in partnership with the National Science Teachers Association and seven national environmental organizations, recognizes the sustained environmental efforts of youth in schools and community groups.
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/dnrnews/pressrelease2008/041008.html
California: Habitat Restoration Company's Specialty
Don't expect to find these plants at your neighborhood nursery. Pickleweed, cord grass, alkali heath, jaumea - by their common names, these plants are native to Southern California's shrinking coastal wetlands. They aren't exactly common, though, and neither is the job of nurturing and planting 350,000 seedlings.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080412-9999-1sz12grass.html
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| New Books & Articles
Self Seeding: An Innovative Management System
Winter cover crops provide important ecological functions that include nutrient cycling and soil cover. Although cover crop benefits to agroecosystems are well documented, cover crop use in agronomic farming systems remains low. Winter cover crops are usually planted in the fall after cash crop harvest and killed the following spring before planting the next cash crop. Recent research has identified time and money as major impediments to farmer adoption of winter cover crops. Developing innovative cover crop management systems could increase the use of winter cover crops.
https://www.agronomy.org/press/releases/2008/0414/001/
UN Scientists Say Industrial Agriculture has Failed
As Africa prepares for its own version of the "green revolution" being championed by US-based foundations, a new UN report paints a gloomy future for industrial farming. The report, titled The International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development, decries the current tendency to emphasise agricultural research into variety improvement, biotechnology and productivity, saying such research ought to be redirected towards addressing social inequities and environmental problems. It is also apparent that the report recognises that indigenous knowledge has something to offer to agricultural progress.
http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/News/news140420088.htm
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| Restoring Natural Capital (RNC)
Green Collar Jobs Defined
Green collar jobs are rapidly becoming fashionable. The new trend represents a shift to the mainstream of the good old environmentalist approach to life. But what exactly makes a job green? The experts are far from agreed. Green collar jobs have a magic lure to them. Not only because the people involved in the sector are supposedly making a conscious effort to salvaging what's left of the earth's natural resources, but also because they're believed to drag the ailing economy out of its quagmire.
http://amplifiedgreen.wordpress.com/2008/04/12/green-collar-jobs-defined/
Montana: Restoration Economy Beckons
With this new Restoration Economy beckoning, we must proceed with purpose and wisdom. All western states need a coordinated plan just as we have begun to assemble here in Montana. Our last legislature, with encouragement and support from Gov. Schweitzer, appropriated $34 million in new restoration funding and, most critical, created an office of Restoration Coordination within the state's Department of Natural Resources. That office is now engaged in the essential first steps of developing policy and purpose in the creation of a Restoration Economy.
http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/restoration_economy_beckons/3033/
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Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)
Mexico: Oaxaca Man Seeks Sustainability in Devastated Mixteca Alta Area
For the past 25 years, León Santos has campaigned to restore the Mixteca Alta to a more sustainable condition. Through his 10-member organization, Centro de Desarollo Integral Campesino de la Mixteca (Mixtecan Small Farmers' Center for Integrated Development, or Cedicam, by its Spanish acronym), he has worked with local communities to begin the process of reforestation by planting hundreds of thousands of trees. And he has helped small farmers rediscover a traditional indigenous technique of building mountainside drainage ditches to slow erosion and improve groundwater absorption.
http://www.svherald.com/articles/2008/04/13/news/doc4801a78cf3873566124567.txt
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/12/MNBNVOGKL.DTL
Canada: Western Science and First Nations Knowledge Mixed in Ecosystem Work
Chilcotin District Forest manager Mike Pedersen says feral horses are recognized as part of the ecosystem. However, he says the number of animals using the ecosystem need to be in balance.
He says the Chilcotin Forest District is developing a range strategy with various stakeholders that include First Nations, ranchers, guide outfitters and other users. He says the strategy is about how to start working with some of the numbers.
http://www.bclocalnews.com/bc_cariboo/williamslaketribune/news/17692839.html
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| Agro-Ecology
Video: The World According to Monsanto
On March 11 a new documentary was aired on French television (ARTE - French-German cultural tv channel) by French journalist and filmmaker Marie-Monique Robin, The World According to Monsanto - A documentary that Americans won't ever see. The gigantic biotech corporation Monsanto is threatening to destroy the agricultural biodiversity which has served mankind for thousands of years.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-842180934463681887&q=the+world+according+to+monsanto&total=5&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0
Biodiversity and Land Reform - A Neglected Linkage
Agricultural biodiversity was a key item on the agenda of the just concluded meeting in Rome of the scientific and technical advisory body of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and yet this meeting too sidestepped the critical issue of reforming agricultural land tenure as a means to enhance agro-biodiversity. Indeed land reforms, wherever undertaken with the necessary political will, have shown to have a triple environmental impact: improving the genetic and species base of crops, significantly mitigating rural poverty and reducing pressure on natural habitats.
http://www.island.lk/2008/03/17/features8.html
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| Biodiversity & Climate Change
Scientists Develop New Model for Protecting Biodiversity
In an era of climate change, pollution, and rapid habitat loss, it's all too easy for doom and gloom to prevail when discussing conservation issues. However, armed with the right information, it is still possible to create conservation success stories. That is just what Academy entomologist Brian Fisher and a team of international collaborators are well on their way to doing in Madagascar, an island nation off the coast of Africa that is considered to be one of the most significant biodiversity hotspots in the world.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-04/caos-sdn040708.php
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Nevada: Seedlings Restore Life to Burned Area
Diaz is among a dozen-member crew of contracted workers who started laboring Friday in the steep, fire-charred mountains west of Reno. Their task is to begin the lengthy healing process for the forest burned by last July's Hawken Fire. These guys move fast. Striding up and down near-vertical hillsides across a haunting landscape of scorched pines and skeletal brush, Diaz rakes clear a small patch of forest floor, quickly stabs a hole in the ground and then deposits an 8-inch tall tree seedling.
http://www.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080412/NEWS/804120341/1321
Nigeria: Dead Baby Trees by the Millions as Reforestation Fails
Of the 50 million seedlings planted every year in the 11 northern Nigeria states worst effected by desertification, 37.5 million wither and die within two months, environmental officials say. "The 12.5 million seedlings that make it to maturity are not enough to create a deforestation-reforestation equilibrium, especially given the fact that a large number of the trees that grow are later chopped down," Kabiru Yammama of the National Forest Conservation Council of Nigeria [NFCCN] told IRIN.
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=77669
Montana: Unique Tree Planting Project near Arlee
A tribally owned, local environmental restoration company is using an innovative system for planting trees. "The plant will drop into the hole it will pull back and it will pull back and it actually has wheels that will pack the plant itself for the rotary" explains Jed Witeley, S&K Environmental Restoration Company General Manager. "We have the expandable stinger which we use primarily for planting cuttings up to 6 feet long for willows and then we have the rotary planter which we can be used for any species of tree."
http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/Global/story.asp?S=8134172&nav=menu227_7
Cypress Mulch Poses Ccological Risks
The Gulf Restoration Network, a coalition of environmental, social justice and citizens' groups and individuals working to restore the Gulf of Mexico, is urging people not to buy cypress mulch and pressuring major retailers not to sell it. "The problem is that cypress forests are being clear-cut, and entire trees are being ground into garden mulch," said Dan Favre, Gulf Restoration Network campaign organizer. "With all the benefits provided by cypress forests, it's an unacceptable situation. It's like taking the Constitution of the United States and shredding it to make Post-it notes."
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080412/NEWS0105/804120434/1007
Planting Trees is the Easy Part
Done properly tree planting is a hope filled expression of love for nature. But making a hole in the ground and dropping in the seedling is only the beginning. Nearly all planted trees require years of care including watering, weeding and even fencing to become established. Ill-conceived mass tree planting efforts are failing in Nigeria and worldwide because of failure to plan for this aftercare and other issues like using the wrong species in the wrong place. This is but one misunderstanding regarding tree planting and the environment.
http://forests.org/blog/2008/04/planting-trees-is-the-easy-par.asp
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| Wetland Restoration
Indiana: Eagle Marsh Grows by 22.4 Acres
Little River Wetlands Project, a local nature organization, announced Friday morning that it has purchased 22.4 acres of mature forested wetland adjoining the south border of Eagle Marsh.
Eagle Marsh is a wetland preserve under restoration southwest of Fort Wayne. With this purchase, the nature preserve grows to 705 acres of wildlife habitat, the announcement said.
http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080411/LOCAL/171985920/1002/LOCAL
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River & Watershed Restoration
Canada to Create Giant New Northern National Park
Canada will create a giant new national park covering some 1.9 million acres along one of the country's most spectacular northern rivers, Environment Minister John Baird said on Monday. The Naats'ihch'oh National Park Reserve will cover the watershed of the South Nahanni river in the Northwest Territories. It will be adjacent to the larger Nahanni National Park Reserve, which the government said last year it would expand.
http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/34270
Massachusetts: Undergrads and Local Group Work to Solve Environmental Issues
Undergraduates from the University of Massachusetts are working with a local community group to try and solve the environmental problems that can threaten the habitats of state-listed endangered species. The UMass environmental honors class is partnered with the grassroots organization Nuestras Raices [Our Roots], which promotes sustainable development projects in Holyoke, to restore an ecologically sensitive area of the Connecticut River shoreline in Holyoke.
http://media.www.dailycollegian.com/media/storage/paper874/news/2008/04/10/News/Undergrads.And.Local.Group.Work.To.Solve.Environmental.Issues-3314163.shtml
UK: The Thames It is a-Changin' - Wildlife Returns to the River
Times have changed since stretches of the River Thames were declared "biologically dead" in the 1950s. A colony of seahorses was revealed to have made the London waterway its home this week, joining more than 100 species of fish, dolphins, seals, porpoises and the occasional whale spotted in the murky waters in recent years. The short-snouted seahorses were first confirmed in the Thames 18 months ago, but their presence was kept secret until new laws came into force to protect them from collectors. Alison Shaw of the Zoological Society of London compared their discovery to "finding treasure".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/apr/08/water.wildlife
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| Grassland Restoration
Natural Areas Program is Bringing Prairie Back
The city's Natural Areas Program has been working on improving the diversity of prairie habitat for the past 10 years. The program restores native prairie as part of its stewardship responsibilities. The mission of the program includes conservation of natural habitats and features as the first priority while providing education and recreation to the community.
Restoration is tough. Many of the city's natural areas were previously used for crop or stock production. A few were industrial sites. What takes Mother Nature years to create can take humans just hours to destroy. It is time to return these degraded lands to their previous condition. Prairie can be restored, but it takes a great deal of time and effort.
http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080412/LIFESTYLE/804120326/1024
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| Desertification & Arid Land Restoration
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| Coastal & Marine Restoration
Bikini Corals Recover from Largest U.S. Atomic Blast
Fifty years after the last atomic blast shook the Pacific atoll of Bikini, the corals are flourishing again, new research shows, although divers found that some coral species appear to be locally extinct. The coral survey was carried out at the request of the atoll's local government.
An international team of scientists from Australia, Germany, Italy, Hawaii and the Marshall Islands examined the diversity and abundance of marine life around the atoll.
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2008/2008-04-15-02.asp
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Wildlife Restoration
Vermont: Scientists Clash with Wildlife Chief on Turtle Restoration Effort
Vermont's fish and wildlife commissioner is under fire from scientists over plans to rebuild populations of the Eastern spiny soft-shell turtle, with one saying Wayne Laroche "hijacked" the plan to suit other purposes. An advisory panel -- led by herpetologist Jim Andrews of Middlebury College -- plans to recommend that the state Endangered Species Committee not endorse Laroche's plan for the threatened species, 200 of which live in Missisquoi Bay.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2008/04/13/scientists_clash_with_wildlife_chief_on_turtle_restoration_effort/
Madagascan Wildlife Map Reveals Species Hotspots
As wildlife spectaculars go, it doesn't get much better than Madagascar - and, if scientists have their way, much of the island's most biologically rich areas will soon be protected. That's because a mammoth effort to collect data on the island's wildlife has yielded one of the world's most detailed conservation proposals to date.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13654-madagascan-wildlife-map-reveals-species-hotspots.html
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| Extractive Industries
India: Project at Mali Parbat - How Environment Friendly?
Mali Parbat is a hill, which falls under Eastern Ghats, that lies only kilometres away from the town of Semiliguda. Around it twenty-two villages with numerously high tribal populations, enjoy the hill's four perennial streams, which feed the surrounding land used for agricultural cultivation. A proposed mining project by Hindalco to mine Mali Parbat's rich bauxite, presence endangers not only to these people's direct livelihood, but will cause an environmental catastrophe that will dry up the four rivers and make cultivation in its immediate surroundings impossible. It will force the villagers to move away from their ancestral land and look out for other livelihood options.
http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=132320
Chevron Locked in Legal Battle with Ecuadorean Indigenous Groups
The Christian Science Monitor reported on a lawsuit against Chevron that has been in the works since 1993 when the company was accused of dumping 18 billion gallons of toxic waste into Ecuador's Amazon rainforest, causing health problems among the regions inhabitants, many of whom are indigenous groups. A report by a court-appointed Ecuadorean geological engineer attributes the contamination to Chevron, and suggests the company pay between $8-16 billion in environmental damages.
http://aaahumanrights.blogspot.com/2008/04/chevron-locked-in-legal-battle-with.html
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| Urban Restoration
Australia: Covenants to Protect Brisbane Bushland
Brisbane's first environmental covenant between a property owner and Brisbane City Council has been signed, in a move Lord Mayor Campbell Newman hopes will help boost the city's bushland. Mr Newman said Voluntary Conservation Covenants are attached to the property title rather than the owner, legally binding current and future owners to restoration and protection.
Under the contract, the residential property will be reclassified 'conservation' under the Brisbane City Plan. Mr Newman said that under his GreenHeart CitySmart program, the council had a restoration target of returning the city to a 40 per cent native habitat by 2026.
http://news.smh.com.au/covenants-to-protect-brisbane-bushland/20080412-25p7.html
New York: State and City Partner for Major Landscape Restoration Effort on Staten Island
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), New York Cares, and MillionTreesNYC partnered in a major landscape restoration effort today at Mount Loretto Unique Area in Staten Island. DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis, State Senator Andrew J. Lanza and other local elected officials thanked dozens of volunteers for planting more than 2,500 trees. The officials then took part by the helping to finish the planting efforts.
http://readme.readmedia.com/news/show/State-and-City-Partner-for-Major-Landscape-Restoration-Effort-on-Staten-Island/119461
10 Japanese Cities to be Made Ecological Model Cities
Japan's government has invited communities to put forward ideas for cutting greenhouse gases and apply to be "environmentally friendly model cities."Ten cities would be awarded the designation at the end of July for their plans to lower carbon emissions over the next five years, the Kyodo News agency reported Friday. As part of the award, the government would provide financial aid for them to achieve their ecological targets.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/198257,10-japanese-cities-to-be-made-ecological-model-cities.html
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| Recreation & Tourism
California: Plan would Restore, Manage Group of Delta Islands
A new bill would create a restoration and recreation area in California's Bay-Delta, and localize management and ownership of three delta islands. Assembly member Lois Wolk (D-Davis) introduced AB2502 on Feb. 21. The bill, according to the Legislative Analyst's Digest, would authorize the director of state Parks and Recreation to purchase properties in Sacramento, Solano and Yolo counties - including Liberty Island, Prospect Island and Little Holland Tract - as part of a new "Delta Ecological Restoration and Recreation Area."
http://capitalpress.com/Main.asp?SectionID=94&ArticleID=40667
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| Funding Opportunities
Research Experience for Undergraduates Grant Closes May 1, 2008
Peninsula College and Western Washington University are pleased to announce up to 16 openings for our National Science Foundation-supported Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program in Port Angeles, Washington, home of Olympic National Park and the Elwha Ecosystem Restoration Project, the world's largest dam removal and fisheries restoration project. Applications are due May 1, 2008, for 16 positions that will get a stipend of $6,200 for the 08-09 school year, and students may either earn credit and/or work toward a degree with Peninsula College (www.pc.ctc.edu) or Western Washington University's Huxley College of the Environment on the Peninsula.
http://www.wwu.edu/huxley/departments/offcampus/index.shtml
2009 Multistate Conservation Grant Program Closes May 2, 2008
The Multistate Conservation Grant Program (MSCGP) is soliciting Letters of Intent (Due by midnight EDT Friday, May 2, 2008) for the 2009 cycle of this competitive grant program. For more application information and materials please visit the MSCGP website. The MSCGP is intended to address regional or national level priorities of state fish and wildlife agencies. It was established in 2000 by the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Programs Improvement Act, which amended the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act and the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act. Up to $6,000,000 is available each calendar year for one to three year projects (CFDA Number 15-628).
http://www.fishwildlife.org/multistate_grants.html
Maryland: Coastal Bays Offering Mini-grants Closes May 6, 2008
The Maryland Coastal Bays Program (MCBP), working in partnership with the Chesapeake Bay Trust (CBT), is pleased to announce that we are currently accepting Community Stewardship Mini-Grant proposals. The goal of the Community Stewardship Mini-Grants Program is to increase public awareness and public involvement in restoring and protecting Maryland's Coastal Bays and its tributaries. This program is made possible through private contributions made to MCBP and CBT.
http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080408/OPI05/804080323/-1/OPI
Fulbright Scholar Program for US Faculty and Professionals Closes August 1, 2008
The Fulbright Scholar Program is offering 109 lecturing, research or combined lecturing/research awards in environmental science during the 2009-2010 academic year. Awards range from two months to an academic year. Faculty and professionals in environmental science may apply for awards specifically in their field or for one of the many "All Discipline" awards open to any field. The application deadline for Fulbright traditional lecturing and research grants worldwide is August 1, 2008. U.S. citizenship is required. For other eligibility requirements, detailed award descriptions, and an application, visit our website at www.cies.org, or send a request for materials to apprequest@cies.iie.org.
Fulbright Awards in Agriculture or Fisheries
Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program for academic year 2009-10 offers various awards for American academics and professionals in the fields of agricultural economy. The Philippines ( http://www.cies.org/award_book/award2009/award/Agr9161.htm)offersa six-months Lecturing/Research combination grant to help the development of young scholars and practitioners as well as to consult the country's Department of Agriculture. Kazakhstan ( http://www.cies.org/award_book/award2009/award/Env9494.htm ) offers awards for 4 to 10 months in environmental sciences or environmental law to lecture or lecturing/research combination. Turkmenistan ( http://www.cies.org/award_book/award2009/award/All9513.htm ) seeks for applicants in agricultural studies and water resources management; and so does Uzbekistan ( http://www.cies.org/award_book/award2009/award/All9515.htm ) Interested applicants are encouraged to contact Program Officer Mamiko Hada (mhada@cies.iie.org) with most up-to-date CV.
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