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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
Florida's Wildlife: On the Frontline of Climate Change
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) invites you to join us August 20-22, 2008, at the Rosen PLAZA Orlando for a very important event focusing on "Florida's Wildlife: On the Frontline of Climate Change." Learn from presenters and share your knowledge and expertise in one of six workshops to identify key research needs, improve awareness of impacts on wildlife, and develop ideas to optimize species conservation for integration into Florida Fish and Wildlife's comprehensive climate change strategy.
www.ces.fau.edu/floc
Sixth Eastern Native Grass Symposium - October 7 - 10, 2008
Eastern Native Grasslands - Managing an Ecosystem on the Edge. This Symposium will bring together scientists, growers, ecologists, geneticists, seed producers, wildlife managers, public land managers, and native plant enthusiasts, all with interest in our wonderful native grasses. There will be scientific and applied presentations, field trips, workshops, and a trade show, all related to aspects of our native grasses. Topics will include ecology and genetics of native grasses, native grasses as feed-stocks, native grass communities, native grasses and wildlife, native grasses as forage, eastern seed source development, propagation and establishment, aesthetic use of native grasses, and many more.
http://people.clemson.edu/~bstrngr/E_Native_Grass/
Africa: Children Unite to Conserve Environment
A 13-year-old Cameroonian running clean-up campaigns and tree plantings is among 700 children from around the world attending a UN environment conference in Stavanger, Norway for children who are engaged in environment conservation in their communities. Other remarkable children taking part in this conference include a 13-year-old Australian who is making a documentary called 'A Kid's Guide to Climate Change', for which he interviewed a local indigenous leader, visited a wind farm and a wave generator, and built a model solar car, a 14-year-old Indian who is campaigning against water waste in his community and a 13-year-old American who has helped organize a recycling drive and collect 100,000 pounds of e-waste.
http://www.africanews.com/site/list_messages/18975
Washington: Student Groups Land Habitat Restoration Grants
Two high school student groups from Wahkiakum and Naselle have received a $62,000 grant for habitat restoration in Wahkiakum County, according to the Wahkiakum Community Foundation. The projects will support the Columbia Estuary Environmental Education Program's efforts to protect watersheds in Wahkiakum County.
http://www.tdn.com/articles/2008/06/25/area_news/doc4861d292af730088824284.txt
'Creek Geeks' Work on Watershed Restoration
Creek Geeks may be a whimsical name, but the community-based program does serious work. Formed under the auspices of the AmeriCorps Watershed Stewards Project last year, Creek Geeks concentrates on hands-on watershed restoration, giving people the opportunity to volunteer to clean up local waterways. "Anyone can join Creek Geeks -- clubs, nonprofits, businesses, community members and anyone else interested in getting outdoors and helping to make our watersheds healthier for fish and other wildlife," said Melissa Scott, a Creek Geeks team leader and AmeriCorps staff member.
http://www.times-standard.com/lifestyle/ci_9664478 |
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People in the News
Louisiana: Plant Center Grows Plants that Halt Coastal Erosion
From rebuilding marshland to saving beaches, the Plant Materials Center plays a crucial role in coastal restoration projects, by finding the plants that are suitable for newly restored areas. Project managers know that eventually Mother Nature would do the job, but they don't want the erosion that could occur in the meantime, so the Plant Materials Center finds for the right foliage to speed up the process.
http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/wwl062108mlplant.26950c95.html
Australia: River Guardian Angels Recognised
The State Government today paid tribute to 75 'river angels' at the launch of the new River Guardians Pilot Program. Environment Minister David Templeman and Racing and Gaming Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich joined more than 140 people at the historic Melville Water Polo Club on the Swan River in Bicton to celebrate the new program. Honorary memberships were presented to more than 70 community-nominated River Guardians, who already dedicate their time to protecting and restoring the Swan and Canning Rivers.
http://www.bymnews.com/news/newsDetails.php?id=28487
Reality Grantmaking Winner Announced: River Partners
As detailed in its proposal, "The Great Acorn Grow-out," River Partners will work with seven schools throughout the Central Valley to grow more than 16,000 Valley oak trees for habitat restoration projects along the Sacramento and Feather rivers. Since we spotlight nonprofit organizations from time to time, I thought I'd give some background on the Reality Grantmaking winner in our "Nonprofit Spotlight" format.
http://sanfranciscoblog.foundationcenter.org/2008/06/spotlight-on-ri.html
India: Preserving Nature
A group that looks after nature and preserves resources, the Ecological Society, is doing pioneering work in the fields of ecological planning, eco-restoration and eco-education for the past 25 years. The genesis of society goes back to March 1982, when a group of concerned individuals held discussions and formulated plans to set up a trust to further ecological research and education. "Our base is natural resource management, sustainable development and ecological restoration and our mission is to involve people and society in the movement of restoration so that we help to regenerate whatever has degraded so far. Our grasslands, mountains and coasts need helping hands from us, and our society wishes to contribute to its restoration with its various initiatives in the field of education and rehabilitation," said Mrinalinee Vanarase, executive director of the Society.
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Preserving-nature/326160/ |
| New Books & Articles
Council to Launch Restoration Guide for Native Plants
Manukau Parks' award-winning book 'Restoring Our Native Plants' will be launched on 2 July at 10am at Barry Curtis Park - Wetland Playground, Stancombe Road, Botany. The book won prestigious Charlie Challenger Supreme Award and Gold Award - Landscape Planning (Planning and Environmental Design) at the NZILA Resene Pride of Place Landscape Awards 2008 last month.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK0806/S00254.htm
The Long Haul to Wetlands Restoration in Oxnard
Coastal wetlands used to cover a huge swath of Southern California's coast, serving as a sanctuary for wildlife and plants. But today one is hard pressed to find many wetlands left in this urbanized section of the state, where homes, marinas and ports long ago replaced native habitat. While wide, sandy beaches and rocky tide pools are part of the Southern California landscape, quieter wetlands with estuaries, marshes and sand dunes are harder to find.
http://www.cp-dr.com/node/2058
Scientists May Have Solved an Ecological Riddle
In a paper published this week in Nature, the authors - including Dr Ying Ping Wang from The Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research - say that nitrogen fixation has long been recognised as an important process in controlling responses of many ecosystems - particularly boreal and temperate forests - to global environmental change. "However, there have been significant discrepancies between real-world observations and the theories used to predict nitrogen fixation patterns across major sectors of the land biosphere," Dr Wang says.
http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/37444 |
| Restoring Natural Capital (RNC)
Florida: Deal Could Restore the Everglades
It was a strategy so bold no environmentalist or state bureaucrat dared dream it could happen: Buy out Big Sugar's polluted fields, railroad and refinery within the Everglades so the wounded "river of grass" could heal after more than a century of man's industrial intrusions. But bureaucrats and activists alike watched in giddy wonder Tuesday as Gov. Charlie Crist and the head of U.S. Sugar Corp. announced a deal in which the state will pay $1.75 billion for 187,000 acres obstructing the natural path of the treasured Everglades.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-everglades25-2008jun25,0,3721951.story
Indonesia: Riau's Threatened Indragiri 'a Serious Cause for Concern'
Fishing communities in the Indragiri River delta in Riau risk losing their livelihoods because alarmingly high rates of mangrove destruction have led to dwindling biodiversity in the area, a local official said Tuesday. Alimudin, head of the Indragiri Hilir regency's Mining and Environmental Agency, said 553.74 square kilometers of mangrove swamps, half the regency's coastline had been severely damaged. He said logging companies were the main culprits behind the damage, having operated in the area since the 1990s. "They have turned hundreds of thousands of hectares of mangrove swamp into wasteland, parts of which are now permanently submerged by seawater," he said.
http://old.thejakartapost.com/detailnation.asp?fileid=20080625.G01 |
Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)
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| Agro-Ecology
Ecuador: The Bospas Fruit Forest Farm
Nowadays, Bosque de Paz is an island of vibrant green and displays a Botanical Garden which is open to the public. Piet also organizes conferences about ecological restoration and guided tours in the forest garden and the surrounding hills. A local farmers organization, of which Piet is a leading member, recently began a campaign against the widely used practice of wildfires. Sadly, these fires are the physical expression of the loss of connection between local farmers and their land and environment. The farmers group is also initiating, in cooperation with the water company (EMAPA), a community water management plan, that will be applied on three valleys (95 hectares in total), involving the drinking water for 160 families that live in and around El Limonal. The principles of Ecological Restoration and the working example of Bosque de Paz will be the guide line for the application of this management plan. Visitors are welcome to partake this experience in restoration.
http://www.bospas.org
Abandoned Farmlands are Key to Sustainable Bioenergy
Biofuels can be a sustainable part of the world's energy future, especially if bioenergy agriculture is developed on currently abandoned or degraded agricultural lands, report scientists from the Carnegie Institution and Stanford University. Using these lands for energy crops, instead of converting existing croplands or clearing new land, avoids competition with food production and preserves carbon-storing forests needed to mitigate climate change. Sustainable bioenergy is likely to satisfy no more than 10% of the demand in the energy-intensive economies of North America, Europe, and Asia. But for some developing countries, notably in Sub-Saharan Africa, the potential exists to supply many times their current energy needs without compromising food supply or destroying forests.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-06/ci-afa062308.php
Some Coastal Woes Begin Far Inland
In the early 1970s, Earl "Rusty" Butz, the US secretary of Agriculture, urged American farmers to plant crops "fencerow to fencerow." "Get big or get out," he told them. Farm subsidies followed and, as many small farms consolidated into fewer larger ones, the country transitioned into a new era of corporate-dominated agribusiness. With large-scale farming came the large-scale application of man-made fertilizers. Around the same time, large algal blooms began appearing with increasing regularity in the shallow, coastal sea at the mouth of the Mississippi. The algae died and sank. As it decomposed, it sucked oxygen from the surrounding water. Areas along the ocean floor became oxygen-depleted, or hypoxic. Oxygen-dependent organisms that were able to, fled. Those that couldn't, suffocated.
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2008/06/24/some-coastal-woes-begin-far-inland/
Brazil Seizes Livestock to Protect Rain Forest
In an unprecedented move against rogue cattle ranchers in the Amazon, the Brazilian government has seized livestock grazing there illegally, the new environment minister announced Tuesday. Officials carted off 3,100 head of cattle that they said were being raised on an ecological reserve in the state of Para, in an operation intended to serve as a warning to other ranchers grazing an estimated 60,000 head on illegally deforested land in Amazonia, the environment minister, Carlos Minc, said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/25/business/worldbusiness/25beef.html?_r=1&ref=americas&oref=slogin
Australia's Food Bowl Drying Up
The Murray-Darling river basin where one-third of Australia's food is grown is in dire straits because upstream farmers are taking too much water for irrigation, scientists warned Wednesday. They said parts of the basin would be "beyond the point of recovery" unless the government bought back water allocations and got more water flowing by October. "There has been 10 years at least where people have said you have got to restore the environmental flows to the system if you want to keep the natural assets," Adelaide University's David Paton told national broadcaster ABC.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/213193,australias-food-bowl-drying-up-scientists-warn.html
US: Quail Habitat Disappearing
The upward trend in corn prices is prompting some farmers to bulldoze brushy fencerows and plant marginal land around field edges. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency offers an alternative that helps farmers improve their bottom line while letting them keep habitat for quail and other wildlife.
http://outdoornewsdaily.com/index.php/archives/4267 |
| Biodiversity & Climate Change
Earth Near Tipping Point, Climatologist Warns
James Hansen returned to Capitol Hill a hero yesterday, but certainly not a conquering hero. The soft-spoken scientist, hailed as the "whistle-blower for the planet," tried to quiet a standing ovation from environmentalists here with a typically blunt admonition. "It is not a time to celebrate," said Hansen, 20 years to the day since he became the first leading scientist to warn of the dangers of global warming before a congressional committee.
http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/37492
Climate Change and the Future of California's Endemic Flora
The flora of California, a global biodiversity hotspot, includes 2387 endemic plant taxa. With anticipated climate change, we project that up to 66% will experience >80% reductions in range size within a century. These results are comparable with other studies of fewer species or just samples of a region's endemics. Projected reductions depend on the magnitude of future emissions and on the ability of species to disperse from their current locations. California's varied terrain could cause species to move in very different directions, breaking up present-day floras. However, our projections also identify regions where species undergoing severe range reductions may persist. Protecting these potential future refugia and facilitating species dispersal will be essential to maintain biodiversity in the face of climate change.
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0002502
Preliminary Review of Adaption Options for Climate-Sensitive Ecosystems and Resources
EPA is announcing the final report entitled, Synthesis and Assessment Product 4.4: Preliminary Review of Adaptation Options for Climate Sensitive Ecosystems and Resources. This Synthesis and Assessment Product 4.4 (SAP 4.4) analyzes information on the state of knowledge of adaptation options for key, representative ecosystems and resources that may be sensitive to climate variability and change.
http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=180143
UK: New Hands to Safeguard Cumbria's Biodiversity
Cumbria's habitats and species at risk have a new helping hand. The Cumbria Biodiversity Partnership has appointed Graham Jackson-Pitt as the new local biodiversity manager. He has already taken over the reins from Neil Harnott, who is now Senior Conservation Officer at Cumbria Wildlife Trust. Graham is now co-ordinating the Cumbria Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) to safeguard Cumbria's biodiversity of wildlife and the county's awareness of it.
http://www.thewestmorlandgazette.co.uk/news/3176919.New_hands_to_safeguard_Cumbria_s_biodiversity/
Sea-level Rise and Coastal Habitats in the Pacific Northwest
With this report, the National Wildlife Federation reinforces its position of leadership on the most pressing issue facing our human and natural communities today: global climate change. Although the scenarios described in this report may sound gloomy, I am inspired by this honest presentation of one possible future of the Pacific Northwest. Only with such sound science and reason clearly illuminating the problem can we as community leaders and citizens be motivated, empowered and wise enough to cope with and limit the negative consequences of climate change to our beloved coastline. This report advances our collective understanding of that shared future, and I encourage you to read it with that same sense of purpose.
http://www.addebook.com/biomed/html/2008/sea-level-rise-and-coastal-habitats-in-the-pacific-northwest_2524.html
Minnesota: New Scientific and Natural Area
A new scientific and natural area in southeastern Chisago County is laying the foundation for ongoing efforts to protect a biologically rich complex in the St. Croix River valley. Situated on bluffs overlooking the scenic St. Croix River valley and the village of Franconia, the 49-acre Franconia Bluffs Scientific and Natural Area is within a six-mile corridor running from Taylor's Falls to Scandia that contains a rich diversity of native plant communities, from cliffs and seepage swamps, to prairies and pine forests.
http://outdoornewsdaily.com/index.php/archives/4237 |
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Costa Rica: Restoration Ecology
Today Hector set off with his planting crew in the big truck to the Osa Pennisula to begin a two month long tropical rain forest restoration project. We've been working for the past few months on a bid for the 25 hectare (with a possiblity of up to 100 hectares) project and we've finally signed contracts and headed forth to plant more than 15,000 trees in order to jump start the natural forest regeneration process.
http://reforestcostarica.blogspot.com/2008/06/restoration-ecology.html
Oregon: Wyden Proposes Forest Restoration and Old Growth Protection
Sen. Ron Wyden has drafted a bill designed to stop the long-standing battles over forests in Oregon by prohibiting the logging of old growth, providing a steady stream of timber and restoring the health of stands in danger from wildfire and insects. The Oregon Democrat hopes to file the bill this year, with the ultimate goal of getting a nationwide discussion of forest policy going that will capture the interest of the new president taking office next year.
http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-25/1213924745299010.xml&storylist=orlocal
U.N. Calls on Asian Nations to End Deforestation
The United Nations has called on more Asian leaders to agree to a plan to end deforestation by 2020 to slow down the destruction of plants and animals, a top official said on Friday. About 80 percent of the world's known biodiversity could be found in forests, where about 1.6 billion people also depend for their survival, Ahmed Djoghlaf, executive director of U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), told a news conference in Manila.
http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/37455 |
| Wetland Restoration
Massachusetts: 125-acre Cranberry Bog will Revert to Wetlands
More than 125 acres of Pembroke cranberry bogs and surrounding upland off Elmer Street will be protected and restored to natural wetlands thanks to a triple team partnership. Matthew Rhodes, a private landowner and owner of the Edgewood Bogs LLC cranberry company, teamed up with the Town of Pembroke and the United States Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to help protect and resurrect environmentally sensitive parcels in Pembroke and restore them to their natural state.
http://www.wickedlocal.com/pembroke/local_news/x822804115/125-acre-cranberry-bog-will-revert-to-wetlands
Southeast Asia: WWF Partners Coca-Cola for Freshwater Ecosystem
The Plain of Reeds Wetland Restoration Project was launched on 18 April under the global partnership for freshwater conservation, a collaboration between the Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) and WWF. The Project seeks to improve the ecological conditions of the Plain of Reeds wetlands, located in the Mekong River basin, through habitat restoration, collaborative management and livelihoods interventions. The Plain of Reeds is considered a priority landscape by WWF for its exceptionally high values in biodiversity which have been degraded because agricultural conversion of the Plain has left only 1% in its natural condition.
http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/where_we_work/asia_pacific/our_solutions/greatermekong/index.cfm?uNewsID=137981
Washington: State Upholds Fine against Everett Firm over Wetlands
It took several years and $100,000 of staff time to investigate and follow up, but the state Department of Ecology was vindicated last week when a state board upheld its findings against an Everett company the agency fined for piling fill as much as 17 feet deep on 12 acres of wetlands near Marysville. The company, Pacific Topsoils, fought orders to remove the fill and restore the wetlands brought by both Snohomish County and Ecology beginning in 2006. Ecology's $88,000 fine and restoration order were upheld last week on all points by the state Pollution Control Hearings Board.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008005707_wetlands19m.html
Florida: Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary to Restore Wetlands
Both of Corkscrew's new pieces of property, which are adjacent to the Panther Island Mitigation Bank, were wetlands that were cleared for agriculture in the 1970s. "It's high cow pasture, full of cow patties," Corkscrew director Ed Carlson said. "It's nasty. People might say, 'Why do you want that land?' Because it has so much potential when it's restored." Restoration won't cost taxpayers or the sanctuary anything because Southwest Florida Wetlands Joint Venture, owner of Panther Island Mitigation Bank, will restore the land to its original state as shallow wetlands and create a trust fund for future maintenance. The idea behind wetlands mitigation is that state and federal governments don't want to lose more wetlands.
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080620/GREEN/806200391/1075 |
River & Watershed Restoration
Follow the Silt
That observation led the two scientists to collaborate on a research project on the region's waterways. As they reported this year in the journal Science, their work challenges much of the conventional wisdom about how streams in the region formed and evolved. The scientists say 18th- and 19th-century dams and millponds, built by the thousands, altered the water flow in the region in a way not previously understood. They say that is why efforts to restore degraded streams there often fail. Not everyone agrees, but their findings contribute to a growing debate over river and stream restoration, a big business with increasing popularity but patchy success.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/science/24stream.html?ref=science
Alaska: Collaborative Community Forest Plan Steps into Action
The Hoonah Community Forest Project, a collaborative effort spearheaded by the Southeast Alaska Conservation Council (SEACC) with input from local Hoonah residents and the U.S. Forest Service, begins its first stage of implementation this week as members of the various groups begin restoration efforts at Kennel Creek, south of Hoonah.
http://www.sitnews.us/0608news/062308/062308_forest_plan.html |
| Grassland Restoration
Washington: Fort Lewis Prairie a Sanctuary for 4 Species
Even so, the 91st Division Prairie, a 7,000-acre remnant of native South Sound grasslands, is a sanctuary for four species of native creatures now so rare they may be eligible for federal Endangered Species Act protection. Fort Lewis officials and wildlife conservationists would like to prevent that. Two years ago, the Defense Department began paying The Nature Conservancy to help ensure the survival off-post of populations of two varieties of butterfly and a bird and a gopher. It's called the Army Compatible Use Buffer program.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/06/ap_fortlewiswildlife_062108/ |
| Desertification & Arid Land Restoration |
| Lake Restoration
UK: Lottery Splashes Out on Lake's Restoration
The Whitworth Centre in Darley Dale is to receive nearly £10,000 to help fund its restoration project. The centre has been given £9,940 in the latest round of grants from the Big Lottery Fund to help finance its lake restoration project. Work is needed to restore the walls of the lake, which has been disused for nearly 70 years, and to build up and plant the central island.
http://www.matlockmercury.co.uk/news/Lottery-splashes-out-on-lake39s.4207133.jp
$4.6-Million Restoration of Portsmouth Pond Completed
State, federal and local officials celebrated last week the completion of the restoration of Town Pond in Portsmouth. The $4.6-million project was designed to essentially reverse damage done by the Army Corps of Engineers in the 1950s when it dredged the Mount Hope Bay shipping channel. Dredge materials were dumped in what was a salt pond. The materials blocked off saltwater access, allowing invasive phragmites to proliferate.
http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1445258/46million_restoration_of_portsmouth_pond_completed__crmc_to_review/
India: Assembly Committee for Restoration of Dal Lake
The state legislative assembly has suggested several measures to restore the Dal Lake, an official spokesman said on Wednesday. Its environment committee, which met under the chairmanship of National Conference MLA Sheikh Mustafa Kamal, suggested a project with technical experts on board to permanently eradicate vegetation endangering the Lake. It also sought demarcation of boundaries to stop more encroachments on the Dal and a ban on constructions within 200 metres of the periphery.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/004200806181422.htm
Florida: Crews Removing Thousands of Discarded Tires from Lake Okeechobee
The tire cleanup is part of a state effort to restore wildlife habitat on the lake. So far it has cost $45,000 to get halfway through and the district is considering whether to come up with more money to continue, Unsell said. Who dumped the tires and whether they can be punished decades later is not something the district plans to pursue, Unsell said. "It's easier just to get rid of them," Unsell said. "It is a first step toward a real restoration -- get rid of the junk that is out there."
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-618lakeotires,0,7981345.story |
| Coastal & Marine Restoration
California: Why Do We Restore Habitat?
Approximately 190 acres of Habitat Authority lands have been or are currently being restored in some manner, including 130 acres initiated by the Habitat Authority, and another 60 acres of mitigation conducted on Habitat Authority lands to mitigate for local development projects. Restoration projects include coastal sage scrub and sycamore riparian habitats at the Hacienda Trailhead; riparian restoration in Sycamore Canyon; coastal sage scrub restoration on the former Unocal property (east of Colima Road); coastal sage scrub restoration near the Hellman Trailhead; the restoration of coastal sage scrub at the Arroyo Pescadero Trailhead; and the restoration of oak and walnut woodland, coastal sage scrub, native grassland, and riparian habitats in Powder Canyon.
http://puentehillsnature.blogspot.com/2008/06/why-do-we-restore-habitats.html
Maryland: Biologists Hope to Revive Blue Crab Habitat
Maryland and Virginia fishery managers are dragging the bottoms of the Chesapeake and Atlantic coastal bays in search of seeds from eelgrass, a type of underwater vegetation crucial to blue crabs. The submerged grass is in serious trouble from water pollution and warmer, saltier water creeping up the Chesapeake Bay due to the rising sea level. "It's a very long day and it wears on you, but it's a good deed," says Warren Teets, a tugboat operator hired by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Teets runs a "subaquatic harvester," a 30-foot blue boat that works like an underwater lawn mower, sawing off the top 12 inches or so of eelgrasses and bringing them up with a conveyer.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/21/MN1K11AJDF.DTL
Australia: Planting Milestone - 100,000 Island Trees
The Hindmarsh Island Landcare Group marked a milestone on Tuesday - the planting of the 100,000th plant in its Murray Mouth Estuary Restoration (MMER) Project. Since 2001, the group has worked to preserve existing vegetation and expand revegetation and rehabilitation of wetlands on Hindmarsh Island, using local indigenous species.
http://victorharbor.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/planting-milestone-100000-island-trees/795682.aspx
How Overfishing Can Alter an Ocean's Entire Ecosystem
In 2000, University of Maine graduate student Amanda Leland began a seemingly straightforward restoration project. She transported 24,000 young sea urchins, which are native to the Gulf of Maine, to an area where overharvesting had caused them to disappear. She expected to watch them thrive and repopulate. But something else happened: An army of Jonah crabs arrived and, within a month, the hand-sized predators had devoured the urchins.
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2008/06/19/how-overfishing-can-alter-an-ocean%E2%80%99s-entire-ecosystem/ |
Wildlife Restoration
New Zealand: Thinking Ahead to Restore Birds
The Puketi Forest Trust, which has been working to restore wildlife to Puketi Forest since 2003, is aiming to raise $1 million in capital to fund the restoration of the unique subtropical kauri forest in perpetuity. The Puketi Forest Capital Fund will be made up of donations, made expressly for the purpose of allowing the trust to accumulate. The money will not be used for the day to day operations of the trust, but invested instead.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/northland/4588170a22379.html
Landowners in Mississippi Paid to Provide Black Bear Habitat
Landowners in Mississippi can receive financial incentives by enrolling eligible land in a new program called SAFE designed to restore habitat for the federally protected black bear. Most of the acreage will be dedicated to restoring native hardwood forests and forested wetlands in portions of the Mississippi Valley that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has identified as key zones for black bear recovery. The aim is to create favourable habitat conditions by incorporating a mix of soft- and hard-mast species to provide year-round food sources, creating escape cover and elevated den cavities, providing semi-permanent wetland communities, and contributing to larger-scale formation of habitat and travel corridors for black bear dispersal.
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/do/ecco.py/view_item?listid=1&listcatid=1&listitemid=2931 |
| Invasive Species
Wisconsin: State Grants Help Fight Against Aquatic Invasive Species
Local efforts to fight aquatic invasive species are accelerating across Wisconsin this summer, as more than 120 communities and lake districts are benefiting from a dramatic increase in state grant funding aimed at turning back the tide of zebra mussels, Eurasian water-milfoil and other unwelcome guests. "Governor Doyle and lawmakers responded to the call of local communities for more help by doubling the grant money available this year, and earmarking even more for 2009," says Department of Natural Resources Secretary Matt Frank. "That money is being put to work in local communities to fight invasive species and keep our lakes and rivers and local economies healthy." http://outdoornewsdaily.com/index.php/archives/4331
The Introduction of Alien Species into the Natural Environment - a European Concern
Alien species are not extraterrestrial species, as one could be led to believe by the word "alien". From a biological perspective, alien species are living species of flora and fauna which, in an unnatural way, are introduced into a natural habitat where they have never occurred before, and as such are not indigenous to that area. Some of these species may be quite harmless. But others can be very dangerous from an ecological and an economical aspect. http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=71043 |
| Urban Restoration
Oregon: Portlanders celebrate restoration of Johnson Creek
Portlanders gathered Tuesday to celebrate the completion of a project that restored part of Johnson Creek in Southeast Portland to a more natural state. The crowd came to see a section of Johnson Creek restored to correct previous man-made realignments that had altered the creek in the past.
http://portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=121435191167519500 |
| Recreation & Tourism
The Philippines: Nature Park Rises from Once Bald Mountain
A few years ago, a 71-hectare area in Cebu City's mountain village of Pung-ol Sibugay had zero forest cover as people had cut down trees so they could plant crops and flowers. Birds were nowhere to be found while other wildlife, except snakes and rats, had abandoned the place. Now, it is a project site for a managed watershed development as it is being transformed into the Kan-irag Nature Park.
http://www.inquirer.net/specialfeatures/thegoodnews/view.php?db=1&article=20080621-143940
Australia: Pipeline Dream for Advocates of Lake Mokoan
Parts of the parched Lake Mokoan area in north-east Victorian will be sold to help finance the Brumby Government's $20 million restoration of the soon-to-be decommissioned reservoir. Up to 1500 hectares of land, with an estimated value of $3 million, will be sold as part of a plan to create a wetlands area. Water Minister Tim Holding, who announced the restoration yesterday at Lake Mokoan, said the wetlands would be a recreational and tourism asset for the Benalla region.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/pipeline-dream-for-advocates-of-lake-mokoan-20080619-2tjx.html
Tourism Boom Threatens Costa Rica Eco-paradise
Pungent brown sewage spews into the Pacific ocean. In the background, cranes put up hotels and beachfront apartments. Once home to monkeys, turtles and other rare wildlife, this stretch of coast in northwest Costa Rica is developing so fast that it is tarnishing the country's reputation as a destination for eco-tourists.
http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/37452 |
| Funding Opportunities
Grant Workshops Scheduled For Nearshore Restoration Project Sponsors
A series of six workshops will be held this month and next for individuals and organizations interested in sponsoring nearshore habitat restoration and preservation projects in the Puget Sound area. The workshops, hosted by the Puget Sound Nearshore Partnership and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), will be held at various sites throughout the region.
http://outdoornewsdaily.com/index.php/archives/4222
New Zealand: Apply Now for an Environment Enhancement Grant
Landowners or groups working to protect and enhance native biodiversity in Canterbury have until the end of August to apply for contestable grants of up to $5,000 through Environment Canterbury's Environment Enhancement Fund. Financial assistance can be granted for any project that contributes to the region's indigenous biodiversity and usually involves the protection or enhancement of waterways, wetlands, coastal dunes and native vegetation. Applicants may apply more than once.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK0806/S00102.htm
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)offers a 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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