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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
SER 2009 World Conference in Perth, Australia - Call for Proposals
A reminder that the SER International 2009 conference organising committee is seeking proposals for four session types (symposia, organized oral sessions, special sessions, and workshops). Sessions are to be organized by any interested individuals on a topic of their choice. The organising individual will also have the responsibility of seeking the speakers for their session. Session proposal submission deadline: 17 October 2008. Session proposal submission details: http://www.seri2009.com.au/pages/abstract.html The four session types will be in addition to the contributed oral and poster presentations, which will address the themes of the conference (see http://www.seri2009.com.au/pages/home.html). If interested, contributed oral and poster presentations will require submission of abstracts. Please note that abstracts are not due now - they will be called for at the end of the year.
Montana: Public Comments Sought on Restoration Projects
The state is seeking public comment on draft funding recommendations for projects to restore the Upper Clark Fork River Basin, said Kathleen Coleman of the Natural Resource Damage Program. Gov. Brian Schweitzer's Trustee Restoration Council has recommended that 12 grant proposals receive $19.3 million, subject to funding conditions on some projects.
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081002/DC5/810020378
Rhode Island: Conference to Celebrate Estuary Restoration
On Saturday, some 800 scientists, environmentalists and government officials are scheduled to arrive for a four-day conference at the Rhode Island Convention Center that will celebrate and study efforts to restore estuaries in Rhode Island and across the country. The conference is sponsored by a group called Restore America's Estuaries, which was formed by Rhode Island's Save the Bay and similar groups around the country, including the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Galveston Bay Foundation, the Save San Francisco Bay Foundation and People for Puget Sound.
http://www.projo.com/outdoors/environmentaljournal/Environmental_Journal5_10-05-08_75BQ63U_v12.929e4b.html
California: Cleanup to Bring More Vegetation, Wildlife to Creek
The Rheem Creek Habitat Restoration Project is well on its way to opening opportunities for students to lend a rewarding helpful hand in giving the college creek a fresh start. The project proposes to restore the creek, which runs through the Contra Costa College campus, by uprooting harmful plants and cleaning the surrounding area, Buildings and Grounds Manager Bruce King said.
http://media.www.accentadvocate.com/media/storage/paper794/news/2008/10/08/CampusBeat/Cleanup.To.Bring.More.Vegetation.Wildlife.To.Creek-3472748.shtml |
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People in the News
New Mexico: Tingley Beach Restoration Wins National Award
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| New Books & Articles
SER International Releases Policy Position Statement in Barcelona
"Ecological Restoration as a Tool for Reversing Ecosystem Fragmentation"
Ecosystem fragmentation, along with many other global trends, is causing the natural world to undergo profound changes at all spatial scales, from the micro-habitat to the continental. The widespread and unprecedented human impact upon nature has adversely affected ecosystem health and resilience, biodiversity, and the provision of ecological goods and services that all species depend on (e.g. clean air, fresh water and healthy soils). The Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) International maintains that even with the tremendous pressures that humans presently exert upon our ecosystems, fragmentation is neither inevitable nor irreversible.
For English: https://www.ser.org/pdf/SER_Policy_Position_Statement_October_2008.pdf
For Spanish: https://www.ser.org/pdf/SER_Policy_Position_Statement_October_2008_Spanish.pdf
Lack of Large-scale Experiments Slows Progress of Environmental Restoration
A new study finds that environmental restoration research using large experimental tests has been limited. Most often, one restoration method is used throughout a site, making it difficult to 'learn while restoring.' Zedler believes that researchers should establish large field experiments, comparing several methods at once and watching carefully to see which method achieves the goals most rapidly. She believes that this process, called 'adaptive restoration' would allow researchers to take greater advantage of large restoration sites to test their ideas for improving restoration effectiveness.
http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=08100627
Ecosystem Services Derived from Wetland Conservation Practices in the United States
Implementation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) has resulted in the restoration of approximately 2,200,000 ha (5,436,200 acres) of wetland and grassland habitats in the Prairie Pothole Region. These restored habitats are known to provide various ecosystem services; however, little work has been conducted to quantify and verify benefits on program lands in agriculturally dominated landscapes of the Prairie Pothole Region. To address this need, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in collaboration with the USDA Farm Service Agency and Natural Resources Conservation Service, initiated a study to develop and apply approaches to quantify changes in ecosystem services resulting from wetland restoration activities funded by the USDA.
http://www.docuticker.com/?p=22735 |
Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)
Australia: Keeping Things Green - In a Natives Way
A small group of local indigenous volunteers is working hard to ensure the natural beauty of the Macleay region remains intact for generations to come. Formed four and a half years ago, the Pandanus People established a small community nursery dedicated solely to breeding native plant species. All the stock is either sold to the public or used in restoration projects along the coastal strip. So far the group has helped in Bush or Coast Care projects from Stuarts Point to Arakoon headland and Hat Head.
http://kempsey.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/keeping-things-green-in-a-natives-way/1326878.aspx |
| Biodiversity & Climate Change
Canada: ERA Carbon Offsets Product Update
Over the past four years, ERA Carbon Offsets Ltd. has successfully developed and sold carbon offsets generated through its Community Ecosystem Restoration Projects in the Lower Fraser Valley. These offsets have been sold to a range of companies and organizations, large (e.g. Shell) and small (The Steve Nash Event organizers). In addition, and in response to the quickly evolving international carbon marketplace, ERA is developing a unique product that bundles forest-conservation based offsets, or "REDDs", with the restoration-based carbon offsets.
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Era-Carbon-Offsets-Ltd-TSX-VENTURE-ESR-906506.html
Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission Preparing for Effects of Climate Change
Scientists addressing the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's first climate change summit last week forecast a bleak future for the state's fish and wildlife over the next century. ''We don't have to wait for the future; it's already here,'' Hal Wanless, chairman of the geological sciences department at University of Miami, told workshop participants Wednesday.
http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/story/713685.html |
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New Madagascar Project to Measure Carbon Savings from Forest Conservation
Up to 500,000 hectares of moist and spiny forests in Madagascar are to be protected or restored in a pioneering project which will include testing ways to measure climate impacts. WWF and GoodPlanet will join efforts and expertise to acquire as much knowledge as possible on verifiable ways to measure how much the emission of carbon can potentially be reduced by reducing the rate of deforestation and degradation, and how much carbon can be effectively and permanently sequestered by complementary forest restoration activities. http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=08100690
US: The National Forest Foundation to Plant Trees and Help Restore Our Nation's Forests
Intelligent Global Pooling Systems (iGPS Company LLC), operator of the world's first all-plastic pallet pool, announced today that it has entered into a partnership with the National Forest Foundation (NFF), the congressionally chartered nonprofit partner of the U.S. Forest Service. Under the partnership, iGPS will make a contribution to the NFF every time an iGPS pallet is rented over the next two years, a sum that will lead to the planting of at least 100,000 new seedlings in the U.S.
http://uk.sys-con.com/node/702148 |
| Wetland Restoration
UK: Large Scale Wind Farm Plan for Wales
Located at Llanbrynmair, in Powys, the Carnedd Wen Wind Farm and Habitat Restoration Project, is made up of two distinct elements. The first is a wind farm consisting of 65 wind turbines, each with a capacity of two to three megawatts and a maximum tip height of 137 metres. The habitat restoration project, developed in partnership with leading UK environmental consultants and conservation experts, would be the largest ever to be proposed in Wales, involving the clearing of the majority of the trees on the site within Llanbrynmair Forest in order to restore a habitat once considered by environmental experts to be one of the finest examples of blanket mire and dwarf shrub heath in Wales.
http://www.farmersguardian.com/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=21761
Mississippi: More Waterfowl Habitat
The Foundation for Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks (Foundation) was awarded a North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) grant for almost $1 million. The grant entitled, "Mississippi Delta WMA Wetland Habitat Enhancements," is the first NAWCA grant awarded to the Foundation. The project will protect, restore, and enhance 3,270 acres of waterfowl habitat on three Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks' (MDWFP) Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) in the Mississippi Delta.
http://www.outdoorcentral.com/outdoor_recreation/other/more-waterfowl-habitat-in-mississippi |
River & Watershed Restoration
Oregon: American Rivers, NOAA Award $49,000 to Restore Circle Creek Fish Passage
Circle Creek, a tributary of the Necanicum River, will soon be healthier thanks to a partnership between American Rivers, a national river conservation organization, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Restoration Center. The creek and the local community will benefit from a $49,000 community-based habitat restoration program partnership grant, aimed at restoring fish passage by replacing the culvert on Mulligan Spur Road.
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/argus/index.ssf?/base/news/1223061616323630.xml&coll=6 |
| Grassland Restoration
Iowa: Letting the Sun Shine in Heals Land
Bill, 72, and Sibylla Brown, 68, turned their getaway into one of Iowa's most "somewhere" places. A report on their property by Conservation Research Institute scientists claims they are the first in Iowa to restore an oak savanna on this large a scale. Much of their 200 acres are now turned into open, airy woodlands, the kind an 1847 land surveyor could drive a horse-drawn wagon through. Open timber has been transformed from tangled scrubs and invasive species to a thriving ground that nurtures the whole cycle of nature. Native wildflowers that bloom through the sun-dappled woods feed the insects that in turn feed the neotropical birds and small animals.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20081006/LIFE/810060303/-1/ENT05
Oregon: The Owners of Heritage Seedlings in Salem Reclaim Native Habitat
The environmental pledge made good business sense, too. Heritage Seedlings has propagated more than 100 species of native grasses, sedges, rushes and wildflowers and received a state permit to raise seven threatened and endangered species for reintroduction by government agencies and nonprofit conservation groups. Oak savanna and prairie once covered 1 million acres of the Willamette Valley. Native Americans managed the land with planned burns to keep the grasslands healthy.
http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/122290170378390.xml&coll=7 |
| Lake Restoration
Bringing 'Garden of Eden' to Africa under UN-sponsored Nature Restoration
Learning from the success in rehabilitating the Iraqi marshlands that some believe was the site of the Biblical Garden of Eden, United Nations-backed pilot projects are now targeting a 'lost' lake in Mali, a Kenyan forest that is a vital source for key rivers and lakes and land restoration in Haiti. The projects are among several such large-scale and nationally significant rehabilitation initiatives that the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) wants to launch in five countries during the run-up to the next meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nagoya, Japan, in 2010.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=28446&Cr=UNEP&Cr1=
Great Lakes Compact Made into Law with Bush's Signature
President George Bush signed the Great Lakes Compact Friday, the final step in an effort to form a coalition among the Great Lakes states to protect the world's largest freshwater source. The signing of this bill puts into law the agreement among the eight states and two Canadian provinces surrounding the Great Lakes to regulate the use the lakes' water and protect it from long distance diversions.
http://www.dailycardinal.com/article/20725 |
| Coastal & Marine Restoration
Study Finds No-Take Reserves Do Not Increase Reef Resilience
A variety of human activities have caused the recent global decline of reef-building corals. The key drivers of anthropogenic coral mortality and loss are nearly all regional- to global-scale stressors, including ocean warming, and coral predator and disease outbreaks. Yet scientists hope to mitigate these threats locally through fisheries regulations, such as the implementation of marine reserves. However, a new study tempers such optimism and suggests that marine reserves, as currently implemented, will not mitigate the impacts of climate change and other large scale disturbances.
http://www.scitizen.com/screens/blogPage/viewBlog/sw_viewBlog.php?idTheme=22&idContribution=2242
Florida: Lauderdale-by-the-Sea Will Try Electricity to Stimulate Coral Growth
The thunderclaps and lightning flashes of Victor Frankenstein's laboratory seem far removed from the sunshine, hotels and snorkelers of the South Florida coast. But the town of Lauderdale-by-the-Sea is pursuing the dream of using electricity to help generate life. The town plans to install a cluster of electrified artificial reefs off the beach and run a low-voltage current through steel frames to stimulate the growth of corals, creating habitat for fish, crabs and other marine creatures.
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flbcoral1007sboct07,0,1759467.story
Scientists Keep Plugging Away to Keep Seagrass Cropping up in Bay, Rivers
Over four years, the Army Corps of Engineers' Research and Development Center and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Chesapeake Bay Office funded more than $5 million in projects to help the Bay Program meet a goal of planting 1,000 acres of underwater grasses by 2008. The hope was to find an "agricultural approach" to underwater grass restoration. Instead of hand planting individual plants, most of the research was focused on finding ways to jump-start beds of eelgrass, a critical species in high-salinity areas, by using seeds.
http://www.bayjournal.com/article.cfm?article=3418
Florida Group Begins to Restore Damaged Seagrass Beds
A program to restore 4,000 square feet of damaged seagrass beds in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary near the Seven Mile Bridge began on Tuesday. Most shallow-water seagrass damage is caused unintentionally by power boaters who stray outside of navigable channels and plow through shallows leaving trenches and ravaging seagrass, said Dave Score, the sanctuary's superintendent.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/716823.html |
| Extractive Industries
Colorado State Receives Research Grant from Shell Oil Company
Colorado State University's Warner College of Natural Resources announced today that it will receive $950,000 in the form of a research grant from Shell Oil Company to study revegetation practices on one of three research, development and demonstration leases on federal land in the Piceance Basin in northwestern Colorado.
http://newsinfo.colostate.edu/index.asp?url=news_item_display&news_item_id=133128638 |
| Invasive Species
Australia: Weed Removal Goes Ahead
Budding environmentalist Ben Boehm has been itching to get rid of the weeds in the bushland behind his family's Kurrajong property for 11 years. But it wasn't until recently that Mr Boehm gained access to carry out the restoration work, and with the help of the Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchment Management Authority (HNCMA), the project is now off the ground.
http://hawkesbury.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/weed-removal-goes-ahead/1327371.aspx |
| Urban Restoration
California: Lagoon Park Earns National Honor
Once the site of a gravel parking lot, Lagoon Park - the six-acre wetland habitat nestled along Manzanita Village's coastline - is now recognized as an award-winning example of architectural landscape. The project, titled "Living at the Edge of Wilderness," transformed the formally barren lot into a fully restored California grassland, home to native coastal sage scrub and bluff vegetation.
http://www.dailynexus.com/article.php?a=17314 |
| Funding Opportunities
MS/PhD Graduate Student Opportunities in Biogeographic Aspects of Land-Use Change and Terrestrial Biogeochemistry
One to two graduate assistantships are available to prospective students interested in global change impacts on biogeochemical cycling and biodiversity in the Department of Geography at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, starting Fall 2009. Students with interests in the following are encouraged to apply: land-use/land-cover and climatic change effects on biogeochemical cycling, mechanisms of soil organic matter stabilization, restoration of ecosystem goods and services, legacies of human disturbance on tropical forest structure and species composition, and physical and human dimensions of land-use and land-cover change. Opportunities exist for fieldwork in tropical as well as local and regional ecosystems. For more information on the graduate programs, please visit:
http://www.geography.wisc.edu/admissions/index.htm
Connecticut: Clean and Clear Offers Ecosystem Restoration Grants - Closes October 10, 2008
Governor Jim Douglas announced that the Center for Clean and Clear at the Agency of Natural Resources is making up to $500,000 in grants available for its Ecosystem Restoration Program. Governor Douglas said the newly expanded program broadens the range of eligible projects to more fully encompass the multitude of strategies and techniques available for improving water quality in the state, with special emphasis on reducing phosphorus and sediment pollution associated with wet weather runoff.
http://www.vermont.gov/portal/government/article.php?news=564
US: New Forest-Health Grant Cycle Begins - Closes October 10, 2008
With $1 million federal funding boost, the Colorado State Forest Service has up to $2 million available for forest restoration proposals that protect critical water supplies and address related forest health challenges such as wildfire risk reduction, community protection, ecological restoration and woody biomass utilization. Grant applications are due by 4 p.m., Oct. 10 and awards will be announced in early November.
http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20080810/NEWS/372732661/1078&ParentProfile=1055
Seed Grants from the Organization for Tropical Studies - Closes October 15, 2008
To promote further research at LCBS and surrounding areas, there is a post-workshop call for seed grants (for graduate students at US and Costa Rican institutions) to conduct interdisciplinary pilot studies on themes related to the workshop. Preference will be given to graduate students who attended the workshop and research proposals are restricted to projects that would be undertaken at LCBS and the surrounding vicinity. The application deadline is October 15, 2008. For further information on LCBS or the call for seed grants visit the OTS website (www.ots.ac.cr) and click on the link for Las Cruces.
Washington: Nearshore Restoration Projects - Closes October 17, 2008
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is accepting proposals from organizations seeking state funds for projects that would protect and restore natural shorelines and estuaries in Puget Sound. Applications and additional information about submitting proposals are available at http://www.pugetsoundnearshore.org/esrp.htm or by contacting Jenna Norman at 360-902-2658 or ESRP@dfw.wa.gov. http://outdoornewsdaily.com/index.php/archives/5075
Oregon: Grants Available for Watershed Restoration - October 20, 2008
The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board is accepting grant proposals for what it calls "on-the-ground restoration projects that approach natural resources management from a whole-watershed perspective." The organization will continue to accept proposals until Oct. 20. Interested landowners can contact the Umatilla County Soil and Water Conservation District at 276-8131. Project examples include weed control, native plant reseeding, streambank planting to slow erosion, off-stream livestock watering facilities or fencing stream areas to restore riparian function, restoring or enhancing natural wetlands, improving fish habitat and culvert removal or replacement.
http://www.eastoregonian.info/main.asp?SectionID=13&SubSectionID=48&ArticleID=82634&TM=72801.63
Oregon: Watershed Restoration Funding Announcement - Closes October 24, 2008
NOAA Restoration Center funding is available to support community-based habitat restoration through our funding partner, Ecotrust, and the Whole Watershed Restoration Initiative (WWRI). In partnership with NOAA, Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB), and the Pacific Northwest Region of the U.S. Forest Service, Ecotrust is currently accepting proposals for funding through the 2009 cycle of the WWRI.
http://jcmrc.blogspot.com/2008/09/watershed-restoration-funding.html
CSU Extends Grant Deadline for Community Forest Restoration - Closes October 24, 2008
The Colorado State Forest Service has extended the application deadline for Colorado Community Forest Restoration grant proposals. The grant program was established by the 2007 Colorado General Assembly and was continued through the passage of Senate Bill 071 in 2008. Up to $2 million in grant funds will be available through the program this year, thanks to the addition of $1 million in federal funding. All grant applications are due by 4 p.m. Oct. 24. Awards will be announced in December.
http://newsinfo.colostate.edu/index.asp?url=news_item_display&news_item_id=789856778 | |
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