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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 or can be subscribed to for only $20/year by visiting: www.ser.org/content/restoration_network.asp. Please send your news stories and articles to the RESTORE editor at info@ser.org. |
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Get Involved / Community-Based Restoration
Attention SER Members
Huge Discount on Wiley-Blackwell Products
Wiley-Blackwell has extended a discount to SER members for a limited time. You can now can receive a 25% discount on all of their product lines by using the following code: SDP18. Please visit their web site at: www.wiley.com to start shopping!
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew - New Head of Restoration Ecology - Closes March 27, 2009
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is an internationally recognised and highly successful research institute and visitor attraction, with World Heritage status. We are seeking an exceptional individual to lead and drive Kew's groundbreaking activities in the discipline of restoration ecology. You will address the ecology of the restoration of plant communities and the repair and reconstruction of habitats damaged by human activities or natural phenomena.
http://www.kew.org/aboutus/jobs/ref-1335.htm
BCIT Launches Canada's First Stand-Alone Ecological Restoration Degree
It will be the first stand-alone degree program of its kind in Canada - and it was born and bred at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT). The new four-year Bachelor of Technology in Ecological Restoration will provide graduates with an understanding of the many ecosystems impacted by human influences in British Columbia, across Canada and in other parts of the world. Beginning this September, the program will teach students how to repair the ecological values of areas damaged in past.
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Bcit-956728.html
University of Northern Iowa - Professional Science Masters in Ecosystem Management
Many jobs in conservation biology are as much about people as they are about science. The PSM in Ecosystem Management combines professional skills in communication, organization and management with modern ecological techniques. The degree is suitable for students who wish to pursue a professional career in natural areas management, environmental consulting, working lands conservation, land use planning, and related fields.
http://www.biology.uni.edu/grad_ecosystem.html
Get Involved/Community-based Restoration
So What's A Green Job, Anyway?
Also getting into the game are non-profit organizations, which have begun training people for green-collar jobs. MillionTreesNYC, a partnership between the New York Restoration Project, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's PlaNYC initiative and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, started a seven-month training program in 2008. The program pays and trains individuals in urban greening, forestry, ecological restoration and landscape design according to Drew Becher, executive director of the New York Restoration Project.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/29301803
Arizona: Forest Service Seeks Comments on Brin's Fire Restoration
The Red Rock Ranger District, Coconino National Forest, is proposing to implement a restoration project above Manzanita Campground and Encinosa Day Use Area in Oak Creek Canyon. The Brins Fire Burned Area Restoration project is intended to restore ground cover through seeding and mulching to retard runoff and erosion of forest land affected by the 2006 Brins Fire. Selected areas for treatment are considered to be moderate to severely burned. The area will be seeded with native grass species and mulched with certified weed-free straw dropped from a helicopter. Aerial treatment is considered the most effective method due to the areas inaccessibility. Restoration is expected to help reduce the potential for debris flow and accelerated erosion and runoff affecting Oak Creek water quality.
http://www.sedona.biz/brins-fire-sediment-control0209.htm
Australia: A Boost for WA's Much-loved Swan River
Nearly 40 community environmental groups have been given a helping hand to restore and rejuvenate the land around the Swan and Canning Rivers, thanks to the Swan Alcoa Landcare Program (SALP). The announcement coming as the health of the Swan River remains in the spotlight. SALP has today distributed close to $600,000 in community grants which will be invested in over 70 on-ground rehabilitation and revegetation projects, including: foreshore, wetland and bushland restoration, the building of drains for living stream projects, and the creation of bushland corridors.
http://www.alcoa.com/australia/en/news/releases/SALP_2009.asp
Oregon: Eco-activists Using Grant Money to Improve Watersheds
During the past 15 years, the city's environmental agency has teamed up with PSU and AmeriCorps Northwest Service Academy and given out more than $700,000 in grants, along with technical assistance and expertise, to churches, businesses, community organizations and neighborhood groups. Ed Kerns, a Lents community activist, tops the charts with seven grants, which, he says, he and a loyal core of volunteers used to plant tens of thousands of trees along the Springwater Corridor. An unexpected benefit was the creation of a new generation of young environmentalists.
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2009/02/ecoactivists_using_grant_money.html
California: Reporter Tries His Hand at Restoring Mother Nature
Irvine-based group sets out to return native plants to their proper place. In a meadow not so far away, I'm uprooting weeds. Trying to, at least. The thing about this excursion to the side of the Ortega Highway is that I have little idea what I'm doing - or why I'm doing it. Thank Mother Nature, then, for a knowledgeable land steward who inspired me and a dozen others to spend a recent Saturday knee-deep in scraggly grass.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/natives-restoration-forest-2320302-durant-says
Honest-1 Auto Care Commits to Planting 40,000 New Trees in One Year
Honest-1 Auto Care will fund the planting of 40,000 new trees during the next year to reinforce its commitment as the most eco-friendly auto repair and maintenance chain in the nation. In a long-term collaboration with American Forests, a leading nonprofit organization that plants trees for environmental restoration, Honest-1 Auto Care, with a location in Pittsburgh, will donate funds to plant one tree for every customer repair order completed at its 19 auto care locations across the nation during the next year. Honest-1 Auto Care is currently the only auto repair franchise chain to enter into a year-long agreement of this magnitude with American Forests.
http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/02-27-2009/0004980300&EDATE=
Conferences & Workshops
Atlantic White-Cedar Symposium - June 9-11, 2009
The symposium will address approaches used to characterize and/or monitor Atlantic White-Cedar (AWC) ecosystem hydrology, soils, biogeochemical cycling, nutrient fluxes, plant physiological ecology, biodiversity, genetics, pathology, wildlife biology, threatened and endangered species, fisheries and aquatic resources, silvicultural techniques, paleoecology, bird conservation, taxonomy, culture practices in nurseries and the field, regional issues, and ecological conservation/integrity at the local and landscape scale.
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/nreos/forest/feop/AWC/
Midwest Oak Savanna and Woodland Conference - July 29th to August 1st 2009
The oak savanna was once a common ecosystem of the Midwest. This important ecosystem is home to diverse and rare plant and animal species. The objective of this conference will allow academia, land stewards, and community to present research and other information on the important oak savanna ecosystem. It has been at least ten years since a similar conference has been held.
http://www.oakopen.org/news/display.asp?id=272
Awards Nominations for SER World Conference in Perth
There is no finer moment at an SER conference than its tribute to individuals and organizations whose exemplary work lead the Restoration movement forward to higher levels of achievement and cultural prominence. The SER Board of Directors, the SER Awards Committee, led by chair Al Unwin, and the SER staff will again be saluting 2009's recipients of the various awards during our Awards Banquet dinner on.... Please join us for a celebration of the excellent work these years recipients have undertaken. Deadline is April 21, 2009.
http://www.ser.org/content/nominations_process.asp
For a complete listing of conferences related to ecological restoration, please visit:
http://www.globalrestorationnetwork.org/conferences/ |
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People in the News
Economic Crisis Hits Conservation but May Offer Opportunities
In 2008 The Nature Conservancy (TNC) surprised the conservation world when it selected Mark Tercek, an investment banker from Goldman Sachs, as its new president and CEO. But for people who have worked with Tercek, the move made strategic sense - Tercek was a leading figure in the Goldman's effort to improve its environmental record. In 2005 Tercek was appointed to head up the firm's Environmental Strategy Group, which develops and implements its environmental policy, and its Center for Environmental Markets, an initiative that examines market-based solutions to environmental challenges. In that role Tercek worked with pioneers in ecosystem services science, including Gretchen Daily of Stanford University; John Holdren, the former director of the Woods Hole Research Center and currently President Obama's chief scientific adviser; and Peter Kareiva, chief scientist at TNC.
http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0303-tercek_interview.html
Illinois: Highland Park Receives Grant for Wetland Project
The Park District of Highland Park has been awarded $380,000 by the Lake Country Stormwater Management Commission to fund the Skokie River Woods Wetland Restoration Project. Recreational opportunities and public access will be enhanced by improving the landscape and by the future provision of a recreational trail in Skokie River Woods, officials said.
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/news/1453654,5_1_WA28_FPWET_S1.article
Bolivia Proposes UN "Day of Mother Earth"
The Bolivian mission to the United Nations proposed earlier this week that April 22nd, currently celebrated as Earth Day, be renamed the "Day of the Mother Earth" in honor of indigenous conceptions of the environment. Bolivia highlighted the pressing issue of climate change and stressed the need for a fundamental transformation in the way we think about the planet. "We have arrived at a point at which we can no longer propose palliative measures, but instead, we must propose structural transformations that can help us craft a new model of development that respects nature and the earth," the Bolivian delegation said.
http://boliviaun.wordpress.com/2009/02/26/bolivia-proposes-un-%E2%80%9Cday-of-mother-earth%E2%80%9D/
Forestry Expert: Western U.S. Faces Similar Threat as Deadly Australian Wildfires
The raging Australian wildfires that have killed more than 200 people and destroyed some 1,800 homes over the last few weeks can "absolutely happen in the western United States at any time this year," says forest ecosystem expert Wallace Covington. Covington, a Regents' Professor of forest ecology at Northern Arizona University and director of its Ecological Restoration Institute, says that the region's ecosystems are in comprehensive decline-from the Alpine tundra to the lowest deserts.
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/549547/ |
| New Books & Articles
Wetlands and Global Climate Change
Wetlands and global climate change: the role of wetland restoration in a changing world has been published in the Journal of Wetlands Ecology and Management.
http://www.environment.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/fulltext.pdf
Study Finds Hemlock Trees Dying Rapidly, Affecting Forest Carbon Cycle
New research by U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) scientists and partners suggests the hemlock woolly adelgid is killing hemlock trees faster than expected in the southern Appalachians and rapidly altering the carbon cycle of these forests. SRS researchers and cooperators from the University of Georgia published the findings in the most recent issue of the journal Ecosystems. "The study marks the first time that scientists have tracked the short-term effects hemlock woolly adelgid infestations are having on the forest carbon cycle," said Chelcy Ford, SRS ecologist and co-author of the paper.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-02/srs--sfh022609.php |
| Restoring Natural Capital (RNC)
Canada: Global Revitalization Centre for the GTA
This Thursday, leaders in the GTA's restorative development industry gathered to support plans to develop a 700-acre global centre for restoration/revitalization research and training at Seneca's King Campus. Representatives from the Revitalization Institute, Ontario's Centres of Excellence, Canadian Urban Institute, ReNew Canada, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, Oak Ridges Moraine Foundation, and the municipalities of Aurora and King, plus senior Seneca College staff, were all at the King Campus. The Revitalization Centre's emphasis will include: technology application and transfer, jobs development, applied research, education and training, and ideas generation-all with an emphasis on restoration of natural resources and revitalization of communities.
http://renewcanada.net/2009/global-revitalization-centre-for-the-gta/
Stimulus Exposes National Parks Priorities
According to the Times, the stimulus bill calls for "$15 million for historic preservation, $146 million for deferred maintenance and 'critical repair and rehabilitation projects,' and $589 million for replacing facilities and equipment and cleaning abandoned mine sites." But nowhere does it mention any money set aside for natural resource management, which would include the protection and restoration of wild habitats, monitoring wildlife populations, and fighting off invasive species.
http://www.backpacker.com/blogs/808
Interesting List of Economic Stimulus Spending
Please verify the validity of these numbers and programs for yourself
http://timetorevoltamerica.blogspot.com/2009/02/spending-like-drunken-sailors.html |
Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)
When Science and Indigenous Knowledge Meet
What follows is a brief look at one project currently being conducted in Nunavik, the northernmost region in the Canadian Province of Québec in which researchers are combining the traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of the local Inuit population with scientific data collection in order to get a better understanding of how climate change is affecting ice cover in lakes and streams in Nunavik and how this is affecting populations of Arctic charr, a fish common in the Arctic that the Inuit use as a staple food source.
http://antoinepastre.blogspot.com/2009/02/when-science-and-indigenous-knowledge.html |
| Agro-Ecology
Canada: Are Trees Uprooting Prime Land?
Farms or forests? That's the question around the fate of agricultural lands in Rouge Park. As the Rouge Park Alliance goes ahead with a restoration process that will see some farmlands planted with trees, some residents and farmers are questioning their logic. "I don't believe anyone knows our (farmers') land better than we do," said Chris Burkholder, sitting in his office at his farm near Elgin Mills Road and Ninth Line. Mr. Burkholder and his family have crop farms in Richmond Hill, Markham, Stouffville, Pickering and Scarborough. But like other eastern GTA farmers, they are tenants on some of their farms. Swaths of land in the eastern GTA were expropriated by the federal and provincial governments in the 1970s. Farmers continued to use the land. However, some provincial lands have been transferred to the Rouge Park Alliance for park uses.
http://www.georginaadvocate.com/News/Whitchurch-Stouffville/article/88410 |
| Biodiversity & Climate Change
Beyond Carbon: What's Your Methane Footprint?
Though some continue to dispute it, the reality of the global climate crisis is now common knowledge. Phrases like 'greenhouse gases', and 'carbon footprint' are an integral part of our common lexicon. The discussion has shifted from whether we ought to act, to determining our best strategies. While mainstream discussions often focus on reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere, other environmentally minded folk are considering the impact of our collective methane (CH4) footprint.
http://www.pacificfreepress.com/news/1/3771-why-vegan-knife-and-forking-the-world-to-death.html
Community-Based Adaptation to Climate Change
The event consisted of three days of field visits to observe community-based adaptation (CBA) initiatives first hand. This was followed by three days of interactive workshop discussions in Dhaka. The aim of the event was to share the latest developments in adaptation planning and practices at different levels and disseminate knowledge among stakeholders, with a view to integrating adaptation into national and international development programmes. More than 140 participants representing governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community-based organizations, research institutions, UN agencies and development organizations participated in the conference, along with grassroots and development practitioners and the media.
http://www.iisd.ca/ymb/sdcab/html/ymbvol135num2e.html
Obama Restores Scientific Consultation to Endangered Species Act
President Barack Obama issued a memorandum today temporarily rescinding a Bush-era rule that weakened the Endangered Species Act. The Bush rule allowed federal agencies whose activities might harm threatened and endangered species to avoid the longstanding requirement that they consult first with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service.
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/mar2009/2009-03-03-094.asp |
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How the Carbon Casino Pits Ecologist Against Ecologist
Robert Falls helped create the David Suzuki Foundation. Now he calls it an obstacle to restoring degraded ecosystems. And few places in the world have more room to grow forest than British Columbia. So it's odd to hear a forest restoration ecologist accuse the province and its leading environmental group of holding back the capture of carbon in growing trees. "What's the asset of British Columbia in climate change mitigation?" asks North Vancouver's Robert Falls. "It's not technology. It's our ecology. Yet between Suzuki [Foundation] and the provincial government, ecosystems have taken it on the chin, because they will not accommodate the reality that ecological systems take time."
http://thetyee.ca/News/2009/02/25/Eco-V-Eco/ |
| Wetland Restoration
California: Council OKs Alkali Wetlands Restoration
The Livermore City Council responded to complaints about vandalism in the Springtown Alkali Wetlands by approving a restoration effort. The council also asked staff to provide ways to limit access to the area to prevent further destruction of the wetlands, which is considered an ecologically sensitive area. It provides habitat for a number of federally and state listed species, including the bird's beak plant.
http://www.independentnews.com/fullstory.php?newsid=291
Pennsylvania: Millions for Marsh Project Questioned
If the plan is approved, the 198-acre plot in Lower Alloways Creek will get a major makeover, re-creating the original marsh and grasslands. But the cost - $18.5 million - makes even the river's most ardent supporters suck in their breath. Critics question whether the project is worth all that money, which comes from a fund financed by the oil industry. They say an inflexible process does not allow for officials to do what is best for the river in the long run.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/20090225_Millions_for_marsh_project_questioned.html
North Dakota: Lawton Man Sentenced in Wetlands Case
Senechal sentenced Peterson to a $10,000 fine, five years of probation, $20 special assessment and restoration of the protected wetlands. The incidents occurred on July 5, 2007, when Peterson hired a contractor to construct ditches which illegally drained the wetlands. Peterson had farmed the land for decades and knew where the wetlands were located. Peterson was previously convicted of draining certain wetlands in 2004. Peterson was sentenced to probation, and restoration of the injured wetlands was a condition of probation in his previous conviction for draining wetlands. Peterson did not comply with the restoration conditions and the court issued an order authorizing U.S. Fish & Wildlife
http://www.jamestownsun.com/articles/index.cfm?id=81049§ion=news |
River & Watershed Restoration
Texas: Army Corps of Engineers Awards First Contract on Trinity River Project
The contract awarded to Penna-Ambreco Joint Venture of Fort Worth is for excavation to create a valley storage area for floodwaters. It will be near the railroad tracks near Samuel Avenue in north Fort Worth. "The execution of this contract is a milestone for the army corps," said Saji Alummuttil, a project manager in the corps' Fort Worth District office. "When you start turning dirt, it does move us out of plans and specs and into construction."
http://www.star-telegram.com/metro_news/story/1230499.html
Idaho: Pack River Delta Restoration Project Under Way
But human land and water management practices have not made life easy for the 640-acre delta on Lake Pend Oreille, which is succumbing to streambank erosion, overland flow erosion and wind erosion. Kathy Cousins, a mitigation biologist with the Idaho Department of Fish & Game, hopes a project currently under way in the delta will counteract the effects of human influences and halt the fading of the alluvial deposit's ecological luster.
http://www.bonnercountydailybee.com/articles/2009/02/28/news/doc49a789919fef3085092912.txt
New Mexico: Bitter Lake's New Manager Starts Restoration Plans
A new manager at Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge is proceeding with long-awaited restoration projects that would remove invasive salt cedars and restore bends in the Pecos River. Joe Saenz replaced Jeff Howland, who transferred to another refuge, in mid-February. Saenz says the salt cedars, which were transplanted to New Mexico from Asia long ago, make it difficult for native plants to grow in the 25,000-acre refuge.
http://www.kvia.com/Global/story.asp?S=9926008&nav=AbC0 |
| Lake Restoration
Great Lakes: Service Awards to Fish and Wildlife
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announces $593,089 in federal funding for fish and wildlife restoration projects in the Great Lakes Basin. The projects will be matched by $278,810 in partner contributions, and will focus on the rehabilitation of sustainable populations of native fish and wildlife and their habitats. The grants are funded under the authority of the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act, which provides assistance to states, tribes and other interested entities to encourage cooperative conservation, and restoration and management of native fish and wildlife resources and their habitat in the Great Lakes Basin.
http://www.portclintonnewsherald.com/article/20090225/UPDATES01/90225020
UK: Restoration of Studley Lake is Put on Hold
Work on a major restoration scheme at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal will not be going ahead as planned this year. The National Trust has put on hold its plans to drain Studley Lake and remove a silt island as part of a scheme to restore it to its original appearance. A spokesman at Fountains said this week: "Such a complex project involved consultation with a number of partners and, sadly, time has run out to begin the work this spring as planned.
http://www.ripongazette.co.uk/ripon/Restoration-of-Studley-Lake-is.5020070.jp |
| Coastal & Marine Restoration
California: Water-vs.-Ecosystem Fight Leaves Out People Who Live Here
In the ominous Delta debate, south-state interests maneuver for reliable water. Environmentalists champion the ecosystem. No one gives high priority to the region. Us. The Delta's people. The Delta's communities, economies, infrastructure, architecture, history, its other habitats and various ways of life. "It's not just a blank slate that can be written on by state officials," state Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, says. "It's not just about the water, and it's not just about the ecosystem. It's about a place."
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090227/A_NEWS0803/902270313/-1/A_NEWS02 |
Wildlife Restoration
Airborne Ecologists Help Balance Delicate African Ecosystem
The African savanna is world famous for its wildlife, especially the iconic large herbivores such as elephants, zebras, and giraffes. But managing these ecosystems and balancing the interests of the large charismatic mammals with those of other species has been a perpetual challenge for park and game mangers. Now a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports the successful test of new remote-sensing technology to monitor the impact of management decisions on the savannah ecosystem.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-03/ci-aeh022609.php
India: Potential New Wildlife Corridor to Protect Tigers
It's been a hectic week, with several new potential corporate sponsors calling the Trust and one coming to the offices to discuss in detail the form their sponsorship should take. And I have just had lunch with writer and WLT Council member Simon Barnes to discuss his forthcoming visit to India with the World Land Trust partners, the Wildlife Trust of India. I am taking him with me to visit the next potential elephant corridor, which is in the area surrounding Corbett National Park. In Corbett, the tiger population is increasing, but they need somewhere to expand into, and consequently elephant corridors also have the potential to act as tiger corridors.
http://www.worldlandtrust.org/news/2009/02/potential-new-wildlife-corridor-to.htm |
| Extractive Industries
Pennsylvania DEP Restores 960 Acres of Abandoned Mine Lands, Degraded Streams
Environmental Protection acting Secretary John Hanger reported today that DEP completed 57 abandoned mine reclamation projects in 2008 that reclaimed more than 960 acres of mine-scarred lands and will restore life to dead streams. Hanger said abandoned mine lands endanger the public and limit economic development and recreational opportunities in former mining communities.
http://news.prnewswire.com/ViewContent.aspx?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/03-03-2009/0004982019&EDATE=
Indigenous People in Legal Challenge Against Oil Firms Over Tar Sand Project
British oil firms are facing a legal battle over exploitation of the huge Canadian tar sand fields with indigenous people who claim the industry is ruining their traditional lands. The Co-operative Bank will announce today that it is to fund a legal challenge by the Beaver Lake Cree Nation, which claims the boom in tar sands extraction is destroying their hunting and fishing lands. The court challenge calls for an injunction to stop more than 16,000 permits issued by the Alberta state government and, if successful, could dramatically reduce or even stop what has been described as a modern day "gold rush" for the oil, spurred by the expectation of high long-term oil prices.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/26/activism-carbon-emissions |
| Invasive Species
Invasives Threaten Salmon in Pacific Northwest
Many native fishes in the Pacific Northwest are threatened or endangered, notably salmonids, and hundreds of millions of dollars are expended annually on researching their populations and on amelioration efforts. Most of the attention and funding have been directed toward to the impacts of habitat alteration, hatcheries, harvest, and the hydrosystem-the "all H's." A study published in the March 2009 issue of BioScience concludes, however, that nonindigenous species, notably invasive fishes, appear to pose at least as much of a threat to native salmonids as the all H's, principally through predation.
http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/39394
W&L Biologist's Research Aims to Help Yellowstone Bison, Elk
What's a bottle of Roundup Weed and Grass Killer doing in Yellowstone National Park? It turns out that Roundup might be one of the most important tools in the battle invasive plant species that threaten one of America's last native prairie grasslands, home to bison, elk and pronghorn antelope.
http://www.wlu.edu/x30906.xml
Study Predicts When Invasive Species can Travel More Readily by Air
Global airlines be forewarned: June 2010 could be a busy month for invasive plants, insects and animals seeking free rides to distant lands. A new study forecasts when climate factors such as temperature, humidity and rainfall will match at geographically distant airline departure and destination points, which could help to shuffle invasive species, and the diseases they may carry, across the globe along existing flight routes. The findings provide a framework that could help people who monitor airline flights - and the people, baggage and cargo aboard - to plan more efficiently and accurately for detecting and intercepting invasives.
http://news.ufl.edu/2009/02/25/travel-bugs/
UK: Plant Diseases Threaten Woodland
Some of the finest gardens and woodlands in Britain are under threat from two closely related and aggressive fungus-like plant diseases. Environment minister Jane Kennedy said they were attacking "pristine" locations and could potentially damage the landscape and the tourism industry. The government has allocated £25m in a bid to eradicate the diseases which are spreading across the country.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7920199.stm |
| Recreation & Tourism
Fiji: Life-line for the Sago
Imagine plaiting 20 sago palm leaves onto a bamboo stick measuring 1.5 meters, 100 or 1000 times within four days or a week. This is what women in Culanuku Village by the coast in Serua do whenever an order comes in from nearby hotels for sago palm shingles to build designed bure for guests and visitors. The issue is not on the physical challenges of weaving sago palms onto bamboo but the impact of the depletion of sago palms to the surrounding environment, communities and villages like Culanuku.
http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=115589
Oregon: Park to Restore Otter Point
The Lewis and Clark National Historical Park has announced it will soon begin work at Otter Point, a $900,000 estuary restoration project. Continuing a "triad" of such projects, Otter Point will become the third watershed restoration under way in the park. The restoration of South Clatsop Slough - a 50-acre wetland that had been drained for pasture - was completed in 2007. Reference Marsh - south of Canoe Landing between the Lewis and Clark River and Fort Clatsop Road - was re-connected to the estuary in the 1960s. Both those projects are continuously monitored to see if more can or should be done.
http://www.dailyastorian.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=398&ArticleID=58703&TM=66377.43 |
| Funding Opportunities
Australia: Scholarship at Griffith University - Closes March 12, 2009
Top UP Scholarship to a current holder of an APA or GUPRS Scholarship at Griffith University. Required Project Title: Ecosystem restoration of bauxite processing residue sand disposal areas in Western Australia: Important biogeochemical processes and effective fertilisation strategies Rehabilitation of bauxite-processing residues represent a major challenge to alumina producers worldwide. The management of residue storage areas (RSAs) involves many of the fundamental chemical, physical, microbial and biological processes controlling plant-water-soil interactions. We are seeking an outstanding student to study fulltime within the Centre for Forestry and Horticultural Research at Griffith University in this exciting area of mining rehabilitation. The successful candidate will work very closely with the industry partner, Alcoa of Australia Ltd, one of the world's largest alumina producers.
http://www.infobeasiswa.net/archives/2009/02/21/griffith-university-centre-for-forestry-and-horticultural-top-up-scholarship/
Gloria Barron Wilderness Society Scholarship - Closes March 31, 2009
The Wilderness Society is now accepting applications for the 2009 Gloria Barron Wilderness Society Scholarship. This $10,000 scholarship is awarded annually to a graduate student in natural resources management, law or policy programs. The scholarship seeks to encourage individuals who have the potential to make a significant positive difference in the long-term protection of wilderness in North America.
http://wilderness.org/content/gloria-barron-scholarship-guidelines
World Bank Grant - Closes April 6, 2009
The Development Marketplace is a competitive grant program administered by the World Bank. The 2009 global competition is funded by various partners and it aims to identify 20 to 25 innovative, early-stage projects addressing climate adaptation. The DM is a unique opportunity to turn your idea into reality; if selected your project could receive up to US$200,000 in grant funding for implementation over two years.
http://pgpblog.worldbank.org/development-marketplace-grant-competition-2009-climate-adaptation
New Jersey: Assistance Available for Wetland Restoration - Closes June 1, 2009
The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has announced that applications will be accepted through Monday, June 1 for 2009 funding of wetland restoration projects on active or previously-farmed lands in New Jersey.
http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20090221/NEWS/90219061/1010/newsfront
National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program - Closes June 26, 2009
The National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Grant Program provides States with a means of protecting and restoring these valuable resources. Projects can include (1) acquisition of a real property interest (e.g., easement or fee title) in coastal lands or waters from willing sellers or partners (coastal wetlands ecosystems) for long-term conservation or (2) restoration, enhancement, or management of coastal wetlands ecosystems for long-term conservation.
http://www.grants.gov/search/search.do?mode=VIEW&flag2006=false&oppId=44928 | |
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