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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
Australasia Top 25 Restoration Projects Now Online
The Society for Ecological Restoration International and the Ecological Management and Restoration journal conducted an 18-month search for the top projects and an expert panel, including the journal's editor, selected the winners. The top 25 projects have been posted on a website that enables restoration scientists and managers to exchange information about their work.
http://www.globalrestorationnetwork.org/countries/australianew-zealand/
Setbacks and Surprises: Contributions Invited
The journal Restoration Ecology has initiated a new category of paper: "Setbacks and Surprises." This section aims to provide the opportunity to report the results of restoration projects that did not go as planned, projects that failed to meet the original goals or did not meet the goals without considerable changes to the original plans. It is very likely that "failed" restoration projects can teach us a lot if considered in the spirit of learning and if placed in a suitable context (physical, biological, social). We believe that such projects often generate valuable information that will be of interest to others in the field but such information is seldom published. What didn't work and why? The manuscripts will follow the normal review process, will need to stand up to robust scientific scrutiny and will conform to the usual standards set for the journal. An Editorial appeared in the January issue of Restoration Ecology (17:1) outlining this new section and the rationale behind it. The link to the Editorial on Wiley InterScience is: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/121625456/HTMLSTART
If you have any queries contact the Managing Editor, Dr Susan Yates (restoration.ecology@uwa.edu.au).
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!
Get Involved/Community-based Restoration
New Jersey: Barnegat Bay Shellfish Restoration Program Looking For Volunteers
An open house will be held at the Ocean County Extension Center, 1623 Whitesville Road, Toms River, on April 28 at 7 p.m. They will explain how you can play a role in helping to keep the bays healthy through the Barnegat Bay Shellfish Restoration Program.
http://manchestertimes.micromediapubs.com/news/2009/0422/community_news/041.html
California: Cheslea Wetlands Restoration Workshop
The City will be hosting a community workshop for plans to restore the Chelsea Wetlands on Thursday evening from 7-9pm at the Hercules by the Bay Clubhouse. Draft plans are available on the City's website.
http://www.waterfrontwatch.org/archives/2009/04/cheslea-wetlands-restoration-workshop.html
Washington: 1,000 Turn Out for Duwamish Restoration
Standing atop a hill on the banks of the Duwamish River in Tukwila, James Hallissy surveyed the thorny, pesky plants he had offered to help remove as part of a major restoration effort, and he wondered, "Where are the sheep and goats?" Clearly, he thought, more than a shovel was needed for such a big task. But two hours later, the 28-year-old Boeing engineer marveled at how much he and some 280 volunteers accomplished before sitting down to a picnic lunch Saturday: The hill, now cleared of blackberry bushes and other invasive plants, was ready for mulch - the second of a three-part process that, if all goes well, will restore habitat for fish and wildlife and ultimately make Puget Sound a little healthier.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009082676_earthday19m.html
Earth Day Tree-Planting Campaign Launched by American Eagle Partners
In honor of Earth Day and in support of an improved environment for kids, non-profit foundation Plant-It 2020, has teamed up with 77kids, a new children's clothing and accessories provider from American Eagle Outfitters, on a campaign that sponsors the planting of indigenous trees for every order placed on Earth Day, Wednesday, April 22.
http://green.tmcnet.com/topics/green/articles/54564-earth-day-tree-planting-campaign-launched-american-eagle.htm
South Carolina: Reef Restoration on Way
Alcoa's Mount Holly aluminum plant and the S.C. Nature Conservancy this week are scheduled to complete the second half of a two-part oyster reef restoration project inside the Francis Marion National Forest. Earlier this month, the company and the nonprofit bagged dried oyster shells in 200 bags each weighing about 30 pounds. The shells were collected from state Department of Natural Resources recycling centers. On Saturday, volunteers will complete the second phase of the project by dispersing the bags across a 35-foot gap between two oyster reefs in Tibwin Creek.
http://www.charleston.net/news/2009/apr/20/reef_restoration_on_way79259/
Conferences & Workshops
Engineering for Ecosystem Restoration: University at Buffalo Summer Workshop Series 2009
The 2009 summer program will consist of three week-long workshops that emphasize the science and practice of ecosystem restoration. Taught by leading experts and practitioners in the fields of ecosystem restoration, riverine and Great Lakes ecology, fluvial geomorphology, and environmental modeling, the three one-week long courses provide training in theoretical and applied concepts of ecosystem restoration, reinforced through intensive field activities (site visits, sampling techniques) at nationally-recognized stream restoration projects in western New York.
http://www.erie.buffalo.edu/trainingSummerCourse2009.php
Midwest-Great Lakes SER Chapter Conference
The first annual meeting of the Midwest-Great Lakes SER Chapter is scheduled for April 24 to April 25, 2009. Dr. William Jordan III will give the Friday night keynote presentation addressing the history of ecological restoration in the midwestern United States. We have 47 contributed presentations on a diversity of topics related to ecological restoration. The scientific agenda also includes a plenary session and tour of the Marian College Ecolab urban wetland restoration project and the Riverdale Estate with its historic Jens Jensen-designed landscape.
http://www.ser.org/content/SERMWGL.asp
SERCAL & CNGA 2009 Joint Conference April 29 - May 1, 2009
SERCAL is a non-profit membership based organization dedicated to the purpose of bringing about the recovery of damaged California ecosystems. To this end, the organization's activities are focused on the presentation of conferences, symposia, workshops, field trips and other educational activities dealing with the many different aspects involved in restoration of California native habitats.
http://www.sercal.org/
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
Kentucky Native Receives Environmental Award
Grant County native Reavis (Reb) Stacey will be recognized on April 17, for his commitment to the environment when he receives the Kentucky Environmental Quality Commission Lifetime Achievement Earth Day Award at a ceremony in Frankfort. Stacey is living proof that one person can make a difference in the quality of the world in which we live. He created the Reb Stacey Woodland and Wildlife Center. Forty years ago, Stacey began the process of restoring over 700 acres of forestland in Grant County. In the process, he became an expert on the walnut tree species that he especially favored.
http://www.kypost.com/content/news/859/story/Grant-Co-Native-Receives-Environmental-Award/kpUQCvQ3nkupb446A4jkkQ.cspx
2009 Goldman Environmental Prize Winners Beat 'Insurmountable' Odds
The 2009 Goldman Environmental Prize winners are grassroots environmental leaders from around the world who have fought mining companies, logging development, mounting piles of solid waste, toxic dumping and government indifference to tribal rights. Now in its 20th year, the Goldman Environmental Prize is awarded annually to environmentalists from each of the world's six inhabited continental regions. It is the largest award of its kind with an individual cash prize of $150,000 for the prize winner from each region. Multiple winners share the regional prize.
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2009/2009-04-20-02.asp |
| New Books & Articles
Reforesting Reduces Droughts
A recent article in New Scientist by Fred Pearce entitled "Rainforests may pump winds worldwide" describes a new meteorological theory wherein vast forests play a critical role in generating winds that pump water around the world through the atmosphere.
http://www.ecoworld.com/blog/2009/04/18/reforesting-reduces-droughts/
Prince Charles to Publish Attack on Big Business in Eco Book and Film
In an echo of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, which evolved from a slideshow presentation into a hit eco documentary, the prince's film is currently being shot in the US. Based on an exploration of the need for people to live in harmony with nature, the documentary is being produced by Balcony Films, whose previous credits include feature films such as The Fabulous Baker Boys and GI Jane, and documentaries including Four Conversations with Conservatives about One Thing. "I believe that true 'sustainability' depends fundamentally upon us shifting our perception and widening our focus, so that we understand, again, that we have a sacred duty of stewardship of the natural order of things," said the prince in a statement yesterday.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/apr/21/prince-charles-harmony-book
As Climate Warms, Species May Need to Migrate or Perish
With global warming pushing some animals and plants to the brink of extinction, conservation biologists are now saying that the only way to save some species may be to move them.
http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2142 |
| Restoring Natural Capital (RNC)
Australia: Divisions Run Deep in Qld Wild Rivers Debate
Stark divisions have emerged between environmental and Indigenous groups. At the heart of the issue is conflict between two competing ideas. On one side many Indigenous people want to be able to build businesses and enterprises on their traditional land, lifting more of their population into the real economy and out of welfare. On the other side many environmental and Indigenous groups say the Wild Rivers legislation allows only the sort of sustainable activities that are suitable for the fragile ecosystems in far-north Queensland.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/04/20/2547012.htm?section=australia |
Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)
Traditional Ecological Knowledge and the Future of the Environment
Given Ron's unique education and experience, he is well positioned to understand a convergence of traditional and modern approaches is necessary to solving today's environmental challenges including those of our boreal forests. He explains, "A combination of past intensive commercial logging and the alteration of our mature boreal forests by industrial development is only one component of many that is increasing the temperature of our climate." Moreover, Ron believes, "Too much emphasis is placed on strictly scientific evaluations, we need to implement Traditional knowledge as a component with Western knowledge in natural resource management. I am very familiar with traditional knowledge and acknowledge the impact and value it has for the first and current inhabitants of this land."
http://www.abcleaders.org/stories/127/ron-campbell |
| Biodiversity & Climate Change
Rare 'Mountain Chicken' Frogs Airlifted from Path of Deadly Fungus
Conservationists have rescued a number of critically endangered "mountain chicken" frogs from the path of a fatal disease which has hit their Caribbean island home of Montserrat. The decision to remove 50 mountain chicken frogs (leptodactylus fallax) from their natural habitat was taken in the face of the spread of the chytrid fungus, which is devastating amphibian populations worldwide.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/apr/21/wildlife-conservation
Louisiana: Wetlands Restoration Touted at Panel Discussion on Climate Change
Wetlands restoration was touted as a lucrative way to enter the burgeoning carbon credit market Wednesday evening at a panel discussion on climate change. Going beyond the direct environmental benefits and job-creation opportunities posed by multi-million dollar wetland restoration projects currently in the works, panelist and wetlands expert Sarah Mack said the immense carbon-saving value of restoring Louisiana's coastline can make the state a powerful player in the European and, prospectively, American carbon trading markets.
http://www.climateark.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=124717 |
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New Jersey: Nonprofit Offers to Undertake 10-year Project
The local environmental nonprofit group Protect Our Wetlands, Water, Woods has offered to take on a 10-year restoration project of Jonathan's Woods, a 600-acre preserve in Denville. Joan Lisi, president of the organization, presented the plan last week to the Morris County Park Commission, which will oversee the project along with the Bureau of Fish and Wildlife. The preserve was settled in the 1800s by the Beach family and was for years a farm.
http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20090419/COMMUNITIES12/904190343/1005/NEWS01
Connecticut: Resistance to Blight is Key to Chestnut Puzzle
Connecticut's chestnut restoration project actually began in the 1930s, she said, and is the oldest of several going on in the Northeast. At another experiment station farm, in Hamden, grows a grove of the largest collection of chestnut species and hybrids in the United States, including some American chestnuts that have been treated with a virus that kills the fungus. The grove has supplied seeds for other chestnut breeding programs in the Northeast. To check the seedlings, Anagnostakis and assistant Pamela Sletten, an agricultural research technician, examine the buds on each shoot for any sign that they're about to sprout leaves. She'll dig up and discard any that leaf out before the last spring frost, around May 15. Later leaf-out, she said, is better for disease-resistance and hardiness.
http://www.courant.com/news/local/statewire/hc-ap-ct-fea-chestnutrestoapr19,0,870856.story |
River & Watershed Restoration
Korea: Stream Restoration Project Launched
The Environment Ministry yesterday started the first phase of its stream restoration project, which will invest 444.6 billion won ($329.59 million) in 10 streams nationwide. The restoration project aims to bring life into the once buried stream areas. Under the project, unnecessary facilities will be demolished, water quality will be improved and the ecosystem of the stream will be restored, according to ministry officials.
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/NEWKHSITE/data/html_dir/2009/04/22/200904220026.asp
Michigan: River Restoration is a Good Thing
Last week's decision by Grand Traverse County and Traverse City commissions to remove the upper three dams on the Boardman River set in motion the single largest ecological restoration project ever in the Grand Traverse Bay watershed. This will also be the largest river restoration project in Michigan. The Boardman River is a significant natural asset to our freshwater community. It is the second-largest tributary to Grand Traverse Bay, providing 30 percent of the surface-water flow to the Bay.
http://www.record-eagle.com/opinion/local_story_111065132.html |
| Grassland Restoration
Illinois: Grassland Restoration Kicks Off
Standing at the edge of the Orland Grassland, Hayes, a volunteer and master steward with the Cook County Forest Preserve District, local leaders and others welcomed a $3.9 million five-year-project by the Army Corps of Engineers to restore the tallgrass prairie at 167th Street and LaGrange Road. U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert (R-13th), of Hinsdale, who secured the funding for the project, said she knew the site could not go to waste. "This is something if you let it go to waste it'd be a tragedy," she said.
http://www.southtownstar.com/news/1532568,041909grasslandkickoff.article |
| Desertification & Arid Land Restoration
Peru: Tree Planting in the Driest Place on Earth
The southern coast of Peru is one of the driest places on Earth. Why would anyone choose this parched location to re-plant a forest? The strip of desert between the Andean mountains and the Pacific Ocean has an annual average rainfall as low as 1.5mm. By way of comparison, London enjoys around 650mm a year. It's not an obvious place to choose if you're looking for somewhere to plant trees, but for restoration ecologist Oliver Whaley the harsh environment of the northern fringes of the Atacama desert is part of the point.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7934406.stm
Desertification
Desertification is the persistent degradation of dryland ecosystems by variations in climate and human activities. Home to a third of the human population in 2000, drylands occupy nearly half of Earth's land area. Across the world, desertification affects the livelihoods of millions of people who rely on the benefits that dryland ecosystems can provide.
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Desertification |
| Lake Restoration
Nebraska: Iron Horse Lake Restoration Approved
The Nemaha Natural Resources District approved a funding agreement April 9 for the restoration at Iron Horse Trail Lake near DuBois. Under the agreement, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission will fund about two-thirds of the $3.2 million project through its aquatic habitat program. NRD directors expects federal pollution control funds to pay most of the remaining costs.
http://www.ncnewspress.com/lifestyle/x711738968/Iron-Horse-lake-restoration-approved
Rural Earth Ponds: A Restoration and Management Primer
Ponds, both natural and constructed, are a common feature of the area landscape, along roadsides and on rural properties. Let's face it, most of us consider ponds - and water in general - a desirable landscape element. Ponds can be a focal feature, can add visual drama, can induce contemplation, can create wildlife habitat, can be a swimming hole and a skating rink. We long to be near water, likely because we innately appreciate its life-giving properties.
http://www.caledoncitizen.com/news/2009/0415/news/037.html |
| Coastal & Marine Restoration
Louisiana: Gov Jindal Announces $28.3 Million For Wetland Restoration Project
Today, Governor Bobby Jindal announced a $28.3 million wetland restoration project to build and restore nearly 500 acres of marsh in Lower Jefferson and Plaquemines parishes by using sediment mined from the Mississippi River. Officially known as The Mississippi River Sediment Delivery System at Bayou Dupont, Governor Jindal said this is the first project in state history that is specifically designed to mine sediments from the Mississippi River and transport them via pipeline to build marsh. Governor Jindal emphasized the importance of using dredged material to restore Louisiana's coasts.
http://www.bayoubuzz.com/News/Louisiana/Government/Gov_Jindal_Announces_28.3_Million_For_Wetland_Restoration_Project___8669.asp
Ecuador: Saving the Galapagos Means Rebuilding Nature
Can you really put nature back together again? If anyone can, it's someone with the brash charm and frenetic energy of Felipe Cruz. A native Galápagan as addicted to his Blackberry as he is to the pull of the caves and nests he explored in his barefoot boyhood on Floreana Island, he already has revolutionized rat and goat eradication, a first step in rebuilding an ecosystem.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0419/p07s02-wogn.html
Washington: Smith Island Restoration Project
Snohomish County will host an open house from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, April 30, to discuss its proposal to restore about 400 acres of tidal marshlands on Smith Island in the Snohomish River estuary northeast of Everett. Estuarine tidal marshlands are critical habitat for threatened Chinook salmon and bull trout in the Snohomish River basin, and this project will assist the county in meeting its federal requirements for protecting these species.
http://www.snohomishtimes.com/snohomishNEWS.cfm?inc=story&newsID=479 |
Wildlife Restoration
New Zealand: Karori Sanctuary Voted Top Restoration Sites
They are among eight New Zealand sites selected by a cross-Tasman panel of eminent ecologists in a competition run by the international Global Restoration Network. The contest was part of the preparation for a major ecological restoration conference being held in Perth in August. Mana Island was selected for the complexity and diversity of restoration activities, dating back to 1986, and the high level of community involvement. The restoration plan for the island was written by Department of Conservation analyst Dr Colin Miskelly. He said the panel was particularly impressed with the pioneering efforts made to restore seabirds to the island, which included volunteers hand-feeding sardine or krill smoothies to 704 fluffy chicks over a 10-year period.
http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/mana-island-and-zealandia-karori-sanctuary-voted-top-restoration-sites/5/11982
Hawaii: $14M Effort Announced to Save Rare Bird
A major effort to save the critically endangered Hawaiian crow, one of the rarest forest birds in the world, was announced Friday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The new plan, updated for the first time since 1982, aims to restore and protect populations of the alala (AH-lah-lah) and prevent extinction. It includes expanding captive propagation, establishing new populations in managed habitat, protecting suitable habitat, managing threats to the species, increasing public support and continuing research and adaptive management practices.
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_12166701?nclick_check=1 |
| Invasive Species
Delivering Alien Invasive Species Inventories for Europe
Biological invasions by non-native or 'alien' species are one of the greatest threats to the ecological and economic well-being of the planet. Alien species can act as vectors for new diseases, alter ecosystem processes, change biodiversity, disrupt cultural landscapes, reduce the value of land and water for human activities and cause other socio-economic consequences for man. To help those tackling the invasive species challenge, this website provides a 'one-stop-shop' for information on biological invasions in Europe..
http://www.europe-aliens.org/ |
| Funding Opportunities
West Virginia: Wetlands-Grasslands Program Offered - Closes May 1, 2009
West Virginia landowners interested in restoring, protecting or creating wetlands and grasslands on their properties can sign up for federal funding. The U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Farm Service Agency are accepting applications for funding this year. The deadline is May 1.
http://www.dailymail.com/ap/ApTopStories/200904030217
Indiana American Water to Fund Innovative Environmental Projects - Closes June 1, 2009
Indiana American Water announced today that the application process is now open for its 2009 Environmental Grant Program to support innovative, community-based environmental projects that improve, restore or protect watersheds and community drinking water supplies. The company will award grants of up to $10,000. The program is designed to support diverse types of activities, such as watershed cleanups, reforestation efforts, biodiversity projects, streamside buffer restoration projects, wellhead protection initiatives and hazardous waste collection efforts.
http://www.insideindianabusiness.com/newsitem.asp?ID=35173
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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