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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
Discount on Wiley-Blackwell Products: Code is SDP18
http://www.wiley.com
Discount on Island Press/SER Book Series: Code is 2SER
http://www.islandpress.org/ser/index.html
Get Involved/Community-based Restoration
Canada: McGuinty Government Marks First Anniversary Of Endangered Species Act
Western Golden Horseshoe landowners and organizations have come together to help protect rare and endangered species. Twenty volunteer stewardship projects in the Halton, Brant, Hamilton, Haldimand-Norfolk and Niagara region are being supported with almost $700,000 from the province's Species at Risk Fund. These projects are unique because organizations and landowners work together to protect habitat and raise local awareness for species at risk.
http://www.news.ontario.ca/mnr/en/2009/06/voluntary-projects-protect-species-at-risk.html
Houghton Lake Wetland Restoration to Begin Fall 2009
How often do you get the chance to help restore and protect a rare wetland and lake in Indiana? Houghton Lake, one of Indiana's last remaining undeveloped lakes and fringing wetlands will forever remain a wild, natural place for the future. But it need our will help in getting there. The Nature Conservancy is currently looking for volunteers to help collect seed to be used to restore the site.
http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/indiana/press/press4088.html
Conferences & Workshops
6th Meeting of the European Dry Grassland Working Group
Monday, 31st of August to Wednesday, 2nd of September 2009
The meeting will take place at the Institute for Geobotany and Botanical Garden in Halle (Saale), located near the city centre. The main topic of the meeting is dry grasslands - species interactions and distribution. We invite all interested persons from European countries to present talks or posters related to this topic.
http://www.botanik.uni-halle.de/mitarbeiterinnen_mitarbeiter/ute_jandt/trockenrasentagung/
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
Earth Restoration Service Launches Eco Short Film
Environmental charity The Earth Restoration Service has produced a short animated viral film that encourages viewers to make a contribution to restoring the environment. The film, which features a voice-over by actress Joanna Lumley, is available to view on YouTube. It will be broadcast between musical acts including Blur, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young and The Killers at a series of Live Nation concerts in Hyde Park.
http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/916103/Earth-Restoration-Service-launches-eco-short-film/
Saving One of the Last Tropical Dry Forests, an Interview with Edwina von Gal
A newly established organization, the Azuero Earth Project, is working not only to preserve some of the world's last tropical dry forest on the Azuero peninsula in Panama, but also to begin restoration projects hoping to aid both the forest's viability and the local people. The Azuero peninsula lies 250 kilometers west of Panama City.
http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0629-hance_vonGal.html |
| New Books & Articles
Most Complete Earth Map Published
The most complete terrain map of the Earth's surface has been published. The data, comprising 1.3 million images, come from a collaboration between the US space agency Nasa and the Japanese trade ministry.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8126197.stm
Good Rivers For Fish Indicated By New Modelling
The research uses statistical models to predict the distributions of 15 native diadromous fish species across New Zealand's river and stream network, and demonstrate their potential use for guiding the restoration of freshwater ecosystems. NIWA ecosystems modelling principal scientist John Leathwick says that, for rarer species, the predictions could be used to identify stream segments that have high environmental similarity to known occupied segments, and such information could be used to guide targeted searching in an attempt to identify new populations.
http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/good-rivers-fish-indicated-new-modelling/5/17238
Climate Change Survival Guide Funded
The book will incorporate information from the program's upcoming research projects and other projects that showcase effective ways to accommodate climate change in habitat restoration efforts. The Coastal Bend and Bays Estuary program in Corpus Christi, Texas, will be a partner. Specifically, the book will offer a tool kit of options for ensuring the success of publicly financed habitat restoration projects - even with rising sea levels, said Nanette O'Hara, public outreach coordinator for the local program.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/jun/27/na-climate-change-survival-guide-funded/news-breaking/
Imbalance of Ecosystems and Its Effect on Public and Livestock Health
The health of humans, like all living organisms, is dependent on an ecosystem that sustains life. Healthy ecosystems are the sine qua non for healthy organisms. Yet there is abundant evidence that many life-support systems are far from healthy, placing an increased burden on human health. In some areas of the world, gains in life expectancy and quality of life made during the twentieth century are at risk of being reversed in the twenty-first century. The consequences of ecosystem degradation to human health are numerous, and include health risks from unsafe drinking water, polluted air, climate change, emerging new diseases, and the resurgence of old diseases owing to ecological imbalances. Reversing this damage is possible in some cases, but not in others. Prevention of ecological damage is by far the most efficient strategy.
http://www.akiranews.com/2009/06/25/imbalance-of-ecosystems-and-its-effect-on-public-and-livestock-health/
Mangrove-Dependent Animals Globally Threatened
More than 40 percent of a sample of amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds that are restricted to mangrove ecosystems are globally threatened with extinction, according to an assessment published in the July/August issue of BioScience. The study, by David A. Luther of the University of Maryland and Russell Greenberg of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, was based on an extensive literature search and expert consultations. The conclusions emphasize the vulnerability of animals that are dependent on a habitat rapidly being lost or degraded through coastal development, overexploitation, pollution, and changes in sea level and salinity.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-07/aiob-mag062609.php
Vital Marine Habitat Under Threat
While the world has focused on the destruction mankind has brought to coral reefs, the massive loss of an equally important ecosystem has been widely ignored. Now the first comprehensive assessment of the state of seagrass meadows around the world has revealed the damage that human activities have wrought on these economically and biologically essential areas.
http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090629/full/news.2009.608.html |
| Restoring Natural Capital (RNC)
South Africa: Investing in Ecosystems
Economists have long assisted with valuing the world's natural assets and ecosystems. To create functional markets to exchange this value is the next step. "After all those cosy years of working together, show me the money": From economic valuation to real-world investment in the fynbos biome.
http://sustoptions.blogspot.com/2009/06/investing-in-ecosystems.html
Oregon: A Stimulus for Ponds, People
Barriers to fish and people in the Delta Ponds area will come down thanks to $4.5 million in federal stimulus fund projects. A bevy of politicians met Monday on the East Bank Trail along the ponds to highlight the benefits of these "shovel ready" projects. The plans, which have been in the works for years, showcase the habitat restoration and recreation efforts that garner national recognition for Eugene, Mayor Kitty Piercy said.
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/polls/16311575-56/story.csp |
Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)
Oregon: Culture and Natural Resources Unite on Umatilla Reservation
Resource management on the lands of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation took a unique turn a couple years ago when the board of trustees approved a plan built around consideration for their first foods. The concept was introduced by Eric Quaempts, director of the Department of Natural Resources. Quaempts is an enrolled Yakama member but was raised and resides on the Umatilla Reservation.
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/national/northwest/48620297.html
Traditional Knowledge to Guide Delta Plan
For the first time in Canada, Aboriginal traditional knowledge will be a precursor to western science in the creation of an environmental monitoring report. The Peace Athabasca Delta Environmental Monitoring Program (PADEMP) will use traditional knowledge (TK) to determine the scientific questions related to the ecological health of the Peace Athabasca Delta, questions that western science will then be tasked with answering.
http://www.srj.ca/print_this_story.asp?smenu=88&sdetail=3809
Australia: Environment Policy
Until as recently as five years ago, the environment movement in Australia reflected a particularly narrow definition of 'the environment'. Two key trends emerged. In the more radical groups, 'wilderness' agendas dominated, with their concomitant 'ecocentric' arguments about the rights of 'other nature'. Other groups--the resource conservationists--treated the environment as some form of instrumental resource, to be cajoled and juggled into something more malleable, more easily used by humans. Both traditional approaches perceive the 'environment' as 'somewhere out there', not usually including people.
http://ivythesis.typepad.com/term_paper_topics/2009/06/environmental-policy.html |
| Agro-Ecology
China Suspends Reforestation Project over Food Shortage Fears
Food shortage fears have prompted the Chinese government to suspend the reforestation of marginal arable land, a senior government official said today. The sacrifice of a key environmental restoration project for crop production highlights the growing problem of feeding the world's biggest population as cities expand into farmland and urban residents consume more meat and vegetables.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jun/23/china-food-shortage
Destroying Levees in a State Usually Clamoring for Them
The parcel that the Ouchley brothers plan to restore, known as Mollicy Farms, was added in the 1990s to the federal Fish and Wildlife Service's Upper Ouachita (pronounced WASH-it-tah) holdings in a series of purchases assisted by the Nature Conservancy and totaling $6.6 million. The brothers and their organizations have since worked on several environmental projects there, including a 10,000-acre tree-planting operation, Kelby Ouchley said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/20/science/earth/20levee.html?em |
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Indonesia, U.S. in Debt Payment Deal on Forests
The United States and Indonesia have signed an agreement to cut Indonesia's debt payments by around $30 million in exchange for saving forests on Sumatra island, the U.S. embassy in Jakarta said on Tuesday. Indonesia has rich bio-diversity and is home to endangered species such as orangutans and Sumatran tigers, but it also has one of the highest deforestation rates in the world, mainly due to land clearance for farming and plantations.
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSJAK451375
Louisiana: Project Underway to Restore Hardwood Forests and Hydrology
The Lower Mississippi Watershed Project, which was coordinated by Newt Briggs of West Monroe, is "designed to help restore some of the vast bottomland hardwood forests and hydrology that have disappeared during the last 300 years along the lower Mississippi River Delta. [It's] probably 25 million acres in the Mississippi Alluvial area." This project came about because Briggs noticed the numerous USDA programs available as long as land was farmed. However, those that did not farm the land were left in the cold when it came to a type of assistance.
http://www.bastropenterprise.com/news/x931204855/Project-underway-to-restore-hardwood-forests-and-hydrology |
River & Watershed Restoration
Korea: Restoration Project will Worsen Water Quality in Nakdong River
The National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER), a think-tank affiliated with the Ministry of Environment, anticipates that the quality of Nakdong River's water will deteriorate as a result of the Four Major Rivers Restoration Project. Some analysts are saying the report's findings could stir public attention in that it reveals that the core claim the administration is using to justify this project could be fabricated.
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/363332.html
Idaho: Paradise Creek Project Moves Forward
The University of Idaho and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District, have signed a project partnership agreement to move forward with a long-awaited Paradise Creek Ecosystem Restoration project. According to a news release, design work will begin on the project, which includes new channel construction and development of access pathways for a portion of the creek that runs through the University of Idaho campus. Restoration would improve in-stream habitat, rebuild a continuous habitat corridor and improve wildlife habitat along the identified sections of Paradise Creek.
http://www.klewtv.com/news/local/49045961.html
Audio: Maine - 17 Miles Of Maine's Kennebec River Restored
It's been 10 years since the federal government ordered the Edwards Dam on Maine's Kennebec River to be torn down. Regulators had decided that the public would be better served by a free-flowing river than the tiny amount of electricity produced by the dam's hydro plant. Removing the dam has changed the environment - for the better.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106131942&ft=1&f=1025 |
| Grassland Restoration
Indiana: Conner Prairie Expands Green Initiatives
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| Desertification & Arid Land Restoration
Deserts Crossing Mediterranean
The Sahara Desert is crossing the Mediterranean, according to Italian group Legambiente which warns that the livelihoods of 6.5 million people living along its shores could be at risk. Desertification isn't limited to Africa," said Legambiente Vice President Sebastiano Venneri.
http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/40136 |
| Lake Restoration
Canada: The Cost of Lake Restoration
The Lake Windermere Project is a long-term comprehensive stewardship program dedicated to safeguarding the health of our lake. The Lake Windermere Project is made possible by generous support from Wildsight, Environment Canada, Columbia Basin Trust, the Real Estate Foundation of B.C., and those community members who have donated through the Lake Windermere Stewards and Ambassadors program.
http://columbiavalleynews.com/news/2009/06/27/the-cost-of-lake-restoration/
Oregon: Feds Decline to Delist Klamath Sucker Fish, Again
The service concluded that restoration projects have improved habitat in Upper Klamath Lake, especially at the mouth of the Williamson River, where The Nature Conservancy has brought together farmers, tribes and conservation groups to restore marshes essential for young suckers to survive. Most of the lake's marshes were drained for farmland. However, both species are still having trouble increasing their populations, the service concluded.
http://www.theolympian.com/northwest/story/893382.html |
| Coastal & Marine Restoration
US: $167 Million in Recovery Act Funding for 50 Coastal Restoration Projects
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke announced today 50 habitat restoration projects that will restore damaged wetlands, shellfish beds, coral reefs and reopen fish passages that boost the health and resiliency of our nation's coastal and Great Lakes communities. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was provided $167 million for marine and coastal habitat restoration.
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2009/20090630_restoration.html
California: Richmond's Breuner Marsh to Get $3 Million for Tidal Restoration
Richmond's sprawling Breuner Marsh will get $3 million for restoration under a tentative deal stemming in part from wastewater improperly polluting a nearby cove some 20 years ago. The money will restore tidal wetlands on a portion of the 218-acre marsh, along the North Richmond shoreline near the Parchester Village neighborhood.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_12697081?nclick_check=1
Delaware: Marsh Comes Back to Life
Over the last several months, a team of county, state, federal and industry officials worked to recreate a 24-acre marsh northwest of Bethany Beach, filling the ditches and deepening the natural string of guts and channels that made the original marsh a diverse and vibrant ecosystem. "As we understand the value of habitat ... this is a new approach to some of these projects," O'Mara said.
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090627/NEWS08/906270341
Florida: Restoration Project Saves St. Joseph Peninsula, For Now
This spring, a nearly $22-million beach restoration project was completed along this 7.5-mile stretch of coastline north of the most dramatic erosion area. Here, the sand has been washing away at an average of about 3.5 feet a year. More than 3.6 million cubic yards of sand were taken from offshore and used to create about 225 feet of brand-new beach, which extends about 2 miles into St. Joseph Peninsula State Park.
http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20090628/BREAKINGNEWS/90627006/Restoration+project+saves+St.+Joseph+Peninsula++for+now
Louisiana: Group Seeks to Revitalize N.O. Swamp
On Tuesday, a group of volunteers and neighborhood residents took a step in trying to restore the wetland with the help from a Baton Rouge company - Floating Island Environmental Solutions.
The company assembles floating structures made from recycled plastic water bottles. These structures were initially designed to help improve water quality in bodies of water. However, the company has expanded to try to use them for coastal restoration.
http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/48963341.html |
Wildlife Restoration
Wyoming Wildlife Trust Awards Funding For Projects
The Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust program has decided to distribute nearly $2.5 million among 37 projects in 15 Wyoming counties. The program's board decided on the funding allocations Tuesday in Riverton. The projects include stream restoration, wetland creation, eradication of invasive species, aspen habitat restoration, irrigation enhancements and sagebrush enhancements aimed at sage grouse and mule deer.
http://cbs4denver.com/wireapnewswy/Wyoming.Wildlife.and.2.1060498.html
Rare Bird Visitor to Indiana
More than 250 species of birds have been sighted at the Goose Pond Fish and Wildlife Area in the past decade, and efforts are underway to continue the restoration and protection of this important wetland habitat. Birders who understand the importance of conservation can help with conservation initiatives to ensure that these sightings of rare and beautiful birds continue, not only in Indiana but throughout the world.
http://birding.about.com/b/2009/06/27/rare-bird-visitor-to-indiana.htm |
| Invasive Species
Invading Ladybirds Breed Up Ecological Storm for UK Species
Millions of very hungry ladybirds are poised to create ecological havoc for hundreds of Britain's native species, scientists warn today. Experts said the anticipated warm summer would provide the perfect conditions for the Asian harlequin ladybird to breed and prepare for a springtime assault. "They are creating a huge genetic stock ready for next year," said Helen Roy, a scientist with the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jun/30/harlequin-ladybird-uk-invasion |
| Urban Restoration
Kansas: Newton will Dedicate Sand Creek Restoration Project
More than 460 trees and 970 shrubs were planted throughout the project, with native grasses along the creek. The project also restored pathways in several areas and built new paths along the east side of the creek from Fifth Street to 12th Street. "The contractor was committed to excellence," Suzanne Loomis, city engineer/director of public works, said in a news release. "That made a significant difference in the final outcome of the project, and the city of Newton is thankful for these great improvements. What a superb asset this project is for our community."
http://www.thekansan.com/news/x737346781/Newton-will-dedicate-Sand-Creek-restoration-project-on-Monday | |
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