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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
California: Wetlands Restoration Project Adds Visitor Service
As the San Dieguito Wetlands Restoration Project enters its final stages, project team members Southern California Edison (SCE) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) have agreed to fund a new ranger service to be managed by the San Dieguito River Park Joint Powers Authority. Uniformed rangers are being added to patrol the almost 500 acre site, providing education for the public, maintaining the new trail system and directing people to approved areas in order to protect sensitive habitats.
http://www.stockhouse.com/News/USReleasesDetail.aspx?n=7380911
California: Ward Creek Watershed Project Ideas
The U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) is seeking comments on a proposed action for the Ward Creek Watershed Ecosystem Restoration. Ward Creek is located on Tahoe's West Shore north of the Homewood area. The purpose of the project is to correct effects from old land uses that are causing erosion and impacting water quality, and to promote a higher level of ecosystem function.
http://laketahoenews.blogspot.com/2009/07/ward-creek-watershed-project-ideas.html
Conferences & Workshops
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
Obama Nominates Jon Jarvis to Head National Park Service
Jonathan Jarvis, President Barack Obama's choice for director of the National Park Service, an agency of the Interior Department, is winning support from environmental groups just a few days after the President nominated him for the post on Friday.
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jul2009/2009-07-13-091.asp
Livermore Park Ranger has Passion for Outdoors
On Thursday, the ranger wore one of her many hats - that of a seed collector for an upcoming grassland restoration project at Sycamore Grove Park. "A lot of the park was once dry-farmed, with vineyards. All that's left in a lot of areas are fields with non-native, invasive plants," she said. The plan is to collect seeds of the California aster, the mule's ear (a type of sunflower) and other native plants being squeezed out by non-native species. Once enough seeds have been collected, they will be planted in hopes of making areas of the park more like native grasslands.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/environment/ci_12817238?nclick_check=1 |
| New Books & Articles
New Look at Growth
This book could not have been better timed, coming as it does in the midst of the worst economic crisis the world has faced for decades. Debal Deb, a researcher at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Kolkata, has written an incisive analysis of what is fundamentally wrong with the global economic system. He also presents a framework for an alternative path of human welfare that does not imperil the very earth that sustains us, and is available to all people. He combines various disciplines and perspectives in an impressive synthesis.
http://www.frontline.in/stories/20090731261507300.htm
The Making of a New Biophilia
More than a half-century has passed since Julian Huxley proposed that humanity take a conscious-and, he added, unavoidable-role in guiding evolution on Earth.Now, with advances in biotechnology that increase human ability to manipulate life processes, with increasing energy consumption that alters global climate and virtually all ecosystems, with the planet encircled by satellites that monitor the movements of migrating wildlife and the health of ecosystems, with public lands managers undertaking large-scale restoration projects that are actually the creation of new ecosystems-we know what he was talking about. We move ever more deeply into de facto evolutionary governance.
http://www.metanexus.net/magazine/tabid/68/id/10867/Default.aspx
New Models for Ecosystems Dynamics and Restoration
Recently I've been working on a review of the latest contribution to The Science and Practice of Ecological Restoration book series, entitled New Models for Ecosystems Dynamics and Restoration (edited by Hobbs and Suding). Here's an outline of what I've been reading and thinking about - the formal review will appear in print in Landscape Ecology sometime in the future.
http://www.landscapemodelling.net/blog/2009/07/new-models-for-ecosystems-dynamics-and.html
On Fire
As I mentioned last week, I've recently returned from Australia. While I was there, I visited a eucalyptus forest that, in February, was the scene of an appalling wildfire. Perhaps naively, I had expected to find that many trees had been killed. They hadn't. They had blackened bark, but were otherwise looking rather well, many of them wreathed in new young leaves. This prompted me to consider fire and the role it plays as a force of nature.
http://judson.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/on-fire/?em
Climate Change May Spell Demise of Key Salt Marsh Constituent
Global warming may exact a toll on salt marshes in New England, but new research shows that one key constituent of marshes may be especially endangered. Pannes are waterlogged, low-oxygen zones of salt marshes. Despite the stresses associated with global warming, pannes are "plant diversity hotspots," according to Keryn Gedan, a graduate student and salt marsh expert at Brown University. At least a dozen species of plants known as forbs inhabit these natural depressions, Gedan said. The species include the purple flower-tipped plants Limonium nashii (sea lavender), the edible plant Salicornia europaea (pickleweed) and Triglochin maritima, a popular food for Brent and Canada geese as well as ducks and other migratory waterfowl.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-07/bu-ccm071009.php
New Study Ranks 'Hotspots' of Human Impact on Coastal Areas
Coastal marine ecosystems are at risk worldwide as a result of human activities, according to scientists at UC Santa Barbara who have recently published a study in the Journal of Conservation Letters. The authors have performed the first integrated analysis of all coastal areas of the world. "Resource management and conservation in coastal waters must address a litany of impacts from human activities, from the land, such as urban runoff and other types of pollution, and from the sea," said Benjamin S. Halpern, first author, who is based at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) at UCSB.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-07/uoc--nsr070909.php |
| Restoring Natural Capital (RNC)
Ecosystems Respond Well to Restoration
During the 20th century, the world's population nearly quadrupled, from 1.6 billion people in 1900 to 6 billion by century's end. In that same period, the world's gross domestic product ballooned from $1.98 trillion to over $28 trillion (both in 1990 dollars), according to author John R. McNeill. Throughout this period of unprecedented economic expansion and population growth, humanity also transformed the earth. "This is the first time in human history that we have altered ecosystems with such intensity, on such scale, and with such speed," writes Mr. McNeill in his book "Something New Under the Sun."
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2009/07/13/ecosystems-respond-well-to-restoration/ |
Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)
Canada: Goose Spit - Gateway to the Estuary
In an inspiring presentation at last October's Heart of the Watershed Symposium on the Courtney River Estuary, Nancy Green presented archeological evidence that demonstrated native foraging with fish traps in the estuary 1200 plus years ago ... "Remarkably, the traps appear to have been constructed and operated in a manner that ensured harvests for centuries without the depletion of important fish resources, a testament to the Traditional Ecological Knowledge and ingenuity of the indigenous fishers."
http://www.canada.com/Goose+Spit+Gateway+estuary/1768510/story.html |
| Biodiversity & Climate Change
A Better Kind of Offset
An international consortium called the Business and Biodiversity Offsets Program has been working on the answer. For the past four years, BBOP, managed jointly by Forest Trends, Conservation International, and the Wildlife Conservation Society, has been quietly building a partnership of major companies, leading scientists, conservation experts, governments, and financial institutions to determine what to consider when designing and implementing biodiversity offsets. Using the carbon-credit market-worth $126 billion in 2008-as a model, BBOP is creating a portfolio of projects in a range of industries to show that biodiversity offsets can achieve better and more cost-effective conservation results.
http://www.good.is/post/a-better-kind-of-offset/
Ghana: Project to 'Grow Carbon Sinks'
Ambitious plans to grow 24 million trees to soak up carbon dioxide and restore the rainforest have got underway in Ghana. The first million seedlings are being planted in a pilot scheme in an area that has been heavily logged in recent years.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8139351.stm
Brazil's Rare Native Plants Face Mass Extinction
Thousands of rare plants found only in Brazil are at risk of being lost forever, a new scientific book concludes. The book, "Rare Plants of Brazil," was compiled by more than 175 scientists from 55 research institutions. It shows that the number of rare and endemic species in the country is more than four times the government's estimate. The result of a study run by Feira de Santana State University with the nonprofit organization Conservation International, the book identifies and maps 2,291 rare plant species in Brazil.
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jul2009/2009-07-13-01.asp
Alaska: Out the Road, a New Research Forest
Tongass National Forest managers recently declared 40 square miles at the end of the Juneau road the newest "experimental forest" of the U.S. Forest Service and given it a central research focus of climate change. Nationwide, it is only the fourth such forest to be approved in the last 40 years.
http://juneauempire.com/stories/071009/loc_461807421.shtml |
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India: Centre Launches New Scheme for Forest Regeneration
The Union Environment and Forest Ministry has launched a new scheme for Accelerated Programme of Restoration and Regeneration of Forest Cover. Announcing this here on Thursday, Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh said the scheme was announced in the Budget proposals for 2009-10 with an allocation of Rs.500 crore. A meeting of the State Forests Ministers has also been convened on August 18 to discuss the scheme and its implementation.
http://www.hindu.com/2009/07/10/stories/2009071056441800.htm
Montana: After Megafire, State Agency Takes Aggressive Approach to Restoration
Two years later, Johnson and other members of Montana's Department of Natural Resources are in the final stages of salvage, restoration and recovery for state lands here, and small saplings and grasses have grown amid the burnt remains. As another fire season heats up, and fires across the region grow in frequency and size, the work is an example of one approach in the often-contentious debate over how to deal with a wildfire's aftermath.
http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/after_megafire_state_agency_takes_aggressive_approach_to_restoration/11719/
Indonesia: More Achievement in The Efforts to Save Sumatra's Ecosystem
The "Road Map" is expected to become a guidance to conduct ecosystem-based spatial planning to save the heavily damaged Sumatra Island. Previously, all Sumatran governors on 18 September 2008 had agreed on three important agenda in Sumatran Ecosystem rescue effort. They were (1) development of ecosystem-based spatial planning, (2) critical area restoration, and (3) protection for high environmental value area (in regards to biodiversity and climate change).
http://stopglobalworming.blogspot.com/2009/07/more-achievement-in-efforts-to-save.html |
| Wetland Restoration
Texas: NOAA and Partners Restore More Than 2,000 Acres of Wetlands
More than 2,500 acres of coastal wetlands have been restored and enhanced in Port Arthur, Texas, as a result of a cooperative agreement between NOAA and its federal and state natural resource trustee partners. NOAA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and the Texas General Land Office worked with the Chevron Corporation to restore habitats that were injured by releases from refinery operations that took place decades ago.
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2009/20090713_wetlands.html
Chiquita and Rewe Buy Panama Wetlands
Land will be donated to local organisations in bid to preserve biodiversity in the Caribbean coastal province of Bocas Del Toro Fresh produce company Chiquita and Germany-based food retail group Rewe have purchased around 130ha of land in a protected area of Panama's Bocas Del Toro province as part of a partnership announced in early February aimed at protecting bio-diversity in San San Pond Sak, an area close to the multinational's banana plantations. The purchased land is due to be donated Panamanian environmental authority ANAM, which, alongside local residents' association Aamvecona and a number of NGOs, will work to restore and preserve the area's natural wetland habitat, protecting endangered manatees and sea turtles.
http://www.fruitnet.com/content.aspx?cid=3927&rid=1#ShareForm
Iowa: Work Begins on Wetlands Restoration
With pruning tools and gloved hands, they sliced down autumn olive trees and pulled up wild clover, helping to clear invasive plants from a native prairie remnant. The remnant is on an 83-acre, city of Davenport-owned parcel along the creek, and the group's work on Thursday was part of a bigger habitat restoration project that will see the creation of a seven-acre wetlands on the site.
http://www.qctimes.com/news/local/article_0be01b7a-6ce6-11de-944c-001cc4c002e0.html |
River & Watershed Restoration
Illinois: Effort to Build Islands, Deepen River Begins
Work is getting under way on a long-awaited project to save the choking Illinois River. To the north of the McClugage Bridge, the outline of an island which will be composed of river mud is taking shape. To the south, dredging equipment already is set in place. "We need to dig our way in from the channel," said Rick Tockes, executive vice president of Midwest Foundation Corp. "We need to start where there's enough water to work our way in." Tremont-based Midwest Foundation will be the contractor for the $2.7 million first phase, which began this week. It is scheduled for completion by year's end. In all, 200 acres of muck and silt may be dredged from Lower Peoria Lake to create three islands. The goal is to deepen the river, which has been silting in for decades, and create a better environment for wildlife.
http://www.pjstar.com/news/x662536687/Effort-to-build-islands-deepen-river-begins
New Mexico: Long-term Plan for Southern Rio Grande
Management of the Rio Grande took a positive step on June 4 when the U.S.-International Boundary and Water Commission (USIBWC) agreed to enhance fish and wildlife habitat along a 105-mile reach of the Rio Grande from Percha Dam north of Las Cruces to West El Paso. Up to 30 sites totaling more than 500 acres have been identified for restoration of open forests, dense riparian shrub, meadows, grasslands and improved aquatic habitat. These aquatic and riparian habitats are rare in our arid ecoregion and significant wildlife concentrates along these ribbons of life.
http://www.scsun-news.com/ci_12818224 |
| Lake Restoration
Iowa: Area Lake is New Restoration Model
Along Highway 86 just across the Iowa border, scientists have joined forces to implement a large scale and aggressive management plan aimed at returning natural lakes to their former glory. Diamond Lake currently represents one of four showcase examples of how shallow lakes are responding to the radical new management. Following a full, water level draw down two summers ago, Diamond Lake is being allowed to slowly refill. On July 6, plant experts, fish researchers, and wildlife biologists toured the area for an assessment of the lake's biological progress. They were not disappointed.
http://www.jacksoncountypilot.com/Stories/Story.cfm?SID=22251
California: Tulare Lake Restoration - Fiction or Fact?
The restoration of Tulare Lake can continue to take us down the right path towards economic and environmental sustainability. Just like the San Joaquin River below Friant Dam, precious remnants of this phantom lake remain. And, just like those of us involved in environmental and economic justice for our underserved communities as it relates to jobs, air quality, clean drinking water - or those involved in improving the natural environment for education, recreation, plants and animals - this modest restoration proposal can contribute greatly to those same positive outcomes of creating livable and sustainable communities within the San Joaquin Valley.
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/07/11/18607139.php |
| Coastal & Marine Restoration
Unstoppable Devastation of Guatemalan Mangroves
According to a study by the Savia School of Ecological Thought, in the past 50 years this country of 108,889 square kilometers lost two-thirds of its original forested area and the biodiversity that it held. The current rate of deforestation is 73,000 hectares per year. The disappearance of forests has reduced the natural ability to regulate climate and increased the risk of landslides. Furthermore, entire ecosystems have been lost, with their flora and fauna, as well as the capacity to capture, filter and store water resources, warns the study.
http://www.tierramerica.info/nota.php?lang=eng&idnews=3135
LSU Gets $300,000 for 'Coastal Studio'
The America's Wetland Foundation announced a $300,000 donation to LSU and the Forever LSU campaign today to establish the LSU Coastal Sustainability Studio, a university-based professional training studio to restore, protect and sustain America's wetland.
http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/business/50780197.html
California: Rangers Patrol San Dieguito Lagoon
A nature reserve in Del Mar has become so popular they've added park rangers. The San Dieguito wetland restoration project has added two rangers to patrol the 500 acre lagoon. Because more people are visiting the lagoon, the rangers are needed to make sure they stay on the trails and not wander on sensitive habitat areas. The rangers are also handing out trail maps and information about the plants and wildlife.
http://www.kpbs.org/news/2009/jul/13/rangers-patrol-san-dieguito-lagoon/
Florida: Grant Provides $750,000 for Restoration of Cockroach Bay
Tampa's Ecosphere Restoration Institute beat out more than 800 applicants to win one of 50 grants funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. The money is part of the national stimulus package.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/wetlands/article1016759.ece
Washington: Nisqually Restoration - Back to nature
The back-up beeps of heavy equipment are drowning out the calls of songbirds at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge this month. After 12 years of planning and preparation, excavators, dump trucks and bulldozers are resculpting the Nisqually River's vast delta, turning back to nature what was destroyed by industrial agriculture a century ago. The flurry of activity is partly because of good weather. This summer's near-record streak of dry days has enabled the earth movers to proceed at maximum efficiency.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/southsound/story/808151.html |
Wildlife Restoration
Tennessee: Rare Fish Nurtured for Restoration
Biologists released 1,000 rare sicklefin redhorse fish into the Oconaluftee River on Tuesday as part of a study aimed at increasing the fish's population. The fish needs silt-free water to survive. It often mates in groups - one or two females to several males - and can travel miles upstream to spawn like salmon. The Cherokee Preservation Foundation is spending $60,000 on the project.
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090715/NEWS01/907150317 |
| Extractive Industries
Ghana: Newmont Mining Corporation Depleting Forest Reserves?
The plight of the people According to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement of the Newmont Akyem project, the proposed open pit would be exactly 900 metres wide, 2,560 metres long and 480 metres deep. Approximately, the mining project would generate 130 million tonnes of waste rock, which would have to be disposed off, and this has implications for the livelihood of the people in the area. Looking at the description of the project, a lot of people will lose their properties, especially farmers.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200907080992.html |
| Invasive Species
Treating Ballast Water Could Fight Invasive Species
Ships that transport goods around the world are carrying some dangerous stowaways.
Tiny organisms travel from port to port in a ship's ballast water. And some of them have become invasive species, wreaking havoc in waters around the world. So scientists are testing ways to kill these potential invaders before they can escape.
http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40217
California: Fast-growing Kelp Invades San Francisco Bay
A fast-growing kelp from the Far East has spread along the California coast from Los Angeles to San Francisco Bay, worrying marine scientists and outpacing eradication efforts. In May, scientists for the first time found the invasive seaweed called Undaria pinnatifida clinging to docks at a yacht harbor in San Francisco Bay, fouling boat hulls and pier pilings.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090711/ap_on_sc/us_killer_seaweed
Canada: Naturalists Hard at Work Clearing Invasive Species
Once again this summer the Comox Valley Naturalists are busy removing invasive plants in and around the Courtenay River estuary as part of the ongoing Wetland Restoration Project. For over 15 years the Naturalists have done battle with invasive plants such as Scotch broom, purple loosestrife, Himalayan blackberry and yellow flag iris. These plants have been introduced to our ecosystem and have the ability to quickly dominate a site. This comes at the expense of our native plant species and the birds and animals that depend upon them.
http://www.canada.com/Naturalists+hard+work+clearing+invasive+species/1768511/story.html |
| Urban Restoration
Steven Handel on Urban Restoration Ecology
For our Freshkills Park Talk two weeks back, Dr. Steven Handel shared insights into the emerging field of urban restoration ecology, which focuses on the challenge of bringing ecological diversity back to degraded lands like brownfields and landfills. He discussed his research at the Freshkills Park site and others in the region and went on to describe how his expertise has informed the design of Orange County, CA's Great Park.
http://freshkillspark.wordpress.com/2009/07/13/steven-handel-on-urban-restoration-ecology/
Kansas: Sand Creek - Before and After
The changes to Sand Creek have happened during an 18-month period after being discussed for more than 10 years, but when looking back to the before and after pictures, the difference is rather significant. Newtonian Kem Nicodemus, who lives in a house bordering the creek, said the difference is "night and day." Some aspects of the restoration project will continue to evolve, such as the native grass plantings along the creek corridor, which were selected by project designers and U.S. Corps of Engineer environmental specialists.
http://www.thekansan.com/news/x931228463/Sand-Creek-before-and-after |
| Recreation & Tourism
Australia: Lure of the Land
Last year, a record 480,000 visitors came to Booderee, on the southern edge of Jervis Bay, for its half-dozen outstanding beaches, three protected campgrounds, numerous picnic spots, walking trails and stunning seascapes and landscapes on one of the most unspoiled strips of the coast. There is more to discover, however. Last year, the park won the NSW Indigenous Tourism Award and in February was a finalist in the National Indigenous Tourism Awards. With a little time, visitors can see, hear and experience how the local indigenous community, with an unbroken link to the area, has lived with the land and sea for thousands of years.
http://www.watoday.com.au/travel/lure-of-the-land-20090710-dfxb.html |
| Funding Opportunities
Pennsylvania: Watershed and Flood Protection Grants - Closes July 17, 2009
Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger today announced that DEP is now accepting grant applications for watershed protection and restoration and flood protection projects under the Growing Greener Plus program, which allows applicants to seek funding for a variety of projects through a single application process.
http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-19-2009/0005029275&EDATE=
New Mexico: State Seeks River Restoration Proposals - Closes August 10, 2009
Potential projects that could be initiated because of the latest round of funding include: physical habitat restoration within a stream; enhancement of environmental flow; improvement of riparian vegetative cover for the purpose of river restoration; reduction of pollutants to rivers; promoting the hydrologic interaction between the river channel and floodplain and restoring dynamic channel processes such as accretion on new banks, bar building, channel widening, and channel sinuosity. The removal of non-native phreatophytes - including salt cedar and Russian olive trees - will be funded as part of a more comprehensive river restoration project. Entities that can manage the technical and financial aspects of the proposed projects are eligible to receive the funding.
http://www.dchieftain.com/news/90077-07-04-09.html
2010 St. Andrews Prize for the Environment - Closes October 31, 2009
Applications are invited from individuals, multi-disciplinary teams or community groups for the 2010 annual prize, consisting of an award of $75,000 USD for the winner and $25,000 USD for each of the two runners-up. Aimed at helping ordinary people find solutions to environmental problems, the Prize was launched 11 years ago and is recognized as a prestigious international initiative by the University of St Andrews, Scotland and ConocoPhillips, one of the world's leading energy companies, attracting entries from around the world. The focus is on environmental initiatives, but of course the most innovative and important usually come with gains to people in their locality.
http://www.thestandrewsprize.com/ | |
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