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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
Oregon: Team of Students Available to Help Restoration Projects
The Restoration Wednesday work crew primarily conducts restoration projects to benefit native plants and wildlife. Students gain experience through hands-on work and benefit from partnering with natural resource professionals. They receive a modest stipend.
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20090720/NEWS/907200326/1001
Brazil: Planeterra Announces Rainforest Initiative
Brazil Community Reforestation Program, one of Planeterra's over 30 global community outreach projects, is providing people with the skills to grow their own food and reforest the communities of Parana and Sao Paolo. This program, resulting in 450,000 trees planted by the end of 2009, will also provide the communities of Marilia and Londrina with access to training workshops and seedlings, thus enabling them to increase food production, create natural barriers on their lands and provide shade and fodder for livestock and other animals.
http://www.travelvideo.tv/news/brazil/07-17-2009/planeterra-announces-rainforest-initiative-that-engages-and-trains-indigenous-peoples-while-reforesting-brazil%C2%92s-landscape
UK: Training Held near Bewdley to Protect Wildlife
Two free orchard restoration training days are being held at a farm near Bewdley to help protect some of the area's wildlife. The events, set up by the Grow with Wyre Landscape Partnership Scheme, take place at Uncllys Farm later this month.
http://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/news/local/4494700.Training_held_near_Bewdley_to_protect_wildlife/
Conferences & Workshops
Canada: Welland River Wetland Site for Native Species Workshop - August 11, 2009
The E.C. Brown Wetland, less than two years old, was designed with the public education aspect in mind. The workshop is a good opportunity for people to see native plants in a natural environment, allowing a better hands-on experience to deciding what works best in what conditions. The workshop is Tuesday, Aug. 11 from 9 a.m. until noon at a cost of $30. E.C. Brown Wetland can be accessed by the Niagara Central Airport parking lot.
http://www.wellandtribune.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1664343
RIACRE: Latin American Network for Ecological Restoration - November 9-13, 2009
La Red Iberoamericana y del Caribe de Restauración Ecológica (RIACRE) en conjunto con la Sociedad Brasilera de Recuperación de Áreas Degradadas (SOBRADE y la Fundación de Investigaciones Forestales de Paraná (FUPEF), con apoyo de la Universidad Federal de Paraná (UFPR) y la Empresa Brasilera de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (EMBRAPA), programaron para el período del 9 al 13 de Noviembre de 2009, en Curitiba, Estado de Paraná, Brasil, el Congreso Iberoamericano y del Caribe sobre Restauración Ecológica.
http://www.sobrade.com.br/riacre/
For a complete listing of conferences related to ecological restoration, please visit:
http://www.globalrestorationnetwork.org/conferences/ |
| New Books & Articles
Global Conservation Priorities Based on Human Need
Gary Luck and colleagues' paper Protecting ecosystem services and biodiversity in the world's watersheds, recently posted online in Conservation Letters, is a novel approach to an admittedly problematic aspect of conservation biology: global prioritisation schemes.
http://www.scitizen.com/screens/blogPage/viewBlog/sw_viewBlog.php?idTheme=22&idContribution=2875
Wolf Reintroduction Proposed in Scottish Highland Test Case
Researchers are proposing in a new report that a major experiment be conducted to reintroduce wolves to a test site in the Scottish Highlands, to help control the populations and behavior of red deer that in the past 250 years have changed the whole nature of large ecosystems. The proposal is modeled after research done in the United States, at Yellowstone National Park and elsewhere, which has demonstrated that the absence of large predators such as wolves and cougars has allowed deer, elk and other animals to badly overgraze lands and ravish entire terrestrial ecosystems.
http://www.sciencecodex.com/wolf_reintroduction_proposed_in_scottish_highland_test_case
Wetlands Don't Get Enough Respect
The National Wildlife Federation and other partners released a report on July 7 highlighting the challenges of wetland protection in the Great Lakes region, with a focus on four Great Lakes states, including Michigan. The report, "Protecting and Restoring the Kidneys of the Great Lakes: An Assessment of Wetlands Programs in Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin" (summary and full report) found that none of the four states did a good job across all areas of wetland protection.
http://www.freep.com/article/20090720/BLOG2506/90720048/1068/opinion
Montana: Grassland Recovery from Exotic Plant Invasion will be Long, Complicated
Invasive Plant Science and Management recently published the results of a 14-year study of Montana grasslands invaded by leafy spurge, an herbaceous perennial native to Eurasia, and these results indicate that grassland restoration in terms of reducing plant invasion and increasing native diversity will take many years and involve gaining an understanding of a number of variables.
http://www.allenpress.com/pdf/ipsm-02-02-151-157.pdf |
| Agro-Ecology
Brazil: Agrarian Reform to Pay for Reforestation
Farmers who received land in an Amazonian distribution will receive about 50 dollars a month to reforest their plots, announced the government's national settlement and agrarian reform agency, INCRA. The program aims to make up for the deforestation of the past two decades and comply with the law that requires preservation of forests for 80 percent of properties in Brazil's Amazon region.
http://www.tierramerica.info/nota.php?lang=eng&idnews=eco&nro=431
Oregon: Grant Helps Restore Bumblebee Habitat Around Farms
A conservation group dedicated to insects is working on turning around dangerous declines in bumblebees and other native pollinators with a federal grant to restore habitat around farmland. The Xerces Society, based in Portland, announced Wednesday it has received $458,000 from the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
http://www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D99F1A880.html |
| Biodiversity & Climate Change
Canada: Should Humans Dictate Nature in the Name of Conservation?
On naked patches of land in Western Canada and the United States, scientists are planting trees that don't belong there. It's a bold experiment to move trees threatened by global warming into places where they may thrive amid a changing climate. Take the Western larch with its thick grooved bark and green needles. It grows in the valleys and lower mountain slopes in British Columbia's Southern Interior. Canadian foresters are testing how its seeds will fare when planted farther north - just below the Arctic Circle.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/science/should-humans-dictate-nature-in-the-name-of-conservation/article1224103/
Kenya: Institutes in Major Move to Save the Mangrove
A local institute in collaboration with a UK research organisation are on a mission to save the mangrove forest, which is among the most threatened ecosystem in Kenya. Communities living along the coast will soon be able to assess the carbon value of mangroves for economic benefits as a measure against destruction of the forest for wood fuel and building materials.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200907201585.html
Eco-Enforcers
Agroup of prominent environmental activists, lawyers and policymakers are reviving plans to create a transnational lawmaking body to regulate and adapt to environmental issues. Under the leadership of British proponent and lawyer Stephen Hockman, the International Court for the Environment (ICE) would be the supreme legal authority on environmental issues. The body's two primary goals involve enforcing international agreements on greenhouse gas emission reductions, and fining countries and companies that degrade the environment or fail to comply with standards.
http://www.emagazine.com/view/?4714 |
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Canada: Help High Elevation Pines Grow
Thread-like fungi that grow in soils at high elevations may play an important role in restoring whitebark and limber pine forests in Canada. Montana State University professor Cathy Cripps is looking for ways to use fungi to help pine seedlings get a strong start. Cripps' is working with resource managers and visitor relations staff from Waterton Lakes National Park (WLNP). She is part of a project that aims to restore fire to the national park, reduce the impact of noxious weeds and restore disturbed sites to native vegetation, including whitebark and limber pine.
http://www.montana.edu/cpa/news/nwview.php?article=7270
Illinois: Thousands of Trees to be Planted at Messenger Marsh
In all, 7,443 trees and 2,841 shrubs will be planted at the property, Hogdon said, adding that a wide range of native species will be planted, with the dominant species being oak and hickory trees. The plantings at Messenger Marsh are part of the largest restoration effort ever by the forest preserve. The $9.94 million project began in the spring of 2007, and will restore forest preserve property in Joliet and New Lenox, as well as Homer Glen.
http://www.homerhorizon.com/Articles-c-2009-07-15-197592.112113_Thousands_of_trees_to_be_planted_at_Messenger_Marsh.html |
River & Watershed Restoration
Oregon: Kulongoski Signs Bill to Restore Klamath River Basin
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| Grassland Restoration
Nebraska: Fires Preserve Loess Canyons as Grazing Land
Restoration efforts began almost a decade ago, said Lara Fondow, loess canyon coordinating wildlife biologist. Fondow talked to an audience at the North Platte Public Library June 25. "A group of landowners and conservation specialists from the Natural Resources Conservation Service in Frontier County recognized the need to put fire back in their landscape," she said. They also realized that nobody could do it on their own, so they formed the Loess Canyons Rangeland Alliance, a 'prescribed burn' association."
http://www.northplattebulletin.com/index.asp?show=news&action=readStory&storyID=16953&pageID=29
North Carolina: Nature Conservancy Transfers Piedmont Prairie to Plant Conservation Program
The Nature Conservancy recently transferred 60 acres of Union County prairie to the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' Plant Conservation Program. The property is home to Schweinitz's Sunflower, which the federal government listed as an endangered species in 1991. The Nature Conservancy acquired the Barrens soon after that declaration.
http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/northcarolina/press/press4122.html
New Jersey: Landowners get the Green Light from Audubon Society
The New Jersey Audubon Society officially ended this year's grassland management program here Friday, allowing landowners involved in the program to cut their grass and hay as bird breeding season is over. For the past four years, NJAS has been focused on several different restoration projects throughout Salem County. As part of the grassland management work, the society was doing a delayed mowing program in the area of Mannington Meadows.
http://www.nj.com/salem/index.ssf/2009/07/landowners_get_the_green_light.html |
| Desertification & Arid Land Restoration
Are the deserts getting green?
It has been assumed that global warming would cause an expansion of the world's deserts, but now some scientists are predicting a contrary scenario in which water and life slowly reclaim these arid places. They think vast, dry regions like the Sahara might soon begin shrinking.
http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40226 |
| Lake Restoration
Indonesia: Ministers Join Hands to Look after Lakes
Indonesia has about 840 lakes containing 72 percent of the total surface water in Indonesia.
Rachmat said most lakes were in poor condition as a result of massive forest conversions into agricultural and housing areas in neighboring areas. "None of our lakes have potable water like many lakes in European countries," he said. During the conference, the ministers are expected to issue a joint agreement on sustainable lake management, which will deal with climate change issues and bring back the lakes' function as reservoirs of water during the dry season.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/07/22/ministers-join-hands-look-after-lakes.html
California: Creating a New Wetland - Coldstream Canyon Pond
For Christman, of the Truckee River Watershed Council, and Walck, of California State Parks, the goal was to create rare wetland habitat around the pond, known for being productive and biologically diverse. And as if to illustrate the point, thousands of tiny frogs erupted from the cracked mud bank and swarming down to the water's edge, where a garter snake waited for an easy meal. "It's a lot more biologically productive and great for water quality - filtering sediment and pollutants," said Christman, program manager for the watershed council.
http://www.sierrasun.com/article/20090717/NEWS/907169973/1066&ParentProfile=1051 |
| Coastal & Marine Restoration
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Wildlife Restoration
Arizona: $74,000 Grant to Protect Little Colorado River habitat
The Arizona Game and Fish Department has received a $74,145 Water Quality Improvement Grant from a sister agency to improve streamside wildlife and fish habitat along the Little Colorado River (LCR) in Apache County. The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) awarded the grant to repair more than 1,000 feet of eroding stream banks to help protect important riparian habitat and two species listed on the Endangered Species Act - the Southwestern willow flycatcher, a small passerine bird, and the Little Colorado spinedace, a threatened native fish.
http://www.wmicentral.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=2264&dept_id=558765&newsid=20346273&PAG=461&rfi=9 |
| Extractive Industries
US Department of the Interior Seeks to Protect Grand Canyon Watershed
On July 20, 2009, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced his decision to segregate approximately 1 million acres of federal lands near the Grand Canyon for an evaluation to determine if the future of the land is in mining or land conservation. In what he called a "two- year time out," Salazar seeks to halt all new uranium mining claims on the vast tract of land in question to study the effects of mining and similar activities in the area. The halt, however, will not prevent "ongoing or future mining exploration or extraction operations on valid pre-existing claims," all of which might proceed when the time- out takes place, according to a Department of the Interior news release published earlier today.
http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/40238 |
| Invasive Species
Canada: Fort Rodd Home to Near-extinct Plants
Protecting these plants is part of a larger strategy to remove invasive species from the 54-hectare site and replace them with native species. A 2002 inventory of all plants on site revealed 44 per cent were invasive. Scotch broom, daphne, English holly and more were crowding out the native grasses, plants and trees. Since then co-op students and volunteers have taken to the forested areas, focusing first on broom and now on grasses and daphne. Garry oak ecosystems are one of Canada's rarest ecosystems. Many plants within that system are specifically adapted to that environment and may never have been overly abundant, Reader said.
http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_south/goldstreamgazette/news/50681537.html |
| Urban Restoration
Wyoming: Bringing Killdeer Back to Life
Those old days are about to return, thanks to the work of a city group formed nearly two decades ago to promote the development of a greenbelt along the banks of the Green River as it winds its way through the downtown area. The city's Greenbelt Task Force has been working since 1991 on the Killdeer Wetlands Intake and Restoration Project. The project aims to restore the approximately 45-acre wetland area to its historic state, officials involved in the effort said during a tour of the wetlands Friday morning.
http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2009/07/20/news/wyoming/09f9a6ce8fe359a5872575f800210ae8.txt |
| Funding Opportunities
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
California Coastal Restoration Fund - Closes August 24, 2009.
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, together with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is requesting proposals for projects located within the Northern or Central Districts of California that benefit fish and wildlife species and the habitats upon which they depend. Types of project activities may include, but are not limited to, on-the-ground habitat conservation, improvement of public access areas, and projects that encourage collaboration and support local communities.
http://www.epa.gov/watershed/news.html
Shell Marina Habitat Program - Closes September 1, 2009
The Shell Marine Habitat Program is a partnership between the Shell Oil Company and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). The purpose of this partnership is to provide grants for projects that benefit marine and coastal habitats in and around the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the North Aleutian Basin, North Slope Borough, and Northwest Arctic Borough areas of Alaska.
http://www.epa.gov/watershed/news.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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