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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
Top 10 Green Social Networks
The Green web is growing. Rapidly. And it's a good thing. Online communities, blogs and social sites aimed at connecting well meaning people with great causes (and each other) have mushroomed. Nowadays, all it takes to rally around issues like climate change, clean energy, or health care reform is an Internet connection.
http://bub.blicio.us/top-10-green-social-networks/
Army Corps Works with Local Students on World Water Monitoring Day
More than 130 students from Washington Middle School learned about ecosystem restoration, flood risk management, watershed drainage and how to compare water-quality samples and data with the help of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employees. "Our main emphasis today is water quality sampling, ecosystem restoration and flood risk reduction," said Mike Wong, from the Corps civil works department. "We all need to do our part to keep it clean."
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090917/GETPUBLISHED/90917026
Iowa: Tallgrass Prairie Restoration Work Set for Sept. 26
Restoration of the tallgrass prairie at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site will get a boost as West Branch-area residents join the largest annual coast-to-coast, single-day volunteer effort to improve America's public lands. As part of the 16th annual National Public Lands Day on Saturday, Sept. 26, local volunteers will roll up their sleeves and devote their day to removing shrubs or collecting native plant seeds from the 81-acre tallgrass prairie at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site. Sponsored for the 11th consecutive year by Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. these national cleanups give Americans a yearly opportunity to make public lands in their communities cleaner, prettier, and safer.
http://www.westbranchtimes.com/article.php?id=4857
Conferences & Workshops
Society for Ecological Restoration, BC (SER-BC) Chapter Conference:
Shared Responsibility for a Sustainable Landscape, Nov. 5-7 2009, Naramata, British Columbia
Registration is now open for the SER-BC's annual restoration conference. Major themes of this conference include: Enhancing biological diversity and protecting species at risk through ecological restoration; public involvement in restoration; restoration of aquatic and wetland habitats; managing the threats of invasive exotic species; and First Nations eco-cultural restoration initiatives.
http://www.ser.org/serbc/events.asp
Illinois: A Prairie Restoration Telenet will be held on October 5 beginning at 1:30 p.m. at the Ford-Iroquois Extension office in Onarga. Come learn about the diversity of prairies and restoration methods and practices.
http://www.wgfaradio.com/2009/09/18/agribusiness-news/ford-iroquois-extension-update-on-agriculture-monday-mornings-at-815-on-wgfa/
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/ |
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People in the News
New Zealand: Wetlands Society Wins Top Award
Work to enhance the largest tidal fresh water body in the Southern Hemisphere was recognised in Balclutha last night. The Lake Waihola Waipori Wetlands Society won the Supreme Award at the TrustPower Clutha Community Awards.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/2887969/Wetlands-society-wins-top-award
Meeting India's Tree Planting Guru
An Indian civil servant, SM Raju, has come up with a novel way of providing employment to millions of poor in the eastern state of Bihar. His campaign to encourage people to plant trees effectively addresses two burning issues of the world: global warming and shrinking job opportunities. Evidence of Mr Raju's success could clearly be seen on 30 August, when he organised 300,000 villagers from over 7,500 villages in northern Bihar to engage in a mass tree planting ceremony.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8257563.stm
Chico Landscape Firm, Consultant Win Third National Irrigation-design Award
Chalk up another big award for a Chico firm. Land Image Landscape Architects & Planners, a full-service landscape and irrigation consulting firm, is being recognized this year with an Excellence in Irrigation Honor Award from the American Society of Irrigation Consultants.
Specifically, the award is for the firm's design and installation of the Verbena Fields Restoration Project, the nature preserve created on 25 city-owned acres bordering Lindo Channel in the Longfellow neighborhood. As a release notes, the project "creates and restores a mosaic of habitats including flood plan, riparian, wetlands, grasslands and oak woodlands."
http://www.newsreview.com/chico/content?oid=1234804
Helsinki Commissions Ambitious Plan Receives Baltic Sea Award
The Helsinki Commission, Helcom, receives the Swedish Baltic Sea Water Award 2009. The award will be presented by His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden in connection with the Ministerial conference on the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region in Stockholm, 17-18 September. Helcom receives the award for it's Baltic Sea Action Plan.
http://thegovmonitor.com/world_news/europe/helsinki-commissions-ambitious-plan-receives-baltic-sea-award-5718.html
Sequoia and Kings Canyon Chief Naturalist Bill Tweed
Three Rivers resident Bill Tweed worked 28 years in Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks, including 10 years as the parks' chief naturalist. His forthcoming book, "Uncertain Path: The Future of National Parks"- due out next summer from University of California Press - looks at the challenges the now 93-year-old park system faces in this century and beyond. Tweed sat down last week for an interview with the Times-Delta to discuss national parks, often referred to as the United States' "best idea," and the focus of a 12-hour film by Ken Burns to begin airing Sept. 27 on PBS.
http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/article/20090919/OPINION09/90918026 |
| Restoring Natural Capital (RNC)
Climate Change Proposal Would Revolutionize Value of Forests
Now there may be a remedy, and the reason is climate change. Increased awareness of the threat from global warming has prompted unprecedented international focus on how to combat it, as well as new appreciation for the vital role of tropical forests in the climate change equation. On Tuesday, world leaders gather at the United Nations for a special climate change summit, intended to build momentum for a new global climate change treaty being negotiated by almost 200 countries. The new treaty is scheduled to be completed in December in Copenhagen, Denmark.
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/09/22/climate.forests/
Video: Monoculture Tree Plantings
21 september decaration to stop monoculture tree plantations expanding...made by ecodoc for geasphere and timberwatch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1UpHW6tBLU |
| Agro-Ecology
State of Washington Environmental Market Pilot Projects due December 2009
A conservation market is a farm or forest-based market for selling credits for wetland or habitat restoration, floodwater dispersal, water quality values, carbon sequestration, or other environmental benefits resulting from the ongoing operation of the farm. The study is to be completed by December 2008, and the pilot projects established by December 2009. Be sure to visit the Commission website for updates on this project.
http://www.conservationrealestate.org/2009/09/18/state-of-washington-environmental-market-pilot-projects-due-december-2009/ |
| Biodiversity & Climate Change
California: State Forest Restoration Plan Fights Global Warming
From planting seedlings to acquiring entire groves, forest restoration projects in state parks and on federal lands could soon spring from California's aggressive initiatives to reduce emissions linked to global warming. At Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, for example, ConocoPhillips will invest $2.8 million to help restore more than 2,000 acres of fire-scarred hillsides as part of a broader legal settlement involving the energy giant's greenhouse gas emissions hundreds of miles away.
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/sep/21/state-forest-restoration-plan-fights-global-warmin/
Refuge Friends Urge Action to Protect Wildlife from Climate Change
"Climate change represents the greatest threat to America's wildlife heritage in our generation," said Evan Hirsche, President of the NWRA. "Congress must act to ensure dedicated funding that will promote resilient and healthy habitats for wildlife in the face of extraordinary changes to the landscape." The NWRA and refuge Friends groups joined a broad coalition of more than 600 national, regional, and local conservation, sporting and other organizations representing millions of individuals, in calling on Senators to dedicate at least 5 percent of total "Cap and Trade" allowances from a climate change bill to fund wildlife adaptation conservation efforts.
http://www.refugewatch.org/2009/09/15/refuge-friends-urge-action-to-protect-wildlife-from-climate-change/ |
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Jon Kyl: Restoring Our Forests
The 2009 fire season is coming to a close in Arizona. Thankfully, Arizona has again been spared from large fires, but we cannot become complacent. There is still a serious forest health problem that we must work to address. The good news is that there is a proven solution -- it's called "restoration."
http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_272627982.shtml
Wisconsin: Native Garden will Help Forest Grow
A new garden at the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest supervisor's office in Rhinelander may seed the future of the forest. A crew from Hanson's Garden Village in Rhinelander was building the native plant garden at the new forest service office Wednesday. The garden will be used for seed collection for future native plant restoration projects in the forest.
http://www.rhinelanderdailynews.com/articles/2009/09/17/news/doc4ab257a70717d071907910.txt
UK: Restored Forest a Haven for Wildlife
Woodlands at Whitbarrow, near Kendal, are all of a flutter thanks to a major restoration project by the Forestry Commission. Foresters have been working hard to meet the Government's target to improve the country's Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) by 2010. They have cleared large areas to introduce cattle grazing and help to create a new home for a range of wildlife, including rare butterflies.
http://www.lakelandecho.co.uk/news/Restored-forest-a-haven-for.5667459.jp
Arizona: Aspen Fading Fast
In northern Arizona, Forest Service officials are reporting some 60 percent to 95 percent mortality in the low-elevation aspen groves, around 7,000 feet, of the Kaibab and Coconino national forests. Among the researchers diagnosing the sick trees is Northern Arizona University forestry graduate student Tom Zegler. "We are concerned because it's a tree that brings people into the woods. Its aesthetic values are high; it is one of the only trees in the West that turns colors in the fall. Aspen also have an extremely high ecological value.
http://www.azdailysun.com/articles/2009/09/19/news/20090919_front_204013.txt |
| Wetland Restoration
Washington: Larsen Lake Wetland to be Restored
The Bellevue City Council hired Buckley Nursery Co. to restore degraded wetlands around Larsen Lake. A majority of the $92,560 project, which includes removal of noxious weeds, planting of native species and the addition of large woody debris to the shoreline, will be paid for with an $89,000 grant from the King County Conservation District.
http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/east_king/bel/news/60443247.html
Virginia: New Cash to Protect Habitat
For years, The Nature Conservancy has worked in partnership with other conservation organizations to preserve and restore migratory bird habitat on the Delmarva Peninsula and on its southern tip in particular. That area is especially critical during the fall when millions of migrants funnel down to the tip, where they fuel up for their next flight across water.
http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20090919/ESN01/909190304/-1/ESN |
River & Watershed Restoration
Stimulus Funds Devoted to Hawaii Watershed Restoration
A local partnership is using $2.7 million in federal stimulus money to restore the watershed, located on the northwest coast of the Big Island. Matt Hamabata, executive director of The Kohala Center, said the project restores an entire ecosystem and is one of two Hawaii habitat restoration efforts and one of just 50 selected nationwide from 814 proposals to receive stimulus funding from NOAA.
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090921/BREAKING01/90921073/Stimulus+funds+devoted+to+Hawaii+watershed+restoration
Korea's Four Rivers Project: Economic Boost or Boondoggle?
The natural landscape of South Korea has been largely re-engineered, with nearly every river damned or forced into concrete channels. Now the government is reviving plans for a mammoth water project that would dredge and develop hundreds more miles of waterways and put added stress on the country's remaining wildlife.
http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2188
Washington: Massive Effort Is Taking Back the Little Quilcene River
Later this week, when the dump trucks stop rolling, the estuary will be shaped more like it was a century ago - before man-made dikes constrained the flow of sediment into Quilcene Bay. This summer, excavators pulled 35,000 cubic yards of soil from the estuary - nearly 3,000 dump truck loads. The result was to move the shoreline back 400 feet. If the planners are correct, the result will be improved habitat for fish and shellfish along with reduced flooding around the town of Quilcene.
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2009/sep/19/massive-effort-under-way-to-take-back-the-little/ |
| Grassland Restoration
India: State Takes 54 Years to Prepare Working Plan for Banni Grasslands
The state Forest Department will submit a working plan for the restoration of Banni grasslands in Kutch district, 54 years after it was declared a 'protected' forest. Chief Conservator of Forest (CCF), Working Plan, Satish Srivastav said: "According to the Supreme Court guidelines, any forest area declared 'protected' should have a working plan. It will be ready in a few weeks, after which it would be submitted to the panel of experts from the Government of India and the Government of Gujarat."
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/state-takes-54-years-to-prepare-working-plan-for-banni-grasslands/519540/
Illinois: Butterfly Experiment a Prairie Masterpiece in the Making
After waiting for a warm, summery day, biologist Doug Taron and a handful of colleagues fanned out through a thousand acres of restored prairie this month, stroking plants with delicate paintbrushes in hopes of adding a little color next summer. Their medium was not oil paint or watercolors, but dark little caterpillars that will turn into Baltimore checkerspot butterflies.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-butterfly-restore_mullensep20,0,126945.story |
| Desertification & Arid Land Restoration
First Global Scientific Conference Supporting UN Efforts to Curb Desertification
Scientists gather in Buenos Aires to find a way forward for agriculture in vast dry areas, where the poor are most vulnerable to land degradation and climate change. As climate change negotiators continue to skirt the role of agricultural land use in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, top scientists working on land management in the world's vast dry areas will gather this week in Buenos Aires, Argentina, determined to make the case that thwarting desertification in drylands is viable and also critical to the success of a new climate deal.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-09/bc-fgs092109.php |
| Coastal & Marine Restoration
New Orleans Wetlands Now the Fastest-Disappearing Land Mass on Earth
Over the last four years, 340 square miles of wetlands around New Orleans have vanished, causing biologists to call the wetlands around the city the fastest disappearing land mass on the planet. 220 of those square miles have been lost due to hurricanes Rita and Katrina. The rest has been a victim to erosion caused by man. It's now thought that if the wetlands had been better protected before Katrina had hit, the damage wouldn't have been nearly as severe--and that those same vanishing wetlands are preventing New Orleans from rebounding from Katrina.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/09/new-orleans-wetlands-disappearing.php
California: South Bay Restoration Project Draft MND Available for Public Review
The California Coastal Conservancy, as lead agency, and the Port of San Diego, as a responsible agency, have prepared a Draft Mitigated Negative Declaration pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act for the South San Diego Bay Coastal Wetland Restoration and Enhancement Project. The proposed action involves the restoration and enhancement of approximately 260 acres of coastal wetland habitat within south San Diego Bay. The Draft Mitigated Negative Declaration and Draft Environmental Assessment/Initial Study is available for a 30-day public review period which ends on October 16, 2009.
http://www.portofsandiego.org/environment/1730-south-bay-restoration-project-draft-mnd-available-for-public-review.html |
Wildlife Restoration
India Plans Return of the Cheetah
India plans to bring back the cheetah, nearly half a century after it became extinct in the country. The BBC's Soutik Biswas considers whether it is a good idea. Will the world's fastest land animal make a comeback in India, nearly half a century after it became extinct in the country?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8262862.stm
Spain: Proposal To Reintroduce Iberian Lynx On Abandoned Agricultural Land
Spanish scientists have developed a model to identify the agricultural areas with the greatest potential for restoring the habitat of the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus), which is at risk of extinction. The study shows that olive groves with low production close to the Natural Park of the Sierra de Cardeña y Montoro, in Córdoba - which is the only place, along with Doñana, where this species lives - are the most appropriate sites for this purpose.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090917131552.htm |
| Extractive Industries
Taiwan's Environment and Land Restoration under Serious Threat
It just came to light that the Ministry of Economic Affairs is lifting the ban on the development of the limestone reserves. This plan was announced in July and would start in October. The public became aware after Kaohsiung City Government and environmental groups reiterated their oppositions to have the limestone deposit areas in Kaohsiung reopen. They voiced concerns over water conservation and environmental protection if this ban was lifted.
http://claudiajean.wordpress.com/2009/09/19/limestone-land-restoration/ |
| Invasive Species
California: Audubon Canyon Ranch Receives $50,000 Grant
Audubon Canyon Ranch has received a $50,000 grant from the Marin Community Foundation to support the Four Canyons habitat restoration project at its 1,000-acre Bolinas Lagoon Preserve.
As part of the project, the grant will be used to provide training of conservation staff, land managers and volunteers in habitat restoration and early detection techniques to control invasive species.
http://www.marinij.com/westmarin/ci_13372373 |
| Urban Restoration
Canada: Forest of New Trees are Planted in Langley City
More than 4,000 trees have been planted on Langley City lands since the municipality signed a deal with a Lower Mainland firm last year. Ecosystem Restoration Associates is a company that does climate change mitigation and ecosystem restoration as well as carbon offsets. Representatives appeared before City council last Monday.
http://www2.canada.com/langleyadvance/news/story.html?id=b16d8bcb-3d9c-42c3-aea1-0610d1559e42
Illinois: Residents Work to Save, Restore Urban Paradise
Because development plans were stymied, neighbors of a stretch of wetland and prairie that runs north of Irving Park Road and west of Oak Park Avenue will not be lamenting the paving of their paradise. Instead, a determined group of residents is restoring the 19-acre site into an urban refuge. The Dunning-Read conservation site, in the Chicago Read Mental Health Center campus, encompasses a 1.5-mile nature trail and a flourishing ecosystem of coyotes, prairie crawfish and migrating birds.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-irving-park-wetlands-city-zosep18,0,1789382.story |
| Funding Opportunities
Dolores River Watershed (Colorado) Tamarisk Control Funding Available
http://targetednews.com/disp_story.php?s_id=999436
Lake Tahoe Restoration Funding Available
http://targetednews.com/disp_story.php?s_id=998976
EPA Grants Available for Research on Soils and Plant Ecology
http://targetednews.com/disp_story.php?s_id=997814
Neotropical Migratory Bird Protection and Habitat Restoration Grants Available
http://targetednews.com/disp_story.php?s_id=997925
NOAA Partnership Grants - Closes September 30, 2009
The NOAA Restoration Center is currently soliciting applications for new three-year national and regional Partnerships to invest funding in the restoration of coastal and marine habitat nationwide, from 2010-2012. Through this solicitation, the NOAA Restoration Center seeks to openly compete funding available for multi-year national and regional habitat restoration Partnerships that will result in implementation of a wide-range of habitat restoration projects -- from locally-driven, hands-on projects that emphasize stewardship, to mid-scale, watershed-scale projects that yield significant ecological and socioeconomic benefits.
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat/restoration/projects_programs/crp/partners_funding/natregpart.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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