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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
A Simple Question: The Story of STRAW
The Bay Institute today announced the world premiere of A Simple Question: The Story of STRAW at the San Francisco Public Library. Produced by Kevin White and David Donnenfield of Filmmakers Collaborative SF, A Simple Question is an inspiring documentary about students and teachers restoring a watershed, and a program that has galvanized the local community and led to significant educational innovation.
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS168874+20-Oct-2009+PRN20091020
Louisiana: Help Clean Up a Restored Habitat
Help restore, protect and preserve one of Louisiana's only forested ridge restoration projects by volunteering with for a clean-up next month. The Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program volunteer team will help remove hurricane debris from the reconstructed forest ridge beginning at 9 a.m. on Nov. 6 and 7 on Flotation Canal Road in Port Fourchon.
http://www.houmatoday.com/article/20091016/HURBLOG/910169880?Title=Help-clean-up-a-restored-habitat
Iowa: Volunteers Dig in to Restore Milan Bottoms
Today, a soybean field. Tomorrow, a prairie and a wetland. Those are two projects planned by a volunteer conservation group called Natural Area Guardians,or NAGs, for the management and restoration of a 94-acre nature preserve off Andalusia Road in Rock Island County.
http://www.qctimes.com/news/local/article_30d97a86-bd20-11de-bd4c-001cc4c002e0.html
Taiwan: Volunteer Holidays to Clean Environment becomes a Hot Trend
Working holidays have long had a following in Taiwan, but environmentally oriented working vacations have become the new fad in recent years, with growing numbers of people choosing to spend their days off with their sleeves rolled up working the land. Just recently, Capital Engineering Corp. (CEC) turned a company outing into an eco-working holiday for the first time, with the company's vice general manager, Shih Chi-yuan, leading 12 employees to volunteer at Yangmingshan National Park in suburban Taipei.
http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1085251&lang=eng_news&cate_img=logo_taiwan&cate_rss=TAIWAN_eng
World Resources Institute Expert Database
Government and business decision makers are increasingly in need of ecosystem services expertise. Our regularly updated, global online directory serves as a critical resource for policymakers, professionals, and others looking for specific information or guidance on a particular ecosystem trend or environmental management practice.
http://projects.wri.org/ecosystems/experts
California: Over 100 Contribute to Forest Replanting
National Public Lands Day, this year held on September 26, started in 1994 and yet, this year, over 150,000 volunteers participated in the opportunity to contribute to public lands at over 2,000 locations, including national parks. Locally, the San Bernardino National Forest's forest restoration day, three Saturdays ago, included over 100 volunteers from throughout San Bernardino County.
http://kbhr933.com/current-news/100-contribute-forest-replanting-national-public-lands-day-volunteers-needed-saturdays-restoration-project/
Americorps Applicants Hit the Trail
The goal of the program is to provide young adults an introduction to public service on conservation-related projects while earning stipends and scholarships that can be later applied to tuition and books. "Through their service, participants will learn the necessary skills and develop the attitudinal qualities and confidence to position them for meaningful job opportunities," according to SBNFA program director Sandy Bonilla. Projects will include tree planting, trail building, native plant nursery maintenance and restoration of fire-burned lands.
http://www.rimoftheworld.net/4272
2010 National Wetlands Awards Program
Nomination forms are now available at www.nationalwetlandsawards.org. For more than 20 years, the National Wetlands Awards program has honored individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary dedication, innovation, and excellence in wetlands conservation. Recipients provide critical examples of how individual citizens across the country can, and do, make a difference in wetlands protection and restoration efforts. The deadline for submitting nominations for the 2010 Awards Program is December 15, 2009.
Conferences & Workshops
SER Northwest Chapter Abstracts Due November 15
We are pleased to announce that the SERNW Regional Conference has been rescheduled to February 16 -19, 2010 and moved to the Tulalip Conference Center (just a few miles north of the Lynnwood location). Most importantly, The Washington Chapter of The Wildlife Society will be joining us as partners. We are committed to providing an enriching conference experience for restoration practitioners in the Pacific Northwest.
http://www.ser.org/sernw/default.asp
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
Texas Society for Ecological Restoration (TXSER) 2009 Annual Conference on November 6-8
Hosted by the San Antonio Natural Areas division of Parks & Recreation, City of San Antonio, this year's conference is organized around the theme "Water - Agua es Vida". Participants will learn of the surrounding area's restoration of hydrological ecosystems through Field Trips to Selah (Bamberger Ranch), Canyon Lake Gorge & Honey Creek State Natural Area, the San Antonio River & San Antonio Missions, and the San Marcos River and springs.
http://www.sanaturalareas.org/ser/
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/
For a complete listing of conferences related to ecological restoration, please visit:
http://www.globalrestorationnetwork.org/conferences/ |
| New Books & Articles
A Reality Check From the Brink of Extinction
We can join Bill McKibben on Oct. 24 in nationwide protests over rising carbon emissions. We can cut our consumption of fossil fuels. We can use less water. We can banish plastic bags. We can install compact fluorescent light bulbs. We can compost in our backyard. But unless we dismantle the corporate state, all those actions will be just as ineffective as the Ghost Dance shirts donned by native American warriors to protect themselves from the bullets of white soldiers at Wounded Knee.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20091019_a_reality_check_from_the_brink_of_extinction/
Carbon Offsets as Ecological Restorations
Under current standards, the market price is likely governing the quality of restorations, not the reverse. A variety of reforms are needed to ensure that biosequestration projects deliver real, additional, and permanent removals of carbon dioxide. In particular, developing and adopting social and environmental impact assessment tools, changing accounting practices to allow for natural disturbances, universal adoption of strong additionality testing, and supporting critical research through tonnage fees could substantially improve what is accomplished through carbon offsets. Given the magnitude and importance of what carbon markets are attempting to achieve, insights from restoration ecologists are urgently needed to help shape their future.
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/122600864/HTMLSTART
Carbon-offsetting and Conservation Can Both be Winners in Rainforest
Logged rainforests can support as much plant, animal and insect life as virgin forest within 15 years if properly managed, research at the University of Leeds has found. Because trees in tropical climates soak up large amounts of carbon dioxide, restoring logged forest through planting new trees could also be used in carbon trading, according to Dr David Edwards, from University's Faculty of Biological Sciences.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-10/uol-cac101909.php |
| Restoring Natural Capital (RNC)
What are coral reef services worth?
Experts concluding the global DIVERSITAS biodiversity conference today in Cape Town described preliminary research revealing jaw-dropping dollar values of the "ecosystem services" of biomes like forests and coral reefs - including food, pollution treatment and climate regulation. Undertaken to help societies make better-informed choices, the economic research shows a single hectare of coral reef, for example, provides annual services to humans valued at US $130,000 on average, rising to as much as $1.2 million.
http://www.sciencecodex.com/what_are_coral_reef_services_worth_130000_to_12_million_ht_yr_experts |
Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)
Government of Canada Provides $76,000 for Aboriginal Projects
"The Government of Canada recognizes the important role Aboriginal people and communities have to play in conserving and restoring our natural environment. Efforts put forth by Aboriginal organizations demonstrate that the government's partnership approach for dealing with species at risk is lending itself to the successful protection of Canada's ecosystems," said Mr. Vellacott.
http://www.sys-con.com/node/1146595# |
| Agro-Ecology
Colombia: An Isolated Village Finds the Energy to Keep Going
In the 1960s, an aristocratic Colombian development specialist named Paolo Lugari took a road trip across these nearly uninhabited eastern plains, a region so remote and poor in soil quality that not even Colombia's historic upheavals of violence had taken root here at the time.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/16/world/americas/16gaviotas.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all
Gates Foundation to Announce Grants to Promote Agriculture at World Food Prize Symposium
During a "keynote speech" Thursday at the World Food Prize Symposium in Des Moines, Iowa, Bill Gates, cofounder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is expected to announce $120 million in grants "to promote dynamic, home-grown, sustainable agriculture in Africa and India," Agence France-Presse reports. In a statement, Gates said that "helping the poorest smallholder farmers grow more and get it to market is the world's single most powerful lever for reducing hunger and poverty"
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20091019/Gates-Foundation-to-announce-grants-to-promote-agriculture-at-world-food-prize-symposium.aspx# |
| Biodiversity & Climate Change
Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change by Protecting Nature
Biodiversity conservation has the potential to contribute significantly to mitigating climate change, and to help human societies adapt to its impacts. Habitat conservation and appropriate management, including habitat restoration, can play a crucial role in sequestering carbon and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
http://naturecanadablog.blogspot.com/2009/10/mitigating-and-adapting-to-climate.html
Restore America's Estuaries Convenes Blue Ribbon Panel to Secure Coastal Wetlands Role in Fighting Greenhouse Gases
Restore America's Estuaries (RAE) announced today that it has convened a blue ribbon panel of nationally recognized experts to explore the role coastal wetlands play in sequestering greenhouse gases (GHG). The panel's ultimate goal is to develop a national greenhouse gas offset protocol for wetland restoration projects. Marine and tidal wetland soils remove vast amounts of carbon dioxide, one of the most significant greenhouse gases, from the atmosphere.
http://www.carbonoffsetsdaily.com/press-release/restore-americas-estuaries-convenes-blue-ribbon-panel-to-secure-coastal-wetlands-role-in-fighting-greenhouse-gases-25451.htm
New York: Thirty Groups Join Together to Harvest the Seeds of Change
The Long Island Native Grassland Initiative (LINGI), an organization of more than 30 non-profit organizations, governmental agencies, and nursery professionals, including The Nature Conservancy, harvested the "seeds of change" today in Riverhead. The group, which has been restoring Long Island's declining native grasslands for the wildlife species that depend on them, gathered seeds from mature plants which will be used to propagate next year's crop.
http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/newyork/press/press4233.html
Healthy Oceans New Key to Combating Climate Change
A 'Blue Carbon' fund able to invest in the maintenance and rehabilitation of key marine ecosystems should be considered by governments keen to combat climate change. A new Rapid Response Report released today estimates that carbon emissions-equal to half the annual emissions of the global transport sector-are being captured and stored by marine ecosystems such as mangroves, salt marshes and seagrasses. A combination of reducing deforestation on land, allied to restoring the coverage and health of these marine ecosystems could deliver up to 25% of the emissions reductions needed to avoid 'dangerous' climate change.
http://diversitasconference.wordpress.com/2009/10/14/healthy-oceans-new-key-to-combating-climate-change/ |
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Costa Rica: Neenah Paper Announces Partnership to Help Reforest Conservation Property
With Neenah's support and contributions, the reforestation project will remove carbon from the atmosphere, protect and restore viable plant and animal habitats, create a new habitat for endangered wildlife and restore land degraded by deforestation. "Partnering with Friends of the Osa and the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin is exciting because together we will have a direct impact not only on the Costa Rican rainforest, but on some of the world's threatened and endangered species," said Rodger Ferguson, director of environmental services at Neenah Paper.
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS137527+20-Oct-2009+PRN20091020
Kenya: Mau Evictions Finally Start
The restoration of the Mau Forest Complex has started with 1,690 households targeted for removal without compensation within the next two months.
http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/Kenyanews/Mau-evictions-finally-start-6195.html |
River & Watershed Restoration
Oregon: Adding Plants would Restore Willamette Basin's Health
The diagnosis isn't entirely grim. Streams on forestlands, still the main land use in the basin, are in relatively good shape. So are rivers and streams in relatively unpopulated areas, including basins for the Clackamas and McKenzie rivers and the Willamette's Coast Fork. But overall, DEQ Director Dick Pedersen said, the assessment shows the job that remains to restore the Willamette and its tributaries, a basin that includes most of Oregon's farms, cities and residents.
http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2009/10/rivers_that_define_willamette.html |
| Coastal & Marine Restoration
Restoring the Wetlands can Help Prevent Future Flooding in New Orleans
Four years have passed since Katrina ravaged New Orleans. Immediately following the hurricane, investigators determined that historic loss of coastal wetlands played a major role in the depth of flooding that took place. Plans were soon drawn up to restore the protective barrier of wetlands along the coast that had for decades been destroyed by a range of human activities primarily relating to shipping and oil and gas interests. Given the importance of restoring these wetlands and the fact that they are still disappearing at a tremendous rate, it might shock some to learn how little has been done so far.
http://www.conducivemag.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=104:katrina-4-years-later-status-of-coastal-wetland-restoration-projects1016&catid=35:the-science-of-social-change&Itemid=64#
Texas: Oyster "Farmers" Work to Restore Ike-devasted Beds
This is one of several creative projects, paid by federal and state grants, under way to restore a small portion of the 8,000 acres of oyster reefs killed when Hurricane Ike buried them in sediment a year ago. Oysters are important to the Texas economy as a food and are also efficient filters that remove contaminants from the water as they feed. A single oyster filters 50 gallons a day.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6667256.html
North Carolina: Oyster Restoration Projects Provide Jobs
A two-year project began in September in an effort to help restore the state's oyster populations. A $5 million federal economic stimulus grant to the North Carolina Coastal Federation (NCCF) is being used to fund the creation of two oyster sanctuaries - one off Stumpy Point at Crab Hole and another at Clam Shoal off of Hatteras Island. During the two-year project, 54,500 tons of limestone marl will be moved from a quarry in New Bern to a loading site in Belhaven and then barged offshore to build the oyster reefs.
http://ahabsjournal.typepad.com/ahabs_journal/2009/10/oyster-restoration-projects-provide-jobs.html
Oregon: With Restoration Complete, Estuary Ready for Public Debut
Siuslaw National Forest is offering people a chance to tour the newest estuary project on the Oregon Coast on Saturday during a celebration of the restoration of the 40-acre Tamara Quays area of the Salmon River estuary.
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20091016/LIFE/910160365/1001/NEWS/With-restoration-complete--estuary-ready-for-public-debut |
Wildlife Restoration
Hawaii: One Dozen Endangered Birds Released into Wild on Kauai
Conservation partners mark 10 years releasing endangered Hawaiian birds into Kauai forests. Twelve, small, dark endangered birds were released into the forest of Kaua'i on Tuesday, a milestone in the conservation of native Hawaiian birds. Through collaboration of private and government organizations, the puaiohi, or small Kaua'i thrush, has been captive-bred and released annually into the forests of Kaua'i for the last 10 years.
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20091016/GETPUBLISHED/91016052 |
| Extractive Industries
West Virginia: Focusing on the Fills
For the first time, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will revoke a permit it had issued for a West Virginia surface mine. In reexamining the permit, the EPA found that the mine could violate the Clean Water Act, giving the agency "serious concerns," according to acting EPA Regional Administrator William Early. The permit, issued in 2007, pertains to Mingo Logan Coal's Spruce No. 1 mine, and gave permission for the company operating the mine-Arch Coal-to fill in surrounding valleys with mine waste-a destructive practice that environmentalists have long condemned. It was slated to be the "largest authorized mountaintop removal operation in Appalachia" according to an Associated Press report, an area where streams are already widely affected by mining operations and where 12 more mining projects have been proposed.
http://www.emagazine.com/view/?4882 |
| Invasive Species
Huge Snakes Pose 'High Risk' to U.S. Ecosystems
We clearly live on a planet where the human tendency to be a Waring blender for biology has created such a mashup of invasive and exotic plants and animals, not to mention microbes, that the core mission of an entire discipline, " restoration ecology," is in danger of vanishing. Where do humans hold the line on the flow of species, and where do they give in and fall back on sustaining the functioning of valued ecosystems instead of the mix of species within such systems? Certainly initiatives like those in Florida intended to bring some order to the pet trade make sense. But there will be no easy answers from here on, it seems.
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/giant-snakes-pose-high-risk-to-us-ecosystems/?hp |
| Urban Restoration
Citibank Partners with MillionTreesNYC
As part of "Our Promise to New York," Citibank today kicked off a partnership with MillionTreesNYC, the nation`s largest urban tree planting, stewardship and public awareness program, to turn five Manhattan schoolyards green before the end of the year. Through a $100,000 sponsorship, Citibank will adopt five Manhattan schoolyards, in which to plant trees, shrubs and flowers. Citibank`s support will also provide three months of environmental education at each school through RespectTree, an innovative and interactive schoolyard greening program which includes lessons and activities focused on the importance of urban green spaces, the health benefits associated with planting new trees, and the significance of students and their families being stewards of the environment.
http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS38543+15-Oct-2009+BW20091015 |
| Funding Opportunities
$5,000 Grants for Indigenous Peoples' Videos on Climate Change until October 31, 2009
First Peoples Worldwide is awarding three $5,000 grants for videos documenting Indigenous communities using traditional knowledge to adapt to, or mitigate the impacts of climate change on their lands and waterways. Indigenous Peoples must submit their entry in video format in order to be considered for this grant. Successful videos will show the impacts of climate change through the eyes of the community and present the ways Indigenous Peoples are adapting to these changes or working to lessen their impacts. Upload the video to YouTube and send the link to Jessica Friswell (jfriswell@firstpeoplesworldwide.org and jessica_friswell@yahoo.com)
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/
American River/NOAA Community-Based Restoration - Closes December 18, 2009
American Rivers seeks proposals for river restoration project grants as part of its partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Community-based Restoration Program. Program funding is provided through NOAA's Open Rivers Initiative, which seeks to enable environmental and economic renewal in local communities through the removal of stream barriers. This Partnership funds stream barrier removal projects that help restore riverine ecosystems, enhance public safety and community resilience, and have clear and identifiable benefits to diadromous fish populations. Projects in the Northeast (ME, NH, VT, MA, CT, RI), Mid-Atlantic (NY, NJ, PA, DE, VA, MD, DC), Northwest (WA, OR, ID), and California are eligible to apply. Projects located within the St. Lawrence/Great Lakes Basin are not eligible for funding at this time.
http://www.americanrivers.org/NOAAGrants | |
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