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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
Get Involved/Community-based Restoration
Green Seattle Sets Forest Restoration Training Series
The Green Seattle Partnership education committee has put together a series of trainings on Forest Restoration for current and future Forest Stewards. The 7 trainings will run about monthly at community centers across Seattle. Trainings will involve classroom learning as well as hands-on experiences, and will be taught by experts in the field of ecology, entomology, education, volunteer management, data collection, and plant propagation. http://www.sustainablewestseattle.org/2010/03/green-seattle-sets-forest-restoration-training-series/
Arizona: Students help restore habitats
Recent wildlife habitat restoration not only provided a home for many species that left Yuma but also earned funds for academic programs, thanks to a partnership between Arizona Western College and a company specializing in ecological restoration. http://www.yumasun.com/news/students-57269-restoration-trees.html
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People in the News
Midwesterners Receive National Endangered Species Recovery Champion Awards
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Acting Director Rowan Gould announced the 18 recipients of the 2009 Recovery Champion award. Among them are the International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin; two Ohio conservationists working with the threatened Lake Erie watersnake; and a Service biologist who encouraged Iowa landowners to create and conserve habitat for the endangered Topeka shiner.
http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/40561/ |
| New Books & Articles
Are Socioeconomic Benefits of Restoration Adequately Quantified?
Many ecosystems have been transformed, or degraded by human use, and restoration offers an opportunity to recover services and benefits, not to mention intrinsic values. We assessed whether restoration scientists and practitioners use their projects to demonstrate the benefits restoration can provide in their peer-reviewed publications. We evaluated a sample of the academic literature to determine whether links are made explicit between ecological restoration, society, and public policy related to natural capital. We analyzed 1,582 peer-reviewed papers dealing with ecological restoration published between 1 January 2000 and 30 September 2008 in 13 leading scientific journals. http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123320557/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0
Forest restoration in a mixed-ownership landscape under climate change
The extent to which current landscapes deviate from the historical range of natural variability (RNV) is a common means of defining and ranking regional conservation targets. However, climate-induced shifts in forest composition may render obsolete restoration strategies and conservation targets based on historic climate conditions and disturbance regimes. We used a spatially explicit forest ecosystem model, LANDIS-II, to simulate the interaction of climate change and forest management in northeastern Minnesota, USA. http://www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/08-1698.1
Hitesh Mehta on Ecolodge Principles and His New Book "Authentic Ecolodges"
Pioneering and world-renowned landscape architect, environmental planner and architect, Hitesh S Mehta, President of HM Design based in Florida spent the last 30 months travelling 46 countries around the world to research his new book "Authentic Ecolodges" which is to be published by Harper Collins in October 2010. Hitesh is the longest serving board member of The International Ecotourism Society and the author of International Ecolodge Guidelines Published by The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) of Burlington, Vermont. He was also a former captain of national Kenyan cricket team. http://www.gaiadiscovery.com/latest-people/hitesh-mehta-on-ecolodge-principles-and-his-new-book-authent.html?SSScrollPosition=667 |
| Restoring Natural Capital (RNC)
How Can Green Markets Access Islamic Finance?
The amount of Shari'ah-compliant assets grew by nearly 30% over the past year, but no one really knows how much of that has gone to green sustainability investments. Ecosystem Marketplace examines the role that Islamic finance could provide in supplying payments for ecosystems services. Just imagine a scenario where a Islamic Indonesian investment vehicle investing in a forest carbon project in Java on land managed by the local community through the Indonesian public forestry agency, Perhutani, could invest in afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation (ARR) activities. This could promote ecosystem restoration for profit with local control on Java where according to the latest estimates only 10,000 hectares of rainforest remain. http://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/pages/dynamic/article.page.php?page_id=7513§ion=news_articles&eod=1 |
| Agro-Ecology
Restoring Natural Capital in Degraded Landscapes
The interests of farmers are often perceived to be in conflict with those of both the ecosystems and the markets in which they operate, says Mark Chandler. In this week's Green Room, he argues that ongoing, directed efforts can create profitable, sustainable situations for everyone. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8583015.stm |
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Brazil: Plant a Billion Trees
Now here's a whopper of a project: restoring Brazil's Atlantic forest, which covered 330 million acres when the Portuguese arrived in 1500 but has since been reduced to 7% of that (or about 20 million acres, most of which is quite fragmented). It is now home to 130 million people, or 70 percent of Brazil's population. http://restorationnation.org/plant-a-billion-trees/
The Forests of the Basque Autonomous Community are Progressing
Ecosystems are essential for preserving the quality of life of human beings, and society should be aware of this, according to Ms Miren Onaindia, biologist and person responsible for the Forest Ecology and Natural Resources research team at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU). This group has been investigating the woods and forest of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country (CAV-EAE) for twenty years now. In recent times they have focused on evaluating the situation of ecosystems, concentrating on biodiversity. http://www.basqueresearch.com/berria_irakurri.asp?Berri_Kod=2645&hizk=I |
| Wetland Restoration
Over 2,500 Acres of Wetlands Restored and Protected in Northeast Louisiana
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District has authorized the release of 1,287 bottomland hardwood restoration credits as a result of restoring and protecting an additional 1,199 acres including 996 acres of wetland restoration, 171 acres of wetland/riparian buffer zone and 32 acres of non-mitigation land for access roads and utility rights-of-way. Now exceeding 2,500 acres, the Black Bayou Mitigation Bank comprises one of the largest wetland restoration sites in Louisiana. http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20100329005823&newsLang=en
Louisiana: BR ecological firm plants 1.4 million trees
Ecological Restoration Services LLC, a subsidiary of Baton Rouge-based Resource Environmental Solutions LLC, completed the restorative planting of more than 1.4 million trees during winter 2009-2010 planting season on company properties throughout Louisiana and northeast Texas. These properties include wetland mitigation banks and custom-developed wetland mitigation solution areas. http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/business/89288342.html |
River & Watershed Restoration
Oregon: Contractor selected for Camp Creek restoration projectThe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded a $219,188 contract to a Joseph, Ore., company to conduct an aquatic ecosystem restoration project on Camp Creek, a tributary of the Imnaha River near Enterprise, Ore. L D Perry, Inc., a HUBZone small business located in Joseph, Ore., will begin work in July to remove small earthen dams in the headwaters of Camp Creek and restore that portion of the creek to a more natural, flowing state. http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/oregon/press/press4448.html |
| Grassland Restoration
UK: Culm grassland successfully restored
Restoration of traditional Culm Grassland pastures at a number of north Devon nature reserves has been successfully completed this month despite difficult weather conditions. The restoration work has been carried out at Volehouse Moor and Mambury Moor nature reserves, near Bradworthy. Both are owned by Devon Wildlife Trust. http://www.middevonstar.co.uk/news/5198453.Culm_grassland_successfully_restored/ |
| Coastal & Marine Restoration
EPA releases Chesapeake Bay restoration guidelines
The Environmental Protection Agency released guidelines yesterday it hopes will help the federal government lead the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay by example. The guidance for federal land management includes recommendations that can be adopted by others, including farmers and state and local officials. The federal government, for example, has little land specifically dedicated to agriculture, but the recommendations include not applying fertilizer containing phosphorus if soil tests find phosphorus saturation above 20 percent. http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/state_regional/article/BAYGAT23_20100323-063001/332309/
Mangrove restoration is necessary, mangrove monoculture plantation is not
The December 2004 tsunami that played havoc on several Asian coasts also exposed the level of human-made destruction of protective greenbelts including mangroves along coastlines. The need to re-establish natural protective greenbelts followed suit with quite often failed attempts. As the organization Mangrove Action Project (MAP) explains in its website, "Much of the post-tsunami effort to restore coastal greenbelts involved simple planting of mangrove seedlings and propagules. There have been numerous failures, already, due to planting of inappropriate species, and in inappropriate locations. Failure occurs, in general, due to a lack of understanding of the restoration site itself". http://www.wrm.org.uy/bulletin/151/Mangrove.html
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| Funding Opportunities
Montana: Funding for Conservation and Restoration projects - Closes April 2, 2010 After a one-year funding hiatus, nearly $1 million is available once again for restoration and conservation projects through the Montana Fish and Wildlife Conservation Trust. Of that amount, $515,500 must be spent on projects between the Upper Missouri River basin and Holter Dam, according to the legislation that created the trust. http://www.helenair.com/news/local/article_1982c29a-193a-11df-b214-001cc4c002e0.html
California: Watershed Restoration Grant Proposals Now Being Accepted - Closes April 8, 2010 The California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) is accepting proposals for fisheries restoration projects in California's coastal watersheds through April 8, 2010. Approved projects will propose measures consistent with DFG's Steelhead Restoration and Management Plan for California and the Recovery Strategy for California Coho Salmon, and NOAA's Southern California Steelhead Recovery Plan Public Review; Draft Version. http://yubanet.com/california/Watershed-Restoration-Grant-Proposals-Now-Being-Accepted.php
Montana: Applications Available for Clark Fork Restoration Grants - Closes April 9, 2010 Applications for grant proposals to restore the Upper Clark Fork River Basin are now available. We are starting the eleventh year of the grant program aimed at returning the Basin to a healthy ecosystem. This year, $7.5 million is available to fund grant projects approved by the governor. Grant applications for over $25,000 must be received by Friday, April 9, 2010. Grant applications for $25,000 or less may be submitted on a continuous basis throughout the year. Applicants requesting more than $25,000 must use a long-form application, and there is a short-form application for applicants requesting $25,000 or less. http://www.clarkforkchronicle.com/article.php/20100212214329156
New Zealand: Environmental Enhancement Fund - Closes April 12, 2010 Local community groups looking for funding for an environmental project still have time to apply to Environment Bay of Plenty's Environmental Enhancement Fund. This year the fund, with $300,000 available for community groups, opened early to fit in better with planting seasons, and closes on Monday 12 April 2010. Decisions will be made in July so that projects can get underway during the winter and spring planting seasons. http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/still-time-apply-environmental-enhancement-fund/5/41676
Australia: River Prize - Closes May 14, 2010 Nominations are sought from individuals and organisations engaged in best practice river and catchment management and restoration from across Australia. (Australian river and catchment management groups may enter both the national and international Riverprize awards). Previous entrants are encouraged to apply again. http://www.riverfoundation.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=29&Itemid=47 | |
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