India is today expected to become the first country in the world to commit to publishing a new set of accounts which track the nation's plants, animals, water and other "natural wealth" as well as financial measurements such as GDP. Work on agreeing common measures, such as the value of ecosystems and their "services" for humans - from relaxation to clean air and fertile soils - will be co-ordinated by the World Bank, which hopes it can sign up 10-12 nations and publish the results by 2015 at the latest.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jeEvTa2SIUVAzQK6MKT-2LBy9gwg?docId=CNG.6f626669dcc738e805f26ad8400c014c.5d1

Representatives of over 190 signatories to a United Nations biodiversity pact are set to gather in Nagoya Monday for a two-week marathon conference that some have billed a "Kyoto Protocol for all living things." The 10th meeting of the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, or COP10, is expected to forge a new agreement that could set aside vast amounts of the world's land and marine areas as sanctuaries.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20101017x2.html

The South Branch Restoration Project, formerly known as Rezamir Estates, is located in the Township of Mount Olive in the New Jersey Highlands Preservation Area, and contains fragile headwater wetlands, springs and streams flowing into the South Branch of the Raritan River. These streams eventually feed Round Valley and Spruce Run reservoirs and provide drinking water for more than one million New Jersey residents.

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/press/preserve-new-jersey-highlands,1504362.html

It's been five decades since the United States cut off ties to communist Cuba, ultimately limiting communication, trade, and travel to some research and humanitarian assistance. Ironically, that isolation helped to protect the island's pristine ocean ecosystem, making it an ideal place for scientists to study marine restoration and conservation. Under exemptions to the 1962 U.S. embargo against Cuba, David Guggenheim, a Senior Fellow at Washington, D.C.'s Ocean Foundation, has made more than 50 trips there since 2000. He says Florida's reefs once mirrored Cuba's, but were damaged by decades of sediment and fertilizer from large-scale construction and farming. "If Columbus were a scuba diver, he'd still recognize this beautiful place ... . it's the way an ecosystem should look," Guggenheim said.

http://news.discovery.com/earth/cuba-united-states-gulf-science.html

Canada: New Marsh Expected to Reduce Erosion, Provide New Habitat

An ambitious project is underway to restore a salt marsh that disappeared when Acadian farmers built a dike in the mid-1800s. It's hoped the marsh will help protect agricultural land and transportation infrastructure from flooding and erosion caused by high tides. "Over 150 years ago this was a salt marsh and it's being restored to its original state," says Wade Lewis, Ducks Unlimited's manager of restoration services for the Atlantic region.

http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/front/article/1268477

New Jersey: Athos I Oil Spill Damage Award Funds Delaware Bay Restoration

To compensate the public for damage to the Delaware River estuary caused by the 2004 oil spill from the tanker Athos I, the State of New Jersey has received $20.3 million from a federal trust fund. Commissioner Bob Martin said Thursday that the funds will be used to restore nearly 200 acres of Salem County wetlands and grasslands, create an oyster reef, and build a public boat ramp.

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/oct2010/2010-10-15-092.html

California: Coastal Approves Lagoon Project, Opponent Says 'We Are Not Finished'

The California Coastal Commission voted 10-0 Wednesday in Oceanside to approve State Parks' Malibu Lagoon makeover plan. It is a project supported by most environmental organizations, but opposed by some people who are usually in line with the project supporters. The head of the leading opponent, the Wetlands Defense Fund (WDF), said she and others will continue the battle, possibly through litigation.

http://www.malibutimes.com/articles/2010/10/18/breaking_news/news%20flash.txt

Indonesia: Transplanted Coral Showing 'Slow But Stable' Growth

A coral reef rehabilitation project launched last year is running well, the Nusa Dua Reef Foundation said Sunday, adding that most of the transplanted coral had shown steady growth. Foundation director Pariama Hutasoit admitted it was too early to call the program a success, as some of the transplanted coral had grown only one centimeter in a year. "Transplanting coral is not easy; it takes time, but we remain optimistic that the condition of coral in the area will improve with intense monitoring and preservation."

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/10/18/transplanted-coral-showing-%E2%80%98slow-stable%E2%80%99-growth.html

"As a direct result of restoration efforts, the Acid Mine Drainage program has returned biodiversity to portions of Monday Creek, Sunday Creek, Raccoon Creek and Huff Run - places which haven't provided quality aquatic habitat for generations," said Chief John Husted, ODNR Division of Mineral Resources Management.

http://www.farmanddairy.com/news/raccoon-creek-highlights-success-of-ohios-acid-mine-drainage-program/16409.html

More than $1.8 million in Proposition 84 bond measure money was granted to the City of Hercules last month for the purpose of fulfilling the Chelsea Wetlands restoration project. The grant money will be used to restore tidal marsh and natural habitats that were destroyed when soil was dumped onto the site during the urbanization of Hercules and Pinole nearly a century ago.

http://hercules.patch.com/articles/city-plans-to-restore-chelsea-wetlands

Maryland: Potomac Shoreline Restoration Success Celebrated at Park

At a press conference on Tuesday, October 12th, the National Park Service, the Alice Ferguson Foundation, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration came together to celebrate the nearly completed restoration of 2,800 feet of the Potomac River shoreline in Piscataway Park. Piscataway Park's "living shoreline" lies within visible range of the nation's Capital, and now serves as a model of innovative solutions to a number of shoreline erosion, development and protection issues.

http://www.nationalparksgallery.com/park_news/10864