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 RESTORE is a weekly e-bulletin, published by the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER), 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 members. Please send your news stories and articles to the RESTORE editor at info@ser.org. |
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Get Involved / Community-Based Restoration
SER2011 World Conference on Ecological Restoration
REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!
http://www.ser2011.org/en/registration/
Restoration-based Teacher Professional Development Workshop - August 1-5, 2011
http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5284397.pdf
SETAC: Pollutants in the Environment - Fate and Toxicity - Merida, Mexico August 24-27, 2011
http://mexico2011.setac.org/node/22
Ecosystem Services: Integrating Science and Practice: The Netherlands - October 4-7, 2011
http://www.fsd.nl/esp/77938/5/0/30
Selecting Wetland Mitigation Sites Using a Watershed Approach - October 18, 2011
http://www.coastaltraining-wa.org/Course-Catalog/Shoreline-And-Environmental-Laws-And-Administrativ/Selecting-Wetland-Mitigation-Sites-Using-a-Watersh/53.aspx
Understanding Washington State's Stream Habitat Restoration Guidelines - November 16-17, 2011
http://www.coastaltraining-wa.org/Course-Catalog/Shoreline-And-Environmental-Laws-And-Administrativ/Understanding-Washington-State's-Stream-Habitat-Re/32.aspx
Special Issue "Urban Biodiversity Conservation and Restoration" - Deadline Dec 1, 2011
http://www.mdpi.com/journal/diversity/special_issues/urban_bcr/
SER Members receive 25% off Island Press purchases. Contact Caroline Bronaugh at caroline@ser.org for details!
NOAA Gulf Spill Restoration Projects: Share Your Ideas
Do you have ideas for a specific restoration project in your area? You can use the online form below to give us the details and your information will be entered into our database. http://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/restoration/give-us-your-ideas/suggest-a-restoration-project/ |
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People in the News
Journalist James Astill will receive the US$75,000 Grantham Prize
for his "meticulously researched and thoroughly reported" eight-part series on forest ecosystems in The Economist. The 14,000 word report suggests the risks to tropical forests are extremely grave, but that the situation is not hopeless. Astill traveled the world to file this important story, interviewing people in Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, and Uganda, and compiling an impressive bibliography of forest literature along the way.
http://www.granthamprize.org/
Nancy Turner has been named as the inaugural Hakai Chair in Ethnoecology
University of Victoria ethnobotanist Nancy Turner has devoted her academic career to researching the pivotal role plant resources play in Aboriginal cultures and languages. She's won accolades for her work from around the world but a $1.25 million grant from the Quadra Island-based Tula Foundation gives Turner the opportunity to study and conduct research in traditional West Coast Aboriginal territories to strengthen her knowledge even further.
http://ring.uvic.ca/news/125-million-grant-%E2%80%9Cdream-come-true%E2%80%9D-renowned-ethnobotanist
Overgas awarded for Bulgarian forest restoration
The recognition is the result of the company's efforts on Bulgarian forests restoration. About 132 000 trees have been planted so far with the help of over 450 children from 12 Bulgarian cities. Overgas efforts on forest restoration began in 2000 with the planting of 5 acres in Chirpan. The planted 130 000 trees in the last 12 years absorb 3000 tons of CO2 per year on average.
http://3e-news.net/en/ecology/item/overgas-awarded-for-bulgarian-forest-restoration.html
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| Agro-Ecology
Small farms may be better for food security and biodiversity
We often assume the only way to feed the world's rapidly growing human population is with large-scale industrial agriculture. Many would argue that genetically altering food crops is also necessary to produce large enough quantities on smaller areas to feed the world's people. But recent scientific research is challenging those assumptions. Our global approaches to agriculture are critical. To begin, close to one billion people are malnourished and many more are finding it difficult to feed their families as food prices increase. But is large-scale industrial farming the answer? http://www.straight.com/article-398870/vancouver/david-suzuki-small-farms-may-be-better-food-security-and-biodiversity
Malawi: Village Hands Join to Save Forest for Juice
Until around 2000, people here didn't know that we could benefit from this forest in a more profitable way while also sustaining it," says Tedson Kameta, a former charcoal maker. He said one of the trees prized for charcoal production is the tamarind, a common feature of the Zalewa forest. Tamarind produces a hard, durable charcoal that lasts a long time in stoves.But Kameta is today a member of the Village Hands collective, which has turned from chopping down and burning trees to harvesting wild fruit for a growing domestic market in Blantyre and beyond. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=56021
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| Biodiversity & Climate Change
Geo-Engineering Can Help Save the Planet
At the moment, roughly half the excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere comes from destruction and degradation of ecosystems over the past three centuries. A significant amount of CO2 can be withdrawn by ecosystem restoration on a planetary scale. That means reforestation, restoring degraded grasslands and pasturelands and practicing agriculture in ways that restore carbon to the soil. There are additional benefits: forests benefit watersheds, better grasslands provide better grazing and agricultural soils become more fertile. This must integrate with competing uses for land as the population grows, but fortunately it comes at a time of greater urbanization.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/11/opinion/11iht-edlovejoy11.html?_r=1
The Nature Conservancy of Canada Announces Large North American Forest Carbon Project
ERA Carbon Offsets Ltd. through its 100% owned subsidiary ERA Ecosystem Restoration Associates Inc. (ERA),and 3GreenTree Ecosystem Services Ltd.(3GreenTree) are pleased to announce the completion and launch of the Darkwoods Carbon Project, the largest forest carbon project validated and verified to date within North America. http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/nature-conservancy-canada-announces-large-north-american-forest-carbon-project-with-tsx-venture-esr-1524831.htm |
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Sustainable management of tropical forests has a long way to go
Less than 10% of permanent tropical forests are under a sustainable management plan, according to a study by the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) an intergovernmental organization based in Yokohama, Japan, whose 33 timber-producing members account for around 85% of the world's tropical forests.
http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110608/full/news.2011.308.html
Ministers back binding European forest agreement
Ministers have agreed to back plans to introduce a legally binding agreement to protect Europe's forests. Delegates also agreed to adopt resolutions that would help shape forest policy over the next decade. On Tuesday, a report concluded that sustainable forestry management was essential if the EU was to reach its emission goals.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13733996
Collaborative Forest Restoration Project Has Lessened Damage, Severity of Arizona's Massive Wallow Fire
U.S. Forest Service officials say forest restoration work implemented under the White Mountains Stewardship Contract - part of a cooperative project among conservationists, local communities and government agencies - has lessened the severity of the Wallow fire and helped firefighters save towns threatened by the flames. Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest Supervisor Chris Knopp told the Associated Press on Thursday that he credited treatments with helping to save Alpine, Nutrioso and Springerville. A district ranger from the same forest told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday that restoration treatments aided firefighters' ability to save homes in the White Mountains.
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/news/press_releases/2011/wallow-fire-06-10-2011.html
India: An eye on the forests
Part of the answer can be found in innovative collaborative management approaches that consider humans as part of the solution instead of the problem. Many South Asian countries have been home to pioneering approaches of community forest management. Bhutan has maintained high levels of native forest cover, carefully monitoring rural land use and providing incremental exposure of rural areas to economic growth. In Nepal, once infamous for its degraded hill slopes, the situation has turned around in about two decades.
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/168537/an-eye-forests.html
Private investment in trees could replenish Africa's land
Restoration technologies include halting soil erosion through increased vegetative cover - for example through planting trees and other plants - conservation techniques and water management structures to promote responsible use of water resources said Frank Place, head of impact assessment at the World Agroforestry Centre in Kenya, which co-hosted the event. Other techniques include retaining plant seeds in the soil for regeneration and reducing or halting the use of resources in badly degraded areas to enable natural recovery.
http://www.scidev.net/en/news/private-investment-in-trees-could-replenish-africa-s-land.html |
| Wetland Restoration
Flood Risk Determines Wetland Restoration Potential Along Missouri River
High or low flood risks can determine where wetland restoration might occur on the lower Missouri River, according to a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey Columbia Environmental Research Center and the Nature Conservancy's Missouri River Program.
http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=2826
Texaco hands over 1,900 acres to Illinois for wetland restoration
The state of Illinois has taken possession of 1,900 acres in southeast Illinois and will add 400 more over the next few months as part of a settlement with operators of a former refinery.
http://wjbc.com/texaco-hands-over-1900-acres-to-illinois-for-wetland-restoration/ |
River & Watershed Restoration
India Aims $1 Billion at Sacred but Filthy Ganges
Indian officials signed an agreement with the World Bank on Tuesday to use a $1 billion loan to finance the first major new effort in more than 20 years to cleanse the revered Ganges, one of the world's dirtiest rivers. One-third of India's 1.2 billion people live along the banks of the 1,560-mile-long river, many of them relying on it for drinking, cooking and washing. Millions more visit for ritual baths to cleanse themselves of sin. But untreated sewage, agricultural runoff and industrial waste have fouled its waters for decades, and hydroelectric projects and dams threaten to choke off its waters in spots.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/15/world/asia/15ganges.html?_r=1 |
| Grassland Restoration
Oregon: Conservation district shows off prairie restoration
Working closely with the Koellings, the district has used a variety of techniques in different areas of the property, including mowing, targeted herbicide application, controlled burns and careful logging, the latter to remove the Douglas fir trees crowding ancient white oaks and replacing open savannah with conifer forest. Although the work has made an enormous difference, it has by no means restored the land to its original condition.
http://www.newsregister.com/article?articleTitle=conservation+district+shows+off+prairie+restoration--1307555681--906-- |
| Lake Restoration
Mozambique Protects Lake Niassa's Wealth of Species
The Mozambique government Friday declared Lake Niassa to be a reserve, safeguarding the species and natural habitats of one of the world's largest and the most biodiverse lakes. Mozambique also Friday approved the protection of Lake Niassa under the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, known as the Ramsar Convention. The Ramsar site includes the new reserve as well as the surrounding wetlands and watershed. http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2011/2011-06-12-01.html |
| Coastal & Marine Restoration
Mangroves could protect against earthquakes
Buried mangrove forests act as earthquake-resistant foundations for buildings, a study in the Caribbean has found. Ancient mangrove forests, such as those buried in the coastal regions of the Caribbean, can protect buildings against earthquakes, according to researchers working on the French island of Guadeloupe.
http://www.scidev.net/en/news/mangroves-could-protect-against-earthquakes.html
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Wildlife Restoration
Commercial wild game hunting in Africa must be stopped
Local populations rely on birds, reptiles and mammals including apes in the vast Congo Basin for food, but overhunting for so-called bush meat is leading to 'empty forest syndrome', according to a statement issued by a panel of environmental experts following a meeting on the issue in Nairobi. "Tackling the impact of unsustainable and illegal trade in bush meat is critical for protecting the livelihoods of rural people and conserving wildlife in biodiversity-rich areas," said John Scanlon, secretary-general of the Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species (CITES).
http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/42797 |
| Invasive Species
In a Globalized World, Are Invasive Species a Thing of the Past?
But a growing number of conservation biologists are beginning to question that conventional wisdom. In a commentary published in the journal Nature last week, Davis and 18 other ecologists called for a reexamination of the default dislike of invasive species. Their argument was simple: in a world where climate change, human population growth and globalization have fractured the environment and scattered so many species, the division between native and non-native seems more and more artificial. http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2077582,00.html#ixzz1PMuD4BaW
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| Urban Restoration
Georgia: Shaw Park Stream Restoration Project Complete
Shaw Park, one of the first parks built in Cobb County, is the home of a stream restoration project that provides a hands-on demonstration of effective stream restoration and stabilization techniques in an urban setting.
http://northeastcobb.patch.com/articles/shaw-park-stream-restoration-project-complete |
| Funding Opportunities
California: Ecosystem Restoration on Agricultural Lands (ERAL) Grant funding applications are accepted on a year-round basis. The WCB meets four times each year, normally in February, May, August, and November to consider approval of funding for projects. http://www.wcb.ca.gov/ERAL/grants.htmlTamarisk Related Grant Opportunities The Tamarisk Coalition has developed a list of available Grant Opportunities to address tamarisk issues and riparian restoration. This list was revised as part of the Colorado River Basin Tamarisk and Russian Olive Assessment. http://www.tamariskcoalition.org/FundingResources.html |
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