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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
SER Members receive 25% off Island Press purchases. Contact Caroline Bronaugh at caroline@ser.org for details! |
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People in the News
Wangari Maathai: Death of a visionary
Wangari Maathai's compelling life story is inextricably linked with the social and political changes that so much of Africa has been through since the idea of throwing off European colonialism began to gain traction shortly after World War II.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15060167
Multimedia in Service Learning and Urban Habitat Restoration
Iao Restoration Expert To Keynote Archaeology Conference
A highlight will be the keynote address given by Kawewehi Pundyke, who will speak on the Lo'iloa restoration in Iao Valley. His efforts were featured in the 2010 Maui Film Festival's Audience Award winning documentary Ho'okele Wa'a: Turning the Canoe. A production of the Sustainable Living Institute of Maui, this feature length documentary film illuminated the importance of protecting Maui's cultural and natural resources and featured interviews from those leading the effort to do so. The film included never-before-seen footage of the restoration of the ancient kalo lo`i (taro patches) and native forests as well as the latest breakthroughs in renewable energy technologies.
http://mauinow.com/2011/09/21/iao-restoration-expert-to-keynote-archaeology-conference/
Peabody Energy Senior Scientist Honored by Mongolia's Ministry of Nature
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| New Books & Articles
Restoring tropical forests by keeping fire far away
Keeping fire at bay could be key to reforesting abandoned land in the tropics, according to a new study in mongabay.com's open access journal Tropical Conservation Science. Measuring the recovery of regenerating forests in Kibale National Park in Uganda, the study found that suppressing fire allowed the forest to come back over a period of decades. Given the role rainforests play in sequestering carbon and safeguarding biodiversity, the study argues that reforesting abandoned land in the tropics should be a global policy and controlling fire may be an simple and largely inexpensive method to achieve the goal.
http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0926-hance_tcs_fire_kibale.html |
| Restoring Natural Capital (RNC)
Maryland: Bay's restoration makes environmental, economic sense
The Chesapeake Bay still is a treasured asset even after years of enduring the mistaken notion that dilution is the solution to pollution - as municipal sewage, factory wastes, agricultural and stormwater runoff poured "freely" into its waters. "Freely" became costly as algal blooms sucked oxygen from its waters, and toxins fostered disease and death to its inhabitants. Oysters, fish, clams and crabs - once in abundance and the pride of our Chesapeake - were decimated. The loss in oyster production alone exceeds $4 billion. Bay watermen declined in numbers from 14,000 to 1,500 in less than 10 years, and the crabbing industry lost 4,500 jobs between 1998 and 2006.
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/oped/2011/sep/25/tdopin02-morgan-chesapeake-bay-restoration-makes-e-ar-1332893/ |
| Biodiversity & Climate Change
Climate Change Takes a Toll on Cultures
At first glance, the loss of cultural diversity may seem insignificant in comparison with climate changes like sea-level rise, ocean acidification and mass extinctions of plants or animals. But just as biophysical diversity improves the resilience of natural systems and acts as buffer against adverse conditions, cultural diversity offers a resilient knowledge base for adapting to and counteracting the effects of climate change.
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/climate-change-takes-a-toll-on-cultures/
Facing Climate Change With Flower Power
With rain, temperature, snow and humidity getting increasingly unpredictable, these smallholders, deep in debt from repeated crop failures, are selling their land to rapacious developers and abandoning their ancestral profession. "But they need not," says Amin. She says an answer in lavender shrubs y grown on what is locally called 'kandi' (semi-barren, rainfed farmlands). "Lavender on one ha can yield Indian rupees 200,000 (4,000 dollars) yearly profit, and has a 20-year lifetime demanding minimal input. It is almost pest-free and cattle have no taste for it," Amin said.
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=105271
'Green desert' monoculture forests spreading in Africa and South America
Demand for paper is driving the growth of monoculture forests in Africa and South America, hitting local communities and biodiversity.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/sep/26/monoculture-forests-africa-south-america?newsfeed=true |
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Montana: Conservation groups file suit, stop logging/restoration project A collaborative effort to try to lessen the danger of wildfire north of Seeley Lake just hit a legal roadblock after four conservation groups filed suit to stop it. It's called the Colt Summit restoration project--a 2,000 acre logging plan the Forest Service says would improve forest health, reduce fuels, improve wildlife habitat and provide scenic vistas. But the new lawsuit left locals scratching their heads. http://www.kpax.com/news/conservation-groups-file-suit-stop-logging-restoration-project-near-seeley-lake/Forest restoration in western Azerbaijan Restoration work is being carried out in 70 hectares of Goygol forests this year. The deputy director of the Goygol Forest Protection and Restoration Unit, Aslan Valiyev, said that new trees had been planted in 40 hectares of forest this spring, while trees would be planted in another 40 hectares in the autumn. http://www.news.az/articles/environment/44990Audio: Managing Forests To Manage Wildfires Record breaking fires in the Southwest have burned thousands of acres, disrupting people and animals, and leaving muddy, flood-prone landscapes in their wake. Ira Flatow and guests discuss fire ecology, and how new forest management strategies may help stifle the blazes. http://www.npr.org/2011/09/23/140744690/managing-forests-to-manage-wildfires |
| Wetland Restoration
Australia: $2million to improve wetlands project
The funding will be provided over three years to achieve a range of environmental outcomes including acid sulphate soil remediation and wetland restoration works; provision of visitor facilities at Cattai Wetlands such as boardwalks and interpretive signage; and enhancing the community's awareness and participation in the project by hosting open days and coordinating community engagement events - for example the Harrington Lions Club participated in a tree planting day at Cattai Wetlands last Friday where they enthusiastically planted more than 500 trees.
http://www.manningrivertimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/2million-to-improve-wetlands-project/2301654.aspx
A century later, Santa Cruz Island wetland to be restored
A major restoration project could bring back a long-degraded wetland to one of the Channel Islands. Workers have broken ground on a $1-million project that will cut down 1,800 nonnative eucalyptus trees and scoop out tons of dirt and gravel to restore a coastal wetland on Santa Cruz Island, Channel Islands National Park officials announced Monday.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2011/09/a-major-restoration-project-could-bring-back-a-long-degraded-wetland-to-one-of-the-remote-islands-off-the-southern-california.html
DC officials celebrate restoration of Anacostia's Kenilworth Marsh
District officials and environmentalists will be on the Anacostia River to celebrate what they say are calling one of the most successful wetlands restoration efforts on one of the nation's most polluted rivers.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-officials-celebrate-restoration-of-anacostias-kenilworth-marsh/2011/09/27/gIQAnrk30K_story.html |
River & Watershed Restoration
California: Klamath restoration studies support dam removal, create jobs, increase chinook harvest
The Klamath dam removal project would be an economic shot in the arm for communities throughout rural Northern California, according to studies released Wednesday. The draft environmental impact statement and report -- containing environmental and economic analyses related to the removal project and subsequent restoration programs -- fulfills a major condition of the Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement, which was negotiated among state, local, tribal and water provider leaders to remove four dams from the Klamath River.
http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_18951905 |
| Coastal & Marine Restoration
New York: Marine Meadows Workshop Brings Eelgrass Restoration to Sag Harbor
This Thursday and Friday, trained experts from the Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) will forage shoots of healthy eelgrass from marine meadows throughout the region. They will then bring them to Sag Harbor and enlist the help of dozens of volunteers to aid in the Cooperative's 18-year-old Eelgrass Restoration Program.
http://sagharboronline.com/sagharborexpress/page-1/marine-meadows-workshop-brings-eelgrass-restoration-to-sag-harbor-14366
Restoration Project Uses New Technology to Preserve Unique Culture
Hundreds of volunteers helped launch 187 "floating islands" in a demonstration project of new technology to protect the area south of Houma, Louisiana, that is considered to be "ground zero" for coastal land loss in America. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/americas-wetland-volunteers-plant-floating-islands-to-save-louisianas-native-american-lands-from-disappearing-2011-09-23
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Wildlife Restoration
Keeping Wolves from Maine's door
As preposterous as it sounds, it appears once again that the U.S Fish and Wildife Service (USFWS) is toying with the idea of introducing wolves into the Northeast, Maine included. Just what Maine's moose and troubled deer populations need, right? Another major predator.
http://www.sunjournal.com/local-sports/story/1092810
Black-footed Ferret: The Comeback Kid Celebrates 30 Years of Rediscovery
Once, the rarest mammal on Earth-the comeback kid was actually thought to be extinct. Its restoration is a testament to a 30 year long recovery effort of US federal and state agencies, and nonprofit organizations including zoological parks.
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2011/09/23/black-footed-ferret-the-comeback-kid-celebrates-30-years-of-rediscovery/
Kenya should embrace living with nature as the model for a healthier, wealthier nation
Far too many of the assumptions made in the draft of the proposed new bill, as this now stands, are antiquated. Conservation is still presented, for example, as something that is controlled by Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) who have clear mandate primarily in national parks and reserves. The fact that most of the country's wildlife occurs outside these protected areas on land that falls under the stewardship of communities and private landowners is not adequately taken into account. The role of conservation in nurturing economic growth and prosperity is, likewise, not taken into account. http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0927-kahumbu_wildlifebill_oped.html |
| Extractive Industries
Natural Gas Company Fined $500,000 for Damaging Endangered Species Habitat
A subsidiary of Petrohawk Energy Corp. has been fined $350,000 and ordered to pay an additional $150,000 in restitution for damaging the habitat of an endangered species in Arkansas. The latter amount will be paid to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for use in watershed restoration projects in the area, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/2011/09/21/natural-gas-company-fined-500000-damaging-endangered-species-habitat/ |
| Funding Opportunities
The Gulf of Mexico Foundation's Community-based Restoration Partnership has reached a milestone by providing grants for now more than 75 different projects in coastal areas throughout the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Restoring a total of about 15,000 acres over the past decade, these CRP projects have improved a wide variety of habitat types, including coastal dunes, coral reefs, oyster reefs, marshes, seagrass beds, mangrove forests and artificial reefs. Funding from NOAA and EPA make it possible for the GMF to provided more than $3 million to projects. Other partners have contributed an additional $5.5 million in funding. The GMF is offering a new round of CRP funding for 2012. http://www.gulfmex.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/GCRP2012RFP.pdf Terra Viva Grants develops and manages information about grants for agriculture, energy, environment, and natural resources in the world's developing countries. http://www.terravivagrants.org/Home/view-grant-makersCalifornia: 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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