SER Releases New Brochure on the Economics of Restoration at CBD Scientific Meeting
 As the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) discuss how to best to integrate ecosystem restoration into their national action plans and accounting frameworks, the SER delegation co-hosted a side event with the CBD to highlight why investing in our ecological infrastructure makes economic sense. In addition, SER staff and members participated in a week- long poster session on the contribution of ecosystem restoration to the CBD objectives and a healthy planet. The book of extended abstracts is available here.

Gulf Coast Restoration Task Force Comment submitted by SER
SER applauds the efforts of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force this past year. The efforts to obtain public and stakeholder engagement including public meetings and listening sessions throughout the Gulf region were especially outstanding. SER believes that promoting consensus-building and leveraging partnerships with the Gulf of Mexico Alliance, The Hypoxia Task Force, the Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustee Council and the National Ocean Council will be critical as this effort moves forward.

Take Advantage of our Introductory Sponsorship Rates!
 SER launched its Electronic Publications Sponsorship Program for RESTORE and SERnews on November 1, 2011. Be sure to take advantage of our 2-month introductory period!

Australia: Kings Park and Botanic Gardens seeking Restoration Ecologists:
 Kings Park is seeking qualified candidates for their Restoration Ecology Soil Scientist and Seed Enablement Technologist positions. Candidates are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.

Call for Proposals: RAE 6^th National Conference on Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration
Restore American's Estuaries (RAE) is calling for dedicated sessions, presentations and posters to be submitted by February 1, 2012.

10th Annual Mangrove Forest Ecology, Management and Restoration Course
 March 1-2, 2012, Hollywood, Florida, USA.

 The 8th Conference of the Society for Ecological Restoration - Europe(SER) will be held in Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, ČeskéBudějovice, Czech Republic from 9th - 14th September, 2012.

SER Members receive 25% off Island Press purchases. Contact Caroline Bronaugh at caroline@ser.org for details!

Video: New Zealand Wetland Restoration Handbook
Why are wetlands special, and why are they important? Bev Clarkson tells us more.

UK: Lafarge Restoration Wins Award
A former sand and gravel quarry in North Yorkshire, restored to wetland by Lafarge, has been praised by the country's top wildlife agency for its richness of habitat. Marfield Wetlands won a top accolade in the inaugural Natural England Biodiversity Awards, part of this year's Mineral Product Association's prestigious restoration and biodiversity event.

New Zealand: DOC Natural History, Heritage Conservation Award
Simon Hall - nominated for his work in establishing Forest Life Force Restoration Trust, which oversees ecological work on his two native forest and one forestry property. And for his personal commitment to kiwi restoration, ecological work, and funding of kaka beak plant restoration, mistletoe surveys and whio (blue duck) surveys.

National Parks with Benefits: How Protecting the Planet's Biodiversity Also Provides Ecosystem Services
Discussions about protected areas rarely focus on the ecosystem services they provide and from which they could benefit financially. Rather than look at protected areas as preserves cut off from our human activity except as tourist destinations, we need to recognize their broader role in our economies.

UN calls for hand-in-hand forest restoration and greenhouse gas reductions
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for decreases in deforestation and forest degradation, saying these measures complement measures to reduce greenhouse emissions.

China: Eco-conservation zone planned for Qinghai-Tibet plateau
The move is designed to restore the ecosystem in the Sanjiangyuan region and boost local residents' incomes, according to the plan. A researcher with the Qinghai Academy of Social Sciences described the move as a signal that China is willing to take responsibility and contribute to the global fight against climate change.

Philippines: WWF helps teach kids link climate change with biodiversity
WWF recently partnered with Banco de Oro Unibank (BDO) in the Philippines to teach public elementary students about both climate change impacts on biodiversity and how they can minimize their ecological footprints.

A Forest Restoration Research Unit Facilitating Biodiversity Recovery in Cambodia
This Darwin-funded Post Project, jointly managed by RBG Kew and Wildlife Landscapes, UK, supported the Forestry Administration (FA) of Cambodia to build their capacity to use native species in forest restoration. The project initiated a Cambodian research programme based on the successful model developed by the Forest Restoration Research Unit, Chiang Mai University, Thailand (FORRU-CMU), using the 'Framework Species Method' of forest restoration.

Arizona: Pinaleno Forest restoration plan moves forward
The United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service's plan to restore Mount Graham and the rest of the Pinaleño Mountains to a pre-settlement condition is moving forward. Coronado National Forest Supervisor Jim Upchurch signed a Record of Decision on Oct. 31 for the Pinaleño Ecosystem Restoration Project on the Safford Ranger District. The signing completed a National Environmental Policy Act review of the 5,754-acre project, according to a press release from the USDA.

Video: Eden's work on forest restoration in Thailand
The Eden Project has been working with the Thai Forest Restoration Unit to support a project that gets villagers involved in restoring and caring for the tropical forests on their doorstep.

Audio: Rwanda Green Plan Links Environmental Health to Economic Health
It's a small success, so far. But the Rwandan government hopes its Landscape Forest Restoration Initiative will replicate this scene across the entire country, from the dry plains of Bugesera, to the wet hills of the northwest.

Conservationists call for urgent restoration of UK peatlands
Conservationists have called for urgent action to restore vast areas of peatland across the UK after an inquiry warned that their fate will have severe implications for the climate. The report by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has estimated that the UK's peatlands and peatbogs lock in about 3bn tonnes of CO2, and are a far more significant carbon store than the country's forests. But they are being damaged so seriously that they are putting the UK's climate targets at risk.

Wisconsin wetlands seen as threat to jobs
In the end, the Legislature's Republican majority voted to exempt the Bergstrom wetland from the meddlesome reach of state bureaucrats. The bill they passed will let "less than three acres" of the parcel be filled, with no additional permits or process, so long as 1.5 acres of new wetlands are created for each acre affected.

UK: Plan for reedbed 200 times size of Trafalgar Square
A reedbed 200 times the size of Trafalgar Square will be created in Cambridgeshire, thanks to a £250,000 grant. Waste Recycling Environmental Ltd awarded the funding to The Wildlife Trust, as part of the Great Fen Project linking nature reserves in the county.

What Do I Do With This Sludge?
Dealing with this kind of sludge when filling small irrigation pits and other small bodies of water is commonplace for wetland restoration folks (I'm told) but no one around here has ever seen the volume of sludge that we now have at our restoration site.  Lucky us!  So what do we do now?

Washington: Restoring a watershed, one parcel at a time 
Now, thanks to a set of agreements and property transactions between the Singer family and the Vashon-Maury Island Land Trust, as well as support from King County, a transformation is taking place in this once-barren cow pasture - part of a bigger effort by the land trust to restore Vashon's largest watershed.

North Carolina: Propagation efforts buoyed by successful restoration of fish and mussels 
The restoration work, guided by the N.C. Wildlife Action Plan, reintroduces aquatic animals into waters where they were once found in abundance. So far this year, biologists have placed several thousand fish and mussels in both rivers.

Burning to Restore
Wet prairie habitats at Fern Ridge Research Natural Area are currently managed using prescribed fire, which benefits the plant community by decreasing thatch and promoting germination by native species.

Florida: Snook Islands restoration project to expand into Lake Worth
Palm Beach County environmental officials plan to expand the Snook Islands Natural Area restoration project next year, when they plan to fill dredged holes with sand to create shallows for sea grasses, oyster reefs and a few small islands.

Washington: Habitat being restored at Chism Beach
More than eight acres of land at Chism Beach Park overrun with ivy and other invasive plants are being restored, with more than 100 volunteers and the city's garbage hauler pitching in for the cause.

US: Restoring a Prairie Icon 
In promoting bison restoration, NWF is working with other conservation groups and several Indian tribes with large reservations near CMR. The Federation's efforts also dovetail with work that the American Prairie Foundation (APF) is doing nearby. The nonprofit group has purchased or leased about 120,000 prairie acres adjacent to CMR and established a small herd of genetically pure bison that could provide stock for the refuge or other areas. APF Managing Director Dick Dolan says bison restoration "is part of a larger vision of prairie restoration."

US/Canada: Restoring the Balance - Restoration of Hope
This summer ecosystem reparations are being paid, for an eclectic collection of First Nations, government agencies, corporations, international non-profits and philanthropists have come to dispatch the invasive rat from select islands within the archipelago. It is a multi-year project that started several years ago with the visionary goal of restoring seabird colonies, in particular those of Ancient Murrelets, of which half the global population breeds only in Haida Gwaii.

Nebraska: US Army Corps of Engineers to restore oxbow wetlands
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Omaha is set to begin the restoration of seven acres of historic oxbow wetlands dominated by invasive species along the Big Papillion Creek.

Video: Warriors Take Part In San Francisco Habitat Restoration
As part of the team's Helping Hands Employee Volunteer Program, more than 20 members from the Warriors front office staff joined Assistant Coaches Michael Malone and Darren Erman in enhancing the rare native plant habitat in San Francisco on November 15.

NYC launches Bronx ecology project 
A big ecology project is getting under way in the Bronx. The project, which will cost nearly $10 million, is at Soundview Park. Fifteen acres of wetland and forest will be restored.

California: Candlestick Point wetland reclaimed as key habitat
The 7-acre site at Candlestick Point State Recreation Area was officially reclaimed as a wetland by the incoming high tide Tuesday, and the hawk and crow were the first wildlife visitors.

The Lake Champlain and Tributaries Restoration Fund - Closes December 2, 2011
Matching funds are required, and grants will be awarded for new initiatives, one-time special projects, or continuing funding for outstanding, existing programs that address one or more of the following purposes including protect, restore, and enhance the ecosystem integrity and ecological connectivity of the community of aquatic life in the Lake Champlain ecosystem and its tributaries.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Request for Proposals - Closes Dec 12, 2011
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is accepting project proposals to protect, restore and enhance Great Lakes fish and wildlife habitat under the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act (Act).The Service requests interested entities to submit restoration, research and regional project proposals for the restoration of Great Lakes fish and wildlife resources. The purpose of the Act is to provide assistance to states, tribes, and other interested entities to encourage cooperative conservation, restoration and management of the fish and wildlife resources and their habitats in the Great Lakes Basin.

USDA Great Lakes Restoration Initiative-Closes Jan 15, 2012
 The USDA Forest Service Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) is the largest investment in the Great Lakes in two decades. A task force of 11 federal agencies developed an action plan to implement the initiative. This action plan covers fiscal years 2010 through 2014. Funded topics include: cleaning up toxics and areas of concern; combating invasive; promoting watershed protection; wetland & habitat restoration; tracking progress and working with strategic partners. The next submission dates for funding recipients are from January 1-15, 2012.

WaterSMART Water and Energy Efficiency Grant Funding Opportunity, Closes: Jan 19, 2012
 The Bureau of Reclamation is seeking proposals from states, Indian tribes, irrigation districts, water districts and other organizations with water or power delivery authority to partner with Reclamation on projects that increase water conservation or result in other improvements that address water supply sustainability in the West.

US: Emergency Forest Restoration Program
USDA Farm Service Agency's (FSA) Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP) provides payments to eligible owners of nonindustrial private forest (NIPF) land in order to carry out emergency measures to restore land damaged by a natural disaster.

Earth Island Institute: Supporting community-based wetland restoration initiatives
Through the Small Grants Program, Earth Island Institute has been able to support locally based restoration efforts to do just that. Small grassroots efforts to restore the coastal habitats of Southern California, which have been depleted by an astounding 98%, have been slowly working to bring our wetlands back from the brink of extinction. By supporting and empowering the new restoration leaders, we ensure our collective success in restoring some of the earth's most fragile ecosystems.

The Gulf of Mexico Foundation's Community-based Restoration Partnershiphas 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.

 Terra Viva Grants develops and manages information about grants for agriculture, energy, environment, and natural resources in the world's developing countries. 

 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.

 Tamarisk 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.