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RESTORE is a free weekly e-bulletin provided to current members of SER. RESTORE links you to the latest breaking news stories keeping you up-to-date on a wide variety of topics related to ecological restoration. To contact the editors, please email info@ser.org.
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Give a Gift that Makes a Difference!
Surprise a restorationist in your life with the gift of SER membership this holiday season. If you purchase a full, professional or organizational membership, you receive an additional full membership for free! Whether recipients are students studying ecological restoration or practitioners working on the ground, they'll appreciate the exclusive member benefits including the RESTORE e-bulletin, professional networking opportunities, discounts on publications and books, and more. You can also create a customized card to be mailed to your gift recipient.
Plus: Feel great about your gift! Gift memberships support our mission to advance the field of ecological restoration around the world. Click here to download and fax (270) 626-5485, mail in your gift form, or call us at (202) 299-9518 to purchase your gift today.
Happy Holidays! |
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Get Involved
ER Special Issue on Corridor Restoration - Call for Papers April 1, 2012
Ecological Restoration is planning a Special Issue for later this year on the "Ecological restoration of habitat corridors," at all scales. This Special Issue will have reviews of current approaches to corridor functioning and implementation, as well as papers on modern designs of corridors. We now seek examples from practitioners of designed and built habitat corridors that can express the current state of the art of habitat design and functioning. We are also interested in examples of older corridors, where performance monitoring has been conducted.
2012 Conference Listingon the Global Restoration Network (GRN)
Check out our 2012 conference listing for a full year view of upcoming restoration related events.
California: San Geronimo Habitat Restoration November 30, 2011 through December 31, 2011
EcoSummit 2012 - Call for Abstracts Deadline January 20, 2012
Louisiana: The Nature Conservancy is seeking volunteers help restore the Ouachita River floodplain January 2012
Mangrove Forest Ecology, Management and Restoration Course - Florida, USA - March 1-2, 2012
Nominations now open for 2012 Thiess International Riverprize - Application Closes March 16, 2012
SER Members receive 25% off Island Press purchases. Contact caroline@ser.org for details! |
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People in the News
Florida: Campaign Begins To Raise Funds For Mangrove Restoration Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve has been working with mangrove restoration expert, Roy R. "Robin" Lewis III to restore 225 acres of mangrove habitat along State Road near Marco Island, Florida in a three phase project. However, nearly $150,000 of public funding is still needed to help secure a $450,000 federal grant.
Massachusetts: Restoring Grace to a River Dedicated to an American Hero
Ten years ago, Eleanor and Giles Rae began a journey to search for a house and instead found an unexpected new mission in life. Eleanor and Giles became fascinated by the history of, Anne Hutchinson, a Puritan who was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 17th century. Eleanor's look back at over 400 years of American history brought her to the present: the Hutchinson River. Hutchinson's battles against the establishment inspired Eleanor, 77, to clean up a part of the river filled with garbage.
Oregon: Klamath Basin Water Resources: Merkley's Proposal Unscientific and Unsustainable
Oregon's WaterWatch issued a recent statement opposing many elements of the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement. Like many other prominent environmental groups, and the Hoopa Valley tribe, WaterWatch believes implementing legislation proposed by Sen. Jeff Merkley as unscientific, unsustainable, and bad for taxpayers. |
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New Books & Articles
Living with Nature's Original Sin
It has been suggested that passionate environmentalism is a bit like religion. It has its own sense of original sin, the belief that the New World was once a pristine and stable wilderness that was defiled by the coming of the Europeans. Many of us who are their descendants and who care for the environment live with a sense of guilt: everywhere we look, we see destruction and loss. A new form of environmentalism is emerging, though. Its proponents argue that things were never as good or as fixed as we like to think, that in any case there is little point in trying to return to the past, and that nature today, while greatly diminished, is still more interesting and admirable than we often assume.
British Columbia: Natural Capital Policy Review: A review of policy options to protect, enhance and restore natural capital in B.C.'s urban areas
This report is the third in a series of David Suzuki Foundation publications examining the economic value of natural capital - forests, fields, wetlands and waterways - in and around Canada's urban areas. The purpose of the report is to evaluate tools and policy options that B.C. local government agencies can use to protect and restore natural capital and ecosystem services. |
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Restoring Natural Capital (RNC)
UK: Wildlife Broadcasters And Film-Makers 'Should Pay For Ecosystem Services'
Researchers say media corporations making broadcast wildlife programs and films should pay towards the cost of nature conservation for the 'use of ecosystem services.'The researchers argue that following two recent major government reports putting value on the services that nature provides, global media companies that make money from wildlife programs, and films, should pay for the service in the same way as water and energy companies do.
Washington: Gov. Gregoire Announces New initiative to Create Jobs, Restore Puget Sound
Gov. Chris Gregoire unveiled, Friday December 9, the Washington Shellfish Initiative, an agreement among federal and state government, tribes, and the shellfish industry to restore and expand Washington's shellfish resources to promote clean-water commerce and create family wage jobs. Washington's aquaculture industry - farmed clams, mussels and oysters - is worth more than $107 million a year, employs more than 3,200 people, and pumps more than $270 million annually into the state economy.
US: NOAA to boost recreational fishing industry through restoration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently announced it will begin evaluations to find Alaska salmon streams most in need of restoration. Alaska's sport fisheries and personal use fisheries are together worth more than $500 million annually. |
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Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK)
South Africa: Saving the Forests with Indigenous Knowledge
For the Laibon community, a sub-tribe of Kenya's Maasai ethnic group, the 33,000-hectare Loita Forest in the country's Rift Valley Province is more than just a forest, it's a shrine.According to Nigel Crawhall, the Director of Secretariat for the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Co-coordinating Committee, different African communities have incredible indigenous knowledge that they use in the conservation of forests and biodiversity in general, and this should be recognized during the negotiations in Durban. |
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Agro-Ecology
Brazil: Contradictory Goals in Agriculture
The government's Low-Carbon Agriculture Program (ABC) aims to reduce carbon equivalent emissions by up to 176 million tons by the year 2020. Brazil hopes to meet these targets in agriculture by stimulating techniques proven to reduce greenhouse gas emission, but which may increase use of toxic agrochemicals. Direct seeding, restoration of grasslands, crop-livestock-forest integration, biological nitrogen fixation, commercial reforestation, and biogas production from animal waste are practices that can be financed by a soft credit line available since August.
At the Nexus of Agrofuels, Land Grabs and Hunger
This short two part series on biofuels, industrialized agriculture and hunger comes in reaction to new research released Dec 6 by the US based Oakland Institute (OI) which reveals the nexus between "false" fuel alternatives, such as development of agrofuels and agroforests, and the massive land grab underway in Africa. Follow the links to read part one, and part two.
Africa: Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) Launches
Officially launched on Sunday 4th December, the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) began amid joyful singing from African women farmers and inspiring discussions about agroecological solutions for food, farmers and biodiversity. They have released a report emphasizing that Food Sovereignty can cool the planet, while feeding the world and regenerating ecosystems. |
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Biodiversity & Climate Change
Dangerous Decade: What follows the Durban climate deal
Some are calling it a betrayal of both science and the world's poor. Yet the climate conference in Durban, South Africa, which finished early on Sunday morning, did rewrite the rule book for fighting climate change in one way. It forced major developing nations like China, Brazil and South Africa to accept the principle of future binding targets on their greenhouse gas emissions for the first time. The conference agreed that by 2015 governments would finalize a "protocol, legal instrument or an agreed outcome with legal force" that would impose targets on all major emitters, rich and poor. It will probably enter into force by 2020, when existing voluntary targets end, though that is not part of the official deal.
Video: Canada withdraws from Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change
Canada says the Kyoto protocol did not represent the way forward for Canada or the world.
Interactive Map: Which nations are really responsible for Climate Change?
Get a handle on carbon with this interactive map showing current, historical and consumption emissions of nations.
In Australia's New Carbon Tax, A Host of Missed Opportunities
The Australian government will begin imposing a tax on carbon emissions in mid-2012. But large giveaways to industry mean Australia's scheme doesn't go nearly far enough in reducing the nation's CO2 emissions or providing economic stimulus. |
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Forest Restoration
Marijuana cultivation sites in 20 states on 67 national forests have caused "severe" damage according to U.S. Forest Service director of law enforcement, David Ferrell. Ferrell gave an example from efforts in California where the Forest Service completed cleanup and restoration on 335 sites which resulted in the removal of more than 130 tons of trash, 300 pounds of pesticides, five tons of fertilizer and nearly 260 miles of irrigation piping. His warning came in testimony today before the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control.
Brazil: Amazon Forest Loss at Lowest in 23 Years
Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon region fell to its lowest in 23 years in the year through July, the government said Monday, attributing the drop to its tougher stance against illegal logging.
Connecticut: Forest Management Efforts Paying off as American Chestnut Tree Makes a Comeback
Once one of the most significant trees in the country's forests, the American chestnut was almost completely swept from the landscape by fungal blight in 1904. Scientists have been working on restoration since the 1930s, and in the last several years, American chestnut specialist Sandy Anagnostakis has been breeding blight-resistant trees. Some 200 of those blight-resistant seedlings were planted on 2.5 acres at Belding in 2009, and Seymour said the vast majority of the trees are thriving.
It was along the boundary of the Fort Apache Indian Reservation and the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests in eastern Arizona's White Mountains that fire ecologists say the westward expansion of the Wallow Fire, the largest in Arizona's history, slowed and eventually stopped. "One of the lessons learned is that forest restoration treatments are effective" said James Youtz, a regional forest health and growth expert with the U.S. Forest Service. |
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Wetland Restoration
NJ Conservation Foundation wins award for bog restoration
New Jersey Conservation Foundation has won the 2011 Governor's Environmental Excellence Award in the Healthy Ecosystems category for restoring 1,100 acres of abandoned cranberry bog in the Pine Barrens into natural wetlands. |
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River & Watershed Restoration
'Israel's rivers could take 100 years to restore'
Although the Environmental Protection Ministry has made considerable achievements in stream and river rehabilitation in the last 20 years, Israel's rivers and streams would take another 100 years to fully recuperate at the ministry's current rate of investment.
California: EPA Support Napa River Restoration Efforts
On Friday, officials announced $1.5 million from the EPA to pay for further river restoration and other environmental projects in the Napa River in Rutherford. To date, more than 40 landowners have committed to converting 135 acres of riverfront farmland to wildlife habitat.
Michigan: To move forward on Grand River's restoration, Fourth Street dam will be an issue
There is a buzz in town this week about restoring the Grand River rapids. However, the Fourth Street dam keeps most migrating sea lamprey out of the Grand River system. "This is the most controversial dam in the watershed because of the lamprey and its effect biologically and on the recreational fishery,"
Scott Hanshue, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources biologist said.
North Carolina: Firm again asks to remove Neuse's Milburnie Dam
Restoration Systems, the Raleigh-based firm is again seeking approval to demolish and remove the 15-foot Milburnie Dam, the last man-made barrier along the Neuse River between Falls Lake and Pamlico Sound. In their prospectus submitted to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, they predict water quality will improve and migratory fish will get to swim and spawn farther upriver. However, residents along the river see a grim future for the Neuse without the dam, which dates to 1855. |
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Lake Restoration
Australia: $27m funding held up for Coorong pumping
Up to $27 million was earmarked for the South Lagoon Salinity Reduction Scheme, also known as the pumping project, as part of $131 million in new funding for projects in the Coorong, Lower Lakes and Murray Mouth. "Not one cent has been spent on recovering the ecological state of the Coorong this year, and it remains in a drastically altered state," said University of Adelaide Associate Professor David Paton.The State Government says the Federal Government funding is "subject to a decision point in early to mid-2012".
California: Tahoe Restoration Bill Gets Senate Committee OK
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Thursday approved the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act of 2011. It authorizes $415 million over 10 years to continue projects initiated in the late 1990s to protect the clarity of the famed lake that straddles the Nevada-California line in the Sierra.
India: Firm Pilots New Tech Solution to Clean Lake
Enzen Water Solutions, a Bengaluru based company, unveiled a possible solution to improve the quality of the water in the Puttenahalli city lakes. The pilot project by Enzen at JP Nagar's Puttenahalli Lake shows phytoremediation process can improve water quality. |
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Coastal & Marine Restoration
Gulf Coast: Task Force Releases Final Strategy for Reversing Deterioration of Gulf Ecosystem
The Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force today released its final strategy for long term ecosystem restoration for the Gulf Coast, following extensive feedback from citizens throughout the region.
Indonesia: Restoring Ujung Kulon's Coral, One Colony at a Time
Enthusiastic volunteers plunged into Pulau Badul in Ujung Kulon National Park waters, with the desire to do a small part to help the UNESCO World Heritage Site in a WWF December event called "Build Your Own Coral Reef." The planting of coral colonies outside this small national park is hoped to restore coral reef which had been destroyed by fishermen using bombs for fishing.
NOAA: Dead Zones are Shrinking Habitat for Blue Marlins, Other Tropical Billfish and Tunas
A new scientific paper authored by NOAA Fisheries biologist Eric Prince, Ph.D., and eight other scientists in the scientific journal Nature Climate Change, shows that expanding ocean dead zones are shrinking the habitat for high value fish such as marlins in the tropical northeast Atlantic Ocean. As dead zones expand, marlins, other billfish and tunas move into surface waters where they are more vulnerable to fishing.
Washington: Nisqually Estuary restoration receives national award for outstanding coastal protection
The Nisqually Estuary Restoration Team received national accolades for outstanding efforts to restore and protect the coastal environment as a recipient of the Coastal America Partnership Award.
Maryland back off commitment to meet bay restoration goal year's early
Maryland has decided to revert to the 2025 goal set by the federal restoration strategy for the Chesapeake Bay despite previously pledging the meet restoration goals 5 years earlier than this. |
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Wildlife Restoration
Indiana: Ex-NW Ind. prison farm to become game bird habitat
A former northwestern Indiana prison farm will be converted into the state's largest public game bird habitat, Gov. Mitch Daniels announced Wednesday. The 1,250-acre site located along the eastern border of Porter County will be 1½ times as big as the current largest public game bird habitat in Indiana. The Indiana DNR Division of Fish & Wildlife will manage the property with an emphasis on restoration of grassland habitat that benefits game bird species such as pheasant and quail.
US Southwest: Solar Power Development Could Threaten Wildlife
Government agencies are considering scores of applications to develop utility-scale solar power installations in the desert Southwest of the United States, but too little is known to judge their likely effects on wildlife, according to an article published in the December 2011 issue of BioScience. The effects concern wildlife biologists because the region is a biodiversity hotspot.
California: Wildlife Conservation Board Funds Environmental Improvement and Acquisition Projects
The Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) earmarked $22.3 million to help restore and protect fish and wildlife habitat throughout California. The 19 funded projects will provide benefits to fish and wildlife species, including some endangered species, and increase public access to lands. |
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Invasive Species
Kenya: Scientists Formulate Kenya's Invasive Species Strategy
A team of scientists from Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) and the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) have completed a draft strategy for the management of invasive alien species in protected conservation areas in Kenya. |
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Urban Restoration
An environmental restoration firm recently finished cleaning up a Superfund site in Speonk, land that once housed a lumber supply company, a task that required the removal of approximately 13,000 tons of contaminated soil, according to the State Department of Environmental Conservation. The original cost was estimated to be $4.98 million, but setbacks leave the project at an estimated $5.25-5.5 million.
California: Cooley Landing Park Breaks Ground
The transformation of Cooley Landing in East Palo Alto from a toxic wasteland into a nature park for recreation seekers and endangered species got underway on Monday (Dec. 5), after 20 years of struggle and negotiation. A $2 million Phase 1 restoration will remove and cap hazardous soils; add nearly 1 mile of trails, benches and picnic areas, and restore a wetland area. |
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Funding Opportunities
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.
US: 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.
Arkansas landowners Wetlands Reserve Program - Closes Jan 27, 2012
State Conservationist Mike Sullivan with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service says Arkansas is second in the nation in the program's wetland restoration, with more than 200,000 acres restored.
Australia: New South Wales (NWS) Environmental Trust Grants-Closes Jan 31, 2012
The NSW Environmental Trust is an independent statutory body established by the NSW government to support exceptional environmental projects that do not receive funds from the usual government sources. Community groups are now invited to apply for funding for large-scale bush re-generation projects. The Community Bush Regeneration Large Project Stream is offering grants of between $200,000 and $250,000 for projects which will run for up to six years.
US: NFWF Five Star Restoration Grant Program- Closes Feb 15, 2012
The national Fish and Wildlife Federation (NFWF) Five Star Restoration Program provides modest financial assistance to support community-based wetland, riparian, and coastal habitat restoration projects that build diverse partnerships and foster local natural resource stewardship through education, outreach, and training activities.
US: Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife- Closes Fab 29, 2012
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife is accepting grant applications for the Aquatic Land Enhancement Account. The agency expects to award about $180,000 in grants from the program in the coming year. Five types of projects are funded through the program - habitat restoration, research, education and outreach, facility development and artificial production. Applications must be received or postmarked by Feb. 29.
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. |
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