Calling All Landscape Experts! Landscape Approach Survey
 Researchers at the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) are working to develop "Principles of an adaptive landscape approach for enhancing sustainable livelihoods and integrating environmental services" for the CBD COP 11 meeting in Hyderabad, India in October, 2012. This survey takes 15 minutes and is aimed at people who use, or have knowledge of, landscape approaches.

Kenya: Sustainable Food Security through Land Regeneration in a Changing Climate - April 10-13
The conference theme centers on low cost, rapid methods of environmental restoration as a pathway to food security and adaptation to climate change.

SER-Australasia: Inaugural Conference- Call for Workshop & Symposium Submissions-Due April 27
The SERA Inaugural Conference will be held November 28-30 in Perth, Western Australia.

UK: Forestry Practice - Plantation Restoration on Ancient Woodland Sites Workshop- April 28

Urban Wetland Restoration Course- Halifax, Nova Scotia- April 30-May 2

Arizona: SmallWood 2012 Conference: Forest Restoration for a New Economy- May 1-3

SER-Midwest-Great Lakes: 4th Annual Meeting-May 4-6

Restoration 2012: Beyond Borders-May 15-18
 SER-NW & SER-BC's joint conference with AFS will be held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Massachusetts: Hands-On Wetlands Creation Workshop for Professionals - May 22-24

Virginia: 2012 Atlantic White Cedar (AWC) Symposium- June 12-23

Missouri: Ozark Summit 2012: Restoration in the 21st Century - June 12-14

SER-Great Basin: Post-Fire Land Restoration Workshop & Field Trip - July 12-13
The workshop will be held July 12-13, 2012 at the Best Western Airport Plaza in Reno, Nevada.

Sustainability- Special Issue Terrestrial Ecosystem Restoration-Call for Papers- Due Aug 31
Open access journal, Sustainability, is calling for papers to be submitted to a special issue entitled Terrestrial Ecosystem Restoration, due August 31, 2012. Manuscripts should be submitted online and can be submitted until the deadline. Papers will be published continuously. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited.

SER-Europe: The 8th European Conference on Ecological Restoration-Sept 9-14

 Cascais World Forum 2012: Soilbioengineering & Land Management -Call for Papers- Sept 19-22
The Cascais World Forum 2012 will be held in Cascais, Portugal. The theme of the conference is: Sustain Our Land, Water and Life in Changing Climate.

East, West, Water Defines Us All - Call for Program Submissions, Exhibitors & Sponsors-Sept 19-21
 The Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Society of Wetland Scientists chapter meeting which will be held this fall in Boise, Idaho.

EcoSummit 2012-Ecological Sustainability- Sept. 30- Oct. 5

6^th Annual Conference on Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration- Oct. 20-24

Florida: Creation and Restoration or Wetlands Workshop- November 8-10
Professional short course for practicing engineers, planners, scientists, and resource managers at the Everglades Wetland Research Park Florida Gulf Coast University.

2012 Conference Listing on the Global Restoration Network (GRN)
Check out our 2012 conference listing for a full year view of upcoming conferences and events

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

Washington: Adversarial views stifling ecosystem protection
One of WA's leading environmentalists, Richard Hobbs, has called for major improvements to the quality of public debate over environmental issues, warning a culture of adversarial views is stifling much needed action to protect the State's ecosystems.

Australia: Ash Island in the Hunter River estuary has a fascinating history
Armed with cameras, tripods and old photos, 6 volunteers took a unique approach to showing the before and after photos of the Kooragang Wetland Rehabilitation Project. With a little bit of knowledge and detective work, they were aiming to locate (in an area of 780 hectares) where the photos had been taken and re-take them in their current context.

US: Partnering to Plant Trees -- More Than Two Million of Them
Want to see what 2 million trees can do? American Forests and IKEA have created an infographic to celebrate the 2 millionth tree they've planted together since 1998 through their Plant A Tree program.

Arizona: Rural communities criticize cuts to state water grant program
The Gila River usually gurgles peacefully along Larry Barney's ranch in eastern Arizona. In 2005 floodwaters breached a 10ft levee and gushed over his fields, stripping away topsoil. One man used a $745,000 state grant to remove the levees, smooth out the riverbanks and stabilize vegetation in hopes of preventing damage when the Gila floods.

Working with communities 'best for managing fisheries'
The study, by the World Conservation Society (WCS) and ARC Centre for Excellence for Coral Reef Studies in Australia, is the world's largest field study of its kind, covering 42 different sites across the Indo-Pacific ocean , including Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Tanzania, and Papua New Guinea. The team of 17 scientists concluded that co-management was the most successful way of meeting both the livelihood needs of local communities and protecting fish stocks.

What is "Wilderness"? Why Protect it? A Mission for the Future...
"Wilderness"... What does this mean to the modern human being? Steve Boyes discusses some of the dynamics that historically protected remote "wilderness" areas in Africa and put forward some ideas about why we should care and what we need to do.

Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Anthropology and Climate Change
What are the implications for indigenous or place-based cultures facing the imminent and gradually destructive processes of climate change? There is a significant amount of literature that suggests the most vulnerable, natural resource-dependent groups of the world will disproportionately experience the harmful effects of climate change.

Canada: A Community's Hopes for Self-Sufficiency
Aliette Frank, a postdoctoral scholar at Royal Roads University, explores sustainable community development on the coast of British Columbia.

US & Canada: Impact of Climate Change On Forest Diseases Assessed
A recently published report by the USDA Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Research Station (PSW) examines the impact of climate change on forest diseases and how these pathogens will ultimately affect forest ecosystems in the Western United States and Canada.

India: Economic value of biodiversity
Biological resources (biodiversity) are the most important component of natural resources. Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety of life on Earth. In spite of centuries of research and study on biodiversity, we know only as little as less than 10 per cent of this variety. India should link economic indicators with ecological indicators to make the right development choices.

Oregon: (VIDEO) Freeing the Calapooia
This short video preview of a future documentary, Willamette Futures, is about a community based river restoration project being undertaken by the Calapooia Watershed Council in Oregon.

Pakistan: Engaging the community- PFF launches campaign for restoration of Indus River
A one-year campaign against the Bhasha Dam project, to keep the flow of the River Indus uninterrupted, has been designed by the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum. In a meeting of its governing bodies, the fisher community leaders, from Karachi to Kashmor and from Keenjhar lake to Kalankar lake in Umerkot, vowed to continue their struggle for the river's restoration.

India: Concerns over India rivers order
A supreme court order in India asking the government to link more than 30 rivers and divert waters to parched areas has sparked concerns in neighbouring countries.

The Penobscot River Restoration Project
Dam busting is a hot commodity on both the left and right coasts of North America. On December 17, 2010, the Penobscot River Restoration Trust - a joint between a number of environmental groups- purchased the Veazie, Howland and Great Works Dams on the Penobscot River in Maine at a cost of $25 millio. Phase Two of the Penobscot River Restoration Project begins with the removal of the Great Works Dam in 2012 and the removal of the Veazie Dam over a two-year period beginning in 2013.

India: Rs 243 lakh eco-restoration project for Upper Kuttanad
The soil conservation wing attached to the department of agriculture has launched a comprehensive eco-restoration scheme estimated at Rs 243 lakhs in the Upper Kuttanad region of Pathanamthitta as part of the much sought-after Kuttanad Package proposed by the Dr M.S. Swaminathan Commission.

In Dubai, Camels work to control Mangrove trees
Too many mangroves is not a good thing - at least not at the Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary in Dubai, where they were introduced in 1990. So an ecologist at Dubai's Wildlife Protection office has proposed using camels to trim back the excess canopies that have buried wader feeding areas.

86% of Louisiana Voters Support Adoption of 2012 Coastal Master Plan
86% of Louisiana voters say they want their legislators to approve the state's 2012 Coastal Master Plan, according to a new poll released.

India: Mumbai for Me- Mangrove makeovers could save greenery
Mumbai is an urban jungle blessed with close to 71 sq km of creeks and mangroves along its coastline, but the beneficiaries of this bounty - mainly us - have done woefully little to protect as well as beautify these fragile, yet important ecosystems. The Open Mumbai exhibition, has proposed to develop public spaces around creeks and mangroves.

Texas: Bastard cabbage gains ground among wildflowers
The moist, mild winter has been a boon for wildflowers as well as a rather lovely, but nasty enemy. Bastard cabbage, Rapistrum rugosum, is bullying its way along roadsides and filling fields with its dainty yellow blooms.

Iowa: Trumpeter swan restoration celebrated by wildlife experts
Iowa wildlife experts are celebrating the rebound of North America's largest water fowl. A campaign to restore the trumpeter swan to Iowa began in 20 years ago.

Minnesota: House passes $105 million Legacy funding bill
The Minnesota House on Wednesday, April 4, passed a $105 million bill that pays for an array of outdoors preservation and restoration projects with Legacy Amendment dollars.

US: Drilling fees pay for new national forest lands
Offshore drilling fees are financing the purchase of $41.6 million worth of new national forest lands in 15 states. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Thursday the 28 different purchases from North Carolina to Oregon will protect clean water and fish and wildlife habitats, absorb private inholdings within wilderness areas and support outdoor recreation spending that contributes $14.5 billion annually to the economy.

India: Indian tribe's Avatar-like battle against mining firm reaches supreme court
Dongria Kondh people pledge to carry on fight to prevent Vedanta Resources from mining bauxite in Niyamgiri hills. The leaders of thousands of forest-dwelling tribesmen who have fought for years to preserve their ancestral lands from exploitation by an international mining corporation have promised to continue their struggle whatever the decision in a key hearing before India's supreme court on Monday. On Monday the court will decide on an appeal by Vedanta against a ministerial decision in 2010 that stopped work at the site in the Niyamgiri hills of India's eastern Orissa state.

US: Study- Fungus behind bat die-off came from Europe
The mysterious deaths of millions of bats in the United States and Canada over the past several years were caused by a fungus that hitchhiked from Europe, scientists reported Monday. Experts had suspected that an invasive species was to blame for the die-off from "white nose syndrome."

Great Lakes biologists to fire underwater cannon to combat goby
Scientists will fire an underwater cannon in parts of Michigan's Grand Traverse Bay this summer, hoping to scatter the nuisance fish that eat native trout and herring eggs. The target fish -- the round goby -- has upended the food web in Lake Erie.

US: Bounty Offered on 'Fishzilla'
Dead is the only way fishery officials in the United States want to see the northern snakehead. This species of snakehead has spread along the eastern seaboard, with the bulk of sightings in the Potomac River/Chesapeake Bay region of Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia, but some also occurring in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, North Carolina and Florida. The snakehead earned all manner of epithets: Frankenfish. Fishzilla. The fish from hell.

Mexico: Lush Walls Rise to Fight a Blanket of Pollution
"We must cultivate our garden," Voltaire famously wrote at the end of "Candide," but even he could not have imagined this: a towering arch of 50,000 plants rising over a traffic-clogged avenue in a metropolis once called "Mexsicko City" because of its pollution. The vertical garden aims to scrub away both the filth and the image. One of three eco-sculptures installed across the city by a nonprofit called VerdMX, the arch is both art and oxygenator.

New York: (AUDIO) Taking a Walk on New York's Wild Side
New York City has been referred to as a concrete jungle. But researchers say it is more 'jungle' than you might think. A panel of experts discuss the plant and animal life found in city waters and green spaces. They also discuss the impact of urbanization and climate change on a city's biodiversity.

California: Can a Sustainable Town Be Built From Scratch in the Middle of Nowhere?
Travertine Point is a proposed new town that aims to house about 37,000 people, their jobs and the commercial activity to sustain their economy on the northwest shores of the deeply troubled Salton Sea in the Colorado Desert of Southern California. Long-simmering restoration plans are now looking toward development - and even controversial projects like Travertine Point - to help generate some of the likely multi-billion dollar cost of bringing this sea back to life.

Ecotourism secures Russia's forests
Bezhanitsky district in North-Western Russia is just a three-hour drive from the EU border. It hosts the largest peat bog in Europe and many unique forest and wetland landscapes. Wanting to find an alternative to income through timber harvests, an eco-trail has become one of the main attractions. People in Zevlo and Bezhanitsy villages are now employed in the hospitality business and souvenir production.

US: Your chance to vote on America's best restored beach
The American Shore & Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA) is asking its members, past BRB winners and their communities, and anyone who loves the beach to pitch in to pick the Best of the Best Restored Beaches in three categories: Urban beaches, Community Beaches and Park/Habitat Beaches.

US: USDA Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program- Closes April 23, 2012
The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is now accepting applications from private landowners and tribes for another round of funding for easement and restoration programs offered by the federal agency. Applications for the Farm and Ranch Land Protection Program (FRPP) will now run through April 23, 2012.

Texas: Emergency Forest Restoration Program- Closes April 29, 2012
The Farm Service Agency will begin accepting applications until April 29 from landowners seeking funding assistance to restore wildfire-damaged lands. Owners of nonindustrial private forestland in 16 Texas counties may be eligible for assistance if their property was damaged by wildfire last year. Landowners may receive up to a 75 percent cost-share for implementing approved Emergency Forest Restoration Program conservation practices.

NRCS Working Lands for Wildlife Imitative- 2012 Applications due April 30,2012
The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Florida is currently taking applications for technical and financial assistance on a new partnership approach to restore and protect the habitat targeted threatened and endangered species. Florida landowners can sign-up for assistance to help manage and restore habitat for the gopher tortoise. Applications are accepted year-round but eligible applications received by the application cutoff date of April 30, 2012 will be assigned a priority and ranked as needed. Applications within the priority habitat areas will receive highest consideration.

FishAmerica Foundation Community Habitat Restoration Grants-Due April 30, 2012
FishAmerica, in partnership with the NOAA Restoration Center, awards grants to local communities and government agencies to restore habitat for marine and anadromous fish species. Successful proposals have community-based restoration efforts with outreach to the local communities. 2012 FAF-NOAA Proposals Deadline: April 30, 2012

New Hampshire: Grant Funding for Wetlands Restoration and Drinking Water Protection
The Aquatic Resource Mitigation Fund grants are available for eligible wetland restoration, land protection or habitat improvement projects; and drinking water supply protection grants are available for lands in the southern I-93 corridor and Lake Massabesic Watershed. Aquatic Resource Mitigation (ARM) Fund payments are collected according to nine service areas.

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 Partnership has reached a milestone by providing grants for now more than 80 different projects in coastal areas throughout the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Restoring a total of more than 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 help make it possible for the GMF to provide more than $3 million to projects, leveraging an additional $5.5 million in non-federal support from project partners. The GMF will be offering a new round of CRP funding for 2012. Visit our website for more information on the upcoming funding opportunity.

 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.