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SER2013
October 6-11, 2013
Madison, Wisconsin |
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RESTORE is a free bi-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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SER in the News
Note on Sandy: The staff at SER were fortunate to come through the winds and rains of Storm Sandy okay. Our friends and colleagues to the north of D.C., however, were not as lucky. SER staff extend their best wishes to SER members, friends and family in Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, West Virginia, and all other states that experience devastation from this powerful storm. Please let us know how you are faring in the storm aftermath by posting on our Facebook site or sending us an email. We are thinking of you.
SER Board member James Aronson Interviews at the Rio Conventions Pavilion during COP11
James Aronson, a researcher at the Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle and Evolutive/Le Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) discusses ecosystem restoration. Calling it the "little sister of conservation", Aronson says too many people are unaware that it is possible to repair damaged and degraded ecosystems. He says that while some people are concerned that we have already "meddled" enough with the planet, we have little choice but to attempt to repair the damage we have already done. Restoration alone will not be enough however he says, instead prescribing a combination of restoration, conservation and sustainable resource use.
Don't Wait! The SER2013 Call for Proposals is Now Open
The Call for Proposals for Symposia, Workshops, and Training Courses for SER's 5th World Conference on Ecological Restoration is now open. We encourage you to review the call and submit a proposal by clicking here.
Don't forget: SER Members receive a 25% off ALL Island Press book purchases. Contact caroline@ser.org for details! |
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People in the News
New Mexico: Program Gives Felons A Chance To Rebuild Lives Through Prairie Restoring
Calvin Glenn and Pierre Johnson walked under a noon sun past clumps of cholla and scattered juniper in the Galisteo Basin Preserve south of Santa Fe recently, talking about the prairie dog paradise they would soon build. They're helping recreate the short-grass prairie ecosystem here, part of a journey to heal the land and themselves. Glenn and Johnson, both felons, are part of a program called Restoration Not Incarceration operated by the Houston-based Great Plains Restoration Council. The council, along with Santa Fe based WildEarth Guardians, is working on a long-term project to restore the prairie on the 13,000-acre Galisteo Basin Preserve.
Illinois: Couple's Dream Restored Wildlife Sanctuary Nears Completion
Almost 25 years after his death, Frank Nipper's dream is nearly a reality. Following the deaths of Nipper in 1989 and of his wife Gladys in 1995, the couple left 120 acres of their farmland to be restored to its original prairie and wetlands and serve as a wildlife sanctuary. Walking along trails mowed through the waist-high prairie grasses gives a sense of what much of the surrounding area might have looked like before farmers arrived to work the fertile land. The process of remaking the landscape has been going on for more than a decade.
Virginia: Company Launches Funding Platform for Environmental Restoration & EducationProjects
Ahyayha, Inc. announces today the launch of its website platform for funding environmental restoration and education projects. Its micro-finance model serves relatively small scale projects and provides a third way to fund ecosystem restoration - engaging individuals, businesses and organizations to fund and complete tangible projects. |
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New Books & Articles
What's Wrong with Putting a Price on Nature?
The concept of pricing ecosystem services and allowing them to be bought and sold has gained wide acceptance among conservationists in recent years. But does this approach merely obscure nature's true value and put the natural world at even greater risk?
Why Are Environmentalists Taking Anti-Science Positions?
On issues ranging from genetically modified crops to nuclear power, environmentalists are increasingly refusing to listen to scientific arguments that challenge standard green positions. This approach risks weakening the environmental movement and empowering climate contrarians.
Oregon: A Quick Guide for Creating High-Quality Jobs through Restoration on National Forests
This guide from the Ecosystem Workforce Program at the University of Oregon provides techniques for increasing local economic benefit and job creation from restoration using existing authorities and programs.
Oregon: Developing Socioeconomic Performance Measures for the Watershed Condition Framework
This report outlines strategies for developing new social and economic performance measures related to the Forest Service's Watershed Condition Framework and restoration on public lands more generally. The proposed performance measures make use of data the Forest Service already collects, and "score cards" that allow local units and their partners to monitor progress in the areas of adaptive capacity, economic benefit, and social equity. We hope that this report will help the Forest Service and their partners develop local performance measures and monitoring frameworks to track the social and economic impacts of their efforts. Over time, we hope this report will also foster a national dialogue about how to measure social and economic outcomes of restoration on public lands. |
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Restoring Natural Capital (RNC)
50% in 10 Years: A New Global Collaboration to Restore Fisheries
One billion people in the world depend upon fish for their primary protein. Representatives of 30 organizations are designing a global collaboration to bring 50% of fish and fisheries within sustainable management in 10 years. Economists at the World Bank estimate that the benefits of reform would add at least $20bn (£12.45bn) annually to the global economy. The Prince of Wales' International Sustainability Unit recently commissioned a set of 50 global case studies and among the lessons is one clear message: we know what to do in order to manage our ocean resources wisely, and good management pays. |
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Traditional Ecological Knowledge
Irrititja - The Past: Antikirrinya History from Ingomar Station and Beyond
Wanting to develop a simplified process of writing Pitjantjatjara/Yankunytjatjara language and document the tjamula kamila arangka, 'the ways of the grandparents,' authors Ingkama Bobby Brown and Dr. Petter Atilla Naessan worked together to produce 'Irrititja- The Past.' Antikirrinya elder Ingkama Bobby Brown was taught traditional language by family members as he grew up in South Australia and was taught by the late ethnomusicologist Cath Ellis at the University of Adelaide. Dr. Petter Naessan, a linguist from Norway who is now a Research Associate in Linguistics at the University of Adelaide, worked with Brown at the university for many years before collaborating the produce this new work. |
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Agro-Ecology
Philippines: 31,000 Agro-Forestry, Native Trees Planted in Central Visayas
A total of 31,466 agroforestry and native tree species were planted as of third quarter this year by mining firms as their contribution to the implementation of the Philippine national greening program (NGP) in Central Visayas. The recent Executive Order aims to ensure the establishment of 34,000 hectares of reforestation areas outside of mining contract or permit areas, within three years from 2011-2013. Approximately 1,050 hectares were reforested since 2001 within the mining contract area.
India: Only Ecological Restoration Can Lead to a Sustainable Second Green Revolution
Dr. Dhrubajyoti discusses the relationships between ecological restoration, agriculture, and business in India. Any talk about the multi-core program to usher in the second Green Revolution should be prefaced with two questions. Who decided that the country should have a second Green Revolution? Who decided how would it be achieved? If an ecosystem is so seriously damaged that its functions and services are no longer available in a manner so as to continue its sustainability, the first imperative is restoration. How does one restore the agricultural ecosystems of West Bengal damaged by the overuse of agrochemicals? Restoration has to be accepted as a challenge to help the farmers for regaining the sustainability of Indian agriculture. |
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Forest Restoration
President Dilma Rousseff has vetoed nine items of the Forestry Code approved by Congress in September. One of the vetoes cancels amnesty for those who cleared the rainforest illegally. The main thrust of the vetoes removes the flexibility that lawmakers had wanted for landowners who are required to restore forests on permanent preservation areas along riverbanks. Rousseff returned to the law the so-called rule of "ladder," which imposes higher recovery obligations on landowners with larger properties. The "ladder" determines that farmers will have to recover between five and 100 meters of native vegetation on permanent preservation areas along riverbanks. The size of each reforestation area will depend on the property size and the width of the rivers that cut through the property.
We've had our differences - but we're behind you now. That's the message in a resolution adopted by the diverse group of environmentalists, loggers and local officials supporting the U.S. Forest Service's controversial choice of a private contractor to launch the landmark 4-Forest Restoration Initiative. The resolution by the 4FRI Stakeholder's Group acknowledged the "concerns" expressed about relying on Pioneer Forest Products to thin 300,000 acres of overgrown forest in the next 10 years. |
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Wetland Restoration
US: Slow-Moving Atchafalaya River Beats Mississippi At Building Wetlands, New Study Confirms
A new study released this week confirms what coastal restoration scientists have thought all along: The slow-moving Atchafalaya River does a better job of building wetlands during major floods than the Mississippi River, which moves at a much faster pace and dumps most of its sediment into the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The study, which was published as a peer-reviewed letter in the online edition of Nature Geoscience, used satellite data and ground sampling to measure the effects of last year's record-breaking flood into the Atchafalaya River Basin. The study's results confirm that the state's plans to build diversions along the Mississippi River's banks.
California: Big Sears Point Marsh Restoration Gets $4.2 Million Boost
With $4.2 million in new funding, the Sonoma Land Trust is set next year to begin an ambitious project to restore wetlands and provide public access to nearly 1,000 acres of former farmland along San Pablo Bay. The land trust estimates it will spend about $18 million to return the former hay and wheat fields to marshes.
India: Eco-Restoration of Chilika Lake Wetlands Reckons as an International Role Model
Odisha Chief Minsiter Naveen Patnaik recently said that the eco-restoration of Chilka Lake and its catchments will be a role model for other wetlands the world over. The restoration approach adopted by Chilika Development Authority is emerging as the most appropriate and successful wetland restoration model for coastal wetlands within the country as well as the region. Chilika Lake is first from Asia to be removed from Motreux Record due to successful restoration by Ramsar Convention.
Hawaii: Kawainui Marsh Environmental Restoration Project
The summer of 2012 marked the groundbreaking for the Kawainui Marsh Environmental Restoration Project, the result of decades of collaborative efforts between Kailua residents, community groups, and government officials and agencies on the City, State, and Federal levels. The project will create 11 wetland pond cells within 37 acres at the mauka end of Kawainui Marsh. |
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River & Watershed Restoration
Peru, South Korea Join Efforts on Rimac River Rehabilitation
Peru and South Korea have signed an agreement for the rehabilitation and development of Rimac River, which is the most important source of potable water for the Lima and Callao Metropolitan Area. South Korea has recovered its rivers in a record time of 15 years due to a strong investment in river restoration projects.
Sewer Discretion Is Advised: Explorers Find Hidden Wonders In Urban Waterways
Most urban streams and creeks are hidden from sight - but a growing network of urban explorers, who sometimes call themselves "drainers," are sneaking into the storm sewers and aqueducts to rediscover these long-hidden waterways. They're finding lush forest groves among the concrete ditches and waterfalls and grand vaulted grottoes in underground sewers. Their photography and field notes remind residents that the rivers and streams that nursed their cities' early growth still survive below the pavement, and are still worthy of appreciation - maybe even restoration. Now, not one, but two new documentary films follow this small subculture of urban river enthusiasts, and celebrate the outsized impact of their civilly disobedient urban river expeditions. |
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Grassland Restoration
Melghat Tiger Reserve (MTR) in Amravati district, one of the oldest tiger reserves in India established in 1973, has unique and excellent grassland meadows, said CR Babu, an eminent scientist and expert in grassland development from Delhi University. The Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Ecosystems of Delhi University and Centre of Excellence of Ministry of Environment and Forest are working jointly towards grassland development, eradication of invasive weeds and habitat restoration in Melghat. |
Lake Restoration
Florida: Declares War on Pollution of Two of the Region's Largest Lakes
Central Florida formally declared war last week on pollution that has long spoiled two of the region's biggest and most visible lakes, as well as a third, large lake in a rural setting. But don't expect dramatic improvements soon for lakes Monroe, Jesup and Harney. Officials think it might take 15 years just to halt the phosphorus and nitrogen pollution that continually spills into those bodies of water from street gutters, septic tanks and agricultural fields. |
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Coastal & Marine Restoration
Eastern and southern coastal areas of South Korea have been damaged multiple times since the early 1970s. The ocean's ecology has been threatened with declines in marine fauna, leading to a reduction in income from fishing. POSCO has been working with the Research Institute of Science and Technology (RIST) for more than 10 years to restore the marine environment using steel slag, an environmentally safe by-product of its iron and steel making processes. The company has built steel-slag sea forests in over ten coastal areas in the east and south seas that have proved to be highly effective in terms of enhancing the marine environment for biodiversity.
Sweden's Only Coral Reef at Risk of Dying
Sweden's only remaining cold-water coral reef, the Säcken reef in the Koster Fjord, is under threat of extinction. Because of that, researchers from the University of Gothenburg have started a restoration project where healthy corals from nearby reefs in Norway are being removed and placed on the Säcken reef. "We've known since the mid-1920s that cold-water coral reefs exist here in Sweden," says marine biologist and researcher Mikael Dahl. "At that time, corals could be found in three locations in the Koster Fjord. Today, only the Säcken reef remains, and it's in poor condition."
Maine Restores Undersea Plants to Protect Economy
For generations, Mainers have scoured the depths of this bay for pleasure and profit. Jane Disney, a scientist at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, estimates that around 80% of Frenchman Bay's underwater eelgrass has disappeared since 1996, primarily from activities such as raking for clams or mussels. Below the water's surface, Disney and groups of volunteers have placed flat metal grids, about 2 feet square, on the bay surface. About a thousand eelgrass plants per year are introduced into the subtidal zone through this method. "Some said that restoration would cost $250,000 per acre," she said, "We've spent, maybe, tens of thousands."
New York: (Documentary) Shellshocked: Saving Oysters to Save Ourselves
Shellshocked: Saving Oysters to Save Ourselves, a documentary premiered Wednesday Oct 17th in New York, follows the rise and fall of the region's oysters. While the film zooms in on the gloom and doom of the bivalve's century-long plight, it doesn't dwell there. Instead, Shellshocked delves into the efforts to bring oysters back to the Hudson. Scientists recently declared the wild oyster reef as the most severely impacted marine habitat on earth, and an estimated 85% of natural beds worldwide have disappeared.
Seagrass Restoration Project in Jamaica Completed
A US marine environmental firm has finished a seagrass restoration project in Jamaica. The project for Jamaica's National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) is part of a €4.3 million (£3.34 million) Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction initiative. CSA International assisted NEPA in transplanting 692 planting units consisting of two types of seagrass, shoal grass and manatee grass, over 1,000 square metres. |
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Wildlife Restoration
In Scotland's Search for Roots, A Push to Restore Wild Lands
As Scotland asserts its identity and its autonomy, environmentalists are working to restore its denuded landscape - planting native forests, creating wildlife corridors, and reintroducing species that were wiped out centuries ago. The last wolf in the British Isles was said to have been killed in Scotland in 1743. Auroch, the enormous wild bovine that once roamed the Isle, is extinct. The European elk was wiped out several thousand years before the Romans arrived; lynx and brown bear were gone by 500 AD; wild boar by the end of the 13th century. Beaver went missing 400 years ago. Biologists, activists, and hill walkers dismayed at the monotony of the landscape, tantalized by tales of budding ecological restoration projects around the world, have seen it in their minds' eye and are plotting its return.
UK: Dorset Wildlife Trust to Protect 'Wet' Woodlands
Rare bats, bugs and plants in Dorset are set to benefit from a winter woodland project. Seven "wet" woodlands, which lie on marshy ground, will be restored along the Frome and South Winterborne rivers. Restoration work will also be carried out at several woods in Purbeck and 1,500 native trees will be planted at Horselynch Plantation, near Weymouth.
Minnesota: Hunting Season Threatens Already Fragile Wolf Restoration Program
Residents here know all too well that Minnesota's wolf restoration is fragile. These animals all but disappeared, and it took 38 years for the population to recover. Wolves are a storied part of our northern heritage -- the living symbol of wilderness. They are an apex predator. Most Minnesotans don't want wolves to be hunted, any more than they want eagles to be shot. More than 75% of respondents to a Department of Natural Resources survey taken earlier this year opposed the season that is scheduled to commence Nov. 3. |
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Extractive Industries
Regional Energy, National Solutions: A Real Energy Vision for America
This report provides an alternative vision to energy independence on foreign oil, creating jobs, and strengthening the American economy. The report also focuses on non-fossil-fuel-driven economic development strategies in six major regions of the country. For the Gulf Coast, however, the author focuses on the critical need to restore economically important coastal wetlands, which provide vital ecosystem services as storm surge buffers, pollution filtration systems, and fisheries nurseries.
India: Mining Legacy: Almost 93 Gaping Pits
Deep scars of half-a-century of mining activity are likely to haunt the state for a long time, as the prospects of restoring the degraded environment appear remote and near-impossible. While iron ore production was slower in the first few decades since the 1940s, the boom in ore exports, largely to China, triggered more frenzied excavation in the state's 700-sq km mining region in the last few years. Around 300 million tons of Goa's earth was scooped out and shipped away from the 93 mines in the last decade alone of the 60-year-old industry. A Sesa Goa mining official says the firm has reclaimed its Sanquelim mining site and turned it into an ideal habitat for wild animals, birds, butterflies and insects. |
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Urban Restoration
Michigan: Greening Of Detroit Aims To Create 600 Jobs With Reforestation Grant
The Greening of Detroit has received $300,000 worth of grants that should enable the Corktown-based nonprofit to plant more than 2,000 trees and create about 600 jobs for young people in the Motor City. "The trees have the ability to stabilize neighborhoods and reduce crime," says Dean Hay, director of green infrastructure for the Greening of Detroit. "They can also, when properly planted, shrink your energy bills." The reforestation grants will also help the Greening of Detroit combat storm water runoff and other environmental hazards that can harm the Great Lakes basin.
Maryland: Event Marks Transformation Of Polluted Baltimore Waterfront Into Preserve
Some Baltimore school children are joining federal and state officials in celebrating the transformation of a polluted south Baltimore waterfront into an environmental preserve. The 11-acre nature area is part of a $22 million project to restore one of Baltimore harbor's most polluted areas. More than 60,000 tons of trash and debris dating back more than a century have been removed, along with invasive plants and sickly trees. The area is being replanted with native trees, shrubs and wetland plants. |
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Get Involved
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Funding Opportunities
NOAA: Community-based Marine Debris Removal Grant- Closes November 1, 2012
In cooperation with the NOAA Restoration Center, the NOAA Marine Debris Program offers funding that supports locally driven, community-based marine debris prevention and removal projects. These projects benefit coastal habitat, waterways, and wildlife including migratory fish. Projects awarded through this grant competition have strong on-the-ground habitat components involving the removal of marine debris and derelict fishing gear, as well as activities that provide social benefits for people and their communities in addition to long-term ecological habitat improvements for NOAA trust resources.
Minnesota: Funding Available for Shoreland Vegetation Projects- Due November 9, 2012
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is making $225,000 available for grant proposals for restoring native aquatic habitat across the state. Individual grant requests can range from $25,000 to $100,000. This program provides cost share grants to counties, cities, watershed districts, other local units of government, conservation groups and lake associations to conduct aquatic habitat restoration projects with native plants to improve fish and wildlife habitat. Grants recipients will be reimbursed for a maximum of 75 percent of the total project costs. Applicants must be able to fund at least 25 percent of the total project costs from non-state sources.
Vermont: Offers $120,000 In Watershed Grants- Due December 7, 2012
The state of Vermont is taking applications for grants to help protect and restore the state's watersheds. This year, $120,000 is available for grants of up to $15,000. The money is available to municipalities, government agencies and nonprofit and citizen groups for work such as protecting or restoring water quality, shorelines or fish and wildlife habitats. The deadline to apply is Dec. 7. An application guide and forms are available on the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources web site.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) requests interested entities to submit restoration, research and Regional Project proposals for the restoration of the Great Lakes Basin fish and wildlife resources, as authorized under the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act (16 USC 941c). The purpose of the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act (GLFWRA) is to provide assistance to States, Indian 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. Pre-proposals and Regional Project proposals are due on Monday, December 17, 2012 by 9:00 PM EST.
US: Whole Watershed Restoration Initiative (for OR, WAS & ID)- Due December 17, 2012
The Whole Watershed Restoration Initiative is a public-private competitive grant program that focuses on salmon habitat restoration efforts in areas of high ecological importance in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Started in 2007, the Whole Watershed Restoration Initiative (WWRI) is a partnership between Ecotrust, the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, USDA Forest Service, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration Restoration Center, the Bureau of Land Management and the Natural Resource Conservation Service. Each of the state and federal agency partners contributes restoration dollars to the Initiative. Ecotrust then makes this pooled fund available as grants to local groups for on-the-ground restoration work. Proposals for 2013 funding are now being accepted. Applications are due by December 17, 2012 at 5:00 pm PST.
Washington State Urban Forestry Restoration Project- Due December 31, 2012
The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is providing assistance to local governments starting in Clark, King, and Pierce counties that want to improve the health of their urban forests. Other cities or counties may apply for the same type of projects. The Urban Forestry Restoration Project is an exciting opportunity to increase the health of urban forests in the Puget Sound Basin and southwest Washington areas. The project will help to enhance effectiveness of urban forests in managing stormwater and improving water quality. DNR's Urban and Community Forestry Program will provide crews from Washington Conservation Corps (WCC) and Puget SoundCorps to assist city and county governments with urban forestry activities that help restore urban forests. Projects may be submitted for assistance through December 31, 2012. All projects must completed by June 30, 2013.
US: DEP Grants to Restore & Protect Coastal Zones in Pennsylvania- 2013 Applications Open
The Department of Environmental Protection has awarded more than $900,000 in annual coastal zone management grants to organizations dedicated to protecting and preserving Pennsylvania's coastal zones along Lake Erie and the Delaware Estuary. The agency is now accepting applications for 2013. Coastal zone management grants support programs that measure the impact of various pollution sources; improve public access; preserve habitats; and educate the public about the benefits of the state's coastal zones.
US: Conservation Reserve Program Initiative to Restore Grasslands, Wetlands and Wildlife
USDA's CRP has a 25-year legacy of successfully protecting the nation's natural resources through voluntary participation, while providing significant economic and environmental benefits to rural communities across the United States. Rather than wait for a general sign-up (the process under which most CRP acres are enrolled), producers whose land meet eligibility criteria can enroll directly in this "continuous" category at any time.
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 Funding for the 2012 cycle of the Gulf of Mexico Foundation's Community-based Restoration Partnership (CRP) is now available. The CRP 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.
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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