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SER2013
October 6-11, 2013
Madison, Wisconsin |
Renew your SER membership today so you don't miss a single issue of RESTORE! |
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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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People in the News
Chile: Farming and Restoration at the Hornopiren Farm
For almost eleven years, Hector and Nancy Oyarzun have managed the picturesque and productive Hornopiren farm, part of the Pumalin Project in Chile. Hector and Nancy began their work at Hornopiren shortly after Doug and Kris acquired the property . They had their work cut out for them: the farm was a textbook example of poor management practices, bearing the scars of poor forestry and agricultural practices, as well as illegal dumping and timber processing. After over a decade of restoration work, Hector, Nancy, and those working alongside them have transformed Hornopirén into a healthy and beautiful farm once again.
Zimbabwe: Bulawayo Man Drives Reforestation
Since starting an indigenous and citrus tree nursery at his home in 2009, tree-planting enthusiast, Kheyi Masuku of Mzilikazi in Bulawayo has not looked back. Having nursed thousands of seedling since then, Masuku distributes his seedlings to individuals and organization interested in tree planting program. Since beginning in 2009, the nurseries have spread to Nkayi and Gokwe where nearly 20,000 seedlings of both citrus and indigenous tress have been planted. |
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New Books & Articles
US: Environmental Threat Map Highlights Great Lakes Restoration Challenges
In an article published online Dec. 17 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a group led by researchers at the University of Michigan reports on an expansive and detailed effort to map and cross-compare environmental stresses and the ecological services provided by the five lakes. Their efforts have produced the most comprehensive map to date of Great Lakes' stressors, and also the first map to explicitly account for all major types of stressors on the lakes in a quantitative way. The map represents the combined influence of nearly three dozen individual stressors and is incredibly detailed for a region spanning nearly 900 miles, showing impacts at the scale of half a mile.
US Midwest: Restoring US Native Prairies, Acre By Acre, Yard By Yard
Across the US Midwest, homeowners are restoring their yards and former farmland to the native prairie that existed in pre-settlement days. The benefits can be substantial - the need for less water and no fertilizer, and an ecosystem that supports wildlife. David Read is a big guy, six-foot-two, but the grass behind him inches above the crown of his khaki fisherman's hat. With a dream of watch the grass 'swaying in the wind' from their back porch, Read and his wife have spent the last 10 years restoring their 11 acres to native prairie. Read says he might seem crazy, but if he is he has a lot of company across the US Midwest and Great Plains.
Wisconsin: Rebuilding Resilience on the Land - Ecological Restoration & the Hydrological Cycle
A farmer, taking a break from heart-rending work tilling under a failed crop in the droughty backfield, is refreshing his spirit at what has become a favorite spot. The restored prairie is blooming even while his corn is dying. This makes him glad he put that marginal 20-acre field into prairie awhile back. Maybe he should think about restoring prairie to that droughty back field too, if the government program continues. This ecological vignette stands in sharp contrast to events that unfolded on many Midwestern streams and rivers during the drought-plagued summer of 2012. The land has a built-in resiliency and ability to maintain balance. Or, at least, it once did.
Amazon Deforestation Brings Loss of Microbial Communities
An international team of microbiologists led by Klaus Nüsslein of the University of Massachusetts Amherst has found that a troubling net loss in diversity among the microbial organisms responsible for a functioning ecosystem is accompanying deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. The combination of lost forest species and the homogenization of pasture community's together signal that this ecosystem is now a lot less capable of dealing with additional outside stress. He and colleagues studied a large farm site over the past four years at the frontier where farmers drive agriculture into pristine rainforest in Rondonia, Brazil, to convert rainforest to agricultural use.
The New Frontier: Systems View of Life - Restoring Natural Capital & Sustainability
Humanity stands at the edge of a new frontier. In the 1960s and 1970s, advances in complexity theory and mathematics, coupled with dramatic advances in computing, allowed researchers and scientists to begin modeling and comprehending the predicament Earth's inhabitants now find themselves in. A linchpin of the current predicament is the collective underlying philosophy that shapes assumptions about how the world works. These operating views govern how people think and make decisions affecting their present and future. This article will trace the evolving path of this collective worldview, focusing on the latest developments in the emerging Systems View of Life. |
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Restoring Natural Capital (RNC)
Rwanda: Land Degradation Costs Rwanda U.S. $70 Million Annually
A German researcher has revealed that Rwanda loses $77 million due to land degradation every year. Mark Schauer, a scientist with German-based Economics of Land Degradation, a body that researches on the global ecosystem, further revealed that the world incurs a loss of $490bn per year in land degradation.
Brazil Launches Forest Trading System
Brazil has launched a new platform that enables farmers and ranchers who have cleared forest beyond the legal minimum to come into compliance by purchasing forest "quotas" from landowners who have more than the mandated level of forest cover, reports the Associated Press. The system could spur increased compliance with the country's Forest Code, according to some experts. The platform, launched as part of the Bolsa Verde do Rio de Janeiro (BVRio) or Rio de Janeiro Green Exchange last week, is a private, market-based system with prices determined by supply and demand. About 400 landowners pre-registered with BVRio before its launch. |
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Traditional Ecological Knowledge
Khawa Karpo: Tibetan Traditional Knowledge and Biodiversity Conservation
In their new book, "Khawa Karpo: Tibetan Traditional Knowledge and Biodiversity Conservation," Salick and Moseley detail their vital conservation programs focused on Tibetan traditional knowledge of ethnobotany, ecology and natural resource management. |
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Agro-Ecology
The Achievements of Cuba's "Ecological Agriculture"
When Cuba faced the shock of lost trade relations with the Soviet Bloc in the early 1990s, food production initially collapsed due to the loss of imported fertilizers, pesticides, tractors, parts, and petroleum. The situation was so bad that Cuba posted the worst growth in per capita food production in all of Latin America and the Caribbean. But the island rapidly re-oriented its agriculture to depend less on imported synthetic chemical inputs, and became a world-class case of ecological agriculture. |
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Biodiverity & Climate Change
Planet's Biodiversity Map Updated After 136 Years
A biodiversity map drawn up by British naturalist Russel Wallace in 1876 depicting how life evolved on our continents has been updated after 136 years. Technological advances and data on more than 20,000 species have allowed a team of 15 international researchers 20 years to map biodiversity in greater detail. The map shows the division of nature into 11 large biogeographic realms and how they relate to each other, the journal Science reports.
Reforestation Pilot in China Earns Carbon Credits
A project that has reforested 3,000 hectares of previously barren land in China's southwest Guangxi is issuing its first carbon credits under the Clean Development Mechanism. The Facilitating Reforestation for Guangxi Watershed Management in Pearl River Basin Project was the first reforestation project to be registered in the world under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which yesterday issued 131,964 temporary Certified Emission Reductions.
Democratic Republic of The Congo (DRC) Gets First Validated and Verified REDD+ Project
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has its first Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) project validated and verified under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS). The Mai Ndombe REDD+ project covers 299,645 hectares of forest that was a former logging concession in Bandundu Province, according to ERA Carbon Offsets Ltd. and Wildlife Works Carbon LLC, the companies that developed the project. ERA and Wildlife Works estimate the project - the largest to win validation and verification under VCS to date - will avoid 175 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions over its 30-year life and generate "direct benefits" for a local community of 50,000 villagers.
Malta: Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan Published
Malta's first National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan has been published by the Tourism Ministry. The national strategy, which is themed "Working hand-in-hand with Nature", defines a comprehensive framework for safeguarding Malta's biodiversity over the period from 2012 to 2020. The targets set out in the strategic document focus on the need to achieve sustainability, ecosystem restoration, biodiversity mainstreaming, climate change mitigation and higher levels of awareness for biodiversity. |
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Forest Restoration
US: Forest Restoration Creating 1,000 Jobs
The Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI) is currently the nation's largest collaborative effort designed to restore ecosystems in United States forests. The four National Forests involved with this project, Coconino, Kaibab, Apache-Sitgreaves and Tonto, are poised to see a significant change potentially affecting more than just the environment. It is also anticipated to have a viable economic impact on the communities that are intertwined with them. 4FRI team leader Henry Provencio explains that the intention of the project is to restore the ecological resilience and functionality of these 2.4 million acres of forests. The project is projected to bring in nearly 1,000 jobs over the next 10 years.
Dominican Republic: Coffee Mogul Helps National Park's Reforestation
The Environment Ministry on Thursday began distributing 100,000 coffee seedlings to boost reforestation efforts in the Los Haitises National Park's buffer zone. Environment minister Bautista Rojas headed the distribution of the first 20,000 seedlings given to growers in Monte Plata and Hato Mayor provinces, and was donated by Bani coffee mogul Rafael Perello, as part of 100,000 to be delivered.
Ethiopia/Madagascar/Haiti: Eden Reforestation Project Yielding Big Results Worldwide
The Eden Reforestation Project, a nonprofit organization founded by Steve Fitch and championed by former Santa Barbara Mayor Hal Conklin, has planted more than 50 million trees in Ethiopia and Madagascar, crossing a new threshold to combat environmental destruction and economic hardship in impoverished nations. Eden employs thousands of impoverished nationals in Ethiopia, Madagascar and Haiti. In turn, these workers plant millions of trees each year.
Montana: Forest Service Touts Success of Collaborative Forest, Habitat Restoration Program
Highlighting a lot of work in Montana, U.S. Forest Service officials are touting the success of their Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program for 2012. Projects with the CFLRP seal underwrote 156 full- and part-time jobs in the Lolo, Flathead and Lewis and Clark national forests, along with 52 miles of stream restoration, and 7,598 acres of wildlife habitat restored or enhanced. This year, 23 projects made the program. The Southwest Crown was one of just four to receive the top $4 million allocation. |
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River & Watershed Restoration
Ohio: Agency Wants to Restore 2 Eroding Islands in Ohio River
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has floated a proposal to save two undeveloped islands in the Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge that are sinking and shrinking. The islands near Midland have been severely eroded over the past 60 years by a combination of factors, including river channelization, navigation dam construction, commercial sand and gravel dredging, and heavy storm and flood flows. The innovative islands restoration project would use clean river bottom material dredged by the Army Corps of Engineers over the next five years to fill in behind rock dikes built to stabilize Georgetown and Phyllis islands. The islands, in Beaver County, are part of the 22-island refuge that stretches over almost 400 miles of the Ohio River.
Colorado: Disaster Bill Could Include State Watershed Restoration Funds
A $60.4 billion disaster appropriations bill for Hurricane Sandy relief and rebuilding now includes $125 million for restoration efforts at Colorado watersheds damaged by this summer's wildfires. Colorado Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet worked to add funding to the bill. In a statement, Bennet says the $125 million will address damaged watersheds across the country and in El Paso, Larimer, and Weld counties. |
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Grassland Restoration
UK: Graze Cattle Such As Bison to Restore British Countryside
The British countryside could be restored by cattle herds grazing such as the bison of the American plains, according to organic farmers. Graham Harvey, a farmer who used to advise the BBC on agricultural storylines in The Archers, said the countryside is being destroyed by industrial scale farms that concentrate on monoculture fields of wheat and animals in massive sheds. |
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Desertification & Arid Land Restoration
Top 10 Ways Israel Fights Desertification
Israel has gained a worldwide reputation for its ability to turn barren desert into useful and arable land. With desert covering a large part of its surface, Israel has had to quickly develop solutions for its lack of arable land and potable water. Israeli research, innovation, achievements and education on this topic now span the globe in tackling problems common to all desert dwellers. ISRAEL21c looks at Israel's top 10 advances to combat desertification, putting special focus on the work done by researchers at the Blaustein Institute. |
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Coastal & Marine Restoration
US: More Gulf Restoration Projects Coming Online
More restoration projects - valued at about $9 million - to repair damage from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Disaster are set to begin in the next months along the beaches of the Florida panhandle, Mississippi and Alabama, including habitat improvements for nesting sea turtles and seabirds. The work is part of the second phase of early restoration projects being organized by the Natural Resource Damage Assessment trustees. Altogether, BP will fund $1 billion in early restoration projects. |
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Wildlife Restoration
Netherlands: Recall of the Wild
For most of the past several millennia, Flevoland, a province which sits more or less at the center of the Netherlands, lay at the bottom of an inlet of the North Sea. A massive drainage project in the nineteen-fifties allowed Flevoland to emerge out of the muck of the former seafloor. Now, Flevoland is home to the Oostvaardersplassen, a wilderness that was also constructed, Genesis-like, from the mud. The reserve occupies fifteen thousand almost perfectly flat acres, which biologists have stocked with the sorts of animals that would have inhabited the region in prehistoric times, had it not at that point been underwater. Dubbed Rewilding Europe, the movement takes the old notion of wilderness and turns it inside out. Every year, tens of thousands of acres of economically marginal farmland in Europe are taken out of production. Why not use this land to produce "new nature" to replace what's been lost? |
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Urban Restoration
US: A Watershed Era for Urban River Restoration
Recent US population growth trends show many cities are growing faster than suburbs, reflecting shifting lifestyle choices that favor urban living. There is also a concurrent interest in restoring natural features of the urban landscape, particularly river corridors, as part of this urban living renaissance. Daylighting is being considered by many cities as a way to manage flows and water quality while simultaneously revitalizing downtowns and urban areas. The Cheonggyecheon Stream restoration in Seoul, South Korea in 2005 received significant worldwide attention. In the US, small and large cities, as well as recently many federal agencies, are getting more involved in urban river restoration. |
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Get Involved
5th National Conference on Ecosystem Restoration (NCER) - Call for Abstracts- Due Jan 7, 2013
Northern California Botanists 2013 Symposium- January 14-15
SER-MA: Pieces of the Puzzle- From Backyard Habitat to Landscape Scale- Abstracts Jan 23, 2013
SER Mid-Atlantic is planning their 2013 Conference to be held March 28-30, 2013 in College Park, Maryland. SER-MA is currently seeking papers and posters. Abstracts are due January 23, 2013.
California: 2nd Annual Rangeland Science Symposium- January 24-25, 2013
UNCCD Latin America & Caribbean Regional Media Workshop on Land Degradation- Jan 30 2013
Special Issue of Forests: "Forest Restoration and Regeneration"-Deadline February 2013
Organization for Tropical Studies: The NAPIRE 2013 Research Experience- March 2013
The NAPIRE 2013 Research Experience will take place at the OTS Biological Research Station and Wilson Botanical Gardens, Costa Rica. NAPIRE Research Mentors are most needed from the 24 of June to the 5 of august 2013, 23 June to 4 August 2014, and 24 June to 6 August 2015.
Colorado: River Crossings: Linking River Communities - March 11-15, 2013
New Mexico: National Native Seed Conference- April 9-12, 2013
SER-MWGL Chapter Meeting: 'Ecological Restoration & Sustainability' April 12-14, 2013
The SER-MWGL chapter will hold them annual meeting in Wooster, Ohio, April 12-14, 2013. The theme of this meeting is "Ecological Restoration and Sustainability - Partners for the Future". The call for proposals, workshops, and abstracts will be released in December.
International Conference on Ecology and Transportation (ICOET) 2013- June 23-27, 2013
Rwanda: Ramsar Forum - Wetlands and Livelihoods- July 8-12, 2013
Nevada: Resilient Landscapes: Planning for Floor, Drought & Fire- July 21-24, 2013
2013 International Congress for Conservation Biology- July 21-25, 2013
Vienna: 5th European River Restoration Conference- Call for Papers-Sept. 11-13, 2013
SER2013: 5th World Conference on Ecological Restoration- October 6-11, 2013
SER will hold its 5th World Conference on Ecological Restoration in Madison, Wisconsin, USA, on October 6-11, 2013. This event marks the 25th Anniversary of SER and will celebrate the conference theme of "Reflections on the Past, Directions for the Future."
SER-Texas Annual Conference- November 1-3, 2013
2012 Conference Listing on the Global Restoration Network (GRN) |
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Funding Opportunities
US DOD Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP)- Due January 8, 2013
The Department of Defense's (DoD) Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) is seeking to fund environmental research and development proposals. SERDP is DoD's environmental science and technology program, planned and executed in partnership with the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, with participation by numerous other Federal and non-Federal organizations. The Program invests across the broad spectrum of basic and applied research, as well as advanced development. Proposals responding to focused Statements of Need (SON) are requested in the following areas: environmental restoration and Resource Conservation and Climate Change among others.
NOAA: Coastal and Marine Habitat Restoration Funding Opportunities- Due February 19, 2013
NOAA's Restoration Center recognizes that healthy habitat is critical to recover and sustain fish populations. To that end, NOAA is currently soliciting applications for restoration projects that use a habitat-based approach to foster species recovery and increase fish production. The funding opportunity will focus on projects that will aid in recovering listed species and rebuilding sustainable fish populations or their prey. Awards will likely range from $500,000 to $5 million over three years. NOAA will accept one, two, or three year proposals.
NOAA Great Lakes Habitat Restoration Regional Partnership Grant- Due January 15, 2013
The principal objective of these NOAA Great Lakes Habitat Restoration Regional Partnerships is to provide federal financial and technical assistance to organizations that have the capacity and expertise to identify, evaluate, fund, and administer coastal habitat restoration projects in U.S. Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs). These projects must meet NOAA's mission to restore coastal habitats and must also support the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan.
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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