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SER2013
October 6-11, 2013
Madison, Wisconsin |
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Restoration Ecology
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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
Only Three Weeks Left! Submit your SER2013 Abstract Today - Closes May 1, 2013
SER is now accepting abstracts for oral and poster presentations at SER2013. We welcome abstracts from restoration practitioners, researchers, and advocates addressing any aspect of ecological restoration, especially those that directly relate to the conference theme, "Reflections on the Past, Directions for the Future."
SER and Island Press Student Video Contest- "Why Restore?"
In conjunction with SER2013, SER and Island Press are inviting students and early career professionals (members and non-members) to create a short 1-4 minute video describing an ecological restoration project that shows how restoration impacts the community at large. Submissions are due September 1, 2013. The top five videos will be chosen by public vote and the winner will be selected by a panel of expert judges. The winner will be announced at SER2013, will receive a $500 travel scholarship to the conference, and gain the potential to work with an Island Press publishing team to author a short E-ssential on restoration. Click here to learn full details on how to submit your prize winning video. Spread the word and get filming!
SER Member Directory
The SER Member Directory gives members access to a number of exciting functions requested by the SER community. The Directory will help you stay up-to-date with your SER membership while connecting with other members in your region and around the world. Perform targeted searches, manage and edit your profile, and privately connect with other SER members. Click here to login and get started.
Don't forget!SER Members receive a 25% off ALL Island Press book purchase. Active SER members can enter promo code 2SER to receive the discount. |
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People in the News
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New Books & Articles
Reigning the River: Urban Ecologies and Political Transformation in Kathmandu
Reigning the River illuminates the complexities of river restoration in Kathmandu, Nepal's capital and one of the fastest-growing cities in South Asia. In this rich ethnography, Anne M. Rademacher explores the ways that urban riverscape improvement involved multiple actors, each constructing ideals of restoration through contested histories and ideologies of belonging. She examines competing understandings of river restoration, particularly among bureaucrats in state and conservation-development agencies, cultural heritage activists, and advocates for the security of tens of thousands of rural-to-urban migrants settled along the exposed riverbed.
Asia: TEEB Case Study - Aral Sea Wetland Restoration Strategy
In the early sixties the Government of the former Soviet Union decided to intensify and expand its irrigation activities in Central Asia. The result has been the shrinking and salinization of the Aral Sea and reduced availability of water in the deltas of these two rivers, considerable loss of biodiversity, vegetation and fisheries, the occurrence of salt and dust-laden winds and the deteriorating health conditions because of salinization of groundwater. As a result of this problem in the Aral Sea, the World Bank coordinated the Aral Sea Program (ASP) which started the Aral Sea Wetland Restoration Project (ASWRP), it focuses on the Amu Darya delta in Uzbekistan. In their work plan, the consultants took the ecosystem services of a dynamic semi-natural wetland system as the point of departure, and used valuation of these services as a means to structure the decision making process on a future development strategy of the delta.
UCI Study Finds That Southern California Sagebrush is Better Suited to Climate Change
California sagebrush in the southern part of the state will adjust better to climate change than sagebrush populations in the north, according to UC Irvine researchers in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology affiliated with the Center for Environmental Biology. The results of their study, which appears online in Global Change Biology, will assist land management and policy decisions concerning coastal sage scrub restoration.
Garden, Park, Community, Farm
Nelson Byrd Woltz' new book Garden, Park, Community, Farm presents a selection of twelve built projects representing the firm's contemporary vision for sustainable design. The firm's innovative and highly collaborative design methods bring depleted ecosystems back to life-restoring meadows, streams, woodlands, and ponds in urban and rural settings and cultivating connections between sites and their complex regional environments. The projects range from an urban townhouse garden to an animal-friendly habitat for the National Zoo's giant pandas to a large-scale sheep-and-cattle station along the coast of New Zealand. |
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Wetland Restoration
Georgia: Owner Required to Restore 700 Acres of Swamp Damaged by Road Building
A Glynn County landowner has agreed to restore 700 acres of wetlands damaged when he illegally built two-and-a-half miles of roads and ditches across the tract off Georgia 99 near the Sterling community. Under the agreement, the owner will restore the natural flow of freshwater and replant 5,000 to 6,000 native wetland trees, including cypress. |
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River & Watershed Restoration
US: Study Urges Removal of 4 Dams on the Klamath River
The four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River that block salmon migration and cause toxic algae blooms in stagnant lake water should be removed, concludes the most comprehensive environmental study ever done on the river system that flows from Oregon through California to the Pacific. The final environmental impact statement on what would be the biggest dam-removal project in California history was released Thursday by the U.S. Department of the Interior. It supports removal of the dams: Iron Gate, Copco 1 and Copco 2 in California north of Yreka (Siskiyou County), and J.C. Boyle in Oregon. If the dams are removed 420 miles of historic habitat would open for the first time in more than a century.
Blocked Migration: Fish Ladders on U.S. Dams Are Not Effective
According to a new study, fishways on rivers in the U.S. Northeast are failing, with less than 3 percent of one key species successfully making it upriver to their spawning grounds. The research findings provide a cautionary tale for other nations now planning big dam projects. |
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Desertification & Arid Land Restoration
Canada Quietly Pulls out of UN Conventionto Combat Desertification
The Harper government is pulling out of a United Nations convention that fights droughts in Africa and elsewhere, which would make Canada the only country in the world outside the agreement. Canada signed the convention in 1994 and ratified it in 1995. Every UN nation -194 countries and the European Union - is currently a party to it. A spokesman for International Co-operation Minister Julian Fantino said in an emailed statement that "membership in this convention was costly for Canadians and showed few results, if any for the environment." |
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Coastal & Marine Restoration
Louisiana: Using Local Knowledge to Help Coastal Restoration Design
With a $500,000 grant from the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, Matthew Bethel, project manager with the UNO's Pontchartrain Institute for Environmental Sciences, and a team of others, created a method to incorporate the local knowledge of fishermen and coastal workers in Louisiana into coastal restoration projects. The project collects the daily observations and restoration priorities of local fishermen and others who work in the coastal system. Those observations are then mapped in a way that can be incorporated with the physical science map of geology, hydraulics, biology and more.
Volunteers to Build Oyster Reef on Alabama Coast
More than 700 volunteer will use 20,000 interlocking blocks to create four reefs off Pelican Point in Baldwin County on the eastern shore of Mobile Bay. Project leaders say the area has suffered from erosion and habitat loss, and the project aims to restore some of the damage. The new sections will make about 2.5 miles of reefs built using grants and private donations. The eventual goal is to construct 100 miles of reefs and to restore and protect 1,000 acres of coastal marshes and seagrass. |
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Wildlife Restoration
On the Montana Range, Efforts to Restore Bison Meet Resistance
For the last 15 years, environmentalists and Indian tribes have worked to restore herds of American bison to portions of their former home in Montana. That effort has not gone over well with some in this state, which is now dominated by cattle that eat the rich grasses that the bison once consumed. New legislation to limit the bison's numbers is under consideration in the State Legislature, stirring deep and old feelings. It is clear that wild bison, which once grazed freely by the millions before they were reduced to a handful in the 1800s, remain an emotional symbol. |
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Invasive Species
New England: Invasive European Green Crab Helps Restore Salt Marshes
It's not quite redemption, but one of most loathed invasive species in the world-the European green crab (Carcinus maenas)-has had a surprisingly positive effect on salt marshes in New England. On Cape Cod, Massachusetts, researchers found that the crab is reversing a decades-long trend of damage that another species, the purple marsh crab, has inflicted on salt marshes. Three years ago author, Mark Bertness of Brown University, noticed that cordgrass in New England salt marshes was beginning to recover. Bertness says that many ecologists have a "knee-jerk reaction to invasives" and that removing them just because they are invasive may not be the best use of limited conservation funds. Still, scientists such as Edwin Grosholz, an ecologist at the University of California, Davis, are not ready to put the green crab on a pedestal. "It may have a positive effect in New England," he says. "Its track record elsewhere is quite different."
Indiana: Notre Dame Researchers are Using New Technologies to Combat Invasive Species
A new research paper by a team of researchers from the University of Notre Dame's Environmental Change Initiative (ECI) demonstrates how two cutting-edge technologies can provide a sensitive and real-time solution to screening water samples for invasive species before they get into our country or before they cause significant damage. The Notre Dame researchers demonstrated the work with manipulative experiments in the lab for five high-risk invasive species and also in the field, using lakes already infested with an invasive mussel, Dreissena polymorpha or the zebra mussel. |
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Get Involved
Diplomado Online: "Restauración Ecológica de Bosque de Niebla"
El Diplomado Online "Restauración Ecológica de Bosque de Niebla", edición 2013, aporta herramientas y conocimientos de excelencia académica, desde las bases de la restauración para este tipo de bosque hasta las valiosas experiencias de expertos de todo el continente americano. Más información en http://pronaturaveracruz.org/ecoforestal/drestauracionbmm.php
Wisconsin: 33rd Annual Natural Landscapes Conference- April 13
Building Our Regenerative Future: A 6-Week Certificate Program - Application Due April 15
MA: Grassland Restoration: Reversing Global Warming While Meeting Human Needs- April 16
Delaware: Forest Restoration Workshop in Pike County- April 20
This three day workshop will go deep into the principles and practices of ecological restoration starting with an examination of why we restore impaired ecosystems and the ecological, personal, cultural and socioeconomic values that restoration fulfills.
Washington D.C.: Public Access to Federally Supported R & D Data- May 16 & 17
On 22 February 2013, the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) issued a memorandum to the heads of executive departments and agencies, directing them to "develop a plan to support increased public access to the results of research funded by the Federal Government." Unbiased views and comments will be heard during this meeting. The meeting will be webcast.
Minnesota: 2013 Society of Wetland Scientists Annual Meeting- June 2-3
Arizona: International Conference on Ecology & Transportation- June 23-27
2013 International Congress for Conservation Biology- July 21-25
5Th National Conference on Ecosystem Restoration (NCER) - July 9- August 2
Call for Papers - Restoration Agroforestry- Due August 16
the International Journal of Forestry Research is seeking paper submissions on the topic of restoration agroforestry.
Vienna: 5th European River Restoration Conference - September 11-13
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
SER Texas will hold its annual chapter meeting November 1-3, 2013 in Junction, Texas.
Michigan: 2014 Science, Practice & Art of Restoring Ecosystems Conference- January 2014
Quebec - Responsible Management of Peatlands: Implications of the Industrial Sector- Feb 2014
SER 2013 Conference Listing on the Global Restoration Network (GRN)
For more listings, visit SER's Calendar of Events. Posting to the Calendar is a member benefit. |
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Funding Opportunities
The Ontario government is accepting grant applications from community groups trying to carry out projects organized to clean up or protect local beaches, shorelines or wetlands. The fund provides grants to community groups for grassroots activities, such as cleaning up a beach or shoreline, or restoring a wetland to help protect and restore the ecological health of the Great Lakes. Applications for funding are being accepted until April 26. The Great Lakes Guardian Community Fund, launched in 2012, provides up to $25,000 per project to restore and protect the Great Lakes and the streams that flow into them. In 2012, 80 applicants worked on projects to improve coastal areas of the Great Lakes. Interested groups can get more details during one of the Webinars and teleconference sessions scheduled March 14 and 26 and April 10 and 18. To reserve a spot at the information sessions, interested groups should phone 416-325-4000 or email GreatLakesFund@ontario.ca.
WWF's Russell E. Train Forest Landscape Restoration Grants- Due May 1, 2013
WWF has an ambitious goal to restore 20 landscapes of outstanding importance within priority ecoregions by 2020. In order to help accomplish this goal, WWF's Russell E. Train Education for Nature (EFN) program, with generous funding from the UPS Foundation, has launched a special grant opportunity focused on Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR). Local organizations from select WWF-US priority ecoregions must meet all of the following eligibility criteria to be considered for a grant. WWF-US Priority ecoregions include: Mesoamerican Reef, Amazon, Congo Basin, Coastal East Africa, Madagascar, Eastern Himalayas, Greater Mekong, Borneo and Sumatra, Coral Triangle (www.worldwildlife.org/places). All project activities must be completed before September 1, 2013.
Pennsylvania: CFA Offering Abandoned Mine, Watershed, & Greenways Grants - Due July 31, 2013
The Commonwealth Financing Authority is now accepting applications for grants under the Act 13 Marcellus Legacy Fund Programs covering abandoned mine drainage abatement and treatment, watershed restoration and protection, water quality data, greenways, trails and recreation and orphan and abandoned well plugging programs. Applications are due July 31 and will be considered at the CFA's November 13 meeting. For more information, contact Brian Eckert or Matthew Karnell at 717-787-6245 to discuss potential projects before commencing the application process.
Sustain Our Great Lakes is a public-private partnership that works to sustain, restore, and protect fish, wildlife, and habitat in the Great Lakes basin by leveraging funding, building conservation capacity, and directing partners and resources toward key ecological issues. Administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the program is accepting applications for competitive funding to be awarded through the 2013 funding cycle. In 2013, grant funding will be awarded in three categories - habitat restoration, delisting of beneficial use impairments within Great Lakes areas of concern, and private landowner technical assistance. Approximately $5 million to $9 million is expected to be available in grants ranging from $25,000 to $1.5 million.
US: Wildlife Restoration Program- Region 5 Grants- Applications Due August 31, 2014
WR provides Federal grant funding to the 50 States, Commonwealths, and territories for the selection, restoration, rehabilitation, and improvement of wildlife habitat; wildlife management research; wildlife population surveys and inventories; land acquisition; hunter education and safety programs; coordination; development of facilities; facilities and services for conducting a hunter education and safety programs; and provisions for public use of wildlife resources.
WWF-US: EFN Reforestation Grants- Applications Due September 1, 2013 EFN, with generous funding from the UPS Foundation, has launched a special grant opportunity focused on Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR). FLR is defined as "a planned process that aims to regain ecological integrity and enhance human wellbeing in deforested or degraded forest landscapes" (WWF and IUCN, 2000.) Local organizations from select WWF-US priority ecoregions must meet all of the eligibility criteria to be considered for a grant. Applications must be completed online and submitted to the EFN Conservation Workshop Grants by September 1, 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.
USDA Conservation Reserve Program
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
The 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 are ensuring the collective success of 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. By 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 GrantsDirectory 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
Tamarisk Coalition, a non-profit advancing the restoration of riparian lands throughout the American west, posts current funding and training opportunities applicable to riparian restoration on the Riparian Restoration Connection. |
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