This Week In The News
Check Out the 2010 Listing for Restoration-Related Conferences
January 27, 2010
19th High Altitude Revegetation Workshop – March 3-4, 2010
The High Altitude Revegetation Committee invites you to attend the nineteenth High Altitude Revegetation Workshop on March 3rd and 4th, 2010, at the Hilton Hotel in Fort Collins, Colorado. For over thirty years, interested people from the environmental restoration industry, academia and regulatory agencies have gathered at the biennial Workshops to learn about new techniques, products and methods for solving revegetation problems. The High Altitude Revegetation Committee, a group of professionals involved in reclamation and restoration activities, operates through Colorado State University and organizes these Workshops to educate and foster the exchange of ideas and interaction among participants.
Hawaii: Volunteers Battle Purple Plague, Whistling Frog
Like aliens in a horror movie, the velvet tree of Mexico and whistling frog of Puerto Rico are viewed as monster invaders on the Hawaiian Islands, repulsive things that threaten the native forests and disturb the locals’ peace of mind. In a recent study for the Journal for Nature Conservation, Duffy and Fred Kraus, a zoologist at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, tell how, for more than 10 years, volunteer “invasive species committees” (or ISCs) on six of the eight main Hawaiian islands have pulled together scientists, ranchers, nursery owners and lower-level state and federal officials to save Hawaii’s natural paradise.
China: Policies for an Eco-Plateau
Tibetan grasslands constitute one of the most important grazing ecosystems in the world. Since 2000, when China began its “Western Development Strategy”, the global significance of the Tibetan plateau region has been widely recognised, both as the “third pole” – a water tower upon which around 40% of the world’s population depend – and as a geographic region with a unique natural and cultural heritage. However, climate change is now leading to historically unprecedented pressures.
Florida: St. Johns Challenge: Fix Wetlands But Respect Graves
Local tribes began burying their dead along this part of the St. Johns River about 7,000 years ago, and for several millennia left behind animal bones, clam shells, broken pottery, tools and arrowheads. Now, at least three areas of concentrated remains are within a tract that spans 15 square miles west of the farm community of Fellsmere. The land, about an hour’s drive south of Orlando, is the future site of a vast reservoir to hold agricultural drainage as part of a $100 million environmental project.
UK Planning to Reintroduce Insects
When one thinks of reintroducing wildlife, one usually thinks of big charismatic mammals, such as wolves or beaver, or desperate birds like the Californian condor. But the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) in Scotland is going one step further to save the UK’s unique ecology with plans to reintroduce four species of dwindling insects.
California: Restoring Nipomo Creek Habitat
Land Conservancy members and volunteers will take another step toward restoring riparian habitat along Nipomo Creek and its tributaries when they plant 500 native trees and shrubs this month. The work is part of a larger restoration plan that will eventually result in 12,000 native plants returned to almost 7 acres of land destined to become a historical park surrounding the Dana Adobe.
The Value of ‘Ignorance’ in Restoration
Dr. Eugene Turner is a leading wetland scientist working out of the Coastal Ecology Institute at Louisiana State University. In a recent article in the journal Estuaries and Coasts, Dr. Turner argues that three historic coastal land uses in Louisiana – agricultural impoundment, marsh management, and dredging – have all led to catastrophic ecological problems because of their reliance on a knowledge-based world view in which “the intellectual landscape is flattened, the introduction of new ideas is impeded, monitoring and adaptive management is marginalized, risky behaviors continue, and social learning is restricted.” Furthermore, the rush to restore the coastal ecosystem of the state in the wake of Hurricane Katrina is following these same footsteps. Dr. Turner argues for an alternative approach to ecosystem restoration based on embracing our ignorance.
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Welcome to the GRN
The Global Restoration Network (GRN), a project of the Society for Ecological Restoration International (SER), offers the field of ecological restoration a new database and web-based portal to trustworthy and hard-to-find information on all aspects of restoration, from historic ecosystems and causes of degradation to in-depth case studies and proven restoration methods and techniques. The overriding mission of the GRN is to link research, projects, and practitioners in order to foster an innovative exchange of experience, vision, and expertise.
The GRN is fast becoming the central hub for ecological restoration – a vital resource for policymakers, professionals and communities, whether researching options for habitat restoration, writing a project proposal, coordinating volunteers, or looking for educational programs and funding. Perhaps the most exciting feature of the GRN is the database where you can make a specific query and find restoration case studies and annotated links to a wide variety of relevant resources including experts, organizations and literature. Here is a small sample of the links you will find in the GRN website and database.
CASE STUDIES
Alexander River Restoration Project, Israel
The Alexander River Restoration Project is Israel’s leading river restoration and was awarded the Thiess International Riverprize in 2003. Implemented by Israeli agencies, with cooperation and support from local Palestinian officials in an unprecedented show of solidarity, the project aims to restore a river severely degraded by untreated sewage and pollution from more than 70 sources–in both Palestinian and Israeli territory.
Restoration of the Mata Atlantica, Brazil
Instituto Terra is a non-profit organization founded in 1999 by Lélia Deluiz Wanick Salgado and the renowned photographer Sebastião Ribeiro Salgado. It is located at the Bulcão Farm in Aimorés, Minas Gerais, and it covers an area of 676 hectares.
Mangroves Restoration in Andhra Pradesh, India
This project was launched in Andhra Pradesh with the aim of inducing concerted action towards conservation and sustainable management of the mangrove wetlands on the east coast of India. The restoration employed canal techniques, instead of simple plantation of seedlings, and a fish bone pattern of canals was utilized.
ORGANIZATIONS
Earth Restoration Service takes a proactive approach to ecosystem restoration worldwide, forming partnerships with community groups, charities, NGOs, governments and businesses in support of a broad range of environmental restoration projects.
Global Partnership on Forest Landscape Restoration is a network of governments, organizations, communities and individuals who recognize the importance of forest landscape restoration and want to be part of a coordinated global effort.
European Centre for River Restoration supports the development of river restoration as an integral part of sustainable water management throughout Europe ensuring that projects will be more cost effective, more likely to succeed, and will encompass multifunctional objectives.
LITERATURE
Saltmarsh Restoration – Rebuilding Habitat with a Community Partnership
A recent project in the Tweed Estuary has shown that when the shared goal of committed stakeholders is the rehabilitation of a damaged saltmarsh ecosystem, then progress is definitely possible.
Sustainable River Restoration in Urban Streams
Based on a review of the literature, we identified candidate indicators of hydrologic alteration and ecosystem response that could be used to guide restoration. Using available biological and hydrologic data we tested candidate indicators to determine if flow-biology relationships could be identified and used as guidance in restoration programs.
The Restoration of Forests: Temperate Zone of China
The restoration of forests in the northeast and northern China, including the loess plateau, is of benefit to biodiversity conservation and the improvement of the natural environment.
VIDEO
Post Tsunami Mangrove Restoration in Sri Lanka
The video is part of the Global Nature Fund’s project to restore mangrove forests and livelihoods in Sri Lanka after the Tsunami of 2004.
Regrowing the Borneo Rainforest
By piecing together a complex ecological puzzle, biologist Willie Smits has found a way to re-grow clearcut rainforest in Borneo, saving local orangutans — and creating a thrilling blueprint for restoring fragile ecosystems.
A River Reborn: The Restoration of Fossil Creek
The inspiring rebirth of a biologically critical river in Arizona is recounted in A River Reborn: The Restoration of Fossil Creek. The one-hour documentary examines the ecological effects of a dam and hydroelectric facility on the waterway and chronicles the 15-year effort that led to decommissioning.
Click on the logo below for some great videos of coastal and salt marsh restoration projects
Science and Practice of Ecological Restoration
