This Week In The News

SER International released its May 2008 Briefing Note on the “Opportunities for Integrating Ecological Restoration & Biological Conservation within the Ecosystem Approach” at the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Ninth Conference of the Parties held in Bonn, Germany, May 19-30, 2008.

The Ecological Society of America (ESA) recently endorsed the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) International’s Position Statement on Climate Change at their joint conference held in San Jose, California.

May 14, 2008

New Graduate Certificate in Ecosystem Restoration at the University of Maryland
The Graduate Certificate in Professional Studies in Ecosystem Restoration provides a unique opportunity for early- and mid-career environmental professionals to gain a high quality graduate education in the principles of ecosystem restoration, applications of these principles to ecosystem restoration projects, and specialized hands-on field-oriented electives. This certificate program is particularly relevant to the theory and practice of the conservation, management and restoration of streams, tidal and nontidal wetlands, submersed aquatic vegetation, and other  critical coastal and inland  habitats.

Principles and Guidelines for Ecological Restoration in Canada’s Protected Natural Areas
These principles and guidelines represent the first-ever Canada-wide guidance for ecological restoration practices.  In the fall of 2007, Canada’s Environment Minister as well as all Ministers responsible for parks in Canada endorsed them and agreed that they would adopt and apply them as appropriate to their particular program mandates, policies and priorities. The Principles and Guidelines result from a broad-based collaboration. They were developed by a working group chaired by Parks Canada on behalf of the Canadian Parks Council - a federal-provincial-territorial governmental forum on parks. Working group members included representatives of Canada’s federal, provincial and territorial parks and protected areas agencies, Canadian and international universities, the US National Park Service, the Society for Ecological Restoration International (SER), and SER’s Indigenous Peoples Restoration Network Working Group.

Cuba: ‘Green’ Farming Techniques to Boost Production
The application of agroecological techniques and the salvaging of traditional farming methods have revolutionised food production in rural areas along the southern edge of the Cuban capital. Cuba is currently facing the urgent challenge of boosting agricultural productivity because of the rise in global food prices. A number of farms in the outlying Havana district of Batabanó that are taking part in the Programme for Local Agrarian Innovation (PIAL) have seen improvements in their harvests and livestock.

Montana: Restoring Habitat - Lincoln Spring Creek Seeing New Life
The Lincoln Spring Creek, a troubled tributary of the Blackfoot River, is being reborn. Gurgling up from the woodlands near here, the creek runs through the ranches and farmland of the Blackfoot Valley. Once pristine, the creek has become a trampled mess in modern times, its waters muddied by cattle, depleted by irrigation and overheated by a loss of shade trees.

Maryland: Reports Reveal a Degraded Chesapeake Despite Restoration Efforts
Two reports released in April continue to paint a picture of a Bay ecosystem that remains severely degraded despite a quarter century of restoration efforts. For the second year in a row, the state-federal Bay Program partnership released its Health and Restoration Assessment report in tandem with the release of the Chesapeake Bay 2007 Report Card produced by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.

New Zealand: Grampians Replanting Tragedy and Opportunity
In Saturday’s Voices column, David Price says, I read with dismay the report that the Nelson City Council is to replant part of the Grampians with “4000 exotic trees including oak, feijoa, ash, cedar, maple and sequoia”. My disappointment is not due to the removal of pines and eucalypts or the need to reforest, but because of the astounding choice of trees for replanting. Councillors, why do you want to plant more exotics?

The Los Angeles River: Intro to a Case Study in Urban Revitalization
If there is one environmental movement that can gain near-unanimous support, it is the revitalization of visible, past human impact. Climate Change needs evidence beyond scientific fact in order to become a larger accepted issue - there is no doubt about that. But closer to home, something we at least recognize, are mistakes from past undertakings, which today, make sense to pull back in time in order to benefit the future. This is an introduction to restoration and revitalization, which go beyond just making things ‘pretty’ again; they aim to restore the integrity of once functioning ecosystems.

Minnesota: Shoreland Restoration Funding Available
A perfectly manicured lawn may be appealing curbside, but on the water’s edge it’s devastating.
Osakis lakeshore owners may be eligible for a 75 percent project grant for shoreland restoration projects. The Sauk River Watershed District (SRWD) received a grant from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to help fund these projects.

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Welcome to the GRN

The Global Restoration Network (GRN) 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 recent causes of degradation to in-depth case studies and proven restoration techniques. The overriding mission of the GRN is to link restoration projects, research, and practitioners in order to foster the creative exchange of experience, vision and expertise.

The GRN is fast becoming the central hub for ecological restoration - a vital resource for policymakers, professionals and community stakeholders alike: whether researching options for ecosystem restoration, writing a project proposal, or looking for educational programs and funding. Perhaps the most exciting feature of the GRN is the innovative 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 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. Since its inception, the institute has dedicated itself to the restoration of degraded stands of Atlantic Forest both on the farm and in the surrounding region.
 
Restoration of Dune Habitats, Denmark
Through a grant from the European Union’s LIFE program, this project sought to restore more than 8,000 hectares of dunes and dune heaths on the western coast of Denmark, fully 65% of the country’s dune area. Under pressure from several invasive species, principally Pinus mugo and Pinus contorta, the dunes were cleared using a variety of techniques and approaches. 
 
METSO Forest Conservation and Restoration, Finland
In October 2002, the Government of Finland approved the Forest Biodiversity Programme for Southern Finland (METSO). METSO was designed as a land management strategy that would bring important tracts of privately held forest into a national conservation framework. METSO centers around close cooperation with forest owners and allows programme managers to tailor a conservation strategy that suits the particular circumstances of a given owner, while simultaneously contributing to larger programme goals.
 
Potomac River Eelgrass Restoration, USA
As part of a larger effort to restore vital submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) habitat in Chesapeake Bay–primarily eelgrass (Zostera marina)–three sites in the Potomac River were chosen for replanting. After initial attempts to manually gather reproductive shoots from donor beds, project practitioners decided to employ a mechanical harvesting boat in order to improve efficiency and viable seed yields. 
 
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. This fishbone design was shown to be a more efficient method of facilitating tidal flushing than the rectangular pattern used by the Forest Department.

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

Restoring Natural Capital: Science, Business, and Practice, edited by Aronson, Milton, and Blignaut, considers the costs and benefits of repairing ecosystem goods and services in natural and socio-ecological systems.

Old Fields, edited by Cramer and Hobbs, brings together leading experts from around the world to synthesize past and current work on old fields, providing an up-to-date perspective on the ecological dynamics of abandoned land.

Ecological Restoration, by Clewell and Aronson, offers for the first time a unified vision of ecological restoration as a field of study, one that clearly states the discipline’s precepts and emphasizes issues of importance to those involved at all levels.

A Guide for Desert and Dryland Restoration, by Bainbridge, outlines the processes and procedures needed to evaluate, plan, implement, and monitor desert restoration projects.

Foundations of Restoration Ecology, edited by Falk, Palmer, and Zedler, advances the science behind the practice of restoring ecosystems while exploring ways in which restoration ecology can inform basic ecological questions.

VIDEO

Students and Teachers Restoring a Watershed
The story of STRAW - Students and Teachers Restoring a Watershed - demonstrates the multi-tiered benefits of community-based restoration. Not only is an endangered species given a new lease on life, but kids, teachers and farmers discover how working together to recover habitat knits a community while making learning fun.

Raccoon Island Restoration
Louisiana’s Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act is celebrating the progress of six coastal restoration projects, including the coastal restoration of Raccoon Island.

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.

Reweaving Shiva’s Robes
Project Arunachala has been supported by RIC since the late 1980’s. The afforestation and environmental regeneration project was initiated in 1988 by Apeetha Arunagiri and the Annamalai Reforestation Society, established to regenerate the mountain to its former forested condition.

Mending Australia’s Ancient Forest
David Yetman gets a first hand look at this ambitious project called Gondwana Link. The evolutionary process moves quickly in this environment, and new hybrids and species are discovered almost every week. Here, ecological restoration works hand-in-hand with the cultural restoration of the original owners of the land.

Jim Harris, SER's Science and Policy Working Group Chair, talks about recent efforts at Wicken Fen - a wetland nature reserve in the UK.

Old Fields (2007), edited by Cramer and Hobbs, brings together leading experts from around the world to synthesize past and current work on old fields, providing an up-to-date perspective on the ecological dynamics of abandoned land.

Ecological Restoration (2007), by Clewell and Aronson, offers for the first time a unified vision of ecological restoration as a field of study, one that clearly states the discipline’s precepts and emphasizes issues of importance to those involved at all levels.

Restoring Natural Capital: Science, Business, and Practice (2007), edited by Aronson, Milton, and Blignaut, considers the costs and benefits of repairing ecosystem goods and services in natural and socio-ecological systems.

A Guide for Desert and Dryland Restoration (2007), by Bainbridge, outlines the processes and procedures needed to evaluate, plan, implement, and monitor desert restoration projects.

Restoring the Pacific Northwest (2006), edited by Apostol and Sinclair, gathers and presents the best examples of state-of-the-art restoration techniques and projects - an invaluable reference for practitioners across North America and around the world.

Foundations of Restoration Ecology (2006), edited by Falk et al, looks at the levels of biological organization, critical concepts in ecological research, and restoration ecology research in context.

Assembly Rules and Restoration Ecology (2004), edited by Temperton et al, combines theoretical and practical aspects of restoration in a vital compendium of information and ideas.

Great Basin Riparian Ecosystems (2004), edited by Chambers and Miller, addresses restoration over a variety of scales and integrates work from multiple disciplines, including riparian ecology, paleoecology, geomorphology, and hydrology.

Ex Situ Plant Conservation (2004), edited by Guerrant et al, is the first book to address integrated plant conservation strategies and to examine the scientific, technical, and strategic bases of the ex situ approach.

The Ecological Restoration of Southwest Ponderosa Pine Forests (2003), edited by Friederici, brings together practitioners and thinkers from a variety of fields to synthesize what is known about ecological restoration in ponderosa pine forests.

Wildlife Restoration (2002), by Morrison, links restoration ecology and wildlife management in an accessible and comprehensive guide to restoring wildlife and the habitats upon which they depend.

The Historical Ecology Handbook (2001), edited by Egan and Howell, makes essential connections between past and future ecosystems, bringing together leading experts to offer a much-needed introduction to the field of historical ecology.

The Tallgrass Restoration Handbook for Prairies, Savannas, and Woodlands (1997), edited by Packard and Mutel, is a hands-on manual that provides a detailed account of what has been learned about the art and science of prairie restoration.

Restoring Diversity: Strategies for Reintroduction of Endangered Plants (1996) edited by Falk et al, is a pathbreaking work that not only unifies concepts in the field of restoration, but also fills significant technical and policy gaps.