Global Restoration Network

This Week In The News

SER Executive Director Search
Deadline is Friday, January 30, 2009

Statement on Ecosystem Fragmentation
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January 14, 2009

SER World Conference in Perth Australia - Call for Abstracts
For individuals interested in presenting a contributed oral or poster presentation, abstracts are now being called. Abstracts will need to address the themes listed on the conference website. On-line abstract submission guidelines and the form can be located under the abstract submission link on the conference website. Please follow the guidelines carefully, and follow the link to the abstract on-line form. Deadline for abstract submission is 4 March 2009.

New SER/Island Press Book by Hobbs and Suding
New Models for Ecosystem Dynamics and Restoration
As scientific understanding about ecological processes has grown, the idea that ecosystem dynamics are complex, nonlinear, and often unpredictable has gained prominence. Of particular importance is the idea that rather than following an inevitable progression toward an ultimate endpoint, some ecosystems may occur in a number of states depending on past and present ecological conditions. The emerging idea of “restoration thresholds” also enables scientists to recognize when ecological systems are likely to recover on their own and when active restoration efforts are needed.

Australia: Restoration Funding Rocks Nimbin
The Ngulingah Local Aboriginal Land Council will receive $1.78 million over the next five years to help restore biodiversity and traditional knowledge around Nimbin Rocks. The funding from the federal government’s Caring for our Country program will see an Indigenous project officer and seven Indigenous rangers employed to carry out bush regeneration work.

Modifying Urban Rivers to Increase Biodiversity
Urban rivers are typically heavily-engineered and polluted with degraded habitats. They are therefore a priority for biodiversity restoration. Research suggests that relatively simple modifications to river walls may potentially encourage biodiversity by significantly improving habitats for plants and animals. The EU’s Water Framework Directive requires good ecological status in surface waters by 2015, and as such it is important to encourage biodiversity in rivers and waterways. One way of achieving this is to alter the structure of a river. Naturalistic landscape features, such as meanders, are not usually an option in high-density, urban settings, where flow regulating structures are needed for flood protection.

Massachusetts: Emergency Ecological Restoration Project for Correllus State Forest
It’s always fascinating when ecological restoration becomes such a dire emergency that there is no longer time for a deliberative and thoughtful long-term scientifically peer-reviewed planning process. And instead in just a matter of a month or two big plans with little ecological merit are approved. This particular plan is not about allowing the forest to be restored to a natural ecologic balance of all ages and classes of trees both living and dead. Rather this fake-eco-think is akin to an urban landscaper removing all the unsightly dead wood because it just doesn’t look pretty enough. In truth the more standing deadwood you remove, the more unhealthy the forest will become!

UK: Restoration Plan for East Lancashire’s Peat Bogs
Restoring peat bogs in East Lancashire could do more to reduce the county’s carbon footprint than 100 wind turbines. That’s the thinking behind an environmentally-friendly scheme to give a fresh lease of life to the the South and West Pennine Moors and parts of the Forest of Bowland. If the moors can be ‘rewetted’ or revegetated, they can act as a natural carbon storage device, and could dispense with the need for controversial ‘windmills’ dotted across the countryside.

Virginia: 5 to Pay $1 Million to Restore Streams
Five companies will fund more than $1 million in stream restoration for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act during construction of a Lynchburg housing development. The U.S. Justice Department said the defendants also will pay a $300,000 penalty under a settlement that was part of a consent decree filed Wednesday.

Effect of Natural Drought Cycle and Climate Change is Restoration
The American Southwest may be drying, one of the predicted consequences of human-induced global climate change. Less water in an already semiarid region will affect how, and for what, people use water. Allen also suspects that tree dieback here may be part of a worldwide phenomenon. As temperature extremes have inched higher in semiarid regions globally, forests have succumbed to heat stress. But, at least in the Southwest, the news isn’t all bad. Over the past century, fire suppression and grazing pressure have let trees reach a greater density than in times past. But now drought and higher temperatures have, in a sense, prompted the system to reset itself.

California: The Transformation of Elkhorn Slough
One of the earliest restoration projects was performed by the Department of Fish and Game on diked pastures that are now part of the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. The department bought 1,000 acres in 1980. The dried lands had subsided below the level of the natural marsh, so engineers devised a series of islands and channels. In 1983, they broke the dikes to return tidal action, and over 400 acres of marsh were reconnected to the main channel. Today, the area hosts tens of thousands of migratory birds and is a breeding ground for leopard and smoothhound sharks. But an unintended effect was an increase in ebb-tide currents: work is under way to ameliorate their erosive power.

Rabbits Devastate Island Wildlife
The removal of cats in 2000 caused “catastrophic” damage to the ecology of a sub-Antarctic island, a study says. Since cats were removed from Macquarie Island, rabbit numbers have soared, and the animals are now devastating plants. Cats previously kept a check on rabbits but were eradicated because they were also eating seabirds, scientists relate in the Journal of Applied Ecology. The Australian government plans to eradicate rabbits, rats and mice from the island, a World Heritage Site.

Canada: Compton Funds Research to Restore Hardy Grass
For more than four years, Compton Petroleum–an energy company that made headlines in 2005 by clashing with Calgarians over sour gas development –has funded research it says could revolutionize the way regrowth of Alberta’s official grass is considered. The labour-intensive process being developed involves growing the grass in a greenhouse and then transplanting mature plugs of vegetation into affected soil. Compton government relations and media manager Duane Monea said the project started before a major controversy erupted over the company’s plan to drill sour gas wells less than five kilometres southeast of the city.

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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

River Futures: An Integrative Scientific Approach to River Repair | Edited by Gary J. Brierley and Kirstie A. Fryirs

Large Scale Ecosystem Restoration: Five Case Studies from the United States | Edited by Mary Doyle and Cynthia A. Drew

Old Fields: Dynamics and Restoration of Abandoned Farmland | Edited by Viki A. Cramer and Richard J. Hobbs

Ecological Restoration: Principles, Values, and Structure of an Emerging Profession | By Andre F. Clewell and James Aronson

Restoring the Pacific Northwest: The Art and Science of Ecological Restoration in Cascadia | Edited by Dean Apostol and Marcia Sinclair

Foundations of Restoration Ecology: The Science and Practice of Ecological Restoration | Edited by Don Falk, Margaret Palmer, and Joy B. Zedler

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.

Save The Bay’s Salt Marsh Restoration Demonstration
After four growing seasons Save The Bay’s salt marsh restoration demonstration at Fields Point is taking hold. First planted by volunteers and staff in 2004, the marsh has withstood pounding waves, relentless winds and more than a few destructive geese and swans.

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.