Ecosystem Restoration

Europe's and the world's first vertical farming startup for threatened or endangered tree species as well as important crops or plants develops further concepts for energy and resource-saving species conservation, climate and environmental protection. Botanical gardens, national parks and nature reserves are invited to join the Greening Deserts Species Rescue CES-RPP, Greening Camp and the Trillion Trees Initiative and related projects. The emergency program and projects to save species, restore biodiversity and ecosystems need international support. The goal is to save more than 300 tree species from extinction by 2025 - for example through professional tree breeding, seed storage, distribution and joint tree planting activities. Some international species protection, climate protection, nature conservation and environmental protection organizations have already showed their interest. We are looking forward to new partners in the future to master one of the biggest tasks and challenges of the decade. Reducing species extinction by mitigating its causes and promoting global biodiversity is at the forefront, also in urban regions and cities! With the Urban Greening Camp, the Urban Greening Network for healthier and greener cities was launched - many have followed the good example.

Species extinction, climate change, environmental degradation from monocultures, forestry and agriculture are increasingly evident. Droughts and heat waves have made many impacts and causes clearly visible. The problems with old bad habits or systems such as excessive deforestation, draining, pollution,and destruction by agriculture or monocultures in rainforests or similar ecosystems rich in biodiversity and crops are complex. Yet solutions can be very simple - as explained in these and other articles. New techniques, technologies, products or services are not always necessary, but can of course accelerate and / or improve sustainable developments. Greening Deserts has over the years presented good solutions to many of these world problems - such as really effective developments and sustainable solutions to stop deforestation by monocultures. Diverse concepts for desert greening, tree planting campaigns, urban greening, vertical agriculture and innovative project developments like the Greenhouse Ship show great possibilities and potentials how to combine biodiversity conservation, ecosystem restoration, productive eco-agriculture and eco-forestry.

Eradications of invasive species often have striking positive effects on native biota. However, recent research has shown that species removal in isolation can also result in unexpected changes to other ecosystem components. These secondary effects will become more likely as numbers of interacting invaders increase in ecosystems, and as exotics in late stages of invasion eliminate native species and replace their functional roles. Food web and functional role frameworks can be used to identify ecological conditions that forecast the potential for unwanted secondary impacts. Integration of eradication into a holistic process of assessment and restoration will help safeguard against accidental, adverse effects on native ecosystems.

En el presente documento se evalúa el Protocolo Distrital de Restauración Ecológica publicado por la Secretaría Distrital de Ambiente, identificando las debilidades y fortalezas, así como las oportunidades y amenazas, no solo en cuanto a la estructura, calidad y actualización de su contenido, sino también reconociendo el nivel de divulgación y el uso que le dan a este documento otras entidades. Este análisis permite identificar las razones por las cuales documentos como el Protocolo pueden ser de gran utilidad pero su implementación se ve limitada por la falta de coordinación interinstitucional y el bajo nivel de confianza para compartir información entre entidades, evidenciando la necesidad de mejorar los sistemas de gestión de información y los mecanismos de control para lograr los objetivos de restauración ecológica propuestos por las políticas ambientales distritales y nacionales. Palabras clave: Gestión ambiental urbana, restauración ecológica, coordinación interinstitucional, gestión de la información.

Abstract
This document evaluates the Ecological Restoration Protocol published by the Environment District Office, identifying the weakness and strengths, and also the treats and opportunities, in not only the content structure, quality and update, but also recognizing the level of use and knowledge given by other organizations. This analysis allows to identify the reasons why documents like the Protocol, might be useful but their implementation is limited by the lack of interagency coordination and the low levels of trust to share information between organizations, showing the need to improve the information management and control mechanism to accomplish the restoration goals that have been proposed in national and local environmental policies.

Willems-Braun social objects (Frankenberg and Mani 1993). 'Postcoloniality,' after all, appears quite different when applied to different social groups within now-independent white settler colonies like the US, to the mestizaje of Latin America or to indigenous peoples in Canada or ...

Over historical time the vegetative cover and evolutionary biodiversity of the Sinai has been in large part lost. Imagine the importance if it were possible to restore the region to ecological health. Click on the link to KOSMOS Journal to read the article.

Analysis of Earth Observation (EO) data, often combined with Geographical Information Systems (GIS), allows monitoring of changing land cover dynamics which may occur after a natural hazard such as a wildfire. In the present study, the vegetation recovery dynamics of one such area are evaluated by exploiting freely distributed EO data and GIS techniques. The relationships of re-growth dynamics to the topographical characteristics of the burn scar are also explored. As a case study, a typical Mediterranean ecosystem in which a wildfire occurred during 2007 is used. Vegetation recovery dynamics of the whole area under the burn scar were investigated based on chronosequence analysis of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) derived from anniversary Landsat TM images. The spatio-temporal patterns of post-fire NDVI on each image date were statistically compared to the pre-fire pattern to determine the extent to which the pre-fire spatial pattern was re-established and the recovery rate. The relationships between NDVI as an expression of recovery rates and aspect were also statistically investigated and quantified using a series of statistical metrics. Results suggested a generally low to moderate vegetation recovery of the local ecosystem five years after the fire event, with the post-fire NDVI spatial pattern generally showing a gradual but systematic return to pre-fire conditions. Re-growth rates appeared to be somewhat higher in north-facing slopes in comparison to south facing ones, in common with other similar studies in Mediterranean type ecosystems. All in all, this study provides an important contribution to the understanding of Mediterranean landscape dynamics, and corroborates the usefulness particularly of NDVI in post-fire regeneration assessment via a well-established methodology which can also be transferable to other regions. It also provides further evidence that use of EO technology which combined with GIS techniques can offer an effective practical tool for mapping wildfire vegetation dynamics and ecosystem recovery after wildfire.

In Aotearoa/New Zealand landscapes were personified by the Indigenous Māori through the contention that the relationship with the land forms the basis of their existence, where everything visible and invisible, tangible and intangible is inseparable. However, in the current context, cultural and ancestral landscapes have been desecrated by growing demands from colonization, capitalism, urbanization, and globalization. This article explores the potential for reinstating the ideologies associated with traditional Indigenous knowledge and the intricacies of interconnectedness between environments and people for improved health and wellbeing. It examines new ways of integrating Māori knowledge in design to expand the concepts of belonging, identity, quality of life and place. Taking a case study approach, it focuses on an infested waterway that meanders through a regenerating valley system at the heart of Wellington, the capital of Aotearoa/New Zealand. The study encapsulates the notions of ki uta ki tai (to the mountains to the sea) and hīkoi (traditional form of walking and talking with the land and exhuming meaning) and looks at healing remaining endemic ecologies in an attempt to recreate identity and sense of belonging. It hereby assists in reconnecting Māori and connecting non-Māori to their natural surroundings, following bicultural and Indigenous constructs.

This interview was done on the Loess Plateau with Jürgen Vögele, the Senior Director for Agriculture at the World Bank in 2004.  It remains one of the high points of my documentation of the Loess Plateau. I'm putting this online because I find it so important that all who have the opportunity should see it.

As the United Nations launches its Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030), it is timely to recall a champion for the cause with 'runs on the board'. His was a bold vision and the boldest of experiments in Australian conservation history. Exclude feral animals from Australian land and facilitate the recovery of the landscape to an ecologically balanced state. The feral-exclusion would be via feral-proof fences-steel mesh fencing high enough to stop ferals jumping over it, and buried deep enough to stop ferals burrowing under it. The key targets for exclusion were cats and foxes. The grand experiment in rewilding Australia is told in a new book: A Vanishing Kind: A Memoir of Dr John Wamsley in Conversation (Wamsley & Davey, 2020). It is the story of the vision of John Wamsley, the man-in-the-cat-hat, and the publicly listed company he founded to reify his vision, Earth Sanctuaries Limited (ESL). The play out of the bold experiment is told irreverently and in a conversational style. The book is easy reading. Dr John Wamsley bought an ex-dairy property at Mylor, on the outskirts of Adelaide, South Australia, in 1969. He set to work fencing it-with a feral-proof fence-and re-populating it with Australian native flora and fauna.

tSix large-scale wetland restoration case studies are presented here, three of which relate to ecologicalengineering of coastlines, and three of which relate to large-scale watershed improvements that in turn lead to improvement of downstream aquatic ecosystems. All of these case studies suggest that there is much more to restoration than returning a system to what it was before, particularly given the drastic changes to the physical and chemical environment.

Floodplain ecosystems of the southeastern United States provide numerous services to society, but hydrologic and geomorphic alterations, agricultural practices, water quality and availability, and urban development continue to challenge restorationists and managers at multiple spatial and temporal scales. These challenges are further exacerbated by tremendous uncertainty regarding climate and land use patterns and natural variability in these systems. The symposium from which the papers in 2009 ensued was organized to provide a critical evaluation of current natural resource restoration and management practices to support the sustainability of floodplain ecosystem functions in the southeastern United States. In this paper we synthesize these concepts and evaluate restoration and conservation techniques in light of our understanding of these ecosystems. We also discuss current and future challenges and attempt to identify new approaches that may facilitate the long-term sustainability of southeastern floodplain systems. We conclude that integration of disciplines and approaches is necessary to meet the floodplain conservation challenges of the coming century. Integration will not only include purposeful dialogue between interdisciplinary natural resource professionals, but it also is necessary to sincerely engage the public about goals, objectives, and desirable outcomes of floodplain ecosystem restoration.

Approaches and instruments focusing on market mechanisms and private enterprises are increasingly promoted to mitigate and resolve global environmental and developmental problems. In this context, private protected areas have been created in varying forms worldwide, providing new instruments aiming at the protection and restoration of forests and biodiversity. In Indonesia, Ecosystem Restoration Concessions (ERC) have been developed as a market-oriented governmental instrument to counter current deforestation and degradation processes in production forests, and to restore forest ecosystems in logged-out concession areas.
Conservation organizations as well as state authorities and development organizations conceive of ERCs as a highly promising instrument for nature conservation in Indonesia, and in other countries as well. Development cooperation and official development assistance (ODA) have been crucial for the establishment of ERCs in Indonesia. To start these enterprises requires considerable capital expenditure which largely comes from development assistance. At the same time, ERCs provide appealing possibilities for governmental development aid organizations to conveniently distribute growing public funds dedicated for nature conservation and climate protection. Experiences with ERCs are still very limited, however, their impacts so far are ambivalent, and their viability is uncertain. The implementation of ERCs in Indonesia has been controversial, and their effects on forests and forest-dependent communities are fiercely disputed in national and transnational discourses.
This chapter explores these conflicts and disputes focusing on the Harapan Rainforest Project, and weighs the relevance of ERCs for German development cooperation. The implementation of such market-oriented instruments according to international standards regarding nature conservation, the rights of indigenous and local populations, as well as sustainable development is highly challenging. Looking at the experiences with the Harapan ERC so far, it is necessary to improve the transparency and accountability of such projects, warrant the free and prior information and consent of affected people, and secure the active participation and benefit of local communities. It is also necessary to establish independent and easily accessible facilities for mediation and conflict resolution in the course of the planning and implementation of such projects by default. With regard to the conceptualization and planning of forest related development cooperation, it is furthermore needful to reconsider prevailing mindsets. A reconsideration and exploration of such cognitive frames, which significantly determine the perception of forest related problems and the choice of strategies for their solution, is required to be able to decide more deliberately and efficiently about the most appropriate strategies and instruments in forest related development cooperation.

What actions must be undertaken by hotels and related businesses involved in the tourism value chain to restore ecosystems and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals? 84 university students across four universities, two dozen experts and lecturers collaborate for 24 hours – The Highlights.
June 2021- Under the tag line “Connect. Inspire. Collaborate.” the third edition of the 24hr Sustainable Hospitality Hackathon took place ahead of the World Environment Day on June 2-3, 2021.
84 hospitality, tourism and natural science students from four universities (IU International University of Applied Sciences (DE), Hotel Management School Maastricht (NL), Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne (CH)  and the Julius Maximilians University of Würzburg (DE)) along with a dozen faculty members and industry experts were called upon to connect and collaborate on developing hands-on solutions for ecosystem restoration in the tourism value chain. The goal was to create actionable plans and activities considering the overall opportunity (and responsibility) towards more sustainability in the industry (and not less) in a post COVID-19 world.
Under the subtitle ‘Regeneration Now’, students tackled 23 ecosystem restoration and SDG challenges.

Located on the Caribbean Coast in the State of Quintana Roo, the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve (RBSK) is one of Mexico’s largest protected areas. The ecosystems of Sian Ka’an and the Greater Everglades are similar in many respects. The natural systems of Quintana Roo, Mexico and Florida’s Greater Everglades and adjacent coastal ecosystems support economically important fisheries and tourism industries. Both systems are threatened by growing human populations and associated development, as well as other stressors on the ecosystem, including unsustainable uses, agricultural and urban development, and increased extraction of natural resources. Valuable lessons in ecosystem ecology and management are being learned from the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Initiative (SFERI) that can and should be applied to the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve. Conceptual ecological models have been used in Greater Everglades ecosystems to communicate major issues in restoration and to identify attributes and biological indicators for evaluating alternative restoration plans and for designing monitoring and assessment programs. The conceptual ecological model for RBSK is a conservation model rather than a restoration model; it does not explain effects that have already occurred but, rather, hypothesizes effects that, based on experience, are likely to occur. Stressors in the Sian Ka’an Conceptual Ecological Model are driven by local and national societal needs and not natural drivers. Attributes identified were similar to those in Greater Everglades systems and included hydrology and water quality, upland, wetland and coastal fauna, and vegetation patterns. Visual aesthetics also were identified as significant. Linkages between stressors and attributes are being used to design and communicate science and management needs for the Reserve.

SUMMARY In support of the collective activities of the many agencies involved in Everglades restoration, this chapter reviews the broad issues involving nonindigenous species in South Florida and their relationship to restoration, management, planning, organization, and funding. Previous consolidated reports used an "all-taxa" format for understanding and presenting an inclusive picture of the magnitude of the invasive species threat. This

We have kicked the can down the road once againbut we are running out of road.'-Rachel Kyte, Dean of Fletcher School at Tufts University. We, in our capacities as scientists, economists, governance and policy specialists, are shifting from warnings to guidance for action before there is no more 'road.' The science is clear and irrefutable; humanity is in advanced ecological overshoot. Our overexploitation of resources exceeds ecosystems' capacity to provide them or to absorb our waste. Society has failed to meet clearly stated goals of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Civilization faces an epochal crossroads, but with potentially much better, wiser outcomes if we act now. What are the concrete and transformative actions by which we can turn away from the abyss? In this paper we forcefully recommend priority actions and resource allocation to avert the worst of the climate and nature emergencies, two of the most pressing symptoms of overshoot, and lead s...

Conservation scientists are arguing whether naturalness provides a reasonable ‘‘imperative’’ for conservation. To clarify this debate and the interpretation of the term ‘‘natural,’’ I analyze three management strategies – ecosystem preservation, ecosystem restoration, and ecosystem engineering – with respect to the naturalness of their outcomes. This analysis consists in two parts. First, the ambiguous term ‘‘natural’’ is defined in a variety of ways, including (1) naturalness as that which is part of nature, (2) naturalness as a contrast to artifactuality, (3) naturalness as an historical independence from human actions, and (4) naturalness as possession of certain properties. After that, I analyze the different conceptions with
respect to their implications for the three management strategies. The main conclusion is that there exists no single conception of naturalness that could distinguish between the outcomes of the three management methods. Therefore, as long as the outcomes of the different methods are regarded as being of a different value in conservation, we should either abandon the idea of naturalness as the guiding concept in conservation or use the term ‘‘natural’’ only in the ways that take both its
historical and feature dependent meanings into consideration.

Author Bill Dahl goes Beneath The Surface of Lake Chapala and shares what may not be obvious in your internet research, discussions with others, and international retirement living resources. YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK if you are considering Mexico for retirement – particularly if you are considering the Lake Chapala region. Bill reveals the documented environmental and public health hazards that inhabit the area. He delves into tourist safety, digital connectivity, health considerations, infrastructure issues, problematic governance and corruption. This book provides detailed documentation of these issues and a road map for you and yours to explore these issues – and others – on your own. Mexico is not unlike any other country on the planet; it possesses extraordinary positives it is proud to share with the world – and – it has current issues that it would rather not speak about. I encountered both. You deserve to be aware of them....pollution, destruction of ecosystems, environmental hazards, public health hazards, public safety, corruption, ecosystem degradation, fecal coliforms, E. Coli.