Welcome to Biodiversity for a Livable Climate
There’s a wealth of information here on how to heal the biodiversity and global warming crises that we’re facing today. Take a Quick Tour for a brief overview of the site, use the Super Search to explore our library of resources, or just scroll down and browse around to get inspired! And please send us thoughts, suggestions and feedback.
Out of sunlight, water and rock, living systems evolved and created this magnificent Earth.
Civilization is driving it to the brink.
Life can fix it – and you can help!
We are enthralled with our feats of technology (you’re reading this on your cool device, after all), but that doesn’t come close to the enormous power, complexity and subtlety of living systems.
Transformation
in Mexico
Watch what happens! A degraded Mexican landscape is transformed by excellent management. It took only two years (the arrow points to the same tree).
Upcoming Events and Announcements
Wholehearted Regeneration at the Cambridge Science Festival
On Thursday, October 6 at 3pm ET, we are joining the Cambridge Science Festival’s climate hub to share insights on ecosystem restoration, urban rewilding, and Miyawaki Forests. Come by for Wholehearted Regeneration: Boosting Communal and Climate Resilience One Pocket Forest at a Time with Maya Dutta, Bio4Climate’s Assistant Director of Regenerative Projects.
She will discuss the Miyawaki method of reforestation and the ways that forestscaping and integrating nature in urban environments can bolster ecological resilience as well as spreading hope and empowerment to local communities. Read more and register here!
Jim Laurie’s Class, Biodiversity 7: Rewilding Half the Earth to Create a Future We Want
Course fee: $240; if you’re on a tight budget, a sliding scale is available at checkout.
In Biodiversity 7: Rewilding Half the Earth to Create a Future We Want, Jim Laurie will lead students in examining restorative possibilities such as protecting half the earth, creating mini-forests using the Miyawaki method, and increasing wetlands.
Beginning Wednesday, October 12, 2022, the course meets for two hours at 12pm and 7pm ET every Wednesday, to accommodate multiple time zones. Read more and register here!
Youth EcoRestorers for Climate
Youth leaders across the globe are advocating for people and the planet in various ways including on-the-ground ecosystem restoration, artivism, and promotion of regenerative agriculture.
On September 17, Biodiversity for a Livable Climate hosted three youth leaders from Colombia, the United States, and Brazil to amplify their stories of regeneration and environmental advocacy. Stay tuned for the event recording to hear what inspired these leaders to join the climate movement and how they’re making a difference for their communities and the Earth.
Redesigning Our Communities for Life After Fossil Fuels
A series of virtual and in-person community events
in 6 locations in the U.S. and Canada
Save the Date for the next installment:
November 12, 2022 from 1 – 5 pm Central Time on Zoom
Join in on a community event in Montgomery County, MD, stay tuned for the inaugural webinar recording, and save the date for the next virtual event on November 12 with national and local speakers from Kansas City, MO.
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Check out the July 2022 Issue of the Compendium
This July, we released the eleventh edition of our Compendium of Scientific and Practical Findings Supporting Eco-Restoration to Address Global Warming.
In this issue we focus on grassland ecosystems and on culture and its role in shaping human relationships to nature.
We welcome your interest and comments – please contact us at staff@bio4climate.org.
Videos to learn from
Take a look at our Introductory Video Playlist. Great collections of videos are available on our Conference Pages. And don’t miss our Life Saves the Planet lecture series on the GBH Forum Network.
Past Events
Drying Rivers & Drought: What We Can Do In Massachusetts
This July as Massachusetts, like many other parts of the world, reckoned with serious drought, we held a lecture to explore how we can address drought conditions on a local, regional, and global scale. Check out the recording and related resources here!
Drought warnings in Massachusetts are a stark reminder that we are part of a global climate system where warming trends are accelerating. Is there something we can learn from adding a global lens to our local and regional mitigation efforts? Danielle Dolan, Deputy Director…
Rewilding Our Planet: Miyawaki Forest Talk at the Cambridge Public Library
This June, Hannah Lewis visited the Cambridge Public Library to discuss her recent book, Mini-Forest Revolution: Using the Miyawaki Method to Rapidly Rewild the World. Hannah was joined in conversation with Maya Dutta, project manager for the Danehy Park Miyawaki Forest planted in North Cambridge in September 2021. Together, they discussed the Miyawaki Method and the opportunities to use it to build cooler, greener, more resilient communities in Cambridge and beyond. Watch the event here!
Lewis offered a look into her book, in which she shares…
Amazon Deforestation: Why it matters to us
This April, we hosted EcoRestoration Alliance members Atossa Soltani, Rob de Laet, and moderator Jon Schull for Amazon Deforestation: Why it matters to us. This is an essential discussion on the restoration that can repair this critical system of planetary regulation. If you didn’t catch it live, watch the recording here!
The Amazon Rainforest is known as the “lungs of the earth” because it draws in carbon dioxide and breathes out oxygen. But it is also the biological heart of the planet’s hydroclimate system,…
Introducing the EcoRestoration Alliance
On Monday March 28, our Life Saves the Planet speaker series continued with a panel on Introducing the EcoRestoration Alliance. Members Jon Schull, John D. Liu, Ilse Koehler-Rollefson and Valer Clark introduced the groundbreaking new alliance that aims to advance the global case for regeneration through cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary partnership.
Code Red Water: Two Global Perspectives
This March, we held the latest installment in our Nature’s Solutions as National Policy conference series, Code Red Water: Two Global Perspectives. Atossa Soltani and Michal Kravcik discussed how improved water management can support functioning water cycles to meet the needs of living systems and cool the planet.
Arctic Meltdown: Why It Matters To Us
Does it seem as though the weather gods have gone crazy lately? It is not your imagination. The question on everyone’s minds is why? And is it related to climate change? In Arctic Meltdown: Why It Matters To Us, Dr. Jennifer Francis explains how increasing extreme weather events are connected with the rapidly warming and melting Arctic during recent decades. Check out the recording on the GBH Forum Network.
Evidence suggests that Arctic warming is causing weather patterns to become more persistent, which can…
Recent Blog Posts
Environmental Activism and the Search for Purpose
By Carlos Mdemu Social Media, Writing, and Online Outreach Intern Since 2011, I have been working in the field of environmental and solid waste management. At the beginning of my journey, I remember visiting one of the famous local markets in Dar es Salaam for a community cleanup. The local market, in terms of waste management…
Using the Miyawaki Method to Rapidly Rewild our Communities
Bulu mini-forest in Cameroon after 19 months; Photo: Agborkang Godfred Hannah Lewis, Compendium Editor for Biodiversity for a Liveable Climate and freelance writer The Miyawaki Method The Miyawaki Method is a way to grow natural, mature forests in a couple of decades rather than a couple of centuries. You do this by observing what happens…
Our Underrated Climate Ally: The Small Water Cycle
Cabezon Peak after rain, Photo by John Fowler (CC BY 2.0) Although climate change is a global issue, it can and must be addressed locally. Our overall climate is shifting drastically, but local climates are also changing, and they don’t always get the same amount of attention. Local climates change when the environment is drastically…
Climate Emotions: The Turbulent Turf of 21st Century Feelings
“Climate Anxiety” has become a widespread theme lately. As Bio4Climate began planning an event along those lines, I thought of my own anxieties about biodiversity loss and global warming, and wondered how to transform climate distress into a rich, meaningful and adaptive state of mind. I’m finding that it helps when I embrace rather than…
What We Do
Conferences
We’ve held thirteen conferences since 2013 from a wide range of speakers on how to regenerate biodiverse life on Earth. Our speakers are special: they aren’t famous, but in their own creative ways they’ve worked wonders. They are examples of what each of us can do when we’re inspired!
Solutions
There are so many solutions out there that are virtually invisible when we focus on a model of greenhouse gases and alternative energy. These solutions are available to restore living systems, cool the land and calm the climate. We bring these to you, here.
Compendium
Our Compendium is a selection of article summaries from the scientific and popular literatures on eco-restoration to address biodiversity loss and climate catastrophe. We bring material of interest from a wide variety of sources into one central publication. Check it out and discover some of the solid science behind nature solutions to biodiversity loss and climate.
Featured Videos
Some of our most widely viewed videos are here. But don’t overlook hidden gems! You’ll see them on our conference pages or you can search by subject or keyword with our website Super Search.
Voices of Water
Voices of Water is a project, founded by Jan Lambert and currently led by Zuzka Mulkerin, dedicated to the work of innovative hydrologist Michal Kravčík and colleagues, who have developed a new and powerful paradigm for addressing floods, droughts and other disruptions of nature’s water cycles.
Newsletters
We have several years of informative and entertaining newsletters that you are welcome to browse. They include interviews, book reviews, excerpts from our Compendium and past event announcements. Sign up here to receive our newsletters personally delivered to your e-mailbox with only the highest quality electrons!