The industrialization that has built today’s splendid high-tech cities isolated us from the land and water sources of the materials fueling this progress. Our cities scarcely reveal that the oxygen we breathe, the food we eat, the purification of waters, and to some extent the bucolic weather patterns we have long relished have been gifts…

Urban and Suburban Carbon Farming to Reverse Global WarmingProgram  Conference Home    Program    Nature Walk    Sponsors/Partners   Speakers Urban and Suburban Carbon Farming to Reverse Global Warming Sunday, May 3, 2015, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Morning session, 9:00 – 12:00: 9:00 Opening Remarks Quinton Zondervan, President, Green Cambridge and Michael Green, Program Director, Climate…

Global change and the ecology of cities, Grimm et al. 2008 Whereas just 10 percent of people lived in cities in 1900, now more than half the global population is urban and that proportion continues to grow. Cities occupy less than 3% of the Earth’s land surface, but generate 78% of global CO2 emissions and…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Some of the benefits of urban agriculture are well known: increased access to healthy fresh food, reduced “food miles,” and building robust local communities. Looking through the carbon farming lens we also see more benefits: biodiverse landscapes, building…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Revision Urban Farm is an innovative community-based urban agriculture project that grows produce in its own fields and provides access to affordable, nutritious and culturally appropriate food to residents of the ReVision Family Home and its extended community.…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Featuring Luisa Oliveira, Landscape architect, City of Somerville. Luisa Oliveira led the team that developed an urban agriculture ordinance for Somerville, the first in New England. She speaks on the traditions, benefits and value of growing urban food,…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Featuring David Morimoto, Biologist, Lesley University. The extraordinary wild spaces that still remain in our cities benefit our spiritual and mental health, not to mention the quality of the air and water. David Morimoto shares slides of the…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ A welcome from Quinton Zondervan, President of Green Cambridge, and Lucy Alexander, Policy Coordinator for the Climate Action Business Association (CABA), on behalf of their organizations which sponsored our conference. Presented at Biodiversity for a Livable Climate’s “Urban…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Featuring Jonathan Bates, Permaculturist, Co-Author of Paradise Lot. A neglected Holyoke house lot is re-born as a thriving edible forest garden with a wide variety of edible plants and trees. Jonathan Bates offers an overview of how he…

Like vegetative and light or reflective surfaces, water bodies have a cooling effect on cities, reducing the Urban Heat Island effect. The average temperature at the river in this study was 1C less than at a reference point elsewhere in the city. Furthermore, the form of the landscape on the banks of an urban river…

The study of urban ecology has grown rapidly over the past couple of decades as the planet becomes increasingly more urbanized. The field started as the study of ecology within the green spaces of cities, and has since evolved into a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the city itself as an ecosystem with interacting social, ecological…

As one of China’s major cities, Shanghai’s natural sub-ecosystem[5] has suffered drastic damage due to human activities and urbanization. Although urban re-naturalization has gained attention from city leaders, urban tree planting has largely consisted of two methods with limited ecological potential. One favors fast-growing monocultures to produce timber products and other benefits, while the other approach…

With 66% of the world’s population predicted to live in cities by 2050, the challenge of reconciling urban growth with biodiversity conservation demands attention. Although the environment is altered by urbanization, there is potential for cities to support a great deal of biodiversity [Collas 2017: 1866]. This study shows that urban growth and biodiversity enhancement…

Given the dangerous, precipitous global decline in biodiversity, coupled with rapid urbanization, cities have a key role to play in protecting biodiversity. In fact, cities already do harbor a large share of biodiversity. This may be due to the fact that cities are often situated in places of large inherent biodiversity (along rivers, for example),…

While the majority of people on Earth live in cities, the majority (60%) of the world’s largest cities are located within 100 kilometers of a coast. The pollution and urban infrastructure (such as marinas, sea walls, or oil/gas platforms) emanating from cities greatly stresses coastal marine habitats. Coastal infrastructure tends to be vertical and smooth,…

Herbert Dreiseitl: Urban designer, landscape architect, water artist, interdisciplinary planner and professor in praxis. Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Connect with usFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/bio4climateTwitter: https://twitter.com/bio4climateInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/bio4climate/ Presented at the Climate Reckoning conference November 17-19, 2017 at Harvard University #urban #design #architecture

Christopher Haines, AIA, LFA, CPHC: Architect licensed in both MA and NY who applies expertise in regenerative architectural design, healthy materials, preservation, renovation and specification writing to small commercial and urban projects. Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Connect with usFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/bio4climateTwitter: https://twitter.com/bio4climateInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/bio4climate/ Presented at the Climate Reckoning conference November 17-19,…

   Program    Nature Walk    Sponsors/Partners   Speakers Urban and Suburban Carbon Farming to Reverse Global Warming Conference Home Sunday, May 3, 2015, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Science Center, Hall C, Harvard University 1 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts A conference for climate activists, gardeners, scientists, educators, homeowners, public officials, the business community and others concerned about our…

Urban heat islands are created when solar energy is absorbed by non-reflective, impervious, and often rather dark surfaces, such as asphalt, stone, metal, and concrete, which are ubiquitous in cities. Exacerbating this solar energy absorption effect are abundant amounts of heat released from vehicles, factories and air conditioners, for example, as well as pollutants trapped…

Jan Lambert’s take: This article by Charles Hegberg, talks about the importance of soil restoration in urban settings for optimal stormwater infiltration. He writes: “We have hundreds of years of experience in making ‘Dirt’ – It’s time we start re-making ‘Soils’ on a landscape level, quickly.“ “It’s no secret: Americans take their lawns seriously –…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Featuring Bruce Fulford, Owner, City Soil. The linkages between urban farms, conservation foundations, and municipalities can all reinforce the power of urban agriculture. Bruce Fulford describes creating agricultural land in an urban setting. Presented at the Urban and…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Featuring Mel King, Community Activist, State Legislator, Affordable Housing Advocate, MIT Faculty As a State Legislator, Mel King was a leader in the effort to preserve agricultural land in Massachusetts. He founded the South End Technology Center and…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Featuring Thomas Akin, State Resource Conservationist, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Cover cropping is a soil health-building practice gaining currency in cropland agriculture but also well suited to improving urban soils. Soil-incorporated cover crops provide large volumes of…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ An overview of our modern urban ecology, shaped and profoundly altered by human actions. Our relationship with our urban ecosystem can be improved if we recognize the threats that we bring through development and technology and the ways…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Jennifer Lawrence, Sustainability Planner for the City of Cambridge, speaks on the City’s ongoing Vulnerability Assessment on climate change, and some possible measures the City can take to improve its climate resilience. Duke Bitsko, landscape architect with Chester…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Phil Colarusso, Boston Office of the EPAJonathan Bates, Permaculturist, Co-Author of Paradise LotLuisa Oliveira, Landscape architect, City of SomervilleJoy Gary, Urban Farm Grower, Revision Urban Farm, Dorchester, MassachusettsBruce Fulford, Owner, City Soil Part of the Urban and Suburban…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Featuring Allison Houghton, Permaculture and Gardening Teacher. Permaculture methods for ecological design are especially useful for bringing productivity and biodiversity to urban settings. Allison Houghton shares some methods for planning and growing successful garden spaces. Presented at the…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Charlotte O’Brien, Biochar Entrepreneur Biochar is soil amendment made from biomass that leads to fertility and improved plant health and growth. It was developed by indigenous people in the Amazon hundreds of years ago and has excited broad…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Featuring Eric ‘T’ Fleischer, Consultant, Harvard Landscape Services. There are many challenges in improving urban soils. Eric Fleischer reviews these challenges and focuses on Harvard’s successful soil-enhancement project using compost tea applications. Presented at the Urban and Suburban…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Featuring David Lefcourt, Arborist, City of Cambridge. David will discuss how a municipality, with active citizens and volunteers, can get the greatest benefit from its trees for climate and biodiversity. Presented at the Urban and Suburban Carbon Farming…

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…

Urban and Suburban Carbon Farming to Reverse Global Warming– Nature Walk –  Conference Home    Program    Sponsors/Partners   Speakers Pre-Conference Guided Nature WalkSaturday, May 2, 2015, 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.$20, sliding scale, limited to 15 participants David Morimoto, Associate Professor of Biology, Lesley University, will be our guide as we visit the Alewife Reservation near the Alewife…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Hydrologist Scott Horsley discusses green infrastructure as the new tool of water harvesting in urban areas and other settled landscapes. Presented at Biodiversity for a Livable Climate’s “Restoring Water Cycles to Reverse Global Warming” conference at Tufts University,…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Featuring Phil Colarusso, Boston Office of the EPA. Wetlands and coastal waters are exceptionally effective at storing carbon as well as performing many other ecosystem functions. Phil Colarusso tells us how cities and the global climate benefit from…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Thomas Akin, State Resource Conservationist, USDA Natural Resources Conservation ServiceEric ‘T’ Fleischer, Consultant, Harvard Landscape ServicesCharlotte O’Brien, Biochar EntrepreneurAllison Houghton, Permaculture and Gardening Teacher Part of the Urban and Suburban Carbon Farming to Reverse Global Warming Conference, organized…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Featuring Eric Olson, Brandeis University. Biodiversity contributes significantly to our resilience and quality of life. Eric Olson addresses the presence of countless non-native species of plants and animals in our cities, how we can take steps to re-establish…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Returning carbon to the soil is the foundation of restoring ecosystems. For thirty years Bruce Fulford has been building soils. He will tell us how he does it, and the remarkable results that he’s seen from reclamation and…

Bio4Climate is excited to co-host the 2024 Midwest Beaver Summit alongside many outstanding environmental nonprofits, land trusts, restoration practitioners, and other organizations dedicated to conservation, implementing coexistence strategies, and cultivating awareness of the importance of beavers as keystone species in our ecosystems. WATCH THE RECORDING Full Agenda:  This summit is organized by Midwest Beaver Advocacy…

Anamarija Frankic: Green Harbors Project, U Mass Boston, University of Zadar (Croatia), Biomimicry New England explains how we can help nature heal coastlines and, as a result, improve the well-being of human and non-human species. Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Connect with usFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/bio4climateTwitter: https://twitter.com/bio4climateInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/bio4climate/ Presented at Restoring Oceans, Restoring…

Biomimicry is sustainable innovation inspired by nature. Restoration of habitats and ecosystems can not only mitigate the effects of climate change, but also preserve the largely untapped library of solutions and opportunities to change the harmful way we make and do things. The Green Harbors Project and Biomimicry Living Labs are working with local communities…

Relatively little is known about the fascinating coyotes in the east It is a remarkable animal, being one of the only carnivores to actually increase its range and distribution in the past one hundred years. Coyotes have taken over as top predator in all environments in New England, from wilderness parks to city greenbelts. Along…

Whereas just 10 percent of people lived in cities in 1900, now more than half the global population is urban and that proportion continues to grow. Cities occupy less than 3% of the Earth’s land surface, but generate 78% of global CO2 emissions and consume 76% of wood used for industrial purposes. Urban dwellers depend…

By Christopher A. Haines, Biodiversity for a Livable Climate Christopher Haines is a seasoned architect licensed in both MA and NY who applies expertise in regenerative architectural design, healthy materials, preservation, renovation and specification writing to small commercial and urban projects. He has spoken for years at US and international forums as well as formally…

Establishing ecological corridors is a way to mitigate the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation. Ecological corridors are linear landscape elements connecting otherwise isolated habitat patches within a larger matrix of environmentally degraded lands (urban or agricultural, for example). The corridors facilitate gene dispersal and migration, while also expanding habitat range for species constrained by…

Conference Home    Speakers    Program    Sponsors and Partners Climate Reckoning – Program – Scroll down for links to videos . . .  Systems thinking takes on climate! The most powerful climate tool isn’t emissions reductions, regenerative agriculture, holistic management, biochar, soil restoration or any of a number of others.  Because global warming isn’t just about greenhouse gases,…

A “Global Safety Net” to reverse biodiversity loss and stabilize Earth’s climate, Dinerstein et al. 2020 Currently, 15.1% of land on Earth is conservation protected. This article maps out an additional 35.3% of land needing near-term protection, along with ecological corridor routes connecting these areas. Half of the planet’s land is needed to serve as…

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 Second Event: KANSAS CITY • on Zoom Saturday, November 12 1:00 – 5:00 pm CST  •  on Zoom Biodiversity for a Livable Climate is partnering with the Post Carbon Institute and many…

by Fred Jennings, Ecological Economist for Biodiversity for a Livable Climate Part One: “Water Cools The Planet” Runtime 41:43 John Feldman introduces himself and expresses surprise that this work got him thinking a lot about water. The film proceeds to talk about water in its many diverse aspects: as a powerful greenhouse gas; in its…

July 23, 2024, 10am to noon. Join local students of Jim Laurie’s Symbiosis Team to get an up front and personal view of the floating wetlands designed for Boston Harbor. This is the innovative project of modular floatingwetlands in East Boston that was shown in the documentary, Inundation District, on sea level rise in Boston.…

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 Third Event: LOS ANGELES • on Zoom Saturday, January 21, 2023 1:00 – 4:30 pm PST  •  on Zoom Biodiversity for a Livable Climate is partnering with the Post Carbon Institute and…

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 Fourth Event: CLEVELAND • on Zoom Saturday, March 25, 2023 1:00 – 4:30 pm EST  •  on Zoom Agenda Biodiversity for a Livable Climate is partnering with the Post Carbon Institute and…

Home      Speakers       Partners and Sponsors Reversing Global Warming: Carbon Farming for Food, Health, Prosperity and Planet! Program and Home page A conference for farmers, gardeners, government officials, city-town councils, civic  leaders, school board members, educators at all levels, park/forest and environmental managers and stewards, nursery and landscape business owners, and all other folks…

 Conference Home    Program    Nature Walk    Sponsors/Partners   Urban and Suburban Carbon Farming to Reverse Global Warming-Speakers –  Conference Home    Program    Nature Walk    Sponsors/Partners

Bio4Climate has been studying the Miyawaki Method of reforestation over the past several months. This 50-year-old technique involves densely planting native forest species from shrub to canopy layer to create tiny, fast-growing urban ecosystems[3]. Members of our staff have joined local efforts to establish Miyawaki “mini-forests” in Cambridge, MA, in Los Angeles, CA, and one…

We know how to enhance resilience to extreme weather where we live and work. Communities throughout the world are utilizing these approaches, and here we highlight several initiatives in a variety of habitats to illustrate potential paths forward. More information is included just below each project description. Following this section is a collection of summaries…

The following articles lay out a few key ecological concepts and terms that may be helpful to become familiar with for the growing number of biodiversity-conscious people and organizations that are beginning to plant more native plants on their land. Native plants, native ecosystems, and native landscapes: an ecological definition of “native” will promote effective…

Cool A Quick Summary Nature plays a pivotal role in cooling the Earth, with plants being central to this process. Through transpiration, they release water vapor, which cools the air and aids in cloud formation. This mechanism is crucial in countering the urban heat island effect, where non-vegetated areas like cities absorb more heat. Water…

Restoring Ecosystems to Reverse Global Warming, Washington, DC Promoting the power of nature to remove excess carbon from the atmosphere where it does untold damage, and restore it to the soils where it supports abundant life and helps reverse global warming. Source: http://bostongreenschools.org/ Saturday, September 26, 2015, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  Moot Court RoomDavid A.…

Close up on California in the era of climate change: a verdant vision for fire-prone land Picture California in the 1700s, around the time the first Spanish missions appeared. It must have looked like heaven on earth for the 100,000s of native people living there [Ecological Society of America 2014], cradled between forested mountains and…

Picture California in the 1700s, around the time the first Spanish missions appeared. It must have looked like heaven on earth for the 100,000s of native people living there [Ecological Society of America 2014], cradled between forested mountains and sparkling ocean. Meandering streams and rivers teeming with salmon criss-cross the valley and are knit together…

Redesigning Our Communities for Life After Fossil Fuels Community Engagement Events In-person and virtual eventshosted in Montgomery County, Maryland and the surrounding area Thank you for your interest to attend one or more Community Engagement Events in our series on Redesigning Our Communities for Life After Fossil Fuels in Montgomery County, Maryland and the surrounding…

Everyone needs a forest Forests are one of the most efficient means for sequestering carbon, and the most effective system for cooling the planet, especially on the local level. With the loss of green spaces, more and more people are feeling the effects of heat islands, localized hotspots that can be readily combated by planting and…

Let’s pull carbon out of the atmosphere and bring down the higher temperatures brought about by global warming – safely, inexpensively, low-tech, with a broad range of benefits. It was a great conference!  Video links are directly beneath the title of each presentation, below.Downloads: Conference Program,  Book List,  Take Action!, Carbon Unit Conversions Scenario 300: Making…

While previous issues of the Compendium have addressed ecosystem strategies to reverse global warming, here we discuss ecosystem restoration to adapt to the consequences of climate change. From drought in Cape Town and wildfire in California and Greece to flooding in Beijing, Paris, Houston and North Carolina, each new report of catastrophe makes climate change…

“In the past, humans have taken the land away from the water; now we need to give the land back.” – Professor Hui Li [Guardian 2017] Faced with severe flooding in many cities across China, such as a major 2012 Beijing flood, the Chinese government announced the Sponge Cities Initiative in 2014 as a remedy.…

“The geometry, spacing and orientation of buildings and outdoor spaces” [Kleerekoper 2012: 30], as well as the prevalence of hard surfaces and reduced amount of vegetation, strongly modify the micro-climate of urban areas compared to rural surroundings. Characterized by an increase in temperature, a phenomenon referred to as urban heat island [UHI] effect has multiple…

Earth is heating up: “Global surface temperature was 1.09°C higher in 2011– 2020 than 1850–1900,” according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s 6th Assessment Report.[3] Yet the mercury is not rising uniformly around the world – the Arctic is warming faster than are the lower latitudes, and temperatures over land are higher than over the…

Advisory Board Tom Goreau Tom Goreau is an award-winning marine, soils and climate scientist.  He is President of the Global Coral Reef Alliance, a coral reef protection non-profit, and coordinator of a UN commission for small island states. He has dived longer and in more coral reefs around the world than any coral scientist and has published around…

Solutions – What You Can Do In your Home or Business: Restoring ecosystems stores carbon and reverses climate change. There are a number of approaches applicable to different ecosystems, and all of these methods can show remarkable results. Each of us has only limited time and resources to play our part, but we can also…

All over the world, from Australia to Europe to North and South America, wildfires have waged destruction on natural landscapes and human settlements alike. The devastation of these disasters is heartbreaking, and the images of catastrophe – walls of flame, scorched wildlife, a world gone red – are unforgettable. There is no more potent image…

What often-overlooked creature is an expert navigator, an impressive postman, and a natural mammographer? A pigeon!

What statuesque organism is a champion of beauty, hardiness, and capacity to nurture life around it? The Northern Red Oak!

Managing rainwater within a landscape so that neither heavy storms nor long dry spells devastate human endeavors and constructions is referred by Yu Kongjian as the “art of survival” [Yu 2012]. This Chinese landscape architect with an ecological mindset learned the art of survival by studying the ways of ancient peasant farmers. He contrasts the wisdom…

One million of an estimated 8 million species on Earth are at risk of extinction in the coming decades, according to a May 2019 report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Children today will live as adults in a world without the Milky Stork, without the Caquetá Tití Monkey, and…

Our burning planet: why we must learn to live with fire, Pyne 2020 Steven J. Pyne is an emeritus professor at Arizona State University and the author of several books on fire history and policy. He wrote this opinion piece as a protest against the prevention and suppression of wildfires in our land management process.…

‘Road verges’ are strips of land on either side of roads and highways that are on average 3-4m wide, but can be as narrow as a few centimeters or many meters wide. “Road verges are commonly grassland habitats, but can be shrubland, forest or artificial arrangements of trees and horticultural plants, and we use the…

This article reviews the historical development of two pieces of environmental legislation in France – the use of the “mitigation hierarchy” to assess and limit environmental impact in project development and the promotion of ecological corridors. Theoretically, these two laws overlap when urban development projects in proximity to areas of ecological significance use the mitigation…

Ing. Michal Kravčík,CSc. / Jan Lambert https://bio4climate.org/downloads/Kravcik_Global_Action_Plan.pdf Jan’s Quick-Take: This is a document intended to guide people from individuals to the national level, on addressing climate change through the restoration of short, or small water cycles, thus increasing the production potential and biodiversity of all continents through the introduction of various measures of rainwater retention.…

Herbert Dreiseitl is an internationally highly respected expert in creating Liveable Cities around the world with a special hallmark on the inspiring and innovative use of water to solve urban environmental challenges, connecting technology with aesthetics, encouraging people to take care and ownership of places. He has realized groundbreaking contemporary projects in the fields of…

A New Climate Story Nov 13 – Dec 18, 2023 Register “If you want to make small changes, you can change the way you DO things.If you want to make MAJOR changes, you have to change the way you SEE things.” Gabe Brown-attributed to Don Campbell Course Format This online course will consist of 6…

What common bird possesses an uncommon intelligence, including diversified communication, excellent memory, and a talent for mathematics?  The crow!

I’ve loved Chicago from the first day I set foot there, and I’ve missed the Windy City since I left after college in 2018. When I had a chance to visit two weeks ago, I made it a point to try to understand Chicago’s ecosystems better, and check in on the many ways communities across…

What instantly recognizable songbird holds seven state titles and has the crown to prove it? The Northern Cardinal!

We affirm the need to restore the five billion hectares of degraded land worldwide but we have also found a way to bring the power of eco restoration home. Home to our own communities; Home to those most in need of a healing shot of nature; By planting tiny forests in urban areas, using the Miyawaki method.

This spring, Bio4Climate is sharing select excerpts from the late Jan Lambert’s book, Water, Land and Climate, The Critical Connection: How We Can Rehydrate Landscapes Locally To Renew Climates Globally. First published by The Valley Green Journal in 2015, Water, Land, and Climate introduces the transformative ideas of the New Water Paradigm—showing how retaining, rather than draining, rainwater can restore local water cycles, renew ecosystems, and even help stabilize the global climate.

Climate Reckoning– Speakers – Conference Home    Speakers    Program    Sponsors and Partners Conference Home    Speakers    Program    Sponsors and Partners

The Power and Promise of Biodiversity– Program – Home    Speakers    Program     Scroll down to program for videos and slideshows!——————————We are telling the story of biodiversity. “Biodiversity, a contraction of ‘biological diversity,’ generally refers to the variety and variability of life on Earth. One of the most widely used definitions states it in terms of the…

Soils This compendium is, if nothing else, a testament to the key role soils must play if we are to preserve life on earth through the anthropocene. Soils, the engine of every terrestrial ecosystem, are themselves wildly diverse subterranean ecosystems providing habitat to countless trillions of micro- and macro-organisms. These organisms themselves create the soil…

Understanding what makes forests thrive is important in light of mounting calls for reforestation and forest conservation as antidotes both to species loss and climate breakdown. Moreover, distinguishing between natural forest regeneration and timber plantations is critical to achieving intended goals. Intact forests, and especially tropical forests, sequester twice as much carbon as planted monocultures.…

Wildfire is a challenge that threatens human settlement at an increasing scale, but planning and development does not always address this threat. In fact, policy around land use is in large part responsible for the destruction of homes and property and the threat to human life that occurs in wildland-urban interfaces (WUIs). While there is…

Spurred to action by the European Union and a vision for a pan-European ecological network, France encoded the idea of the “trames vertes et bleues” into law in 2009. The national government worked with all the regional governments to develop maps showing areas with the highest levels of biodiversity. This includes protected areas, stretches of…

Daniel Medina, PhD, PE, D.WRE, is a Senior Engineer based in LimnoTech’s Washington DC office, who specializes in water resource systems planning and climate change and resilience. His experience encompasses a wide array of water resources areas, especially in urban water issues including flood risk management, water supply, watershed restoration, climate change impacts, and the…

Emily Jodka is a life long gardener and New Englander who currently lives in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Emily Co-founded the New Urban Farmers in 2008 with Bleu Grijalva, which started as a grassroots movement in a community garden that grew into a non-profit that provides education and an opportunity to grow and eat fresh food grown without chemicals.…

This talk is a Q&A with activist Karen Washington. She touches upon the history of regenerative/nature-based climate solutions that are more widely adopted today by a variety of communities, but have historically been developed by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) communities and cultures. This talk also addresses actions the BIPOC community is taking…

What acrobatic raptor was so essential to medieval public health, killing it was a crime and it became the national bird of Wales?

What species sang part of a Mozart concerto and got its own musical tribute in return?

As I wiggle through dirt I don’t make a sound, But I help all the plants grow out of the ground. Who am I?

Home    Partners and Sponsors Reversing Global Warming:Carbon Farming for Food, Health, Prosperity and Planet! Speakers and Books BOOK RECOMMENDATIONSComeback Farms by Greg Judy  (Green Park Press, 2008)Restoration Agriculture by Mark Shepard  (Acres USA, 2013)Cows Save the Planet by Judy Schwartz  (Chelsea Green, 2013)Grass, Soil, Hope by Courtney White  (Chelsea Green, 2014)Teaming with Microbes by Jeff Lowenfels & Wayne Lewis  (Timber Press, 2010)Water:…

For upcoming events, please visit our Announcements page. Continue on to see some of our past events, many of which are available to watch on video. Past Events Visit our Life Saves the Planet series on GBH Forum Network and our Meetup pages to view more of our past events.

Blessed Unrest– Speakers – Conference Home    Speakers    Program    Sponsors and Partners Conference Home    Speakers    Program    Sponsors and Partners

Work with Us There are exciting and rewarding job, internship and volunteer opportunities at Biodiversity for a Livable Climate (Bio4Climate), a nonprofit based in the Boston, Massachusetts area. Our mission is to promote the restoration of ecosystems to address global warming. Education, public information campaigns, organizing, scientific investigation, collaboration with like-minded organizations, research and policy…

Partners are organizations that help us get the word out.  Sponsors additionally contribute financially to our efforts.  These are our valued sponsors and partners who have supported our work during one or more years since 2014. Sponsors The vision of the Regenerative Agriculture Foundation is a world in which the boundaries between the human and…

Co-Sponsored by the Greater Boston Group of the Sierra Club and Biodiversity for a Livable Climate Video links below! Saturday, March 31, 9 am – 4 pm Harvard University,* Geological Lecture Hall 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA Local ecosystems can help us to weather the coming climate shocks. Learn about current efforts and new possibilities…

Anna Gilbert-Muhammad is the Food Access Coordinator of NOFA/Mass and lives in Springfield. She was born in New York City but, being the child of a Marine Corps father, lived in various places in California as well as Baltimore. While in California, although she was raised as a Roman Catholic, Anna became interested in the Nation…

Given competing interests for floodplain property, some have argued for strategic partial reconnection of floodplains to the river by allowing portions of floodplain to flood, so that pressure elsewhere along the river during a flood may be alleviated [Opperman 2009]. For example, California’s Yolo Bypass was created in the early 1900s after the Sacramento River…

From California to Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Washington DC, people are coming together in their communities to learn what river their watershed drains into, how urban stormwater management has impaired that river, and how to restore river-floodplain ecosystems through a grassroots approach. A watershed is an area of land over which any rain that falls…

The following articles were selected and summarized by Bio4Climate’s Compendium editors and writers. The purpose of this collection is to highlight the scientific evidence and argumentation showing healthy restored and protected ecosystems as a powerful (albeit under-recognized) tool for managing the weather extremes wrought by climate change.   Floodplains and wetlands: making space for water…

Hot days in the city? It’s all about location, NOAA 2018 In a project funded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), about two dozen citizen scientists measured temperatures in Baltimore and Washington DC on two of the hottest days of 2018. By measuring temperatures second by second with thermal sensors while driving prescribed routes…

Restoring natural forests is the best way to remove atmospheric carbon, Lewis et al. 2019 In order to keep global warming under the 1.5C threshold, the IPCC warns that not only must we cut carbon emissions nearly in half by 2030, we must also draw massive amounts of CO2 out of the atmosphere. The Intergovernmental…

This study models the total amount of land globally that is suitable for reforestation, finding that there is sufficient space to meet the IPCC’s recommendation of reforestation on 1 billion hectares to limit global warming to 1.5C by 2050. The potential forest land identified in this study excludes urban and agricultural land; rather, it “exists…

A global agenda for soil carbon, Vermeulen 2019 This paper calls for efforts to make farmers, land managers, policy makers, and the public at large keenly aware of the link between soil carbon and its more widely appreciated social outcomes, such as agricultural productivity and food security, improved water quality, flood and drought mitigation, lower…

We begin this issue of the Compendium by exploring the role of cities in the era of climate breakdown. This section features “Heat Planet,” an essay by architect Christopher Haines, member of Bio4Climate’s Leadership Team, exploring the global implications of the pervasive phenomenon of the “Urban Heat Island” and other heat-producing paved and de-vegetated surfaces around…

Eric T. Fleisher is the Director of Horticulture for the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy. Battery Park City is an urban area located in south Manhattan in New York City. This park is a 92-acre planned community created through regenerating healthy soil and reusing local materials. As the Director of Horticulture for over 25 years,…

Sarah Howard is the Executive Director of Earthos Institute in Somerville, Massachusetts.  Her work has focused on building community and regional resiliency and vitality as well as ecological and justice issues.  She has taught experiential environmental education and founded community learning centers in urban areas, worked for cultural institutions to develop community partnerships/education, served as an elected Housing Commissioner in Westport…

Joy Gary is a grower at ReVision Urban Farm in Dorchester. She grew up on a farm, and worked on a farm in Michigan, so working with the earth and growing her own food has always been important to her.  She has strong interests in urban agriculture, new foods and culinary skills. One of her passions…

Luisa Oliveira led the municipal team that developed Somerville’s urban agriculture ordinance, the first  in New England . She will tell the story of the development of the ordinance in Somerville and the successes and challenges of urban agriculture in a densely populated city.

Nathan Phillips is professor of Earth and Environment at Boston University.He studies the physiological mechanisms and processes by which plants and ecosystems regulate water loss and carbon gain, and how these processes may be altered under global environmental change.  He is now applying this research to studies of urban ecology in a program called Urban Metabolism.

Mchezaji “Che” Axum is the Director of the CAUSES Center for Urban Agriculture. He is a trained environmental agronomist with over 25 years of experience in agriculture. He leads a team of Researchers at the Muirkirk Research Farm in Beltsville, Maryland, and oversees the University’s DC Master Gardener, Specialty/Ethnic Crops and Urban Agriculture certificate programs. Read…

What tiny creature brings luck to farmers and other folks all over the globe? The ladybug!  One Lucky Lady Ladybugs, or beetles of the family Coccinellidae, are small, often colorful rounded insects beloved by children’s rhymes and gardeners alike.  Ladybugs are thought to be a sign of luck in many cultures and urban myths. Whether it’s…

Heat Planet: Restore Ecosystems – Restore Climate May 4 – June 8, 2022 Register “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” – Buckminster Fuller Course Format This online course will consist of 6 classes and be held live on Zoom. Classes…

Cloud cooling effects of afforestation and reforestation at midlatitudes, Cerasoli, Jin & Porporato 2021 Reforestation and afforestation (R&A) are well-established climate mitigation strategies in the wet tropics due to high carbon sequestration rates of forests/trees. However, at high latitudes (boreal regions), the low albedo of trees–compared to snow and other lighter land surfaces–leads to the…

Turning lemons into lemonade, Sabajo et al. have used the great expansion of oil palm plantations and other crops in Indonesia to examine how such land-use change affects land surface temperature (LST). The authors observed a warming trend in the Jambi province of Sumatra of 1.05℃ and 1.56℃ in the morning and afternoon, respectively, between 2000 and 2015. The…

Which creature enjoys social gatherings, is well adapted to its habitat, and can be very altruistic? The Banded Mongoose is a small mammal with a mass of approximately ≤2kg (or 4 lbs) found in (and indigenous to) various parts of Africa. While most other mongoose species live a solitary life, the banded mongoose is gregarious…

On Thursday, October 6 at 3pm ET, we joined 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 discussed the Miyawaki…

The Cambridge Public Library and Biodiversity for a Livable Climate present author Hannah Lewis in a reading and discussion of her latest book, Mini-Forest Revolution: Using the Miyawaki Method to Rapidly Rewild the World. The Miyawaki Method is a unique approach to reforestation devised by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki. In the book, Lewis explains how…

Danehy Park Miyawaki Forest Our Miyawaki Forest at Danehy Park in North Cambridge was planted successfully on September 25, 2021 with the help of many fantastic volunteers. The forest is the first example of a Miyawaki Forest in Cambridge, MA and in the Northeast US as a whole. It is wonderful to see the community…

Our Programs Keeping nature and biodiversity  in the climate conversation has been the focus of our outreach and education, with annual conferences catalyzing new partnerships and research. Over time this experience has led us to be more directly involved in local communities and hands-on restoration work.  Each program is a strategic lever, creating experiential learning,…

Here are the writings and paintings that made up my exhibit, “Gaia Songs: Seeking Equilibrium.” The exhibit included my essay, “Earth is a Person” and my article “Building Climate Stability” and six paintings with Artist’s Statements. The Artist Statements include two paragraphs for each painting about how they relate to the conference “The Uses and…

Somerville High School Forest Photos by Maya Dutta On Sunday October 22, 2023 we are planting Somerville’s first Miyawaki Forest at Somerville High School! Sign up to volunteer here. We are so excited to bring another pocket forest to life with the help of the community, high school, and municipality. We will share information, updates,…

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 Fifth Event: OREGON • on Zoom Saturday, November 18, 2023 1:00 – 4:30 pm Pacific Time  •  on Zoom Biodiversity for a Livable Climate is partnering with the Post Carbon Institute and…

What creature is the engine of the Portuguese economy and works hard to delight wine-lovers around the world? The Cork Oak!

On July 24, Bio4Climate and other host organizations participated in the Cambridge Moth Ball at Kingsley Park, Fresh Pond Reservation, for National Moth Week. Around 200 attendees of all ages engaged in community science, moth collecting, data collection, photography, and children’s activities. Bio4Climate partnered with Julie Croston from Cambridge Wildlife Arts to run the art…

BHS Mini-Forest at Belmont High School  Donate to Support Our Forest In Fall 2025, the Miyawaki Forest Action Belmont (MFAB), under the guidance of  Biodiversity For a Livable Climate (Bio4Climate), will be planting a mini-forest using the Miyawaki Forest at the Belmont High School. Join Us As a Volunteer Miyawaki Forest Action Belmont (MFAB) is…

What is the second most consumed insect group in the world (by humans) that can build nests with heights up to 9 meters (29.5 feet) and has a symbiotic relationship with fungi?

Landscape Heroes: Carbon, Water and Biodiversity See program below, with links to videos! A collaboration with the Ecological Landscape Alliance, NOFA (Northeast Organic Farming Association), NOFA Organic Land Care, and Biodiversity for a Livable Climate  UMass Amherst, Tuesday, January 31st: An in-depth, inspiring conversation on Carbon Sequestration and learn what practical steps you can take…

Conferences To view the videos from each past conference, please visit the main page or the program page of each conference . . . and check out our Introductory Playlist. Nature’s Solutions as National Policy In 2021, we kicked off a series of mini-conferences on nature’s solutions as national policy. Starting in June, we began fostering…

Resources Biodiversity for a Livable Climate and the EcoRestoration Alliance bring forth a dual-document appeal and action blueprint that unveils a groundbreaking perspective and tangible actions for ecosystem restoration as a viable solution to stabilize our climate. A United Call to Cool the Planet! Dive into scientific insights, explore a hopeful pathway, and join a…

Restoring Water Cycles – Program – Home     Speakers     Sponsors/Partners   Scroll down to view videos and slideshows! Our program addressed science, land management practices and activism.   There was ample time for Q&A, and attendees and speakers were encouraged to attend the entire conference in order to be available for thought-provoking dialogue and creative networking. On Sunday…

Restoring Oceans, Restoring Climate– Program – Conference Home    Speakers   Program Program times are Friday, 6 p.m. – 9 p.m., Saturday and Sunday,  9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. 6:00 – Our Oceans, Our SelvesAdam Sacks, Biodiversity for a Livable ClimateVideoThe earth is a system and humans are currently a keystone species…

Blessed Unrest:Growing a Future forLife on Earth Conference Home    Speakers    Program    Sponsors and Partners Videos and other materials available on our Program page. ********************************** Let’s face it: Emissions reduction strategies to address global ecological catastrophes, including massive climate disruption, have not worked. Of course we should go to zero for many reasons, but this doesn’t…

Barn Swallows, birds who eat insects as they scurry across the sky, are disappearing. This isn’t surprising, I suppose, given that they are among the 2.9 billion birds lost across species in the United States – representing one third of the bird numbers we had 50 years ago. What did surprise me is how we got here, according to an intriguing explanation from a leading economist, Alfred E. Kahn.

Working on our selves, our communities, and our places for massive change A workshop on Saturday, March 28, 2020 10:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. EDT Good News – we will hold this workshop online! It will be fully interactive with discussions, conversations, breakout rooms, Q&A and presentations by Bill and Jim. In Western culture, we…

Summer 2020, June 2 – August 18 Biodiversity, Symbiosis and Planetary Regeneration: Exploring Nature’s Possibilities for the Future! Weekly Classes with our staff scientist, Jim Laurie The Excitement and Inspiration of Sciencefor the Curious to the Serious and everyone in-between A fully interactive online adventure with discussions, experiments and explorations for independent thinkers of any age,…

Fall 2020, Wednesdays, September 16th – December 9th Biodiversity 2: Systems Thinking and Transformation – Building Teams for Planetary Restoration. 12 weekly classes with our staff scientist, Jim Laurie. The Excitement and Inspiration of Science for the Curious to the Serious and everyone in-between. A fully interactive online adventure with discussions, experiments and explorations for…

Bob O’Connor: Forest & Land Policy Director for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Connect with usFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/bio4climateTwitter: https://twitter.com/bio4climateInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/bio4climate/ Presented at the Climate Reckoning conference November 17-19, 2017 at Harvard University #greencities #greenspaces #urban

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Restorative land management includes regenerative grazing and agricultural practices that build healthy soils and support a diversity of life above and below ground. It applies to a range of settings, from urban to rural, and from small to…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Restorative land management includes regenerative grazing and agricultural practices that build healthy soils and support a diversity of life above and below ground. It applies to a range of settings, from urban to rural, and from small to…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Healthy soils and water cycles are closely intertwined. Opportunities abound to restore fresh and saltwater wetlands, and to manage urban, suburban and rural water flows in ways that help cool the planet. Nature has fascinating and powerful systems…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Healthy soils and water cycles are closely intertwined. Opportunities abound to restore fresh and saltwater wetlands, and to manage urban, suburban and rural water flows in ways that help cool the planet. Nature has fascinating and powerful systems…

Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem restoration work: https://bio4climate.org/donate/ Nathan Phillips, Earth and Environment Department, Boston UniversityEric Olson, Brandeis UniversityDavid Morimoto, Biologist, Lesley UniversityDavid Lefcourt, Arborist, City of Cambridge Presented at the Urban and Suburban Carbon Farming to Reverse Global Warming Conference, organized by Biodiversity for a…

Christopher Haines  is a seasoned architect licensed in both MA and NY who applies expertise in regenerative architectural design, healthy materials, preservation, renovation and specification writing to small commercial and urban projects. He has spoken for years at US and international forums as well as formally teaching sustainability and environmental management to undergraduate and graduate students.…

Sven Pihl, founder of CT Edible Ecosystems, LLC is a Regenerative Land Planner/Designer and Permaculture educator based in Connecticut. Sven designs multifunctional Edible Landscapes and Forest Gardens for homes, commercial properties, campuses and public spaces. He’s passionate about regenerative landscape design to create productive agro-ecosystems. Sven’s beginnings were with the financial crash of 2008 where he…

Visits adaptation and urban resilience, the phenomenon of Heat Planet, more on land management and conservation, and a continuation of explorations in “Blessed Unrest,” where people around the world, in powerful local ways, are regenerating a healthy biosphere.

With the rise of civilizations, humans began having significant impacts on bodies of water and the water cycle.  The early “hydraulic civilizations” appeared along major rivers (Nile, Tigris-Euphrates, Indus, Yellow River and others), changed watercourses and built canals for agriculture and transportation.  As populations and cities expanded, demand for food led to soil depletion while…

Note: As mentioned in the Release notes, we have a small staff and therefore have had to postpone some important material to the next release, scheduled for January 2018.  This will include a more thorough exploration of the importance of wetlands in addressing climate. Wetlands only cover only a small proportion of the terrestrial surface…

Cultivated land covers 1.6 billion hectares globally [FAO 2011]. About 62% of cropland produces food directly for human consumption, while 35% is dedicated to producing animal feed, and 3% to biofuel feedstock, seed and other industrial products [Foley 2011: 338]. Agriculture is a major source of emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous…

“The world is divided politically, but ecologically it is tightly interwoven.” – Carl Sagan, 1980, Cosmos The magnitude of troubles ailing humanity is dizzying, if not terrifying – any 10 minutes of exposure to the daily news can attest to this. It’s hard to untangle the problems from each other, or to connect causes to…

Scenario 300: Reducing Atmospheric CO2 to 300 ppm by 2061         by Jim Laurie, Staff Scientist Biodiversity for a Livable Climate bio4climate.org jimlaurie7@gmailcom  March 20, 2018 Danger in the Arctic: The Urgency of the Climate Situation Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels have increased from 315 ppm in 1958 to 410 ppm in 2018. This is the…

In a project funded by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), about two dozen citizen scientists measured temperatures in Baltimore and Washington DC on two of the hottest days of 2018. By measuring temperatures second by second with thermal sensors while driving prescribed routes through each city, the data collectors revealed a 17-degree temperature gap between…

Wildfires in the West have become larger and more frequent over the past three decades (globally, the length of the fire season increased by 19% from 1979 to 2013) and this trend will continue with global warming. Typical fire prevention strategy, centering on fuel reduction and fire suppression, has proved inadequate. Instead, society must accept…

The concept of ecological intensification in agriculture offers a framework for handling the question of how to produce enough food for a growing global human population while simultaneously protecting biodiversity. It draws on the language of ecosystem services, which includes supporting services such as soil formation, regulating services (pollination and pest control), provisioning services (production…

In the U.S., some visions for food system change are anchored in the policy framework of the Ocasio-Cortez/Markley Green New Deal, itself viewed by many as a proposal for transformative change. Noting that the way we eat accounts for a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions and that “the food system is breaking the planet,” Patel…

Taking an altogether different angle, Jason Bradford of the Post Carbon Institute assumes radical societal change is inevitable and imminent, and focuses not on how to precipitate change but instead on how to adapt to it. “The future is rural” [Bradford 2019] is essentially a primer on how to navigate the profound changes society will undergo…

The following sketches are but a tiny sampling of the countless ways people throughout the world push back against the socio-economic and political forces of destruction both of ecosystems and of the social fabric of society. Adopting Paul Hawken’s terminology and characterization of “blessed unrest” as a spontaneous, decentralized global social movement, we here present…

Hearing of plans underway for a four-lane highway near their home in Nantes, France, local residents Jim and Stephanie responded by planting a small forest. The idea was not only to block out the added sound and air pollution, but also to try to compensate for the assault on the planet of any road expansion.…

This report, led by Ban Ki Moon (UN), Bill Gates (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) and Kristalina Georgieva (World Bank), calls on decision makers worldwide to facilitate coordinated action to help communities adapt to climate change. Importantly, the report makes the case for nature-based adaptation approaches, which inherently help mitigation efforts as well. Adaptation measures…

A spatial overview of the global importance of Indigenous lands for conservation, Garnett et al. 2018 Indigenous people make up less than 5% of the global population, but their lands encompass 37% of the planet’s remaining natural lands and (partially overlapping with natural lands) 40% of Earth’s protected area, much of this in sparsely inhabited…

Indigenous people make up less than 5% of the global population, but their lands encompass 37% of the planet’s remaining natural lands and (partially overlapping with natural lands) 40% of Earth’s protected area, much of this in sparsely inhabited places. Like everyone, indigenous people have multiple interests (economic, political, cultural), which don’t necessarily always support…

The subject of infectious disease became both fascinating and uncomfortably relevant with the global breakout of Covid-19 in early 2020. Are bats to blame, hunting and selling of wild game or seafood markets? It turns out that the destruction of nature is the root problem, according to the UN environment chief and lead scientists for…

Anthropogenic environmental change and the emergence of infectious diseases in wildlife, Daszak, Cunningham & Hyatt 2001 Humans are not the only species to suffer global pandemics. Planetwide, fungal disease ravages amphibians, just as honeybees are ravaged by varroasis. A herpes virus caused mass mortality of pilchard fish off the coast of Australia and New Zealand…

Increasing agricultural production to feed >11 billion people by 2100 raises several challenges for effectively managing infectious disease. Of many factors examined in this article linking agricultural expansion to infectious disease, one is conversion of natural habitat to cropland or rangeland. Land conversion increases contact between wild animals, livestock and humans. As natural ecosystems are…

The UN’s Decade of Ecosystem Restoration declaration aims to “prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide,” stating that “there has never been a more urgent need to restore damaged ecosystems than now” [UNEP/FAO Factsheet 2020]. Estimates of global land degradation range from 25% to 75% of Earth’s land surface. The uncertainty is due…

Ecological restoration success is higher for natural regeneration than for active restoration in tropical forests, Crouzeilles et al. 2017 This meta-analysis comparing active restoration to natural ecosystem regeneration found the latter to be more effective. The authors conclude that “lower-cost natural regeneration surpasses active restoration in achieving tropical forest restoration success for biodiversity and vegetation…

The concept of “proforestation” presented here means letting existing forests continue to grow and reach their full ecological potential. Due to intensive management practices, most existing forests sequester carbon at only half (or less) of their potential rate. In addition to storing (embodying) more carbon than their smaller counterparts, large trees also sequester carbon at…

In this podcast interview, Dr. Chad Hanson, an ecologist and fire researcher, shares his perspective on the 2018 wildfires in the American West and some myths that have circulated about fire management in their wake. First, there is a perception that wildfires in forested regions are so devastating that they reverse the ‘carbon sink’ effect…

Changzhou is a city near the Yangtze River delta on the east coast of China that has undergone extensive urban development. “From 2006 to 2014, the built-up area in the city increased by 25.68%” [Gao 2017: 2]. This study is part of an effort to boost biodiversity and ecosystem services in the city, which, at…

In contrast to the Gao et al. [2017] article (above), this study maps out an ecological network spanning the entire nation of China. Most such ecological corridor analysis has previously focused at the local and regional levels, according to the authors. They note that in addition to protecting biodiversity, ecological corridors (ECs) purify air, regulate…

Produced by a regional consortium on the environment in Brittany, France, this report describes the ecological value of woody strips encircling agricultural fields and enmeshing the countryside, their decline, and ways to incentivize their protection. Brittany is a heavily agricultural region that also features a long stretch of coastline where urban development and expansion is…

Quick Tour Since our modest but enthusiastic beginnings in 2013, our Biodiversity for a Livable Climate website has grown to the point where we ourselves marvel at how it has become such a rich resource! It’s also a pretty big place, so here’s a brief overview to help you find your way around, in order…

Randi Rotjan is a researcher at the New England Aquarium and professor in Boston University’s Marine Program. She studies coral reefs and climate change in the remote Phoenix Islands, the largest marine protected area in the Pacific Ocean, where she coordinates their science-related mission in her role as Chief Scientist. At Boston University she teaches Coral…

Elisabeth Cianciola has a B.S. in Environmental Science from Trinity College, where she conducted research in areas as diverse as water quality sampling in urban rivers, rain garden design, and the taxonomy of algae. She recently completed an M.S. in Natural Resources at the University of New Hampshire, where she taught courses focused on wetland and…

Allison Houghton is a teacher of permaculture and gardening techniques.  She manages the Greater Boston CSA for The Food Project, where she has also been the orchard manager and assistant grower for Lincoln Farm.  Before that, she was horticultural director for Green City Growers, helping Greater Boston residents, schools, and businesses grow food intensively in small urban spaces.

David Morimoto is an ecologist, conservation biologist, and animal behaviorist by training. He has studied the effects of forest fragmentation on Ovenbirds in Massachusetts and performed basic bird inventories in the tropics, most recently on the Rupununi River in Guyana, South America. He is currently involved in urban bird research studying Cambridge birds and is working on the…

Kannan Thiruvengadam is the president of Eastie Farm in East Boston, MA. He is an urban farmer and environmentalist who is passionate about regenerative design.

Ana Sofia Gonzalez is an environmentalist with chemical engineering background focused on restorative agroforestry in dry lands to increase resilience of food production systems. She is currently developing strategies that propose restorative food systems as a mitigation strategy to reduce forced migration caused by climate change. Sofia is Founder of Plantum.mx, a consultancy firm focused in…

Christopher Haines  is a seasoned architect licensed in both MA and NY who applies expertise in regenerative architectural design, healthy materials, preservation, renovation and specification writing to small commercial and urban projects. He has spoken for years at US and international forums as well as formally teaching sustainability and environmental management to undergraduate and graduate students.…

Charlene Johnston, PE, is a professionally licensed Civil Engineer and Program Manager at AECOM. She has more than 20 years of engineering experience. Over the past 15 years, Charlene’s professional focus includes climate resiliency and control of stormwater projects and flood studies. Her passion is green infrastructure (GI) / low impact development (LID) and building…

Blessed Unrest, The WILD Foundation, Urban Farming: Somerville Community Growing Center and Yarra-Yarra Biodiversity Corridor, Compendium Announcement

Help the Urban Ecosystem: Start a Native Garden, Carbon Farming Proves Profitable in Bismarck, North Dakota, A Road Map to Scenario 300

Using Ecological Restoration to Reduce Urban Flooding, Dr. Gina Angiola Helps Lead Maryland Ban on Fracking, Earthworms

Urban Eco-Restoration Series Part 3, Climate Conference Speaker Announcement, Featured Event: Restoring Water Cycles to Reverse Global Warming

Urban Eco-Restoration Series Part 2, Featured Event: Restoring Water Cycles to Reverse Global Warming, Catching up with Philip Bogdonoff of BLC, Washington D.C. Chapter

Urban Eco-Restoration Series Part 1, Jim Laurie’s Talk on Microbes

Upcoming Conference: Urban and Suburban Carbon Farming to Reverse Global Warming, Speaker profile: Mel King, Catching Up with Jim Laurie

5:00 p.m. Potluck, Presentation and Discussion in Cambridge: “Discuss Questions Raised at the Urban and Suburban Carbon Farming Conference.“ View event details.

Seth Itzkan is a futurist and founder of Planet-TECH Associates in Somerville, Massachusetts.  Planet-TECH has twenty years of experience consulting for clients in energy, urban development, youth empowerment, and futures preparedness. His other company, Charles River Web, develops Open Source web applications.  His personal advocacy is climate mitigation through HM grasslands restoration.  He has spent months…

Jonathan Bates is an ecologist and permaculture consultant. He worked with his friend Eric Tonsmeier to turn a neglected tenth of an acre in Holyoke into an urban oasis, an edible forest garden with 160 carefully chosen varieties of plants and trees. They tell the story in Paradise Lot (Chelsea Green Books).  At Food Forest Farm they…

Allison Houghton is a teacher of permaculture and gardening techniques.  She manages the Greater Boston CSA for the Food Project, where she has also been the orchard manager and assistant grower for the Lincoln Farm.  Before that, she was horticultural director for Green City Growers, helping Greater Boston residents, schools, and businesses grow food intensively in small…

David Morimoto is associate professor of Biology at Lesley University, where he teaches ecology, ornithology, conservation biology, and animal behavior. He has studied the effects of forest fragmentation on birds in Massachusetts and is currently involved in research on urban birds.

Climate change is already here. Severe weather-related events such as more frequent hurricanes, intense droughts, longer wildfire seasons, and devastating floods are evidence of this statement.  However, not all people are experiencing the consequences of the climate crisis equally. All too often, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) are on the frontlines. Due to systemic…

This September, Biodiversity for a Livable Climate continued its series of mini-conferences exploring how we can leverage nature’s solutions to shape policy on climate action and resilience. Our second installment focuses on animals and their crucial role in shaping ecosystems and supporting healthy functioning carbon, water, nutrient, and energy cycles. Watch the video recording here: You…

This study examined whether non-native plants in residential Washington DC limited the presence of the Carolina chickadee, a local breeding insectivore. We predicted that areas with more native plants would support more chickadees, and chickadees would forage more often in the most insect-producing native plants [Narango 2017: 43]. The authors had also considered the possibility…

What brainless creature can learn, problem solve, and even hold down a job?  The slime mold!

What creature grows tall and sturdy, cleans up its neighborhood, and defends itself from predators - all without moving a muscle? The Giant Barrel Sponge, or Xestospongia muta!

“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 avoid the emotions that flow through me in this time of growing personal, social and ecological turbulence...

Learn about the Miyawaki forest we planted in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Miyawaki method was invented by Dr. Akira Miyawaki, a Japanese botanist, and it involves planting native species in urban areas. View the slideshow, created in collaboration with SUGi, here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OfVy4DJfG9P_vMnxCzAL5F_Ndu807JcX/view Learn more about Biodiversity for a Livable Climate: https://bio4climate.org/ Please donate to our ecosystem…

This March, Biodiversity for a Livable Climate continues its series of mini-conferences exploring how we can leverage nature’s solutions to shape policy on climate action and resilience. Our fourth installment features global perspectives on the challenges and opportunities to restoring water cycles. View the recording below, and access the chat and related resources, including presentation slides,…

Globally, oyster habitats are the most degraded habitats among coastal systems, with the loss of 99% in the last 150 years. These 350 million years old keystone species and their habitats are at the brink of total collapse from industrial harvesting and pollution of coastal areas. Today scientists understand the ecological value of oyster habitats…

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…

Which keystone species creates intricate burrows, is aggressive towards its own kind, and hibernates from October to May?  The European Hamster! Did you know that there are multiple species of hamster in the wild? I didn’t know this until recently, when I stumbled upon a BBC Earth video of a European Hamster foraging for food…

What creature is the largest of its kind, sports beautiful patterns, and holds a reputation for being a ‘gentle giant’?  The whale shark!

Biodiversity 7: Rewilding Half the Earth to Create a Future We Want Fall 2022, Wednesdays, October 12 – December 28 12 weekly classes with our staff scientist, Jim Laurie. He will hold two sessions every Wednesday, from 12 – 2 pm ET and 7 – 9 pm ET to accommodate students’ different schedules. The Excitement…

Cambridge Science Festival – October 6 at 3pm ET Wholehearted Regeneration: Boosting Communal and Climate Resilience One Pocket Forest at a Time On Thursday, October 6, we joined the Cambridge Science Festival’s climate hub to share insights on ecosystem restoration and urban rewilding. Maya Dutta, Assistant Director of Regenerative Projects at Bio4Climate shared her work…

Which creature fights fires, creates wetlands, recharges groundwater, alters landscapes, and is a climate hero? Beavers!

What nocturnal creatures native to North America are known for their beauty and the fact that they don't eat at all in their adult life?  Luna moths!

This panel was one of several presentations hosted during Redesigning Our Communities for Life After Fossil Fuels on Saturday, January 21, 2023 with Los Angeles community leaders. This event is the third in a series of six events hosted virtually and in-person in communities throughout the U.S. and Canada – https://bio4climate.org/roc Stay tuned to register…

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 of the Mass Rivers Alliance, and Beth Lambert, Director of the…

What can hold more than 500 species, sequester more than 500 lbs. CO2/year, be 10F cooler than its surroundings, soak up lots of rainwater,and be made by and for children in a space no bigger than a tennis court? A “mini-forest” planted using the Miyawaki Method, of course! Hannah Lewis (Bio4Climate Compendium editor) and Daan…

In this interview hosted by Tania Roa, author Hannah Lewis discusses her new book “Mini – Forest Revolution.” In this book, Lewis presents the Miyawaki Method, a unique approach to reforestation devised by Japanese botanist Dr. Akira Miyawaki. She explains how tiny forests as small as six parking spaces grow quickly and are much more…

Everyone needs a forest, because not only are they one of the most efficient means for sequestering carbon, but the most effective system for cooling the planet, especially on the local level. With the loss of green spaces, more and more people are feeling the effects of heat islands, localized hotspots that can be readily…

Greene-Rose Park Forest Photos by Maya Dutta On Saturday November 5, 2022 we planted our second Miyawaki Forest in collaboration with the City of Cambridge in The Port at Greene-Rose Heritage Park. We are thrilled to bring another pocket forest to life with the help of the community. We will share information, updates, and photos…

What small but fearless songbird can astonish with its aerial acrobatics and is always ready to battle much bigger birds for dominance? The Black Drongo!

HYDRATE: The Role of Water Key Concepts Water is the primary method of cooling the earth, but the earth has dried up.  Not just as a result of global warming but also: Fewer forests to hold water and send water vapor and heat up into the atmosphere.   Degraded soil cannot hold water to grow vegetation…

What organism can grow up to 35 inches in a day, conduct electricity, and survive an atomic bomb? Bamboo!

What a thrilling week it has been! Since last Thursday’s New York Times article Tiny Forests with Big Benefits, my teammates and I at Bio4Climate have been buzzing with excitement at the recognition our forests and this type of restoration is getting. We are so thrilled by the enthusiasm of people’s responses, from interest in…

Natick High School Forest Photos by Maya Dutta On Saturday September 30, 2023 we planted Natick’s first Miyawaki Forest at Natick High School! Sign up to volunteer here. We are so excited to bring another pocket forest to life with the help of the community, high school, and municipality. We will share information, updates, and…

To a climate conversation long dominated by computer models and technological jargon, Regenerating Life: How to Cool the Planet, Feed the World and Live Happily Ever After brings some badly needed rain, along with dung beetles, sweating trees, fungal mycelia, cloud-making forests, beavers, worms, soil microbes, cow patties and whales. As more and more people…

While most people are focused on the irony of COP28 being hosted by the fossil fuel industry, we will be focusing on the work being done on biodiversity, eco-restoration and water cycles.

What fascinating feline with unique adaptations roams the aquatic ecosystems of Southeast Asia? The fishing cat!

What furry feline has stealthy skills, built-in snow gear, and a surprising screech?  The Canada lynx!

Biodiversity 10 Deep Dive:Beavers, Wetlands & Shorelines Spring 2024, Wednesdays, February 21 – May 8 Are you ready to transform your understanding of how life on the planet works and how we can play a role? Join us as we follow the transformation of two leading writers and thinkers to a deeper understanding of natural…

What cute creature is an underground architect and an amateur meteorologist? The Groundhog!

What species of tremendous size and grace undertakes the largest mammal migration on Earth? The humpback whale!

What long-legged creatures are known for their beauty, social habits, and fabulous flamboyance? Flamingos!

What striking seabird is a master of adaptability in the ocean and the air? The Atlantic Puffin!

This Spring, we are planting the first two Miyawaki Forests in Worcester, MA. These dense, biodiverse, native pocket forests will bring cooling, beauty, and resilience to the urban landscape. Join us for one additional planting day at Plumley Village Apartments on Wednesday, June 12 at 3pm. Come ready to get your hands in the soil…

A transformation is underway in Worcester, MA. In this mid-sized city in Central Massachusetts long known for its industrial activity, city leadership has undertaken ambitious initiatives to address some of their climate resilience goals using the Miyawaki method. Together, Bio4Climate, BSC Group, and the City of Worcester planned and created two Miyawaki Forests in the…

Introduction by Jim Laurie Erling Jorgensen was a student in my “Systems Thinking and Scenario Building” course (Biodiversity 6) in the summer of 2022.  He is determined to learn how life processes work and develop a scenario of restoring these processes.  His goal is also to create a story that young people and adults with…

How can we find cool insights as we dive into a summer of heatwaves and weather extremes? It hasn’t always been this way. Many of us remember carefree summers with morning dew on the grass or a breeze by the beach or river. Everyone knows it’s cooler by the water! Nations and communities have favorite…

What creature grows backwards and can swallow a tree whole?

What insect spends years hidden underground, preparing for a brief but spectacular emergence into the sunlight, filling the air with the deafening, iconic song of summer?

Presented by the University of Toronto’s Hart House OrchestraSaturday, February 15, 2025First Church of Cambridge Support environmental action, youth empowerment, and sustainable local food systems by purchasing a ticket or making a donation. Eastie Farm plays a crucial role in strengthening food security and advancing climate solutions in Boston. This benefit concert will help fund…

Bio4Climate partnered with a coalition of climate and native plant organizations to bring Doug Tallamy to Northern Virginia for an in-person talk and book signing.

What animal was named after an Aztec god, maintains a youthful appearance for its entire life, and can regrow limbs, organs, and even parts of its central nervous system without scarring?

Home   |  Program  |  Sponsors and Partners  Restoring Ecosystems to Reverse Global Warming– Speakers – Home   |  Program  |  Sponsors and Partners 

The Compendium This Compendium of Scientific and Practical Findings Supporting Eco-Restoration to Address Global Warming (“The Compendium”) is a fully referenced compilation of the evidence outlining the power, benefits and necessity of eco-restoration to address global warming and biodiversity loss.  Bringing together findings from the scientific literature, government and industry reports, and journalistic investigations, it…

Water and vegetation are climate heroes, co-starring in a story about as old as terrestrial life on Earth yet under-recognized in mainstream climate politics. Not only does the vegetation embedded in ecosystems act as a giant CO2-absorption machine, constantly removing the greenhouse gas from the air and storing much of it in soil and biomass,…

Listening to the Voices of Nature– Speakers – November 17-18, 2018 Conference Home    Speakers    Program    Sponsors and Partners Conference Home    Speakers    Program    Sponsors and Partners

Restoring Oceans, Restoring Climate– Speakers – Conference Home    Speakers   Program Conference Home    Speakers   Program

The Power and Promise of Biodiversity – Speakers – Home    Speakers    Program Home    Speakers    Program

Restoring Water Cycles – Speakers – Home   Program    Sponsors/Partners Home   Program   Sponsors/Partners

What mammal makes a mysterious sound that scientists can’t figure out, can jump straight up to a height eight times their body length, and loves us when we love them? Felis catus, the mostly tame, sometimes feral, house cat!

I live where the forest is humid and deep, I chatter and mimic, I laugh and I weep. With feathers of gray and a mind that's quite bright, I talk with my flock from morning to night.