Life Saves the Planet Blog: Forests

Forests act as vital regulators of the Earth’s climate. They help maintain a balance in the atmospheric composition, regulate the water cycle, and support a rich variety of life, all of which are essential for sustaining a cool and stable climate. Protecting and expanding forests is thus a key part of strategies to combat climate change and ensure a healthy planet for future generations.

2024 Midwest Beaver Summit (virtual) – August 28 – 11 am – 3 pm Central Time

2024 Midwest Beaver Summit (virtual) – August 28 – 11 am – 3 pm Central Time

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. Join us on Wednesday, August 28 from 11 am – 3 pm Central…

Healing Our Land & Our Climate! – Registration still open

Healing Our Land & Our Climate! – Registration still open

In order to heal our climate, we must FIRST heal our land. In order to heal the land, we must restore the health of the soil and our ecosystems. Join Hart Hagan for this course on Healing Our Land & Our Climate! from July 9 – September 24. Classes are weekly on Tuesdays at either 12 noon or…

Small Forests, Big Benefits – Tuesday June 18

Small Forests, Big Benefits – Tuesday June 18

On Tuesday, June 18 at 7pm ET, we participated in a comprehensive forum on Miyawaki Forest adoption across the US. Watch the recording here! In this online event, Bio4Climate’s Director of Regenerative Projects, Maya Dutta, joined keynote speaker Douglas Tallamy and three other national leaders to explore how mini-forests of native trees and shrubs can…

Signing on to Protect Forests
Healing Our Land & Our Climate!
Cool Forests for a Hot World
Slow Water Romance
2023 in the Forest
Halley’s Comet and Scenario 300
Intact ecosystems stabilize climate.

Intact ecosystems stabilize climate.

The more we disturb intact ecosystems, the less stable the climate that we have. Do we have systematic evidence-based resources to prove how natural ecosystems stabilize climate? Yes, we do! It would be helpful for science communicators and policymakers to have a resource with systematized evidence. For example:Primary forests have higher resilience against droughts than…

What are these tiny forests’ big benefits anyway?

What are these tiny forests’ big benefits anyway?

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…

Our First Miyawaki Forest Turns Two

Our First Miyawaki Forest Turns Two

Our community grows alongside our first Miyawaki forest! In September of 2021, we planted our first Miyawaki forest – the first in the Northeastern U.S. – in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As the forest turns two, and demonstrates signs of resilient, abundant growth, the Bio4Climate team gathered with local forest enthusiasts to reflect and celebrate the ecosystem…

The NS wildfires are not ‘natural’ disasters: climate change, forest management, and human folly are all to blame

The NS wildfires are not ‘natural’ disasters: climate change, forest management, and human folly are all to blame

Four forestry specialists offer their views on how to reduce the wildfire risks. The Wildfire story that no one is talking about.  The media is full of stories about the causes and cures for the massive forest fires raging around the world.  Those fires have finally hit close to the Bio4Climate home in New England…

Primates and Peatlands: Restoring Indonesian Ecosystems in the Face of Flooding

Primates and Peatlands: Restoring Indonesian Ecosystems in the Face of Flooding

Meet Eka Cahyaningrum, restorer of peatlands and advocate for primates. Her work in Indonesia restores wild animal populations and their habitats while uplifting local communities. Her youth-led efforts demonstrate the power of coming together under one goal: to create better living conditions for all living beings, so that we can all thrive. Eka Cahyaningrum, Primate…

Using the Miyawaki Method to Rapidly Rewild our Communities

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…

Miyawaki Forests and the Meaning of Regeneration

Miyawaki Forests and the Meaning of Regeneration

As many people know through firsthand experience, we planted the Northeast’s first Miyawaki Forest last weekend. After several months of planning, discussion, and organization, we gathered in Danehy Park in North Cambridge to create the forest. This was the part I participated in, but like so much of our work at Biodiversity for a Livable…

Water, Land, and Climate  –The Critical Connection

Water, Land, and Climate –The Critical Connection

Water plays a critical role in restoring a livable climate. A New Water Paradigm is emerging to help us restore landscapes naturally, so we no longer wastefully “drain the rain” but instead “retain the rain” with water catchments, soil, plants and animals. The result? We can renew our climates through local action, by allowing rainwater…

A Global Action Plan for the Restoration of Natural Water Cycles and Climate

A Global Action Plan for the Restoration of Natural Water Cycles and Climate

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.…