Community - Biodiversity for a Livable Climate

Building Water Back Into the Landscape: A Week With Water Stories

Image shared by Alexandra Ionescu

Alexandra Ionescu, Bio4Climate’s Associate Director of Regenerative Projects, recently spent a week volunteering alongside the Water Stories team as they built two earthen ponds and connected them to a third.

Water Stories was founded by Zachary Weiss, a protégé of revolutionary Austrian farmer Sepp Holzer.

Witnessing the genesis of a pond, Alexandra began to see its “anatomy” emerge through the team’s shaping of the earth—the key, dam, spillway, slopes, and terraces taking form as they continuously surveyed the site and worked with the geology of place.

Through near-daily rain, Alexandra and the other volunteers supported the work through a range of side activities, including helping drain water from the construction area. Over time, these ponds will help hold water in the landscape, support vegetation and other life, and slowly rehydrate the surrounding land.

Read the blog

Posted: August 29, 2026

August Is National Make-A-Will Month

A wonderful opportunity to create or update your will and reflect on the people and causes that matter most to you. By including Biodiversity for a Livable Climate in your will or estate plans, you can create a lasting legacy that helps protect biodiversity, restore ecosystems, and advance nature-based solutions for generations to come.

Learn more about how to join the Legacy Circle here.

Make a Will

Posted: August 15, 2026

Beavers Bring Water and Life Back to Alma, Colorado

Photo credit: Sue Butler

This week, Bio4Climate Board Member Sue Farist Butler shares firsthand how beavers, habitat protection, and thoughtful community restoration are helping rehydrate the landscape, support wildlife, and create a vibrant nature park in Alma, Colorado.

A newly built beaver dam has raised the water level by three feet, restoring a stream that had gradually filled with grasses. The revived waterway now supports brown and rainbow trout, while a new beaver lodge is taking shape downstream.

The town has protected this habitat as part of a beautiful nature park, where local children learn along the banks of the river. In this fire-prone landscape, beavers are helping keep the valley moist, healthy, and full of life.

Read the full blog post

Posted: August 8, 2026

Help Village Family Farms Save Youth Summer Camp

On July 27, Village Family Farms had to shut down their STEAM Agricultural Summer Camp when one of their sponsoring organizations lost their funding.

This 8-week summer camp provided more than 20 kids ages 5-17 with day-long educational and recreational programs that:

Teach them how to grow food using regenerative agricultural practices
Deepen their knowledge in nutrition and soil health
Provide experiences in nature through farming, forestry and conservation programs
Engage them in activities, games and sports that develop building blocks for wellness and success

The farm partners with five organizations, including Bio4Climate, to provide educational programming. We customized our Soil to Sky Curriculum to their summer camp program to educate participants in soil health, plant biology, the water cycle, the value of biodiversity and ecosystems, and the mechanisms in nature that cool the temperatures and stabilize the climate.

Village Family Farms needs funding to pay instructors, provide stipends to youth leaders, provide transportation to the camp’s activities and field trips, purchase supplies, provide lunches and healthy snacks, and host an end-of-summer family event to celebrate the youth’s participation and achievements.

Help us raise the funds needed to restart the summer camp and continue these valuable programs for the kids! We encourage you to share on social media and with your friends, family, and other networks.

The GoFundMe link below was created by Bio4Climate’s Louise Mitchell. All money raised goes directly to Village Family Farms and is tax-deductible.

Donate today

Posted: August 8, 2026

In Memoriam: Richard Heinberg (1951–2026)

We mourn the passing of renowned author, educator, and environmentalist Richard Heinberg, who died on July 19, 2026, at age 75.

A longtime Senior Fellow at the Post Carbon Institute and author of 14 books, Richard was a leading voice on fossil-fuel dependence, ecological limits, and community resilience. He also had a longstanding relationship with Bio4Climate and played an integral role in our Redesigning Our Communities conference series.

Richard was a lovely human being. Ethical, human, collaborative, generous.

We are deeply grateful for Richard’s wisdom, friendship, and lasting contributions to the movement for a more resilient and livable future. Share your thoughts and memories about Richard at the link below.

In memoriam of richard heinberg

Posted: July 31, 2026

Reconnecting Rivers

Screenshot

Our friends at the Charles River Watershed Association (CRWA) are doing great work to remove obsolete dams and restore watersheds all along the Charles River in MA, USA. Enjoy this short film of empowering communities through shared restoration work.

Posted: July 17, 2026

Tom Wallace Lyons: A Living Legacy

At Bio4Climate, our work grows from relationships with the land, with communities, and with people who believe in restoring the living world around us. Our new blog post, A Living Legacy: The Lyons Family, Restoration, and the Work Ahead, shares the story of Tom Wallace Lyons and the lasting impact of his family’s generosity, care, and commitment. Support from people like Tom is what makes our work in the field possible, helping us plant, restore, educate, and build hope for future generations. We are deeply grateful for the people who walk alongside us in this work and help turn restoration into a living legacy.

Read the blog

Posted: July 4, 2026

Music as Climate Inspiration

This week’s screening of Thinking Like Water, Country Roads City Roads included the lovely “Sing Back the River” by Petey Mesquietey. The song is both a tribute to the beauty of the rich nature around the Santa Cruz River in Arizona and a lament for what has been lost now that the River is mostly dry and the banks devoid of life.

Guest speaker Brad Lancaster shares his curated playlist that motivates and inspires his work.

Give it a listen!

Posted: July 4, 2026

Experiencing the Impact of Land and Water Degradation Firsthand

The compound in the village where Betty’s family still lives

Bio4Climate intern Betty Bitengo knows what it’s like first-hand to live through the impacts of land and water degradation in her community.

In her very first post on her new Substack account, Betty recounts her experience. You’ll be deeply moved and in awe—not only by her lived experience as a child—but by her incredible talent as a writer.

Read betty’s story and follow her updates.

Posted: March 20, 2026

Miyawaki Forest Program Update

An intergenerational miniforest now grows in Belmont, MA!

Last year, alongside organizing and hosting the inaugural Northeast Miniforest Summit to support knowledge-sharing and connection, our Miyawaki Forest Program reached an important milestone: planting a 3,000-square-foot miniforest at Belmont High School together with the Miyawaki Forest Action Belmont (MFAB) group and students from the school’s Climate Action Club (CAC).

On October 4, 2025, nearly 275 Belmont volunteers—spanning generations—came together to plant 1,144 native trees and shrubs across 32 species, jump-starting soil life with leaf mulch and compost tea and bringing a living classroom rooted in collective care to life.

What makes this miniforest especially meaningful is the way it was imagined, organized, and stewarded by the community and students—amplifying a web of relationships and a shared sense of care and responsibility to the ecology of place and to one another, while restoring biodiversity and ecological function.

To many more community-initiated, student-powered miniforests—built by many hands and grown for many futures.

With deep gratitude to everyone whose time, support, and care made this possible—and to those stewarding it forward.

Learn more about how this miniforest came to life.

Posted: February 7, 2026

Bio4Climate Outreach Intern Participates In Indigenous Tree Planting

On November 28th, 2025, Betty Bitengo Atandi, Outreach Intern for Bio4Climate based in Nairobi, Kenya, participated in a major tree-planting activity organized by AAR Healthcare in Ngong Forest, planting over 24,000 indigenous tree seedlings to help restore the forest and improve Nairobi’s environment. She worked alongside AAR staff, community groups, and other volunteers, preparing the planting spots, placing the seedlings, and covering them with soil. “It was a meaningful experience because we contributed directly to long-term forest recovery and climate action” – Betty Bitengo Atandi

Posted: December 6, 2025

Miyawaki Update

Today, we’re excited to share the introductory keynote of the 2025 Northeast Miniforest Summit. Hannah is the author of Mini-Forest Revolution: Using the Miyawaki Method to Rapidly Rewild the World—a book many of you may already know well.

Hannah’s presentation brought us back to the heart of the Miyawaki method and what it really asks of us. She drew a clear line between planting trees and planting an actual forest community. She emphasized the method’s goal of skipping ecological succession by planting climax species from the start—supported by soil preparation, multi-layered planting, and early canopy formation. She walked us through Dr. Akira Miyawaki’s original work and how the approach has expanded globally through hands-on experimentation and a growing network of practitioners.

In the Q&A, Hannah underscored the importance of stable, shade-tolerant climax species and shared examples of how colder climates face added pressures from non-native plants. She also noted a key distinction: Dr. Miyawaki worked largely within evergreen forest communities, which function differently from the deciduous systems we are working with in the Northeast U.S.

Hannah’s presentation left us with two questions to reflect on:

If Dr. Miyawaki developed his method largely within evergreen systems—where shade persists year-round—how should we think about applying the method in our deciduous Northeastern forests, where light and shade shift so dramatically across the seasons? What seasonal dynamics deserve closer attention in the early years?

As ecological roles shift across contexts, how do we determine which species are truly “climax species” for the forest community we’re emulating—and what the right ratios across canopy, sub-canopy, understory, and shrub layers should be?

We hope these questions deepen your own thinking as well.

Posted: November 28, 2025

Miyawaki Update

This week we ground ourselves in with the opening reflection by Hartman Deetz, Mashpee Wampanoag, which Alex Ionescu shares, “reminds us of the importance of cultivating relationships with both human and more-than-human communities — as relatives connected through what we all hold in common: symbiosis, interconnection, and our shared Earth.”

For the next few weeks, we will be sharing videos from the 2025 Northeast Miniforst Summit! From a seasoned forest maker who has already planted several forests to a public official focused on cultivating biodiversity in their district, everyone will have something to glean from this summit and something to share with your community.

Posted: November 23, 2025

WATCH NOW!

Miniforests are more than trees—they amplify a web of relationships.

Watch and learn as Bio4Climate’s Associate Director of Regenerative Projects explains how miniforests provide hands-on opportunities to explore ecological processes and witness firsthand how ecological restoration can transform our landscapes. Plant growth, the water cycle, and soil health become moments of inquiry and awareness, helping to reconcile natural processes with urban challenges like stormwater management and the heat island effect.

Alex’s presentation is the perfect introduction to Bio4Climate’s 2025 Northeast Miniforest Summit videos that we will be featuring here over the coming weeks.

Watch it here

Posted: November 14, 2025

The Goldilocks Strategy: Getting Our Relationship with Bears and Lions Just Right

As a keystone species, humans need to safeguard other powerful animals while protecting the safety and livelihoods of local communities.

Learn firsthand from South African Novelist and Photographer Tony Eprile, in conversation with Botswana Director Dr. Andrew Stein of Communities Living Among Wildlife Sustainably (CLAWS), and Wildlife Ecologist Meghan Walla-Murphy, as they share their adventures and insights from working with animals such as lions and black bears.

They will discuss their work with dangerous predators and the communities that live alongside them; as well as the use of new technology and indigenous wisdom to coexist and thrive side-by-side.

Thursday, November 13 7:00 – 8:30 PM ET – on Zoom

Posted: November 7, 2025

Online | The Pesticide Threat to Environmental Health: Advancing Holistic Solutions Aligned with Nature

Join Beyond Pesticides for a free two-session event focused on practical, nature-based approaches to land management, food production, and biodiversity protection. Registration includes access to both sessions. This forum will challenge everyone to think holistically about ways we can join together to solve the existential threats to health, biodiversity, and climate for which petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers are major contributors.

Oct. 19 and Dec. 04 @ 1-3:30pm ET

Posted: October 25, 2025

In their own words: A Miniforest on Campus

Last week we celebrated the planting of the Belmont High School Miniforest, a community effort that brought together students, educators, and an entire town to reimagine what a schoolyard can be. This week we’re excited to share a short film created by Belmont students, capturing the care, curiosity, and enthusiasm that brought this young ecosystem to life and that will steward for years to come.

Posted: October 18, 2025

Dispatch from the Field

Former Bio4Climate intern Adrianna Drindak recently led an off-trail backpacking trip in Kings Canyon National Park through her college’s outing club. Over the course of eight days, the group traversed rocky passes, explored vibrant meadows, enjoyed the incredible mountain views, and spent many hours alongside blue alpine lakes. Below, Adrianna shares a special moment from her travels. Photos and words by Adrianna Drindak.

It was our last night in the alpine zone. We reached our destination, Moose Lake, in the early afternoon, and had the rest of the day to enjoy our last night at elevation. I was chatting with a friend, and many of the people on my trip were sitting by the lake, taking naps and reading books. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a sleek figure meander along the shore. The shape of the creature came into focus, and before I knew it a Black Bear was wandering only twenty feet from those resting. I shouted, managing to get the attention of those down by the water, and we all stared in awe as the bear walked by, barely looking our way as it scrambled along the shore. We watched as it continued along the water’s edge before disappearing on the far side of the lake. The bear was at peace, so unattuned to human presence and entirely unfazed by the group of people sitting nearby.

Posted: October 18, 2025

Belmont, Mass. | A forest grows in Belmont!

It’s planting day in Belmont! Today, more than 200 volunteers will gather at Belmont High School to plant 1,140 native trees and shrubs, transforming the school grounds into a 3,000-square-foot mini-forest.

Beyond ecology, the effort to bring this forest to life has become a bridge for community healing, youth engagement, and redefining schooling through ecology. One young Girl Scout, living in an apartment with no yard, has nursed a sapling all year to plant it in the forest today.

The miniforest’s journey taps into a richer vein of what these forests can mean as instruments of care and learning and their power to bring communities together at a time when many are being pushed and pulled apart.

We look forward to sharing more stories and photos as things get underway!

Posted: October 17, 2025

Rio de Janeiro | Confluência LATAM 2025

Last week Brendan wrote in from São Paulo after an evening listening to Ailton Krenak. Today, he’s checking in from Rio de Janeiro where for the last few days he’s been attending a conference on narrative change in Latin America.

Whether you’re working in the region or not, I wanted to share a few general takeaways on narrative change principles so far that I think can help inform the work that each of us in the larger Bio4Climate community are doing across contexts.

1. Prioritizing short and long-term storytelling. Archiving and sharing stories that connect to immediate struggles, the kind that mobilize action and meet people where they are today, but that also nest inside a larger arc of transformation.

2. Narrative change doesn’t happen in isolation. It requires rooting stories in lived realities: the politics people navigate, the cultures they belong to, and the social bonds they rely on.

3. Are the tactics we’re using actually aligned with the futures we imagine, or are they perpetuating old patterns and reinforcing old social or political ecosystems?

4. Mapping areas of consensus, creating spaces for dialogue, and investing in the infrastructure to hold alliances over time are just as important as the narratives and stories themselves.

How do these things manifest in your work and your activism? What would you add?

Posted: September 29, 2025

São Paulo | An Evening with Ailton Krenak

Hi everyone! It’s Brendan Kelly here, writing in from Brazil. I had the chance to see Brazilian thinker, writer, and activist Ailton Krenak speak this week in São Paulo. Much of Krenak’s work is rooted in care and reciprocity, in the idea that forests, rivers, soil, and non-human beings all have their own agency and value and rights.

He had more to say than could possibly fit here, but a provocation he put to all of us stood out and I wanted to share it with all of you.

Can we hope within ourselves to hear what the earth is saying? Can we hope to have the courage to provoke new things to come out from these urban ruins? Can we hope to summon the forest as an internal transformation as much as an external one?

Posted: September 21, 2025

Celebrating Allan Savory

This week we joined many around the world to celebrate the 90th birthday of regenerative farmer and champion of all things alive, Allan Savory.

Bio4Climate’s Jim Laurie first met Allan Savory in Houston in the 1990s, learning holistic management alongside Texas ranchers and driving hundreds of miles for workshops. Years later in Colorado, Jim was presenting on stage, with Mr. Savory sitting right before him in the front row. Never one to miss an opportunity for a good conversation, Jim called to Allan from the stage to broach the idea of applying holistic management to fish. Savory lit up at the idea; the world’s oceans and rivers were areas he hadn’t yet explored.

Jim took this photo (above) in Boulder, Colorado on June 23rd, 2013 while attending the first Savory Institute HUB Training Course with attendees from 6 continents. There are now over 50 Savory HUBS.

Seated from left are Jody Butterfield, Allan’s wife and his co-author of Holistic Management 3rd edition, Allan Savory, and Elsa Tung, a Tufts International Relations graduate student attending Hub Training.

Posted: September 21, 2025

What if we can balance our climate quickly, naturally, affordably?

Katie Ross

Dr. Katie Ross leads this free workshop, offered in partnership with Climate Land Leaders and Biodiversity for a Livable Climate. We’ll discuss – and potentially be awed by – how the living skin of our landscapes and oceans create our climate from the ground up. Spoiler alert: it’s through the profoundly fascinating intelligence of nature, and how water flows from soil to branch to leaf to cloud and back again, powered entirely by the sun and life. This session will also offer time for you to look at your own patch of Earth and develop questions and insights for climate-restoring actions in your community.

Katie Ross is an independent writer and researcher, with a background in ecology, renewable energy, regenerative agriculture, transdisciplinary research, and transformative sustainability learning. Knowing how stories hold, transmit and transform paradigms, Katie is keen to share stories of landscape and ocean regeneration. Check out her most recent blog here, in a partnership with Climate Land Leaders.

RSVP for free

Posted: September 15, 2025

Boston – Indigenous Knowledge and Climate Change

The city of Boston and other coastal cities are facing major impacts of climate change. What can we learn from Indigenous communities? Could Traditional Ecological Knowledge be one of the many tools to help us become more resilient? The Museum of Science hosts an evening of powerful dialogue exploring how Indigenous communities are leading efforts to protect land from the growing threat of wildfires. Speakers will delve into traditional and contemporary fire management practices, the deep-rooted relationship between fire and land, and what it means to be human in the face of climate change. This speaker series is a collaboration between the museum, Amira Madison (Aquinnah Wampanoag), Hartman Deetz (Mashpee Wampanoag), the Harvard University Native American Program, and the Salata Institute.

Get tickets

Posted: September 15, 2025

Boston | Inaugural Massachusetts Sustainability Day

On September 9, Bio4Climate joined more than 350 participants for the inaugural Massachusetts Sustainability Day at the State House in Boston. The afternoon of exchange saw legislators, senators, representatives, advocacy groups, municipalities, state agencies, and members of the public come together to share ideas and showcase solutions for a more sustainable future.

Coming on the heels of the Governor’s announcement of new Biodiversity Goals, Sustainability Day was the perfect opportunity to center Bio4Climate’s message that biodiversity is climate infrastructure.

Virtual | Beaver-Inspired Landscape Design

Remember Beaverland, the book by Leila Phillips that most of us couldn’t be pulled away from? It was there we first learned about the work of Dr. Jordan Kennedy, an interdisciplinary researcher whose work bridges non-human animal engineering, hydrodynamics, and Indigenous-led conservation. Now you can learn directly from Dr. Kennedy! The Beaver Institute is hosting a webinar with her as part of their Beaver Science Speaker Series on September 11, 2pm ET. Holding a Ph.D. and M.S. in Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering from Harvard University, Kennedy’s research spans beaver damming behaviors, logjam hydrodynamics, biomimetic design, and beaver-inspired robotics.

Posted: September 6, 2025

Cambridge | Water is Love!

Thank you to everyone who came out and joined our community screening (and lively discussion) of the film, Water Is Love, at the Cambridge Public Library the last week of August! If you haven’t seen it, the documentary showcases case studies from India, Kenya, and Portugal where communities are using decentralized water management methods to restore local water cycles. These efforts not only secure clean water for villages and farms but also help regenerate microclimates. That means cooler landscapes, recharged soils, and, ultimately, regional and global climate stability. If you find yourself asking, as one young attendee did, “What can we do?” read more from Poulomi Chakravarty, PhD., on her takeaways from the discussion and how we can all take a little more responsibility for the water in our communities.

Read: reflecting on water is love

Posted: September 6, 2025

Massachusetts Commits to Biodiversity Action

This week, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey’s administration released a 25-year plan to restore and protect nature across the Commonwealth, a major step forward in recognizing the critical role of biodiversity in climate resilience. “Nature is our first line of defense against the impacts of climate change — the more biodiverse our forests, wetlands, and marine environments are, the more resilient they are,” said Mass. Climate Chief Melissa Hoffer. Bio4Climate contributed to the agenda’s public comment period, advocating for strong protections of mature ecosystems, science-based conservation targets, and a clear emphasis on ecosystem and habitat restoration. We’re encouraged to see many of these priorities reflected in the final plan, including commitments to restore essential habitats, safeguard key wildlife corridors, and support nature-based solutions across working and urban landscapes. We’re optimistic that this agenda can serve as an actionable blueprint for other governments to prioritize nature-based solutions to climate breakdown. “Biodiversity is the foundation for life—it anchors our history, heritage, and culture, supports our health and well-being, food security and economy, and enriches our lives. It is also a key climate solution—nature protects our communities from extreme weather, drought, floods, and heat.”

Explore the biodiversity goals

Posted: August 26, 2025

Water Is Love

Celebrate World Water Week with Bio4Climate in Cambridge, MA. Join us in person on Wednesday, August 27 from 6:45 to 8:30pm for a screening of the inspiring film, Water is Love, with brief discussion and snacks at the Cambridge Library Main Branch, 449 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02138.

Water is Love follows a group of youth facing climate change challenges leading to a journey around the world with shared stories of regenerative practices such as ecosystem designs to create water retention in communities, villages, and regions.

The film weaves together traditional ecological knowledge, the role of water in shaping climate, and the urgency of restoring complete water cycles.

RSVP for free on MeetUp

Posted: August 26, 2025

Miyawaki Dispatch from the Field

Site preparation began this morning at Belmont High School in Belmont, MA, for a new Miyawaki miniforest set to be planted on October 4 (stay tuned). Designed to emulate a High Terrace Floodplain forest community, the project will bring 1,400 trees and shrubs to the site, representing around 30 diverse native species.

Posted: August 26, 2025

Protect Roadless Ecosystems

Bio4Climate joined 150 organizations to co-sign a letter urging Congress and the USDA to go above and beyond preserving the current Roadless Rule and instead enact strong, loophole-free, permanent protections for the nation’s inventoried roadless areas. The USDA announced on June 23, 2025 that the Roadless Rule would be rescinded.

Dear Members of Congress,

We, the undersigned public lands advocates, ask Congress to urge the U.S. Department of Agriculture to both immediately preserve the “Roadless Rule” (36 CFR, Part 294) and update the policy to enact permanent protection of these 58.2 million acres of priceless and irreplaceable ecosystems. A reformed Roadless Rule needs to end all forms of logging, grazing, mining, and drilling within Inventoried Roadless Area boundaries and close existing loopholes that allow logging and road-building…

Keep reading

Share action alert

Posted: August 26, 2025

Transformation in Worcester, Mass

Transformation in Worcester, Mass. In the mid-sized Central Massachusetts city of Worcester, 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 with BSC Group and the City of Worcester, Bio4Climate planned and created two Miyawaki Forests in the heart of downtown last year, bringing together hundreds of community volunteers over multiple planting events to cool, green, and beautify the urban landscape and create a space for nature to thrive.

One forest has been planted at the Worcester Public Library at the McGrath Parking Lot, while the other is located at Plumley Village Apartments.

Posted: August 16, 2025

The Forest is the Sea’s Lover” Large chunks of human and more-than-human…

The Forest is the Sea’s Lover” Large chunks of human and more-than-human communities dodge a geological bullet this week, as tsunami threats after an historic earthquake in the Pacific largely failed to materialize. But it certainly got our community thinking. From Jim Laurie’s Symbiosis Team, Tim Jones (Gladney Farm, Hokkaido, Japan) thought of Shigeatsu Hatakeyama. Hatakeyama-san, whom Jones met in 2011, was a fisherman and essayist who championed the connections between living systems. He began planting trees at the age of 45. He understood that the nutrients sustaining oysters in the sea are carried by rivers—so to nurture the sea, one must first enrich the forests at its source.* “For a fisherman to plant trees in the mountains is also to plant trees in people’s hearts.” *The Asahi Shimbun

Posted: August 16, 2025

Cambridge Moth Ball More than 300 people came together under the stars…

Cambridge Moth Ball More than 300 people came together under the stars at Kingsley Park in Cambridge, MA on Wednesday evening for the 2025 Cambridge Moth Ball, a National Moth Week celebration co-hosted with Boston Birding Festival, Earthwise Aware, Cambridge Wildlife Arts, Mystic Charles Pollinator Pathways, the City of Cambridge Fresh Pond Reservation, and other local partners. This year’s theme focused on micro-moths, the tiny, often overlooked species that play a vital role in ecosystems and climate resilience. Families, artists, scientists, and nature lovers came together for hands-on activities, moth observation, art-making, and talks by author Cara Giaimo and entomologist Dr. Jane Waters. We also learned to use tools like Buggy and iNaturalist to contribute to real-time biodiversity research.

Posted: August 1, 2025

Thank you to the staff, presenters, and attendees whose enthusiasm made the…

Thank you to the staff, presenters, and attendees whose enthusiasm made the week what it was, with special gratitude for our sponsors and outreach partners.

Posted: August 1, 2025

That’s a wrap on the 2025 Northeast Miniforest Summit! Across a two-day…

That’s a wrap on the 2025 Northeast Miniforest Summit! Across a two-day virtual program and in-person bus tour, the 2025 Northeast Miniforest Summit drew more 600 registrations from around the region and beyond. Together, we explored the web of relationships that make miniforests, and the communities that care for them, thrive. We’re walking away energized by the care, clarity, and collaboration that emerged from so many corners of this growing movement. Be on the look out for full session recordings, a new Northeast Miniforest Guide, Mighty Networks community, and so much more! In so many ways, this was just the beginning!

Posted: August 1, 2025

Virtual | 2025 Northeast Miniforest Summit We’re less than a week from…

Virtual | 2025 Northeast Miniforest Summit We’re less than a week from the 2025 Northeast Miniforest Summit, and the Massachusetts bus tour hits the road today! Meet the speakers and explore the panels that will guide this two day exploration! Spread virtually across two days and an in-person bus tour, the Northeast Minforest Summit brings together practitioners, researchers, and leaders from a range of disciplinary perspectives—including city officials, landscape architects, scientists, and community organizers—to explore the Miyawaki method from root to canopy. Register and Learn More

Posted: July 19, 2025

Bringing Back the Night Lights: Fireflies and the Power of Small Changes…

Posted: July 5, 2025

We recently received this powerful message from Cindee Karns in Fairbanks, Alaska,…

We recently received this powerful message from Cindee Karns in Fairbanks, Alaska, where rising temperatures and wildfires are reshaping daily life with temperatures well above the norm this time of year. Her reflections are a reminder of how urgent, local, and personal climate breakdown has become, and how many people are hungry for regenerative models grounded in living systems.

Posted: July 5, 2025

Virtual | A FIRST LOOK Join master storyteller Judith Black for an…

Virtual | A FIRST LOOK Join master storyteller Judith Black for an early telling of her newest piece: Feedback Loops, a 45-minute story about climate collapse, political action, and staying tender in the face of it all. What does it mean to act with clarity, with care for others as well as ourselves, and with an open heart? Live in Marblehead, Mass. June 29 at 6 PM July 13 at 6 PM Live on Zoom July 9 at 6PM RSVP via email

Posted: June 28, 2025

Mass. | Join us for a miniforest bus tour! Registration for the…

Mass. | Join us for a miniforest bus tour! Registration for the 2025 Massachusetts Miniforest Bus Tour is now open! Part of the Northeast Miniforest Summit, this bus tour to four different Massachusetts miniforests on Saturday, July 19, provides a reference point for how the Miyawaki method can be used in urban settings, in rural environments, and in collaboration with school groups. Please note that two bus options are available. Bus A: Saturday, July 19 at 9am ET Bus B: Saturday, July 19 at 10am ET Join Us!

Posted: June 28, 2025

As many of you in our Bio4Climate community may know, our co-founder,…

As many of you in our Bio4Climate community may know, our co-founder, biologist, futurist and friend Jim Laurie is on the mend following knee surgery. Katya Stupina recently spent a day with Jim, connecting and healing over nature. Today was a day full of learning and time spent well with a dear friend. Jim and I started our morning at a local diner (where of course, everyone knew Jim). Two quick hours later, we went to Horn Pond, saw Pluto, and conquered a hill. We talked about robins, fungi, beavers, lichens, grasslands and grazing animals, tides, the water table, flooding forests, and Jim’s four principles for healthy lands: 1) Bringing infiltration teams to the land 2) Making bare ground illegal 3) Maximizing the consciousness of species, in the soil and everywhere 4) Developing living shorelines From there, we set off on a quick field trip to an abandoned parking lot in Woburn to see how soil is reclaiming the land, how natural succession takes the reins once people move on and life simply knows just what to do.

Posted: June 28, 2025

Online | Upcoming Free Webinars from Hart Hagan Sometimes there’s nothing more…

Online | Upcoming Free Webinars from Hart Hagan Sometimes there’s nothing more enlightening than looking down to figure out what’s up with the climate. A series of free webinars from journalist Hart Hagan goes digging in the dirt for some surprising answers. The Worldwide Loss of Soil Moisture (June 23) My Kentucky Garden (June 25) Plants & Climate Change (June 27) RSVP & LEARN MORE

Posted: June 21, 2025

Big news from Cambridge! On June 15, our partners the Native Plant…

Big news from Cambridge! On June 15, our partners the Native Plant Community Gardeners launched the very first native-plant pollinator garden in a Cambridge (MA) public park, right by our first Miyawaki Forest at Danehy Park. More than 30 volunteers (with invaluable support from the Danehy Park staff) planted 160 native flowers, shrubs, and grasses (20 species) across a 450 sq ft bed. From Swamp Milkweed, Wild Geranium, and Butterfly Weed to Calico Aster, Wild Bergamot, and Bee Balm, these plants will feed and shelter the location’s hardworking pollinators for years to come. We’re proud to have supported this community-powered project alongside the City of Cambridge, and we’re excited to see the garden grow. If you’re local, stop by Danehy Park to check it out, and consider volunteering as a garden steward to help with watering and weeding through the season. You can find the new garden about 80 feet west of the Miyawaki Forest, just off the main path!

Posted: June 21, 2025

Nice, France | 2025 UN Ocean Conference Earlier this week, Bio4Climate board…

Nice, France | 2025 UN Ocean Conference Earlier this week, Bio4Climate board member Shannon Scrofano spoke at Ocean Literacy Practices: Knowing, Feeling, Acting for the Ocean, part of the UN Ocean Conference in Nice, France. Alongside representatives from Escuna Criativa e.u., Ocean Generation, The Marine Diaries, and Red Sea Global, Shannon’s panel explored how creative practices, from art and design to movement and storytelling, can foster deeper emotional and sensory connections with the sea. Shannon’s interdisciplinary work in design, education, and communication centers place-based approaches to strengthen both social and ecological systems. Way to go Shannon!

Posted: June 14, 2025

Greater Boston | Miyawaki Forest Bike Tour, Self-guided Lace up and clip…

Greater Boston | Miyawaki Forest Bike Tour, Self-guided Lace up and clip in for a summer of regenerative riding. This self-guided cycling route, designed by a Boston University student team for Cycle to Science, winds through four Miyawaki mini-forests across the Boston area, including our very own forests at Danehy Park and Greene-Rose Park. These densely planted forests are small in size but mighty in function, cooling neighborhoods, restoring biodiversity, and reconnecting communities with nature. Have fun, send us some photos, and please wear a helmet! GIVE ME THE ROUTE DETAILS

Posted: June 7, 2025

Community Spotlight: Andover Climate Changemakers Forum At the recent Andover Climate Changemakers…

Community Spotlight: Andover Climate Changemakers Forum At the recent Andover Climate Changemakers Forum in Andover, Massachusetts, where representatives from 24 towns across Essex County gathered to share local climate solutions, Dianne Plantamura presented her own “recipe card” laying out a thoughtful, replicable plan for rewilding Veasey Park’s underutilized spaces using the Miyawaki forest method, planting a variety of native trees and plants to restore biodiversity, improve soil and water health, and build community connection through hands-on ecological stewardship. It’s part of a powerful collection of local action “recipes” aimed at regenerating ecosystems from the ground up.

Posted: May 24, 2025

Earlier this month, students, teachers, and neighbors came together to trace the…

Earlier this month, students, teachers, and neighbors came together to trace the future footprint of a miniforest at Belmont High School, set to be planted this fall in a joint effort by Bio4Climate and Miyawaki Forest Action Belmont. This tiny but mighty forest will support the campus ecosystem, spark curiosity as a living classroom, and empower students to be stewards of the living world. Stay tuned! Photo by David Mussina

Posted: May 22, 2025

Cambridge | A day of Biodiversity On Saturday, May 3rd

Bio4Climate, in partnership with the City of Cambridge and under the leadership of Andrew Putnam, Superintendent of Urban Forestry and Landscapes, planted our third Miyawaki forest — and our seventh forest overall. Covering 2,000 square feet, this new forest mirrors the planting density of the thriving Greene-Rose Park miniforest, marking another important milestone in our ongoing efforts to restore urban biodiversity and enhance climate resilience. We were joined by around 30 enthusiastic volunteers of all ages, whose support made the planting day a success — and for that, we are truly grateful.

The words “earth repair,” “reciprocity,” “meaningful connection,” “stewardship,” and “ecological functionality” reflect the core purpose of mini-forests. These small yet powerful ecosystems symbolize the relationships we are working to rebuild — between people, the land, and the more-than-human world. We are especially excited for students to experience this living classroom, participate in its care, and grow alongside it!

Afterwards, we joined our friends at Boston Birding and Native Plant Community Gardeners at Danehy Park for an afternoon of communal knowledge exchange and outdoor fun in celebration of Biodiversity Day. Here are just a few of our favorite moments from the weekend!

Posted: May 14, 2025

Your own backyard! | Less Lawn, More Life Bio4Climate is partnering with…

Your own backyard! | Less Lawn, More Life Bio4Climate is partnering with Plant It Wild, Homegrown National Park, and other leading organizations on the nationwide Less Lawn, More Life Challenge, a FREE program to help transform more yards into thriving ecosystems! Weekly challenges are designed to engage your curiosity and help you transform your lawn into a vibrant ecosystem teeming with life. Discover simple techniques to create habitat that butterflies, birds, and beneficial insects can’t resist.

Posted: May 5, 2025

A Familiar Voice | Building upon this year’s Midwest Beaver Summit theme,…

A Familiar Voice | Building upon this year’s Midwest Beaver Summit theme, the relationships we cultivate with each other are just as important as those we build with nature and the environments around us. If you tuned into This American Life last week, you may have heard a few familiar voices; Harriotte and Frank are both students in Jim Laurie’s Biodiversity 12 class!

Posted: March 22, 2025