Dear *{{First Name}}*,
It’s been a while. How have you been?
When people ask me how I am, I usually say “I’m alright!” It’s the best I can do as a shorthand for strange, curious, busy, stressed, excited about some things, upset about others, feeling love, feeling grief, and secretly wondering how feeling all these things all at once can possibly be normal. A line from Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger comes to mind: “I can’t keep running back and forth forever between grief and high delight.”
That’s how autumn feels to me: a graceful mix of grief and high delight. It’s always been my favorite season because of the pure magic. (Trees are supposed to be green! But it turns out everything can change, slowly or suddenly, and with breathtaking majesty.) Though I’ve seen it happen 25 times before, each year it’s a surprise and a wonder. |
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Red Maple, October 12 2022 |
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But this year things are different. All through the summer, I witnessed the color-changing and dropping of leaves here in Massachusetts. With drought and its unstable temperament, plants in distress were thrust into some strange version of early fall, and we who live here had to reckon with the uncomfortable echo of death with each step out the door. I felt caught in contradiction: concerned with the glaring disruption of seasonal cycles, while still being attentive to how fascinating and wondrous the details can be. Leaves turning red were still beautiful, and crunching the fallen carpet underfoot was still fun, while in the back of my mind I couldn’t stop thinking “This is all wrong!”
I’ve been searching for a way to reconcile all this, to process discomfort and somehow overwhelm it with appreciation for each bit of beauty I can grasp. I expected to feel relief when fall officially arrived, so I could experience unadulterated joy now that the time was “right” for these phenomena . That hasn’t really happened though. Instead, I feel doubled down in bittersweet. The lingering lesson I continue to learn is how to connect to delight through - and in spite of - what’s somber.
Here at Bio4Climate, we are navigating that line as we continue to witness and support the miracles of eco-restoration while watching nature ache in louder and more painful ways. On a personal note, two of our long-time staff members, Tania Roa and Abby Abrahamson, are leaving us, and my gratitude at having known and grown with them cannot erase the sadness I feel at saying goodbye to the valued friends they have become. I’ll celebrate them and wish them well, and I’ll miss them greatly.
Fall and its incessant loss, its sharp and sudden ebbs, have always urged me to be present. It teaches me again and again. Go for that walk now; by the time you’ve finished your work, the day will have grown dark. Hang out with the maple on your street today; by the time tomorrow’s rains pass, half of that blazing canopy will be gone. And always remember, this is not the end. This is a time of adjustment. We shift shape, we go on. When the leaves have cleared, we’ll see the stars better. Onwards with love, Maya |
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Maya Dutta Assistant Director of Regenerative Projects |
In This Issue: - Upcoming Event: No Trees, No Rain
- Suggest a Featured Creature!
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Voices of Water Corner
- Eco-Restoration Stories Currently Inspiring us
- Moving On
- Staff Spotlight: Tania Roa
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New on the Bio4Climate Blog
- Compendium Notes
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Upcoming Event: No Trees, No Rain |
Friday, October 21 at 12:15pm ET |
Droughts and flash floods are becoming a new normal in our warming world. What changed? Our landscapes are losing water as people alter the environment, cut trees, drain wetlands, and use chemicals that destroy the soil.
And we’re feeling the heat.
By learning from nature we can improve the climate where we live. We can learn from plants and trees that provide air conditioning for the Earth. They help drive the water cycle and store water so that it stays in the region, cooling the area.
Climate scientist Anastassia Makarieva and botanist Jan Pokorný are instrumental in advocating for changes in land management policy . Dr. Makarieva is a senior analyst at Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute and a fellow at the Technical University of Munich. Her work co-developing the Biotic Pump theory of atmospheric moisture transfer is of singular importance.
Jan Pokorný is a leading researcher on solar energy conversion and photosynthesis, founder of Enki NGO, and co-author of the book New Water Paradigm. Dr. Makarieva’s co-author and research colleague, Andrei Nefiodov, will present the implications for hurricane formation and intensity. Jon Schull, co-founder with Bio4Climate of the EcoRestoration Alliance, will be the moderator.
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Suggest A Featured Creature |
Each week at Bio4Climate, we write about a Featured Creature for our email list. We share information on a creature whose evolutionary traits, special role within its ecosystem, or fun facts have captured our attention. We’d love to hear from you about species you’d like to see featured. We welcome any and all suggestions of plant, animal, and fungal species to spotlight in future editions of Featured Creature!
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Image by Claudia Beer from Pixabay |
To honor the work of the late Jan Lambert, who passed away in April 2022, Voices of Water Director Zuzka Mulkerin will be presenting, together with Michal Kravčík, at the Global Earth Repair Summit on October 24th. Zuzka and Michal will discuss an updated version of the Global Action Plan for the Restoration of Water Cycles and Climate. Michal and Jan Lambert wrote the plan in 2017 (you can see that version here), and it is as relevant as ever.
Learn more about the four-day summit featuring eco-restorers around the world here.
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EcoRestoration Stories Currently Inspiring Us |
We believe it is important to amplify the positive work that countless people are doing in the world of eco-restoration, and to pay tribute to those people already actively protecting and regenerating the lands around them.
Back in August, we hosted “Forest Maker” Tony Rinaudo and ecological journalist Judith D. Schwartz for a discussion on FMNR: Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration. This method, which Rinaudo learned from farmers and now promotes, utilizes the root systems beneath existing tree stumps to quickly grow whole trees– without even planting them. In the recording, he describes how land degradation is reversible, and illustrates the impact of this global restoration movement that began in Niger in 1983. FMNR has now been linked to the regrowth of 200 million trees on five million hectares of degraded farmland in Niger alone. This community-led solution is an effective, low-cost, rapid and scalable method of land and environmental restoration. By restoring land and soils, FMNR restores livelihoods and increases food security for thousands of people.
See how FMNR ingrains a sense of hope for communities across Africa and beyond: |
For the past couple of years, Abby Abrahamson and Tania Roa have been part of the Bio4Climate team. We've grown accustomed to their warmth, striking prose, creativity, initiative, challenges and sense of purpose. We suspect that you have, too. Their weekly Featured Creatures (along with Maya’s and Fred’s) have brightened Saturday mornings for many, and their thoughtful interviews with ecosystem protectors and restorers are integral parts of Bio4Climate's YouTube collection.
Abby initiated a college outreach program that began at her own school, Mass College of Liberal Arts (MCLA), while still a senior. She developed a program built around art and hands-on-experience to introduce fellow students to the importance of ecorestoration. She helped establish a relationship with the Bard College Worldwide Teach-in and, with Tania, planned an exciting Youth Conference. Tania grew Bio4climate's social media presence emphasizing outreach to youth and to the global community. She developed Bio4Climate's Internship program, which has included people from Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, India and other countries.
Abby and Tania helped lead us to become a more inclusive organization. In ways obvious and subtle they have helped us to grow, just as we have helped them. We're confident that as they move on they will carry with them our regenerative message, as they join others who have worked with us for a while and taken our message to the wider world.
Tania's last day will be October 28 and Abby has already begun her new work at Mass Audubon. We wish them well as they grow into leaders in the movement to restore the Earth - and we will miss them. |
Here at Bio4Climate, our team is an intergenerational group of people with diverse backgrounds, stories, and perspectives. Each person brings a unique approach to the table, and we like to honor and highlight the value that their individuality brings to our work. In this month’s staff spotlight, I am delighted to share more about our Digital Communications and Outreach Manager, Tania Roa! As we say goodbye to Tania, we celebrate all she has accomplished and contributed in her time here.
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Many of you may recognize Tania from her Featured Creatures, YouTube interviews, and our panel on How Animals Shape Ecosystems. She is constantly looking for ways to spread awareness of today’s intertwined ecological and social issues and their solutions.
Outside of her work at Bio4Climate, Tania has been co-hosting a social justice podcast called Closing the Gap with her best friend from high school. They invite activists around the world to share their stories as a way to motivate listeners to take action in their own communities, so one day we can all live in a greener, more equitable world. She also writes articles for digital magazines on topics related to climate justice, from fast fashion to climate refugees.
During her free time, Tania enjoys soaking up the sun’s rays by spending time outdoors. On the weekends, you’d likely find her hiking, practicing nature photography, snorkeling, and participating in local environmentally-oriented events where she can join in community with fellow eco-restorers. Her love for nature and wild animals is what drives her, and it’s as apparent in her professional life as in her personal life.
In the two years she has spent with us, Tania has managed our social media accounts, led a campaign advocating for a donkey herd living on a holistic ranch in Western Australia, taught a class titled “Ego vs Eco: How Human, Animal, and Planet Health Interconnect,” and expanded our internship program by recruiting interns based across Africa and India. She recently co-organized and co-hosted a conference illustrating the work of three climate activists.
As a social justice activist, Tania likes to remind everyone to spend time listening to the calls of people in disenfranchised communities. She explains, “When we come together in solidarity, we design solutions that are long-term and beneficial for all. Together, we can go farther, but only if we take the time to listen to the needs of those on the frontlines.”
Like many of us, Tania feels deeply affected by the many threats causing extinctions, especially as her work as a wildlife advocate brings these losses front and center in her life. However, she finds solace whenever she encounters even the smallest creature on her outdoor adventures. These moments are reminders of the many other species working hard to foster ecological balance. “Who are we to say it’s too late to act, when every other living thing is waking up every day ready to give it their all?” she says.
As we highlight the work of our social media manager, it’s only fitting that we remind you to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Tik Tok!
Want to learn more about the staff at Bio4Climate? Click here! |
Below is a passage from our Compendium of Scientific and Practical Findings Supporting Eco-Restoration to Address Global Warming. This article is from our eleventh issue, Volume 6 Number 1, (p. 15), published July 2022.
Reconnection: Meeting the Climate Crisis Inside Out
Bristow, Bell & Wamsler 2022 The dangers of the climate crisis increase with every year. Humans possess the scientific
knowledge needed to address it. Yet we have so far failed to enact changes at the necessary scale to avert catastrophe. Why? The authors argue that sustainability research and policies
have focused on external (material and technical) solutions, while ignoring the inner (emotional, psychological, and neurophysiological) dimensions of change. They seek to remedy this by drawing out the implications for sustainability of a growing body of scientific research on mindfulness and compassion.
Mindfulness — intentional, open, and curious attention to present-moment experience — and compassion — an “inner motivational system that combines the capacity to engage with and feel moved by suffering, with a will to help” – are evolved natural capacities that can be
strengthened with training [Bristow 2022: 10]. This can help to overcome the “shared mindset of separateness” from nature and one another that lies at the root of the climate crisis, and that also fosters a sense of powerlessness which leads to inaction [Bristow 2022: 5, 6]. Mindfulness and compassion practices guide us to recognize the connectedness of our physical, psychological, and emotional states and our interdependence with others and the living world. Rather than responding to the enormity of climate change with shutdown, empathic burnout, and reactive habits of consumption, such practices enable us to “stay with the trouble” and experience the difficult emotions that arise from recognizing a painful reality. They help us reclaim our attention from digital distraction, restore our emotional and bodily intelligences, expand our senses of self and community, connect to nature, and return our nervous systems to calm after threat activation. This enables us to cultivate a deep psychological resilience that can contribute to a “regenerative spiral of individual and planetary wellbeing” [Bristow 2022: 6]. Training in mindfulness and compassion can also help shift our attitudes around consumption as a measure of happiness, giving us the ability to “reorient our ‘wanting’” toward more sustainable sources of life satisfaction [Bristow 2022: 7].
[C]ultivating mindfulness and compassion strengthens intrinsic values - ends that are inherently rewarding…such as bonds with friends and family, nature-connection, self-acceptance and concern for others…in contrast to extrinsic values such as external approval, wealth and material success, which are associated with lower satisfaction…Hence, mindfulness and compassion training show potential to support a shift to less resource-intensive lifestyles. [Bristow 2022: 59].
In and of themselves, mindfulness and compassion will not solve the climate crisis. “Climate change is a physical reality demanding political and practical solutions. But the wanting, co-creating, negotiating, and enacting of those solutions depends wholly upon inner capacities of the human mind and heart that have hitherto been absent from mainstream theories of change” [Bristow 2022: 61]. Among a number of specific recommendations addressed to governments, public institutions, and NGOs, the authors urge “consideration of inner human capacities” such as mindfulness and compassion… “be incorporated into policy thinking through systematic integration - modifying existing processes and structures at all levels and across all sectors of society” [Bristow 2011: 62].
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You're a valuable part of your community, ecosystem, and planet, and we're so thankful for you. Would you share the love and join our Eco-Restoration Team of Monthly supporters? |
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All contributions help in our vital work to build a livable climate that sustains into the future. Many thanks! |
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