September 2023 Newsletter |
The New York Times international cover featuring Bio4Climate's Danehy Park Miyawaki forest |
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Dear *{{First Name}}*,
Advocating for nature isn’t an easy feat. With the climate crisis worsening, growing in severity and range, and much of society continuing with ‘business as usual,’ it can get overwhelming. And frustrating - even depressing.
But just when I feel like no one is listening, I’m reminded of the power of nature’s solutions.
Earlier this month, Biodiversity for a Livable Climate celebrated a tremendous victory: our Miyawaki forest program made it to The New York Times! It was a complete surprise, and we are forever grateful to everyone who has been a part of this program. To those who planted a tree in one of our forests, donated to our organization, or shared a Miyawaki YouTube video or blog, we recognize your part in this journey. This coverage is for all of us.
If you're new to the Bio4Climate community, welcome. If you have been here for a while, maybe even since our founding ten years ago, we are grateful for your continued participation. Regardless of when you found our organization, you are a valued member of this ecosystem. The more we talk about nature’s effective and scalable climate solutions, the more they are implemented. Ecosystems are like fabrics: they can slowly unravel if something happens to some of their cherished parts. In this ecosystem, you have a role. All you have to do is get started.
Hint: you can start by reading on and seeing how to get involved!
Thank you for being a Biodiversity Supporter. |
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Tania Roa Communications & Volunteer Coordinator |
In this issue: -
Regenerating Life Premiere: Saturday, October 14
- Life Saves the Planet Lecture Series: Wednesday, September 27
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Milestones - NYTimes, First Miyawaki Forest Turns Two & Field Trips
- Education - Jim’s Biodiversity Course begins Wednesday, September 20
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Maya’s Miyawaki Minute
- Redesigning Our Communities
- Global Youth Ambassador Program
- Voices of Water Supports Scientists
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Eco Restoration Stories That Inspire Us
- Compendium Notes
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If you’re in the Boston area, join us on October 14 to be one of the first to watch Regenerating Life! This thorough and insightful film features the values that Bio4Climate and other ecosystem restorers share, including our great respect for natural cycles and nature’s ability to recover. After the film, you’ll get a chance to meet and hear from the filmmaker, John Feldman, and panelists Anastassia Makarieva, Didi Pershouse, and Dan Kittredge, along with Advisory Board members, author Judith D. Schwartz and marine biologist Tom Goreau. We are glad to be featured in this life changing film, and to finally be able to share it with all of you. We hope to see you there! |
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Life Saves the Planet Lecture Series Wednesday, September 27 at 6pm ET |
As many interconnected climate crises escalate, we are challenged to see what we have overlooked in our understanding of the causes - and of what the best path forward might be. John Feldman’s film, Regenerating Life, proposes that it is humankind's destruction of nature that has been a primary cause of the climate crisis and that it is in nature we find crucial solutions. Feldman traveled widely to meet people who are working on solutions, innovative ways to repair the damage done to our extraordinary home. By working with nature, they are restoring the forests, fields, wetlands, and oceans, and are regenerating soils to grow healthy food and build healthy communities.
On Wednesday, September 27 at 6pm ET, Feldman will share his perspective in a webinar for our Life Saves the Planet series with GBH Forum Network. He will be joined in conversation by environmental journalist and author Judith D. Schwartz whose books also present leading scientists and regenerative practitioners. |
Online edition of Bio4Climate's New York Times feature |
The New York Times, Washington Post, and Chicago Tribune
We hit the trifecta! In our first major coverage, The New York Times published an article on Miyawaki forests around the world, including our Cambridge plantings. We later learned that the article was featured in a Washington Post newsletter, adding to our excitement. Just when we thought we couldn’t be happier, our friends at Nordson Green Earth Foundation in Chicago informed us that the article was reprinted in the Chicago Tribune. Talk about the power of forests, no matter how tiny!
Read our blog response to the NY Times. Our First Miyawaki Forest Turns Two
In celebration of our first Miyawaki forest at Danehy Park, a former landfill in Cambridge, Massachusetts, we hosted two forest gatherings full of books, excitement, and greenery. These gatherings are a gentle reminder that our work depends on our profound connection to nature and to each other. Only when we make time to immerse ourselves in diversity, with other species and with other humans, can we fully understand the impact of regenerating Earth.
Read a description and poem about the first gathering and stay tuned for the next one.
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Jim Laurie's new Biodiversity Course Series logo, created by volunteer Tanvi Narvekar |
Tomorrow on Wednesday, September 20th our Restoration Ecologist, teacher, and staff scientist Jim Laurie will begin his ninth course in our Biodiversity series: Biodiversity 9 Deep Dive - Transforming to a Holistic Perspective, Nature Can Cool the Planet. If Nature can cool the planet, what does that mean for us? In this course, Jim will facilitate discussions and dive deep into the readings of two ecological thinkers. By exploring our role during this time of regeneration, we can design real climate solutions that work for all living things, and we can be an integral part of their approach. There are no prerequisites for this course. All are welcome, and all are encouraged. Meet members of the Bio4Climate community starting September 20th! |
To all our pocket forest enthusiasts, it has been a very exciting few weeks between news coverage of our program and heartwarming forest meetups – not to mention the growth we can see in our two Cambridge forests after a rainy summer. |
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Danehy Park, North Cambridge - Planted September 2021 (top) Greene-Rose Park, Mid-Cambridge - Planted November 2022 (bottom) |
We are thrilled to channel our growing momentum this season in a series of plantings at school sites in Greater Boston: - Saturday, September 23 at Natick High School
- Friday, October 6 at Bristol Community College
- Saturday, October 21 at Somerville High School
- Early November at Rindge Avenue Upper School in North Cambridge
These plantings are not just about trees; they're about creating thriving ecosystems, engaging communities, and fostering a brighter, greener future. Stay tuned for more details, and let's keep growing together!
If you’re in the Greater Boston area and would like more information, please email info@bio4climate.org.
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Redesigning Our Communities |
If you haven’t subscribed to our YouTube channel, we strongly encourage you to. We have published three recordings from our Redesigning our Communities for Life After Fossil Fuels series. These information and inspiration-packed events received plenty of great feedback, and there’s more where those came from.
Watch our published presentations, and subscribe to get notifications for upcoming recordings: -
Our very own team members, Assistant Director of Regenerative Projects Maya Dutta and Board Chair Philip Bogdonoff, explain the ties between ecosystem restoration and the crucial need to grow food. Watch the recording.
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Panelists explore the significance of community-led food systems and illustrate how to support local food production.
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Cleveland community leaders discuss the importance of access to healthy food when addressing biodiversity loss and environmental degradation.
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Global Youth Ambassador Program |
One of the 2023 Ambassadors, Mahfou Aidara, working on his tree planting project with Green Actions Senegal |
The first cohort of our new youth empowerment program has almost completed their session. Our ambassadors are working on various projects such as agroforestry farms, environmental education for children, tree planting, and adequate waste management. Every project aims to regenerate an ecosystem that has been impacted by industrialization. Ambassadors are active in countries around the world including Kenya, Nigeria, Slovakia, India and the United States.
We are extremely proud to be supporting young eco restorers. They have promising environmental careers ahead of them, and their accomplishments for people and planet are just beginning. |
Our Scientists Are Our Voices of Water |
Dr. Anastassia Makarieva, a leading expert on our board of scientists, and Dr. Andrei Nefiodov will be visiting several universities and venues in the United States in the next few weeks. Voices of Water is excited to share their schedule: -
September 21-23: University of New Hampshire, The Eastern Old-Growth Forest Conference (Geneva Point Center, NH)
- September 24-26: University of Vermont seminar: "The role of ecosystem transpiration in creating alternate moisture regimes by influencing atmospheric moisture convergence"
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September 27 - October 1: Washington State University seminars:
- October 2-4: University of Arizona seminars:
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October 5-9: Clemson University seminars: "Novel method and devices for production of highly charged ions" (Friday, October 6th)
- October 14: Screening of Regenerating Life at Tufts University
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Ecorestoration Stories That Inspire Us |
“Olivier Rubbers is part of a secretive, underground network of wildlife enthusiasts who are returning species back into the landscape without asking permission first. It’s not just beavers: There are boar bombers, a ‘butterfly brigade’ that breeds and releases rare species of butterfly and a clandestine group returning the pine marten — one of Britain’s rarest mammals — to British forests.” “Many in the rewilding movement say that political leaders are not doing enough to restore biodiversity - leaving the mavericks with little choice but to act unilaterally and reintroduce species themselves.”
Read more about the rogue wildlife lovers. |
Below is a passage from our Compendium of Scientific and Practical Findings Supporting Eco-Restoration to Address Global Warming. This article is from our eighth issue, Volume 4 Number 2, (p. 48), published January 2021.
The woman building the forest corridors saving Brazil’s black lion tamarin, Zanon 2020
“The tamarin is unable to do anything to save its own species. And we, human beings, are the ones who are destroying their environment,” says conservationist Gabriela Rezende. “So, when I got the opportunity to see this animal in the wild, I felt partly responsible for its future.”
Rezende works with the Institute for Ecological Research in the Brazilian state of Sao Paolo to create ecological corridors connecting the forest fragments where the world’s only 1,800 black lion tamarin live in isolated populations. Since 1984, the institute has worked to protect this small primate species, which had reached a low point of 100 individuals and was listed as “critically endangered.” In addition to research and forest restoration, the institute also does environmental education with the local communities. This includes collaboration on nine tree nurseries administered by local people as small businesses that also provide school children with chances to learn about local forest species that will be planted in corridors.
Leveraging a state policy requiring 20% of privately owned property to be in nature reserves, Rezende worked with landowners to identify patches that could be restored to physically reconnect fragments of forest. Once corridors are complete, the total amount of land in connected habitat will be 111,000 acres. Rezende estimates the black lion tamarin population could increase by 30% once it’s able to use the whole forest corridor. The restoration project will benefit other species too, including anteaters, tapirs (a pig-like animal with a short trunk), pumas, and ocelots (another wild cat species).
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For those of you who joined the Bio4Climate community after seeing the feature in The New York Times, welcome! We are glad to have you. There are many ways to get involved, both online and in-person. We look forward to seeing you at a future event, and to hearing your nature story! Tania |
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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 monthly supporters who build the foundation of our work? |
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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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