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Many mangrove restorations fail. Is there a better way?

Katarina Zimmer

July 22, 2021 |

Knowable Magazine |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Guinea-Bissau

Mangrove forests are known to be excellent storers of carbon and hosts of biodiversity, but they are also able to protect communities on coastlines from storm surge. However, many of the projects to restore these forests fail because they are rushed or planted in the wrong places. Scientists argue that organizers should focus on natural regrowth or “ecological mangrove restoration,” a science-based approach, which has been used in Indonesia and Guinea-Bissau.

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Next stop, the sea: Sri Lanka's old buses are a new home for marine life

Malaka Rodrigo

July 21, 2021 |

Mongabay |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, instead of letting old buses corrode in a junkyard they are being sunk in the ocean to serve as fish-breeding sites. Over 60 buses have been dumped in the ocean across three different sites. Scientists looked at factors like depth and wave patters to determine where to sink the buses.

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On the Mesoamerican Reef, a model for insuring nature's future

Oliver Gordon

July 21, 2021 |

Struggles from Below Magazine |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Mexico, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo

In Puerto Morelos, the 100-mile stretch of the Mesoamerican Reef is insured. The model was born out of a collaboration between the local government, hotel owners, an international NGO, and an insurance behemoth, who got together to create a trust. The trust was funded by the local government which used hotel taxes to pay for the reef's maintenance. 80 percent of the coral in the reef has been lost or degraded since the 1980s, but insuring a natural asset might provide a conservation model for other cities.

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This Is the First Ecosystem With Its Own Insurance Policy

Oliver Gordon

July 20, 2021 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Mexico

In Mexico, the Mesoamerican Reef, a 100-mile long coral reef system, the second largest in the word, is insured. The insurance policy is the result of a collaboration between the local government, hotel owners, an international NGO, and an insurance company who saw the value of protecting the reef. After Hurricane Delta, the insurance first kicked in, the insurance paid out $850,000. The money was used to uproot 2,152 coral colonies and close to 14,000 coral fragments. The model could be an example of future moves to insure the environment.

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The Brooklyn Bridge needs a makeover. Is rainforest lumber still in style?

Ashoka Mukpo

July 08, 2021 |

Mongabay |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Guatemala, Petén

In the 1990s, Guatemala established the Maya Bisphere Reserve to stop the burgeoning rates of deforestation. However, some communities lived within this region. The organization tasked with overseeing the MBP decided to let the communities stay in the area as long as they agreed to a tight supervision of how they used the forest. The arrangement is known as a forestry concessions. Community-owned concessions must follow strict guidelines or face eviction. It worked. Deforestation rates are low, wildlife is thriving, and communities earn an income without depleting the forest.

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The force that could redraw the peninsula of India

Kamala Thiagarajan

June 15, 2021 |

BBC |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: India

In the South Indian coast, erosion is leading to disappearing beaches. A study found that this erosion was in part due to man-made structures like a harbor that was built in the late 80s, groynes, and seawalls. These structures were interfering with the natural movement of sand. To fix it, they needed a structure that could block waves but also allow sand movement, the solution? An artificial reef. It was installed and some beaches are already seeing the results.

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Indian Cities Prepare for Floods with Predictive Technology

Deepa Padmanaban

June 15, 2021 |

Eos |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: British Indian Ocean Territory

In coastal cities in India, floods have led to hundreds of deaths and millions of people being displaced. To address the issue, scientists had to address a variety of factors: hydrology of the upstream region; river, tidal, and storm surge modeling; and a high-resolution digital elevation map of the city. A group of scientists from 13 research institutes and government organizations looked at all those factors and came up with a real-time flood forecasting system. It generated 800 flood scenarios. When it rains the model predicts the most vulnerable sites.

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'The Beachcombers' town is now famous for fighting climate change

Alanna Mitchell

May 18, 2021 |

Broadview Magazine |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, Gibsons, British Columbia

A hit TV show in the 1970s and ‘80s called The Beachcombers brought the town of Gibsons and its logging practices into homes across Canada. After years of pollution and land degradation, it became one of the first towns in the world to incorporate nature into the municipality’s finances. Developers have to take stock of what natural infrastructure is on their property before they build. The town also launched an initiative to encourage other places to calculate the value of their green infrastructure. So far, 30 of them have signed up across the Great White North.

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The Great Plains prairie needs fire to survive. These ranchers are bringing it back.

Brianna Randall

May 13, 2021 |

National Geographic |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Maywood, Nebraska

The Loess Canyons Rangeland Alliance in Nebraska is working to preserve grasslands through prescribed burns. Eighty-volunteer members have burned nearly 85,000 acres to stop the spread of cedar trees that disrupt the prairie ecosystem. These burns allow the grass to return, which has been helpful for farmers and their livestock. This work has inspired others in the state to create associations to share resources on how to restore their lands.

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The Bright Side of the Green Crab

Moira Donovan

May 13, 2021 |

Hakai Magazine |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, Nova Scotia

The invasive European green crab was wreaking havoc on the soft-shell clam fishery in Nova Scotia. But fishers, researchers, and park officials worked together to remove as many of them as possible and find an alternative use for them. Their efforts were working: eelgrass meadows and clam populations were rebounding. Now, they’re testing how these crabs can be used in lobster bait, bioplastics, or even fertilizer for gardens.

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