Category: Environment

Sometimes the right thing for the environment looks like the wrong thing.

When most people thing of reforestation, they think of planting trees, but sometimes the best thing to do is to tear them down.

In Scotland, the old growth forests have been decimated and much of the countries biodiversity with it. However, a growing initiative is turning it around. And they are doing it by tearing things up… literally.

Check out this YouTube video showing how they are revitalizing the forest of this beautiful country!

Located atop a hill in Oldham, Manchester county, a reservoir was surrounded by barren peat bogs. Rainwater would swiftly collect and carry silt, resulting in degraded river conditions.

Moreover, the absence of ground cover heightened flood risks for nearby communities as water freely flowed into the reservoir and down hillsides onto roads.

To address these issues, volunteers from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, alongside landowner United Utilities, tirelessly worked for ten years in various weather conditions, primarily rain and wind, planting sphagnum moss. This area had suffered from vegetation loss since ancient times.

On a rainy and windy Wednesday, the volunteers celebrated reaching a milestone by planting their one-millionth cutting.

“We aim to restore a landscape that sequesters carbon, mitigates flood risks, supports biodiversity, and promotes health and well-being benefits,” remarked site manager Kate Hanley to the Oldham Times. Hanley noted that the volunteers collectively contributed over 45,000 hours, equivalent to 20,000 labor hours.

“We’ve made significant progress from the bare, degraded peatland a decade ago to a functional blanket bog abundant with sphagnum,” Hanley added.

Additionally, peat and rock dams were installed to trap water and provide habitats for birds, amphibians, and insects. “We wanted to restore the area to its former state, benefiting wildlife, birds, and mountain hares,” explained 71-year-old volunteer Denzil Broadhurst to the Times. “It was important to contribute to improving the environment.”

In a groundbreaking discovery, scientists studying coral restoration in Indonesia found that artificially restored coral reefs can regrow as quickly as naturally occurring reefs just four years after transplantation.
With many reefs worldwide facing threats from stronger storms and acidic seas, the finding demonstrates that humans can rapidly rebuild damaged reefs as long as corals can survive in the water.

The study was conducted at the Mars Coral Reef Restoration Program in South Sulawesi, Indonesia, one of the largest restoration projects globally. It involved an international team of marine biologists. The site had been devastated by dynamite fishing 30 to 40 years ago. At the project site, structures called “reef stars” are anchored to the seafloor to provide a foundation for coral larvae to attach and grow.

Ines Lange from the University of Exeter, UK, explains that assessing the carbonate budget provides insights into whether a reef is growing or deteriorating. Positive reef growth is vital for mitigating sea-level rise, protecting coastlines, and providing habitat for reef organisms. Four years after coral transplantation onto the metal reef stars, the net carbonate budgets have tripled and resemble those of healthy control sites. However, restored reefs tend to have lower species diversity due to the preference for branching coral in restoration efforts.

Lange expresses surprise at the speed of recovery observed, emphasizing that a complete restoration of reef framework production within four years was unexpected. The method of calculating reef restoration through carbonate budgeting is novel and offers a straightforward means of assessing a reef’s health.

Tim Lamont, a co-author of the study from the Lancaster University Environment Center, UK, underscores the need for longer-term evaluation of restored reefs to fully understand their potential. Nonetheless, the success achieved at Mars demonstrates that with efforts to stabilize the climate, humanity can mitigate some of the damage inflicted by climate change on coral reefs.

Artificial reef transplanting often facilitates quicker recovery compared to natural regeneration due to strategic placement, optimized design features, controlled densities, protection from human activities, rapid deployment, and selective species introduction. By situating artificial reefs strategically and designing them to maximize habitat suitability, they provide immediate substrate for coral colonization and minimize competition among organisms. Additionally, their placement in less disturbed areas can offer protection from human disturbances, further aiding recovery. Rapid deployment and the introduction of resilient or fast-growing species contribute to accelerating the regeneration process.