Bioneer, Four hundred years ago, the U.S. contained 1,023 million acres of forests — the tree coverage spanning nearly half of the total land area. More than 250,000 rivers flowed freely through the land. Since then, more than 250 million acres of forests have been cut down, the vast majority in the second half of the 19th century, when an average of 13 square miles of forest were cleared every day for 50 years. There are more than 90,000 registered dams, meaning that, on average, the U.S. has built one large dam every day since the Declaration of Independence. These concrete and steel barriers disrupt the flow of about 20% of the country’s rivers.
Similar practices have caused ecological disruption and damage across the world, contributing to increasingly severe and frequent floods, droughts and wildfires. Forests that have been clear-cut once helped channel and retain water, wetlands that have been eliminated once helped control flooding, and ecologically balanced forests that have been destabilized once helped deter massive wildfires. To restore the natural systems we’ve disrupted, we must turn away from more “gray infrastructure” — dams, levees, concrete channels — and toward nature-based solutions. We must accept that we cannot build our way out of this mess. Hear from journalist Erica Gies, forest ecologist Suzanne Simard, water policy expert Felicia Marcus and environmental advocate Laura Tam about the groundbreaking initiatives working to restore land and water and move beyond the arrogant attempts to subdue and dominate nature that have brought the massive challenges we now face. |
|
Share the newsHelp us increase the reach of Bioneers ideas by sharing our browser-friendly version of this newsletter with your community. |
|
Bridging the Gap Between Nature and Infrastructure: Insights from Leading Experts on Nature-Based SolutionsWhile increasing environmental crises reveal the limitations of traditional infrastructure, the conversation around nature-based solutions (NbS) is gaining critical momentum. These solutions, which harness natural processes to address ecological and societal challenges, are emerging in many cases as promising alternatives to conventional approaches. This shift is not just a response to the inadequacies of gray infrastructure, but a recognition of the profound interconnections between human systems and natural ecosystems.
In this discussion, four leading experts shed light on how nature-based solutions can restore balance and resilience to our environments. Erica Gies, journalist and National Geographic Explorer, has dedicated her career to covering the intricate relationships between water, climate change, and the natural world. Suzanne Simard, a Professor of Forest Ecology at the University of British Columbia and author of Finding the Mother Tree, is renowned for her pioneering research on plant communication and forest resilience. Felicia Marcus, a prominent figure in California water policy and currently a fellow at Stanford University’s Water in the West Program, brings a wealth of experience in integrating nature-based solutions into water management and policy. Laura Tam, a Senior Program Officer at Resources Legacy Fund, leverages her extensive background in environmental policy to advocate for climate resilience and community adaptation.
Before and after images of Copco, Beaver Creek, dating from February 2024 and May 2024. Images courtesy of RES, which is helping lead the Klamath River restoration project. |
|
The Slow Water Movement: How to Thrive in an Age of Drought and DelugeJournalist and National Geographic Explorer Erica Gies says we must reevaluate our relationship to water in the face of increasingly severe and frequent droughts and floods. She says in Euro-North American culture, water is considered either a threat or a commodity, leading to an urge to try to control it. Centering human needs, communities build levees and dams. But this is not the only way. While researching her book, “Water Always Wins: Thriving in an Age of Drought and Deluge,” Gies traveled around the world and met many people who have a different culture around water. These communities demonstrate that water can simply be seen, first and foremost, as a source of life. In this presentation, Gies shares both ancient and cutting-edge approaches to water management being implemented around the world. |
|
Suzanne Simard: Dealing with Backlash Against Nature-Based Solutions to Climate ChangeFor decades, scientists have warned about the consequences of deforestation and fossil fuel burning that have led to today’s climate and biodiversity crises. They have also conducted careful research that has helped inform development of nature-based solutions. Despite the urgency of the interdependent crises and the agency we have in helping address them, efforts abound to discredit much of that peer-reviewed climate change science. Suzanne Simard, Professor of Forest Ecology at the University of British Columbia and author of the bestselling book “Finding the Mother Tree,” delves into the recent backlash she’s experienced regarding her scientific work informing climate solutions for the forests of western North America. |
|
Call for Artists for 2025 Bioneers Conference Bioneers is excited for art to play a vital, celebratory and transformational role at its 36th annual conference. The conference will take place March 27-29, 2025, in Berkeley, California, across several different locations. Bioneers is accepting applications for outdoor performances, indoor installations and sculptures as part of its mission to program the conference with captivating and compelling art. Applications are due November 1, 2024, by 11:59 p.m. PST.
View the above artwork “Or The Whale” by Jos Sances. |
|
Don’t Miss These Recent Stories from Bioneers- “Squirrels on Earth and Stars Above”: The Remarkable Legacy of Peter Warshall | Conservation biologist, humanist anthropologist and eco-tinkerer Peter Warshall was a great friend and ally of Bioneers, collaborating on multiple projects. Bioneers Senior Producer J.P. Harpignies shares this remembrance, accompanied by a selection of excerpts from “Squirrels on Earth and Stars Above,” the first published collection of Warshall’s essays and lectures.
- The Spark of a Green Chemistry Education Grassroots Movement Ignites at Bioneers | In 2010, Dr. Amy Cannon, the world’s first Ph.D. in the nascent field of green chemistry, was invited to speak at a Bioneers Conference on a panel about fostering eco-literacy in education. While onstage, Cannon was hit with an idea. Read about the impact that moment has had on the global community of green chemistry leaders.
- The Dark Secret of Student Hunger: An Interview of Tim Galarneau of the University of California | For students from low-income or marginalized communities, entering college can be a source of pride and expanded opportunity. But just getting there is not enough. For many of these students, some the first in their families to attend college, food insecurity is holding them back.
- Earthlings Issue #21: Reconsidering the World’s Deadliest Animal | Up to one million people die annually from mosquito-borne diseases, and humans have long used their ingenuity to try to eradicate these “pests.” But what if we’re going about it all wrong? In this excerpt from her new book, “Love, Nature, Magic,” author, activist, and garden expert Maria Rodale reconsiders the mosquito in two thought-provoking journeys into altered consciousness.
|
|
Upcoming Bioneers Learning CoursesWe’re excited to announce that our new season of Bioneers Learning is online, and registration is open! You can register for our first-ever self-paced courses, along with courses covering topics such as the Rights of Nature movement, regenerative herbalism, and sacred activism. - "What If We Get It Right?: Visions of Climate Futures" Book Club | Oct. 1-22 | The Bioneers Learning Book Club is thrilled to offer you a rare chance to delve into Ayana Elizabeth Johnson's brand new book, "What If We Get It Right?" — the highly anticipated sequel to her best-selling book, "All We Can Save."
- The Rights of Nature: Drafting, Adopting, and Enforcing Rights of Nature Laws in Cities, Towns, and Counties | Oct. 3-24 | This course will provide attendees a full background on the emerging “rights of nature” movement in the United States and internationally; prepare them to engage in their own communities to develop, adopt, and enforce local rights of nature laws; and address frequently asked questions.
- A Course on The Imaginal: Cultivating the Visionary Self | Oct. 26-March 16 | This course will explore and exercise our creative muscle to strengthen our visionary selves. When we encounter and encourage the wild dance of the artist within, the creative self becomes part of the visionary collective needed for these times.
- Sacred Activism: Meeting our Challenges as Gateways for Cultivating Relational Leadership | Oct. 30-Dec. 4 | Join us to explore sacred activism and relational leadership. Celebrating the learning that happens through your own lived experience and discoveries, this workshop will offer you new practices and orientations to life.
- Honoring Your Emotional Ecosystem | Nov. 12-Dec. 3 | In this four-week course, you can join author, researcher, and emotions-and-empathy expert Karla McLaren, M.Ed., for a grounded and surprising exploration of the healing genius in your emotional realm.
- The Four Sacred Gifts: Indigenous Wisdom for Modern Times | Self-Paced | Discover how the Four Sacred Gifts of forgiving the unforgivable, unity, healing, and hope in action provide us with a path to our most grounded, loving, healed, and generous selves.
- Regenerative Agriculture: Nourishing the Soil, Healing the Planet | Self-Paced | Be enlightened on the practical applications and impressive potential that regenerative agriculture has to revive healthy landscapes; contribute to human and animal health; create an equitable food system; and help heal the climate.
|
|
Feeling inspired? There's so much more to explore!
Find Your Next Favorite Bioneers Newsletter. |
|
|
| Do you know people who might enjoy reading this? Please share it with them! |
|
|
|
