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Biodiversity for a Livable Climate

Through education, policy and outreach, our mission is to promote the power of the natural world to stabilize the climate and to restore biodiversity to ecosystems worldwide.

Collaborating with organizations around the globe, we advocate for the restoration of soil, and of grassland, forest, wetland, coastal and ocean ecosystems–along with the associated carbon, water and nutrient cycles – to draw down excess atmospheric greenhouse gases, cool the biosphere, and reverse global warming, for the benefit of all people and all life on earth.

Check out Bio4Climate's Compendium of Scientific and Practical Findings Supporting Eco-Restoration to Address Global Warming, seven issues, free download

http://bio4climate.org/

Introducing the EcoRestoration Alliance

Mon, Mar 28, 2022

The EcoRestoration Alliance grew out of the work of Biodiversity for a Livable Climate. The Alliance is a rapidly growing global collaboration of scientists, thought leaders, conservationists, on-the-ground restoration practitioners and storytellers whose work challenges the prevailing view that reducing fossil fuel use at this late date can still result in the global cooling that we need. The Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) tells us that restoring biodiversity and healthy ecosystems must receive the full attention it has never had before as the path forward. The panel will focus on the global grassroots level movement, that is doing this work. The panel is composed by Alliance members who believe that ecosystem restoration can be done in a way that supports and empowers local communities. Healthy ecosystems like forests, grasslands, wetlands, and regenerative farmlands with year-round cover crops cool the biosphere and tame extreme weather. ### Resources: * [Biodiversity for a Liveable Climate's website](https://bio4climate.org/) * [Ecorestoration Alliance website](http://ecorestorationalliance.net) * [John D. Liu's video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSZjfYQL8jk) * [Another link to John D. Liu's work](https://environmentaljusticetv.wordpress.com/?s=john+liu) * ['The Holy Grail of Restoration' by John D. Liu](https://www.kosmosjournal.org/kj_article/the-holy-grail-of-restoration/) * [Ecosystem Restoration Camps](https://ecosystemrestorationcamps.org/) * [Ilse Koehler-Rollefson's work](http://www.ilse-koehler-rollefson.com/ ) * [Other link to Ilse Koehler-Rollefson's work](https://www.pastoralpeoples.org/) * [Valer Clark's website](https://www.cuencalosojos.org/)

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Life Saves the Planet

Partner:

Biodiversity for a Livable Climate
Arctic Meltdown: Why it matters to us

Thu, Jan 27, 2022

Does it seem as though the weather gods have gone crazy lately? It is not your imagination. The question on everyone's minds is why, and is it related to climate change? Dr. Jennifer Francis, an atmospheric scientist studying Arctic weather and climate, will explain how increasing extreme weather events are connected with the rapidly warming and melting Arctic during recent decades. Dr. Francis is joined in conversation by Dr. Heather Goldstone, journalist and scientist overseeing Woodwell Climate Research Center's communications. The two will discuss the evidence that suggests how Arctic warming is causing weather patterns to become more persistent, which can lead to extremes such as prolonged droughts, cold spells, heat waves, snowy winters, and flooding events. This talk is part of the Life Saves the Planet lecture series. More info: https://bio4climate.org/

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Life Saves the Planet

Partner:

Biodiversity for a Livable Climate
Decolonizing Environmental Thought

Mon, Nov 15, 2021

Committed environmentalist Fred Tutman brings his front line experience on conservation issues to this discussion of the existential threats to our planet from multiple sources. As more people join movements aimed at greening the planet, what notions must they learn to discard about the environment that are founded upon capitalism, racism and classism? This will be a frank talk with case studies showing us how to build truly equitable, compelling and inclusive conservation movements by first unpacking and ground-truthing the inherent values behind the slogans, fundraising appeals and strategic aims of “insider” Green movements. (Photos: Fred Tutman) This talk is part of the Life Saves the Planet lecture series. More info: https://bio4climate.org/ ## Resources **The Powell Memorandum:** [A Call-to-Arms for Corporations ](https://billmoyers.com/content/the-powell-memo-a-call-to-arms-for-corporations/ ) **Pollution Trading/ Bad Credit**: [Food and Water Watch](https://foodandwaterwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Bad%20Credit%20Report%20April%202012.pdf) (pdf) Chesapeake Bay Blues (book) [Chesapeake Bay Blues: Science, Politics, and the Struggle to Save the Bay](https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780742523517/Chesapeake-Bay-Blues-Science-Politics-and-the-Struggle-to-Save-the-Bay) (rowman.com) [The Revolution Will Not Be Funded](https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-revolution-will-not-be-funded) (book, Duke University Press) [Environmental Grant makers Association](https://ega.org/) **Taking Off the Blinders:** [Why Green is not the new Black or Brown](http://paxriverkeeper.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Why-Green-is-not-the-new-black-or-brown-Jan-2012.pdf) (paxriverkeeper.org pdf) [17 Environmental Justice Principles](https://www.ejnet.org/ej/principles.pdf) (ejnet.org pdf) [Environmental Justice Disparities in Maryland’s Watershed Restoration Programs](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1462901114001634#!) (Academic Paper) by Matthew A. Dernoga, Dr., Sacoby Wilson, Chengsheng Jiang, Frederick Tutman - ScienceDirect

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Life Saves the Planet

Partner:

Biodiversity for a Livable Climate
Alice Friedemann: Life After Fossil Fuels

Mon, Aug 16, 2021

Today our economy is utterly dependent on fossil fuels. They are essential to transportation, manufacturing, farming, electricity, and to make fertilizers, cement, steel, roads, cars, and half a million other products. This discussion with Alice Friedemann is a reality check on where energy will come from in the future. One day soon, fossil fuels will no longer be abundant and affordable. That time may be nearer than we realize. Some experts predict oil shortages as soon as 2022 to 2030. What will our options be for replacing the fossil fuels that turn the great wheel of civilization? Alice Friedemann's book, "Life After Fossil Fuels: A Reality Check on Alternative Energy," surveys the arsenal of alternatives – wind, solar, hydrogen, geothermal, nuclear, batteries, catenary systems, fusion, methane hydrates, power2gas, wave, tidal power and biomass – and examines whether they can replace or supplement fossil fuels. Taking off the rose-colored glasses, author Friedemann will join Bio4Climate Executive Director Adam Sacks in conversation to consider our options.

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Life Saves the Planet

Partner:

Biodiversity for a Livable Climate
Indigenous Wisdom and the Power of Place

Wed, May 26, 2021

Native American and Indigenous people model economic and social exchanges on reciprocity and relationships in all systems. Centering this and other Indigenous wisdom has led to significant and meaningful contributions to the advancement of conservation, protection, and environmental justice, especially in the lives of youth. Dawn Knickerbocker belongs to the Anishinaabe people, is a citizen of White Earth Nation/gaa waabaabiganikaag, and a member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe from the Ottertail Pillager Band of Indians. Juan D. Martinez Pineda is a Senior Program Manager at the Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions and proud descendant of the Be'ena' Za' Zapotec people. Together they will explore how centering culture, reciprocity, and relationship can fulfill this country's promise to lift up all people. This talk is part of the Life Saves the Planet lecture series. More info: https://bio4climate.org/ ### RESOURCES Learn more about the land you are on and the peoples who have walked there: https://native-land.ca/ Learn more about The power of cultures, igniting futures with Fresh Tracks https://aspencommunitysolutions.org/f... Learn more about Native Americans in Philanthropy https://nativephilanthropy.org/

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Life Saves the Planet, Indigenous Heritage

Partner:

Biodiversity for a Livable Climate
Some Sample "wows" from Biosphere History

Mon, Apr 19, 2021

We are last minute arrivals to the region of the Earth where life can be found and thrives: the biosphere. The 3.8 billion year history of the Earth shows to this day that life — particularly microbial — has been the consistent major contributor to building features of the biosphere, giving us rocky landscapes, myriad ecosystems, healthy soils, oxygenated air, and the cyclic flow of key elements. Ecologists Doug Zook and David Morimoto examine how the biosphere is the story of connections and reciprocating systems over extraordinary long distances. Doug will share examples from the science known as "global ecology" and David will moderate the discussion. Photo: Doug Zook ### Resources from our speakers National Geographic, [a definition of the biosphere](https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/biosphere/) NASA [Earth Observatory](https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/7279/bodele-depression-dust-feeds-amazon) Nature, [“African dust keeps Amazon blooming”](https://www.nature.com/news/2010/100809/full/news.2010.396.html) University of Maryland and Geophysical Research, [“Massive Amounts of Saharan Dust Fertilize the Amazon RainforestMassive Amounts of Saharan Dust Fertilize the Amazon Rainforest”](https://cmns.umd.edu/news-events/features/2822) US Geological Survey, [“Iron oxide minerals in dust-source sediments from the Bodélé Depression, Chad: Implications for radiative properties and Fe bioavailability of dust plumes from the Sahara”](https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/70185032) Stetson University Geology Research Dept., [“Florida Formations: Shifting Sea and Sediment”](https://www.stetson.edu/other/gillespie-museum/media/Florida%20Formations%20EXHIBIT%20TEXT-FULL%20for%20website.pdf) Science Director: [Coccolithophore](https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/coccolithophore)

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Life Saves the Planet

Partner:

Biodiversity for a Livable Climate
The Environmental Benefits of Grass Fed Beef

Mon, Mar 29, 2021

Grass-fed beef producers in the U.S. have begun a movement to restore soils and stabilize the climate with a fundamentally different approach called regenerative grazing. This method builds on nature’s own system of pulling carbon from the air and storing it in the soil. Sixty million buffalo lived on the Great Plains at one time. The prairie had deep, productive soils, 8 to 10 feet down, thanks to the symbiosis of the large herbivore, plants, photosynthesis and soil microbes. In more recent times, poor farming methods have sent this stored carbon back up into the atmosphere as C02. Current scientific research helps us understand the mechanisms and methods by which grazing can foster carbon sequestration, protect against droughts and floods, and increase crop yields many-fold to feed growing populations. Ridge Shinn founded Big Picture Beef in 2015. Its mission is to establish an environmentally sustainable and economically viable model of producing beef through managed grazing—no feedlots and no grain, ever. His vision is a system that produces healthy animals, healthy food, healthy soils, and fair wages for farmers.

Forum Network

Life Saves the Planet

Partner:

Biodiversity for a Livable Climate
An Amazing Agroforestry Story: The Inga Model in Central America

Mon, Feb 22, 2021

The Inga Foundation's founder and director Mike Hands has been working to halt the destruction of rainforests from slash and burn agriculture for over 20 years. An experienced tropical ecologist and scientific researcher, Mike divides his time between his farm in Cornwall, UK, and the Inga Foundation’s [Land for Life](http://www.ingafoundation.org/land-for-life/) program in Honduras. Now in year 10, the locally-led program has exceeded all expectations (100% organic food security, protecting wildlife and marine habitats, enriching and improving soil, and preserving water sources) and been recognized as a game changer for people and the planet with 2,600 acres of highly degraded land regenerated, and 284,000 tons of CO2 sequestered/avoided. The program is replicable to the entire humid tropics with native Inga. The "Guama Model" of Inga Alley Cropping with the nitrogen-fixing Inga has transformed the lives of 300+ rural, subsistence farming families who have planted over 4 million trees. The resilient, fast-growing Inga tree alleys provide annual, renewable firewood and survived 7 months of drought and the recent back-to-back hurricanes. Distinguished professor Rattan Lal talks with Mike Hands about the program's success and promise.

Forum Network

Life Saves the Planet

Partner:

Biodiversity for a Livable Climate
The Remarkable Success of India's Natural Farming Movement

Thu, Jan 21, 2021

Learn about a movement that grew from over 40,000 farmers in 2016 to almost 800,000 farmers in 2020 in one of the driest states in India. This work has been successful in part because of a community supported approach where women-run self help groups are in charge of operations. Vijay Kumar, advisor to the government of Andhra Pradesh, presents this program, and the impact of Walter Jehne's ideas for increasing drought resilience. Didi Pershouse, who accompanied Jehne on his trip to India, moderates the conversation. However, before you begin, Vijay invites you to enjoy this musical video, "[**One Earth Song," by Ricky Kej,**](https://youtu.be/3-_Rq8t_eA0) a tribute to farmers in India, to bring you in to his country for this conversation. ## Resources Learn more about Didi Pershouse’s work and find out more about her book, “The Ecology of Care”: https://www.didipershouse.com/ Government of Andhra Pradesh, Department of Agriculture’s ‘Zero-Budget’ Natural Farming Programme: http://apzbnf.in/ Follow their work on [Youtube,](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCusizWOkz5Q0-F_TX0vKiPA) on [Twitter,](https://twitter.com/APZBNF) and [Facebook.](https://www.facebook.com/APZBNF/) Fact sheets and articles related to [the reasons behind 365 days green cover, and the intersection of soil, water, climate, and health.](https://www.landandleadership.org/fact-sheets.html) List of upcoming courses that Didi’s group will be delving into [the successes in India and how similar projects can get off the ground around the world.](https://lali.teachable.com/ ) In particular this course, ["Regenerating Landscapes for Community and Climate Resilience,"](https://lali.teachable.com/p/regenerating-landscapes-for-community-and-climate-resilience) (for which there is financial assistance as needed, particularly for people in the global south.) Here is a free [150 page manual Understanding Soil Health and Watershed Function](https://www.landandleadership.org/soil-health-manual.htm) (used in 60 countries). Jan. 2020 International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, [“Towards redesign at scale through zero budget natural farming in Andhra Pradesh, India.”](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338546247_Towards_redesign_at_scale_through_zero_budget_natural_farming_in_Andhra_Pradesh_India) National Geographic article on farming in Andhra Pradesh: [“Getting Back to Nature.”](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/03/partner-content-getting-back-to-nature/) Photo Credit: Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming

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Life Saves the Planet

Partner:

Biodiversity for a Livable Climate
Healthy Oysters for Healthy Coasts, Oceans and Climate

Mon, Dec 14, 2020

Globally, oyster habitats are the most degraded habitats among coastal systems, with the loss of 99% in the last 150 years. These 350 million years old keystone species and their habitats are at the brink of total collapse from industrial harvesting and pollution of coastal areas. Today scientists understand the ecological value of oyster habitats and their importance to coastal health. Re-establishing oyster populations improves water quality, biodiversity, seafood safety, and can be a buffer to rising sea levels. Dr. Anamarija Frankic explains the [biomimicry](https://biomimicry.org/what-is-biomimicry/) approach for oyster habitat restoration to recover marine health and resiliency. Looking at the work of the Green Harbors Project (GHP), we can examine several successful oyster reef restorations in urban areas that had lost this essential habitat and its related ecological functions, as well as ask what we can learn from this success for restoring our planet. This talk is part of the Life Saves the Planet lecture series. More info: https://bio4climate.org/ ## Resources mentioned in this talk: Download the [handbook](https://noraeurope.eu/download/3493/) from the [Native Oyster Restoration Alliance](https://noraeurope.eu) [Oyster Grandpa in Japan](https://news.un.org/en/story/2017/05/558352-feature-grandpa-oyster-offers-example-sustainable-ocean-business) Anamarija's work at the [Green Harbors Project](https://www.umb.edu/ghp) VIDEO: [Deepwater- Norri Project](https://youtu.be/trRkAzOL1G0) Rick Van Noy article in Yes Magazine (2019) ["As entire islands disappear in Chesapeake Bay, the oyster is enlisted as a first line of climate defense"](https://www.yesmagazine.org/environment/2019/03/19/oyster-mollusk-can-save-shorelines-from-rising-seas/) Abstract from Dr. Antonio Rodriguez, ["Oyster reefs can outpace sea-level rise"](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262068157_Oyster_reefs_can_outpace_sea-level_rise ) Trailer: [Shell Shocked](https://www.shellshockedmovie.com/)

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Life Saves the Planet

Partner:

Biodiversity for a Livable Climate