By Catherine Ritchie | Communications Coordinator
We're so grateful for your support in 2023. Because of you, our movement is growing - in numbers (with over 65 Ecosystem Restoration Communities now established across the globe) and in impact!
We're delighted to share some final highlights of the year with you, before we take a regenerative dive right into 2024.
Going back to where it all began
We recently caught up with ERC Camp Altiplano Leader Silvia Quarta for an update on how restoration has been progressing at this very first Ecosystem Restoration Community, located in south-eastern Spain! Catch the short YouTube video here.
Millions of magical Mangroves
ERC Mombasa Mangroves received an enormous donation from Climate Partner Impact in Germany to plant 100,000 mangrove saplings in the peri-urban location of Tudor Creek in Mombasa, Kenya, where more than 4 million saplings have been planted to date on a sprawling 120 ha. expanse of muddy flats. This locally-driven action is bringing the previously degraded landscape back to life at an incredible pace, creating new habitat for local marine and bird species and boosting local livelihoods through increased fish populations.
Fifteen brand new UK rewilding projects in the mix!
This year, ERC Embercombe has been running the UK’s first ever Rewilding Training, with support from the ERC Foundation. The training has had an enthusiastic take up, with 50 people subscribing as the first cohort. The finale of the 7 module training is to get into groups and create rewilding plans and business plans for real life sites. The student groups will now be creating their plans to bring 15 new rewilding projects into the world. The next round of the Rewilding training will begin in March 2024, and is filling up fast!
Resourceful reforestation in Malawi
ERC Greenpop (South Africa) is working in collaboration with the Mulanje Mission Hospital to improve land management at a village level in the Mulanje District in the southern Malawi, where the community is reliant on forest products for subsistence, food and income. Through the Mulanje Landscape Restoration Project they're restoring the forest ecosystem by implementing soil restoration and water conservation activities, and training the community on alternative income-generating activities.
Missed our famous Fireside Chats?
Each month we catch up with a Restoration Leader from one of the ERCs across the globe, in conversation with our founder, John D. Liu. If you want to be part of these conversations, visit our website and sign up to receive our newsletter. If you'd like to see what you've missed out on this year, you'll find recordings from all the sessions on our YouTube channel.
Tune in to our TEDx Talk
Our director Pieter van der Gaag was invited to talk at an annual TEDx event hosted by Wageningen University (Netherlands) in November 2023. Themed "Tradition in Transition", the event broached the topic of how to continue living on this planet with responsibility and agency towards people, places and ideas around us and around the world. In his talk: "How to increase our space on earth" Pieter speaks about the paradigm shift taking place in sustainability from scarcity to abundance. He shares three steps needed to achieve rapid deployment of regenerative agricultural techniques and ecosystem restoration efforts. The most important one is that we should not try to scale up successful initiatives, but rather work to scale them out. Watch the talk here.
Inspiring stories from the ground
Lastly, we invite you to grab a cup of coffee and dig in to some of our recent blogs, penned for us by dedicated volunteers and guaranteed to inspire!
Restoring ecological balance and building community: Rocciaviva’s network in Basilicata
Reviving hope: wild horses and ecosystem restoration in Appalachia, USA
Our mighty movement is supported by passionate individuals, like you, who believe in the power of ecosystem restoration to achieve a more sustainable, biologically diverse and abundant earth, for all. Thank you for helping us achieve this goals, together.
Best wishes,
Cath, Cristina and the ERC team
www.erc.earth
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