Agricultural reforms are a big part of the solution. It is estimated that we waste a third of the food that we produce. That’s about 1.3 billion tons a year. In addition, a third of our agricultural land is used for animal feed. As the world gets more ‘modernized’ the land devoted to animal feed is expected to rise to cater to the growing demand of the dairy and meat industry.

The answers to resolve this complex issue are not straightforward and require a combination of public policy, awareness, capital, human behaviour change, etc. However, one of the important aspects for the policy makers to consider is our legislative reforms and furthering environmentally friendly agricultural practices such as agroforestry. Agroforestry is the intentional integration of trees and shrubs into crop and animal farming systems to create environmental, economic, and social benefits. There is a lot of work happening all over the world in advancing agroforestry-based solutions.

1. Alley Cropping
Alley cropping involves planting crops between rows of trees. The system can be designed to produce fruits, vegetables, grains, flowers, herbs, bioenergy feedstocks, and more.

2. Multi-story Cropping
The practice of multi-story cropping is based on creating a complimentary ecosystem of trees and shrubs under a forest canopy at different heights to grow food, herbal, botanical, or decorative crops. By providing ideal shade levels to the botanicals, a flourishing biodiverse economically viable forest system can be created.

3. Silvo Pasture
Silvo pasture combines trees with livestock and forage on one piece of land. The trees provide timber, fruit, fodder, or nuts as well as shade and shelter for livestock and their forages, reducing stress on the animals from the hot summer sun, cold winter winds, or a downpour.

4. Riparian Forest Buffers
Riparian forest buffers are natural or re-established areas along rivers and streams made up of trees, shrubs, and grasses. These buffers can help filter farm runoff while the roots stabilize the banks of streams, rivers, lakes and ponds to prevent erosion. These areas can also support wildlife and provide another source of income.

5. Windbreaks
Windbreaks shelter crops, animals, buildings, and soil from wind, snow, dust, and odours. These areas can also support wildlife and provide another source of income. They are also called shelterbelts, hedgerows, vegetated environmental buffers, or living snow fences.

So, if you are wondering how can you influence this change towards more widespread agroforestry practices, here are a few suggestions:

1. Become a lot more aware and conscious of your consumption choices. Start reading food labels of the products that you buy and make a deliberate shift towards products that are more upfront about their production and sources of origin.

2. Start asking your elected representatives about how agroforestry in your region is being encouraged. Often change begins when you ask for it!

3. If you happen to be directly involved in agriculture and food production start developing and implementing agroforestry practices and set an example!

The post 5 ways How Traditional Agroforestry Systems Help in Nature Conservation appeared first on The Sacred Groves.

1. Plant a tree
Get your kids to plant a tree in your garden or a surrounding neighborhood area. Get them to water the tree every day and spend a few minutes taking care of it. You could make some of your visits to the tree even more interesting by asking them to name their tree, paint or draw the tree, take a selfie, etc. A great way to get this started is to encourage your child to plant a tree on their birthday. This way, they have a companion that grows with them, who they can celebrate with every year!

2. Play the Recycling game
Recycling can be an incredibly fun activity that could also bring out the creative best in the family. As an example, give your child a box/ bottle to be recycled with some paint, ribbons, adhesive etc and join the fun! Not only will the outcome be a treasure, but the child will realize that a box that was about to be thrown can become an object of wonder!

3. Walk in the park
Forest bathing in many cultures is regarded as a therapeutic experience that brings about a calming sense of well-being. A walk in the park with your child along with some interesting activities like identifying new plants, talking to the gardeners, learning about native biodiversity, collecting flowers and seeds is a lovely way of making an everlasting connection. While strolling through the park, you can engage the children in a game of cleaning up the area around them. This will instill a practice of keeping natural surroundings free from trash, and will help them become ambassadors for a cleaner future. Do remember to carry a yummy treat for the little one as a reward!

4. Create an Environmental Volunteering Game
Each time your child does an environmentally conscious act such as switching off the lights, using less water, etc reward them by giving them points, badges, treats etc. Get your child to make a board where the points and badges can be displayed. Each badge is recommended to be awarded with some fanfare and hugs!

5. Adopt a pet
Having pets is a wonderful way to get your child connected with the natural world. Sometimes when it is not possible to keep a pet in the house, get your child to interact with friendly pets in the neighborhood and build the connection. They can also volunteer their time to walk or feed the pets if the opportunity arises.

6. Celebrate special days
There are several days in the year such was the World Environment Day, Water Day, Biodiversity Day, Pet Day etc that can be occasions to celebrate. Wear green outfits, throw a party for their friends, organize a quiz etc – these are great ways to make the day memorable. Just ensure, all your party themes and supplies are biodegradable in nature, so your celebration has the benefit of being both fun and mindful!

7. The Jungle Book
Read books and stories to them about nature and fire up their imagination through the experiences of the natural world! Encourage them to make their own stories and create their very own version of the Jungle Book.

8. Plant questions and thoughts
Children in early years are exploring cause and effect, and the consequences of their actions. This is a perfect time to introduce the positive and negative impacts they can have on the environment with some intriguing and thought-provoking questions.
As an example, what happens to our rubbish when we throw it ‘away’ or recycle it? What happens to seeds when we sow them? Why buy when one can repair? How can we reduce our environmental footprint?

9. Conserve
Teach kids how to conserve existing resources – water and food, for example. Remind them to put food back in the refrigerator and close the door. There are numerous creative ways to conserve water, food, gas, and other products once you put your mind to it. Turn it into a game!

10. Ride bikes but walk whenever possible.
This is great exercise and saves not only gas but time because you don’t have to drop your kids off everywhere.

The truth is that climate change and climate actions can sometimes be abstract topics. It is by creating experiences and environmental volunteering interactions that as parents lasting impact can be created. As they say the best time to volunteer is now!

The post 10 Tips About Environmental Volunteering to Teach Your Children appeared first on The Sacred Groves.

If you have been toying with the idea of volunteering with such organisations, but are unsure, we’ve compiled a set of guidelines about what to know and how to get started:

* Ask yourself: ‘What are my motivations to do this?’
The first step is to find what drives your passion in environmental volunteering. Finding a cause that lights a fire in you can help you zero in on the local organisations working for those causes. You are also more likely to invest more time and resources in volunteering if you are allied with a cause close to your heart. So, start with finding your primary driving force.

* Work with reputed organisations:
Offer your time to organisations that you rely on and which have a proven track record.

* Have the right expectations:
Volunteering is an all-encompassing world. You can donate your time, money or professional skills to further the aims of the cause you are allied with. Take the time to assess what you can offer in terms of volunteering. Some people are great at fundraising, others are adept at using social media to garner attention for a cause. Still others can offer their professional skills in accounting and advocacy to help a local centre working for the flora and fauna of Canada. Pondering over what you can offer can help you align with the right organisation and have the right set of expectations from the work. For example, some environmental volunteering work requires traveling to remote locations in Canada, living in the outdoors, working for most of the day, etc. – in this case, expect not to have a warm bed, hot food or even a lot of sleep while you’re working.

* What to pack for out-of-country work:
Some environmental volunteering work may take you outside the Canadian borders. If it does, you should carry your passport, credit card(s), visa, emergency contact information, flight schedules, and a letter from the organisation that you are travelling with, attesting to your presence in the designated region for specific tasks. Ask them to provide you with an ID that you can show if stopped in another country. Other than these documents, you must pack light in terms of clothing. Do carry essential medicines, rubber gloves, bug repellent sprays, rubber soled boots, and so on.

* The right etiquette is important:
When you volunteer for an organisation, especially in another city or country, you must display the correct etiquette in terms of dressing and behaving appropriately, and showing respect and consideration for the region that you go to. This last entails being respectful of indigenous cultures, being ecologically sensitive in your use of the region while working, abiding by local laws, etc. The organisation you work with expects you to represent them in the best way possible at all times.

* Know how your donations are used:
If you volunteer during your time off at a local centre and make regular donations, you have the right to ask how your contribution is used. Ethical organisations will offer a report of annual expenses and how donations were used to feed and medicate animals, pay staff salaries, fund research, and so on. Or you can contribute to fundraisers aimed at raising money for specific causes; most organisations readily offer an immediate receipt of payment.

The post Basics of Environmental Volunteering: How Can You Get Started? appeared first on The Sacred Groves.

“Are you sure this is the way?” said Alfie, scrambling up the hill after his sister.
“I don’t know alright?” replied Eva sharply, staring at her phone as she strode on ahead. “I’m still trying to get a signal.”
“That’s what you said, like, half an hour ago.” said Alfie, holding up a chubby wrist. “We should have stuck to the path like I said. Then we wouldn’t be lost!”
“We’re not lost.” retorted Eva. “Look, we’re nearly at the top of the hill. There’s bound to be something on the other side.”  

But there wasn’t. There were only more trees, thickening into an impenetrable distance.

“Great!” sighed Alfie. “What now?”   
“I dunno,” replied Eva, uncertainly. “Keep going until we get signal, I guess…” 
“But what if we don’t?” asked Alfie.
“We will.” snapped Eva. “This is Wales, you know, not the end of the world!” 

The forest seemed to grow darker here, more gnarled and the children were quieter as they went, nervously looking up at the great oak trees that surrounded them. With their wrinkled old trunks and branches bearded in moss, the trees looked like sentinels, silently watching as the children passed deeper into the forest.

“Evie,” said Alfie in a small voice after a while. “I’m a bit scared.” 
“Scared? What’s there to be scared of? It’s only a bunch of old tr… ” began Eva but then she stopped. Standing in front of them was an old man. 
“Where did you come from?” exclaimed Eva, staring at him in astonishment. He was, in fact, an extremely old man with a tangled white beard and even whiter hair and he was carrying a wooden staff. 

“From the forest.” replied the man in a melodious voice. “Where did you come from?”   
“We were on our way to the seaside but our parents got lost!” said Alfie excitedly. “So they parked up to look at the map – only they can’t read maps so they started arguing! And me and my sister went to check out the forest – then we got lost!” 
“You do not live in the forest?” asked the man. 
“We live in London!” replied Alfie, grinning confusedly. 
“Who lives in the forest?” said Eva, staring at the man.
“Once upon a time, we all lived in the forest.” replied the man and his eyes, which were a brilliant azure blue, seemed to darken with the weight of the loss. “Once, forests like this one covered the entire country.” 
“Right…” said Eva, frowning. “And…do you live in the forest?” 
“As long as there is a forest, I shall live here.” replied the man. 
“Great! Then you must know the way out?” said Alfie briskly. 

The man bowed wordlessly, gesturing for them to follow him through the trees. 

“So do you, like, live in a tree-house?” asked Alfie.
“I have no house.” replied the man. “The trees provide my shelter. The leaves, comfort. The wood, warmth.” 
“Is that why you’re not wearing any shoes?” asked Eva suspiciously. 
“What need have I for shoes when the forest provides such a carpet?” he replied and the children saw that up ahead, the floor of the forest was sprinkled with thousands of tiny blue flowers, glowing like fairy lights under the darkened canopy. 

They followed the old man through the flowers to a tinkling stream that led off down the hill.

“Ah, we’re back here.” said Eva, looking around. Then she frowned. “But how did you know where our parents were parked?” 

The old man pointed to the canopy and through the leaves, hanging behind them like a painting, the children could see fields, great dazzling squares of green rolling one after another, into a cobalt sea.    

“What you were looking for?” he said. 

They followed the stream down the hill until the children spotted a splash of yellow paintwork and then their parents, hunched over the bonnet of an enormous 4×4. Amazingly, they were still arguing.    

“So much for mum and dad being mad.” snorted Eva. “They haven’t even noticed we’re gone!”
“But they must of! It‘s been, like…” began Alfie. Then he stopped. 
“What?” asked Eva. 
“My watch says it’s still two!” replied Alfie, staring at her. 
“Two? As in the time we left mum and dad?” exclaimed Eva. “You must be looking at it wrong!”
“No I’m not!” said Alfie indignantly. Then he turned to the man. “Have you got the time?”
“Time passes differently in the forest,” he replied.
“But we’ve come out at the same time?” said Eva, frowning perplexedly at her phone. “The same time, although we’ve been walking for ages! How is that even possible?” 
“Think of the forests… as a way into the past.” replied the man, closing his eyes. “You may enter them in your time but if you keep on walking, who knows where you will end up. You may end up in my time – or some other time entirely. But what I do know is that without the forests, there is no way back.” he went on, opening his eyes and looking directly at Eva. “That is why you must protect them.” 

Eva was staring at the old man but then she heard her parents, distantly calling their names. Alfie set off down the hill, waving excitedly, but Eva turned to the man.

“I‘m sorry – what did you say your name was?” she said. 
“My name is Myrddin.” replied the man, his face crinkling into a kindly smile. “But in English, you would say Merlin.” 
“Merlin?” repeated Eva incredulously. 
“Come on Evie!” called Alfie from the bottom of the hill. 
“I’m coming!” shouted Eva. Then she turned back to Merlin. But he had disappeared into the forest.

Author: Tim Davies, The India Story Agency for Sacred Groves
Images Credit: Sacred Groves Founders’ images of Coed Rhyal

The post Found in the Woods – short story inspired by Coed Rhyal appeared first on The Sacred Groves.

Uttarakhand farmer Krishan Singh Bargaley used to have a hard time getting good prices for the apples he so painstakingly grew. Although they were juicy and sweet, they would invariably develop unpalatable looking pockmarks on the skin. The culprit? A bacterial disease called apple blister that would spread with every rainfall to new sites. Aid came in an unusual form — a community radio that launched in the Nainital district of the Indian state of Uttarakhand in 2010, Kumaon Vani (which translates as our radio, our voice). From a programme on radio, 61-year-old Bargaley learned that a traditional mix of lime and water known as Chuna can help in stopping the disease and revive his plants. “We used to travel a long distance to Pantnagar to meet experts, now those experts dispense advice on radio,” says Krishan Singh. “And I was able to rescue my apples from the disease.”

Like Bargaley, a large number of villagers of Uttarakhand tune into Kumaon Vani t at 90.4 Mhz with reception reaching 500 villages in the state. This radio station was set up by TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute) in 2010 at Nainital, Uttarakhand, to promote sustainable agriculture and spread awareness on climate change, environment, health, science, education, gender and culture among the local villagers. Funded by charity TRISHA, (TERI’s research initiative), the radio station airs a daily diet of climate news and weather forecasts and also warns the villagers about impending landslides, melting glaciers and government-issued alerts, according to Sumit Bansal, coordinator of the station.

“We gather information from the villagers about the problems they are facing and tailor our shows to suit their needs by bringing in the necessary experts,” says Jitendra Raikwal, the radio station’s producer. Villagers are encouraged to phone in their farming-related problems. Experts provide solutions and offer advice to improve their livelihoods through sustainable agriculture, improved biodiversity and accessing government-run welfare schemes. Mohan Singh Karki, station manager at Kumaon Vani says: “The objective of this platform is to provide a solution to all the problems related to water, forest and land of these regions, people should immediately think about our radio for any problems that they face.”

Kumaon Vani’s information-packed programmes, heard by as many as 200,000 listeners, have had some impact. After a program on the impact of using excessive pesticides and insecticides, many farmers switched to using natural pesticides and began to understand the side effects of chemicals on their health and for the environment. Uttarakhand is an ecologically sensitive area, because its hilly terrain and melting glaciers cause frequent landslides. Kumaon Vani is helping increase disaster preparedness among the community by airing tips on how to build homes on slopes. With limited access to television and newspapers, Kumaon Vani radio has also been a key source of news during the Coronavirus pandemic. 

There are limitations to the use of  broadcast radio in hilly regions such as the Himalaya. Because of a low transmitter power of 100 watts, the radio is unable to reach villages in the valleys. Frequent power cuts sometimes interrupt the radio broadcast. Yet it has been successful in creating a sense of community among villagers living in isolated, media dark villages. 

On a typical day last month, Ganga Singh Bisht from Prabada village called in, asking for the selling price of crops in the local market (Mandi). Minutes later, Khushhal Singh from Sunkiya village called in just to appreciate how relevant the programme is to his life. “I rely on Kumaon Vani for farming related advice and weather updates,” says Munni Devi, a farmer from Nainital.  “It’s become a friend in need for me.”

Author: Kavitha Yarlagadda, The India Story Agency for Sacred Groves
Images Credit: Uttarakhand banner image – Anurag Agnihotri/ Wikimedia Commons, Kumaon Vani
(Wikimedia License – https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)

The post Community Radio to the Rescue! appeared first on The Sacred Groves.

Carmarthen Bay in West Wales is much loved for its broad, peach-white sands, its migratory birdlife and its sweeping sand and mud flats and salt marshes. It’s the birthplace of the Arthurian legend of the magician Merlin and one of the landscapes that inspired celebrated Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. In 2009, the UK’s Joint Nature Conservation Committee listed Carmarthen Bay and Estuaries as a Special Area of Conservation, for the presence in the Bay of and its saltmarshes of sea rush (Juncus maritimus) and marsh-mallow (Althaea officinalis), rare invertebrates  and the twait shad (Alosa fallax), a threatened migratory fish.

Coed Rhyal – an ancient oak woodland – occupies a northwest-facing slope overlooking Carmarthen Bay. Whilst the inland Bay is less visited than its coastline and marshes, and certainly less studied, ancient deciduous woodlands such as Coed Rhyal, a recent acquisition by Sacred Groves, are also key to the region’s rich ecosystem. At Coed Rhyal, a closed canopy of ancient oaks provides both the moisture and shade for a host of symbiotic flora and fauna, from honeysuckle climbers, to edible bilberry, primrose and ferns and the bluebells that explode in a glowing counterpane of mauve each early spring.

“Coed Rhyal has some wonderful ancient woodland indicators, such as wood sorrel and campion,” says woodland and forestry manager Marc Liebrecht, custodian of Coed Rhyal for Sacred Groves. “There are veteran trees and, crucially for biodiversity, there is deadwood with plenty of friendly cracks and crevices for bats and birds to nest and floor as well as deadwood that’s great for fungus.”

A permissive path [a route designated by law for use by the public], thought to be an old horse and cart path, runs through the woodland and dog walkers and runners often use the route. On his last visit to the wood, Liebrecht met a local dog walker there who was pleased that Coed Rhyal – which translates as Rhyal’s trees – has been acquired to be kept wild for posterity. 

“Rewilding is usually appreciated by local communities who want to preserve their natural heritage,” Liebrecht says.

Although improvements have been made since the end of World War One, when woodland covered less than five percent of Wales’ landmass, today woodland only covers 14 percent of the current land surface in Wales (in comparison to a European average of 37 percent), and as of 1998, only 38 percent of Welsh woodland was composed of native species such as oak (Welsh Assembly Government, 2013). Wales’ ancient woods are worth preserving. Ancient woodland is the UK’s richest and most complex terrestrial habitat: home to more threatened species than any other natural environment. Centuries of undisturbed soils and accumulated decaying wood create the perfect home for communities of fungi and invertebrates, as well as specialist species of insects, birds and mammals.

Back in Coed Rhyal, as the path ascends, the route passes abandoned coal works and gaps in the canopy open out to glimpses of the estuary and Carmarthen Bay. These snatched vantage points make Liebrecht privileged to be able to visit this ancient wood. 

“The path meanders up the slope and has such a nice feel about it,” Liebrecht explains. “There is a viewpoint where you have unbroken views of the estuary and its setting in the wider landscape. It’s breathtaking and also somewhat soothing as you feel so cool under the forest canopy.”

WHAT IS FOREST BATHING?

Forest bathing became part of a Japanese national public health program in 1982 when the forestry ministry coined the phrase shinrin-yoku and promoted topiary as therapy. Shinrin-yoku, or is defined broadly as “taking in, in all of our senses, the forest atmosphere”. The program was established to encourage Japanese to get out into nature, to literally bathe the mind and body in green spaces, and take advantage of public-owned forest networks as a means of promoting health. Some 64 percent of Japan is occupied by forest, so there is ample opportunity to escape the megacities that dot its landscape. Now there’s scientific evidence to bolster the claims of shinrin-yoku,with phytoncides, compounds released by plants and trees, have been shown to reduce the stress hormone cortisol and activate the immune system. 

Tommy Carr, leader of Welsh forest bathing group Mindful Walks (@mindful_walks) on Wales’ ancient woods:
“Old woods differ from younger woods for me in terms of a feeling of being something greater than just trees, there’s a sense of the whole ecosystem and the sheer size difference which affects light and shade. Younger woods can have their own quality but it’s the ancient woods I love. Walking together in these woodland landscapes I think that people cannot help but build a greater appreciation and love of them. Though it isn’t always explicit that we talk about the woodland and conservation itself, taking people who rarely walk in nature and reconnecting them to their own nature is crucial. There’s been a big increase in small woodland ownership in Wales since the pandemic and lockdowns. I hope that the increase in interest and desire to protect these habitats will continue and we can recognise the true natural resources of Wales.”

Monisha & Vikram Krishna, Co-Founders Sacred Groves:
“As we walked down the path less trodden at Coed Rhyal, we felt that we had been taken back in time to the world of Enid Blyton and her incredibly imaginative stories set in the backdrop of the enchanted woods. We dedicate Coed Rhyal to the children of Wales and hope to support many more such treasures in the future. We have miles to go and many promises to keep!”

Author: Sally Howard, The India Story Agency for Sacred Groves
Images Credit: Founders, Sacred Groves

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The natural grasslands in the US were once grazed by large herds of buffalo. These hefty bovines stomped vegetation and activated the seeds within the soil while depositing manure, urine, and saliva, providing organic matter and nutrients for both plants and soils. The buffalo are long gone, hunted to extinction by Buffalo Bill and his ilk for their horns and hides. However their process of natural, cyclical soil restoration that the buffaloes produce has inspired a new generation of cattle farmers: the soil carbon cowboys.

These sustainable cattle farmers fence their livestock into small paddocks, allowing the stock to graze intensely. By moving them quickly through multiple paddocks, they keep the grasses growing by grazing then give the forage time to rest and regrow. The growing plants and expanding root systems take carbon from the air and place it in soil,  building soil and capturing carbon.

Peter Byck, filmmaker and professor of practice at Arizona State University, calls this adaptive multi-paddock grazing (AMP). He has directed a series of ten documentaries, filmed across the U.S. and Canada, that highlight the practice of regenerative grazing, which helps ranchers to raise healthy livestock while also providing one solution to climate change.

The first documentary, in a series of ten, “Soil Carbon Cowboys,” profiles three ranchers that changed from traditional ranching using significant amounts of high-cost synthetic products to manage weeds and insects and fertilizers to grow forages to a managed grazing system that improves their land and the health of their animals while decreasing their feed and input costs, helping them become economically sustainable.

The world beneath our feet is incredibly complex, containing more life than above ground. This underground life, the soil microbes, repackages nutrients utilized by plants, builds organic matter, stores unused nutrients, and maintains the porous structure of soil.  

To maintain healthy soils rich in organic matter, store large quantities of carbon, hold lots of water to combat both drought and storms, and stay in place without erosion, thriving diverse plants that cover and cool the soil are needed as is the addition of natural nutrients. The grazing action of livestock trims plants and deposits manure before they move on and livestock recycle plants they graze into organic material providing the energy for both plants and soil microbes to produce healthy soils that store more carbon. 

In a sense, these carbon farmers and ranchers are focused more on building healthy soils than raising crops and livestock, says Byck. “Using the natural interactions between cattle, plants, and soil, we can revolutionize the agriculture industry,” says Byck. “This can provide more nutritious food and provide a comfortable income for farming and ranching families while offering one significant solution to climate change, storing carbon in the soil.”

Byck’s films are also spreading a message: educating and inspiring agriculture producers to follow the AMP grazing method on their farms as the project supports research into the benefits of AMP grazing and soil carbon sequestration.

The research is providing data that supports what the ranchers are seeing: grazing livestock in the AMP method builds soil health and provides a sustainable process to store large amounts of carbon in the soil, improving the health of the livestock, us, and the planet. For more information – www.carboncowboys.org

Author: Denice Rackley, The India Story Agency for Sacred Groves
Images Credit: Denice Rackley

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Truffle-fried oysters and oyster soup have long been favorites in Hong Kong’s bustling restaurants.  Oysters have also been grist to the city’s industrial mill: the process of lime-extraction (which dates back to the Tang dynasty) deriving calcium oxide for use in building, boat caulking and agriculture by burning shells or coral skeleton.

Many believe that these myriad appetites of the city which boasts the highest concentration of ultra high-net-worth individuals in the world have caused the rapid decline of its famed oyster reefs which once stretched across an estimated 1,000 km of coastline in the Pearl River Delta area.

A study conducted by University of Hong Kong’s Swire Institute of Marine Science and environmental organisation The Nature Conservancy has shown the enormous potential lost when we lose our native oyster reefs. An individual oyster can, the 2020 study found, filter up to 30 liters of water per hour and 500 liters per day at summer temperatures (the metabolism of oysters, like all marine invertebrates, increases with temperature).

Oyster reefs also provide shelter for crabs and snails, nursery habitats for juvenile fish and feeding grounds for larger fish. They help in denitrification by removing excess nutrients, help seagrass recovery and reduce the resuspension (erosion) of fine sediment, improving water clarity.

Associate Prof. Bayden Russell, Associate Director at The Swire Institute of Marine Science, the University of Hong Kong and involved in the study, explains, “we’re discovering how abundant and widespread these reefs must have been in the region. The level of impact on them has been surprising.” 

The project was a community endeavour, Russell adds. “We deployed a few trial reefs in a couple of places, and that has only been possible because we have been working with the farmers and fishermen.”

The Nature Conservancy has worked on shellfish reef restoration involving local fishing communities in Australia, United States and New Zealand, identifying suitable sites for restoration, creating oyster reef bases and scattering these areas with baby oysters and mussels for the last twenty years, with a typical project costing around US$64,000 for 400m² of reef. The organisation is also helping struggling oyster farmers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic (and concomitant drops in restaurant oyster consumption) by purchasing five million surplus oysters to be used to seed native shellfish reefs.

Marine Thomas, Conservation Project Manager at The Nature Conservancy, Hong Kong, says when restoring shellfish reefs it is important to understand what is left, how healthy it is and whether the reef is still reproducing in the water. Reef restoration projects such as this are therefore not possible in every context. Oysters, importantly, need something hard to settle on (substrate), even if it is a limestone rock or other oyster shell, to attach to and keep growing. “This then guides us with the kind of restoration method we need to apply,” she says. “In Hong Kong, which has plentiful shellfish larvae, we can undertake restoration wherever we find suitable substrates.” 

A mature reef takes five years to grow; however a trial reef, established under a fish farm in Hong Kong’s Tolo Harbour in 2019, has been colonised by a variety of sea life, including crabs and sea urchins (which are not typically found in the region). In other locations where The Nature Conservancy operates, restored shellfish beds have helped reduce flooding and improve coastal water quality. And that’s good news for our environment, as well as Hong Kongers’ dinner plates.

Author: Bindu Gopal Rao, The India Story Agency for Sacred Groves
Images Credit: 1. Kyle Obermann, all others The Nature Conservancy

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One of Australia’s great forests once grew hidden from sight off the east coast of Tasmania. Swathes of giant kelp, known as kelp forests, grew from the ocean floor, towering 30 to 40 metres into massive floating canopies across the surface of the sea. “They were charismatic, six to seven storey tall underwater jungles, basically,” says Cayne Layton, postdoctoral research fellow at Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies. “It is said that some floating canopies were so thick that they were on navigation charts as a navigational hazard.”

Today, 95 percent of this globally significant forest of the world’s fastest-growing plant – giant kelp can grow up to 50 centimetres a day – has been wiped out by the inexorable shift of the warm East Australian Current – the ocean current made famous in the movie Finding Nemo – displacing the cold, nutrient-rich Southern Ocean waters. The remaining five percent now grow only in scattered patches. The decline of these forests, listed as Australia’s first endangered marine community, has been relentless since the 1940s, largely unnoticed and unremarked by the local community. But the fightback has begun, and the early results are promising.

In the spring of 2020, Layton and a team of scientists planted three restoration plots of kelp on rocky reefs along Tasmania’s east coast, having collected spores from surviving giant kelp plants identified as tolerant to the warmer seas.

The scientists planted tens of thousands of millimetre long juvenile kelp on the reefs. When they returned months later, at the end of summer, they were greeted by a beautiful sight.

“One of the sites had no survivors, but at the two other sites we had really good success,” Layton says. “At those two now, we have over 200 surviving giant kelp. The average size is about a metre, and the largest is over four metres tall, so they’re kind of like stringy teenagers at the moment.

“The really exciting thing for us is that in those first assessments after summer, the kelp looked really healthy. That was encouraging – that the increased thermal tolerance we found in the lab was translated to the field.”

The team will again plant giant kelp this winter, and hope to do so each year into the future.

The rehabilitation of these underwater forests has been touted as a tool in the quest to mitigate climate change – great forests that absorb great quantities of carbon – though Layton cautions that the science is still young when it comes to giant kelp’s carbon sequestration ability. Such efforts, along with regrowing seagrasses, are central to marine protection as the climate warms.

Their value to the planet and marine communities, however, is unquestionable. And moment by moment, these fast-growing marine marvels are now straining once more towards the sun and perhaps even a return one day to navigation charts.

“We’re very happy (with the planting), but it’s still early days,” Layton says. “We want these individuals to grow up and become mature and start producing their own babies. Restoration is never going to work if it’s reliant on me and my colleagues planting these kelp. We’ve got to kickstart the natural cycle, so those individuals that we plant start producing their own juveniles.

“They can reach reproductive age within a year, so we’re hoping that towards the end of this year the largest ones will start to become reproductive. That’ll be the next big exciting step for us.”

Author: Andrew Bain, The India Story Agency for Sacred Groves
Images Credit: Cayne Layton, Masayuki Tatsumi

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When Fukushima’s Daiichi nuclear power plant shut down, the electricity went out in Tsuchiyu Onsen [hot spring resort]: the first of many blackouts resulting from the March 2011 nuclear meltdown.

The disaster had catastrophic effects on the small hot spring (onsen) town, some 70km away in the Azuma mountains. “Five ryokan inns had to close,” explains Kazuya Ikeda, Executive Director and Secretary General of Tsuchiyu Onsen tourism, “and we saw a simultaneous exodus of residents. The rates of people aged over 65 exceeded 50 per cent of the population… maintaining sustainable living conditions started to become more and more difficult.”

At the heart of Tsuchiyu’s tourism and population crisis was its energy crisis. With renewed concerns about nuclear power, residents decided to establish a town-led geothermal energy project. Their goal was to harness the same seismic energy that had devastated the region and use it to create jobs, profit, and sustainability.

Now, a decade later, the generator – hidden just upriver in Japan’s picturesque mountain scenery – not only provides power for Tsuchiyu Onsen but pays off the original loan by selling energy back to the grid. Ikeda describes the project as “a series of very hard fought battles”, yet the enterprise was so successful that residents are now finding ways to further harness its geothermal resources.

Tsuchiyu Onsen uses a binary generator, which relies on a secondary liquid in a closed-loop system. This liquid has a lower boiling point than water, so it vaporises when hot spring water passes through a heat exchanger. The resulting gas drives the turbines and thereby the generator, and the all-important closed-loop system means atmospheric emissions are negligible. The vapour is then condensed back to liquid and the process starts again.

”We also began work on sub-projects within the town itself, like shrimp cultivation and local sake production,” Ikeda explains “but we’re still new to it and started in a fumbling sort of way.” These smaller endeavours have been key to Tsuchiyu’s revitalisation, repurposing vacant buildings in the town centre and creating jobs.

The shrimp, farmed in warm water pumped through the generator, are enough to supply the town’s hotels, but Tsuchiyu isn’t aiming at a wider market. Instead, the tourism board is creating more local businesses around it, such as shrimp-fishing cafes.

Overall, the last decade has proven remarkably positive, but the next five years are crucial to its long term success: the original loan must be repaid just as ageing facilities start to need maintenance and investment. Beyond this, Tsuchiyu Onsen is aiming to eventually go entirely off-grid and to pass on its legacy within and beyond its snow-capped borders.

Tsuchiyu’s story has garnered national attention. Its residents’ ingenuity has inspired others, having achieved their aims through state funding and without hiring external consultants. The renewable set-up also disproves long-standing Japanese concerns around geothermal energy: onsen towns having been historically reluctant to use generators for fear of damaging water quality.

Visitors and tourists certainly haven’t been deterred. Domestic and international researchers have flocked to the town, with around 2,000 arriving annually. Before Covid-19, Tsuchiyu reached 370,000 annual visitors and they aim to reach 500,000 within five years.

This ongoing revitalisation of town and tourism has promoted renewable energy as a sustainable way of life, making Tsuchiyu Onsen a symbol of resilience and hope in the face of Fukushima’s nuclear energy fallout.

Author: Jo Davey, The India Story Agency for Sacred Groves
Images Credit: Fukushima Tourist Board

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