ERA Ecosystem Restoration Associates Inc. (ERA) Robert Falls, CEO

The Situation.

As governments budget hundreds of millions of dollars to encourage “green” energy development, and environmental organizations increasingly point to the need for “green” technology to address the challenges of climate change, the origin of “green” in our current vernacular of environment, has arguably been forgotten.

It would appear that some of us, even those of us who pride ourselves in being “green”, have lost sight of the fact that “green” as it pertains to the environment, originates with the colour green of chlorophyll, the miraculous and unique CO2-absorbing substance of plant-life.

So while using “green” as a metaphor to characterize environmentally favourable technologies has been useful, the word “green” when used in an environmental context, is in danger of losing its roots (and leaves). I would suggest the baby, in this case Mother Nature, could go out with the bathwater.

We must ensure this does not happen.

It is a fact that at this point some of our “green” organizations currently have policies that are entirely focused on technological solutions to climate mitigation, while casting doubt on the role of the “truly green” side of the equation.

I watched this policy response develop, and to a point, empathize. In the early 1990’s some large energy companies dismissed climate change as an issue, and refused to embrace energy efficiency, renewables, etc. Whilst claiming climate change was not a real issue, some suggested that even if it was, they would “just plant some trees…” while carrying on business as usual. As a greenie, I was very disappointed in this cavalier and unenlightened thinking, and the predictable response of many environmental organizations was vigorous opposition to such a position.

However, the reality is that over a decade later, many and perhaps most of these same companies have changed their policies and actions dramatically, and the kinds of directions the environmental organizations have advocated, have been increasingly adopted. The momentum is there, and the take-up on the “green” energy and technology aspects of addressing climate change is growing exponentially.

But back to the baby and the bathwater – while technology “green” is now “in”, tragically, ecosystem “green,” i.e. the truly green solutions that actually remove CO2 from the atmosphere and put it back in ecosystems, has been largely relegated to the back-burner, or worse.

To put the situation in perspective, in 2000 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a Special Report documenting that between 1850 and 1998, nearly 499 billion tonnes of CO2, representing 33% of global CO2 emissions over this period, were released to the atmosphere from ecosystem degradation and land use changes. Thereafter, the 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, prepared with the cooperation of 1360 scientists around the world, reported that 60% of ecosystem services around the planet, including climate regulation, were degraded.

Many of these degraded ecosystems have in fact become net emitters of CO2, and they are not going to fix themselves, at least not in our lifetimes. Surprisingly, some of these degraded ecosystems are close to home. For example, the conversion of Canada’s prairie grassland ecosystems to industrialized agriculture resulted in the emission of ~1 billion tonnes of CO2 to the atmosphere.

In British Columbia, the massive clearcut logging orgies of the 20th century, coupled with urban development, seriously degraded vast areas of forest systems and impacted their capacities to remove CO2 from the atmosphere and store it. Unfortunately, many if not most of these systems have not, and will not, restore themselves without some help.

The Opportunity.

Given the extraordinary attention now being paid to climate change, and given the fact that the current federal government has picked up the polling message and will be implementing “new” policies, significant allocations of resources and energy are imminent. Over the next years billions of dollars will be spent on climate change, and environmentally-friendly technologies are clearly going to be supported.

But what about partnering with Mother Nature?

Greenpeace co-founder Dr. Patrick Moore reports that one hectare of healthy forest growing 10 cubic meters of wood per hectare per year, absorbs the equivalent of all the CO2 volume contained in a massive column of air rising from the forest floor to 1.4 kilometers into the atmosphere. In other words, one hectare of restored forest represents a “green machine” capable of removing and storing the entire CO2 content of 14 million cubic meters of air – every year!

Mother Nature’s “green machine” is solar powered, requires minimal maintenance, and works year in, year out, for centuries. Might there be an opportunity here?

ERA recently assessed a potential restoration site for a First Nation in coastal British Columbia. Over 15 kms of valley bottom were clearcut before the lands were returned to the First Nation in an unrestored state. Because of the scale of logging and the lack of restoration, recruitment of conifers in this valley bottom is extremely limited. And if nothing is done, the re-establishment of the historical mixed conifer ecosystems, that are such effective removers and storers of carbon, could take several centuries. ERA’s programming can undo this damage, and at the same time provide environmental and social benefits, such as restoration training and lifetimes of employment opportunities for First Nations.

Beyond this opportunity, there are countless degraded ecosystems in Canada and around the world that could be restored through implementing restorative prescriptions. Over our lifetimes, these revitalized ecosystems could remove billions of tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere, and store it for centuries in vibrant, long-lived ecosystems – while scientists and engineers research, develop, and deploy “green” technologies to reduce CO2 emissions.

The Bonus.

Healthy ecosystems clearly help in the fight against climate change. But the benefits do not stop there. The restoration of degraded ecosystems provides a range of co-benefits, including:

o enhancement of native fish and wildlife habitat o food for forest-dwelling First Nations o refugia habitat for endangered species o protection and cleansing of water o removal of toxins from soils and the air o storm-water management & slope stability o native plant and animal biodiversity

Looking globally, the opportunities are enormous – but we need to start somewhere, and demonstrate what can be done. Why not Canada? Well, we have indeed begun, and you can be a participant.

We invite you to explore our website, and learn how you can participate with ERA and our community-based programming, that restores ecosystems and removes CO2 from the atmosphere, with Mother Nature as a Partner.

Or feel free to call us at 604-646-0400.