Founded over three decades ago, the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) advances the science, practice, and policy of ecological restoration as a proactive solution to the most pressing ecological challenges of our time. The interest and desire to invest and engage in restoration has grown exponentially since the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration in 2021, and we expect that interest to continue to grow in the coming years.
But, as an individual, how should you begin? Maybe you think you need more resources or expertise. Or maybe you think your individual actions will be insignificant given the scale of change needed. But whether you live in a city or a rural area, in a desert or a rainforest, all restoration starts with just one seed sown, one tree planted, or one weed pulled.
The call to action from the UN Decade is clear: conservation alone is no longer enough. Restoration is imperative for people and nature alike, for current and future generations. If you’re ready to be part of the solution, come “get your hands dirty” for the planet at SER’s Make a Difference Week (MAD-Week) this June!
“We are facing difficult times – the climate emergency, biodiversity loss and land degradation, and now war – but I believe that, now more than ever, ecosystem restoration brings hope of a brighter and better future where people and nature thrive,” says Robin Corrià, MAD-Week regional coordinator for Europe.
MAD-Week 2022 starts on June 4 and continues through June 11, offering an opportunity to focus your World Environment Day activity on restorative actions. Initially launched in 2021 in conjunction with the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, SER’s first MAD-Week welcomed more than 3,000 volunteers from 34 countries. Together, they contributed more than 20,000 hours to 144 projects across the restorative continuum, from weed pulls, to seed and tree planting projects, to citizen science monitoring. MAD-Week volunteers showed together, even small restorative acts can have a big positive impact in healing the planet.
“Participating in MAD-Week gives me the opportunity to act on what I know is important, given these times when habitats and biodiversity are being lost at an alarming rate. It also gives me a sense of solidarity by being involved with people from around the world who share similar concerns and values, knowing that together we can indeed make a difference!” says Frank Kanyamula, regional coordinator for Africa.
Please join us this year to help increase the impact of MAD-Week. In other words, don’t just get MAD about the state of the world, get active! You can participate in MAD-Week by planning and registering an event, partnering with SER to sponsor the week, finding an event to participate in, or raising awareness in your community. Projects can be as simple as planting milkweed in your backyard to create habitat for Monarch caterpillars or gathering with friends to remove invasive species from your local waterway. You can bring together a small group to collect native seeds or clear garbage from a soon-to-be urban garden. You can coordinate a citizen science monitoring program to assess restoration effectiveness or gather native seeds for use in future restoration projects.
“Taking part in a MAD-Week 2021 project was incredibly inspirational. Knowing that I was pulling invasive plants in eastern Canada while other volunteers were spreading seeds in Kenya, or cleaning and replanting beaches in Ireland and Australia, all to the same end of a beautiful, abundant nature is uplifting and empowering. It gave me hope for the future and I can’t wait to join in again this year,” says North America regional coordinator, Keith MacCallum
“MAD-Week invites everyone to participate in the solutions-based approach of restoration. MAD-Week is just one step, of many, towards a successful UN Decade,” says Bethanie Walder, Executive Director of the Society for Ecological Restoration. “One step, taken alone, only moves that one person a short distance; one step taken collectively, by thousands of people, can transform society. Together we can ‘make a difference’ towards planetary healing and societal change – two key goals of the UN Decade!”
Visit the Make a Difference Week website to learn more, submit an event, or register to participate in an event near you!