Extreme biodiversity, coupled with the surrounding extreme urbanism, makes the Presidio arguably the epicenter of native plant restoration in the West. The 2.3 square mile park, formerly an Army base, is home to 600 plants, more variety than in most states. It owes this biodiversity to its San Francisco location, a city at a biogeographic crossroads. At the Presidio, Betty Young leads a team of botanists that collect and grow native plants as part of a painstakingly precise attempt to restore the park’s native habitat.
Author Archives: Erica Gies
Erica Gies has covered the environment and energy for 10 years and has been freelance for six. She is a contributor to the New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Wired, Grist, World Watch and many other outlets. While primarily a print reporter, Gies is breaking into radio and has produced some stories for KALW, a public radio station in San Francisco. Twitter handle: egies.
Posted inArts & Culture, Environment
Goldman Prize ceremony: A kick in the pants
COMMENTARY: It’s like the Oscars for the Patagonia set. Every April, just before Earth Day, San Francisco’s environmental community comes together at the city’s Opera House to laud six grassroots activists from around the globe, whose stories enrage and inspire. The Goldman Environmental Prize offers recipients $150,000 to use as they see fit and international recognition that confers respect on their endeavors, pressures their local governments to act, and even protects their personal safety.
Posted inArts & Culture, Climate Change, Environment, Neighborhoods
San Franciscans work to reduce shark slaughter
The movie “Jaws” created the notion of sharks as powerful eating machines who stalk humans. Yet ironically, in the 35 years since that movie debuted, it’s sharks that have been driven nearly extinct by humans. Around the world, about 10 people are killed by sharks annually. But every year humans kill up to 73 million sharks.
These numbers are unsustainable, and as a result, shark populations have been decimated — many dropping 90 to 99 percent over the last few decades. It’s largely because of a status symbol dish popular in Asia: shark fin soup. As Asian economies have boomed, particularly China’s, demand for shark fin soup has exploded. The San Francisco Bay Area has one of the largest Chinese populations outside of Asia, so activists here are trying to stop the excesses of the shark fin fishery.
Posted inEnvironment, Utilities
Solar waste recycling: can the industry stay green?
Solar modules contain some of the same potentially dangerous materials as electronics, including silicon tetrachloride, cadmium, selenium and sulfur hexafluoride, a potent greenhouse gas. So as solar moves from the fringe to the mainstream, insiders and watchdog groups are beginning to talk about producer responsibility and recycling in an attempt to sidestep the pitfalls of electronic waste and retain the industry’s green credibility.
Posted inEnvironment
Saving the ocean by sparing sharks’ fins — Q&A with Goldman Prize winner Randall Arauz
Costa Rican biologist Randall Arauz is working to protect sharks from the practice of shark finning, when a shark’s fin is cut off and it is tossed back into the ocean to die a slow death. Finning has reduced shark populations 90 percent worldwide and is taking its toll on the ocean ecosystem.
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Posted inCalifornia, Environment, Food Systems
Agricultural production in Central Valley leaves toxic legacy for locals
One of the perks of living in the Bay Area is the wide variety of fresh, local produce we enjoy year-round. Much of that comes thanks to our proximity to the Central Valley, one of the most productive agricultural regions the world has ever seen. Unfortunately, this luxury comes at a price, although we aren’t the ones paying it.