grove & grit restoration briefs

grove & grit launches with local restoration in Hilltop, Dublin Bay oyster recovery, UN World Restoration Flagships, and an ecological reckoning on war, climate, and accountability — plus two essential upcoming reads from Emma Marris and Clare Follmann.

This episode is released during the week of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, grounding restoration work in a shared ethic of collective liberation.

Local Action (Tacoma)

Tacoma Tree Foundation - Green Blocks: Hilltop
A neighborhood-based urban forestry program supporting residents with tree selection, permits, delivery, and planting assistance.
🔗 https://tacomatreefoundation.org/green-blocks

January 28 Webinar  - “Plants as Teachers, Messengers & Climate Partners”
A Tacoma Tree Foundation webinar with Michael Yadrick on habitat care as climate adaptation and what plants reveal about heat, water, and future conditions.
🗓 January 28, 2026 | 12–1 PM (PT)
🔗 https://tacomatreefoundation.org/calendar/plants-as-teachers 

International Restoration

Dublin Bay Oyster Reef Restoration (Ireland)
The Green Ocean Foundation is restoring European flat oyster reefs in Dún Laoghaire Harbour using broodstock baskets, volunteer maintenance, and scientific monitoring with Dublin City University.
🔗 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/18/dublin-bay-oyster-reefs-restoration

UN World Restoration Flagships
UNEP and FAO recognition of large-scale restoration initiatives anchored in Indigenous and local leadership, including shellfish reef recovery in Australia under the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.
🔗 https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/indigenous-and-local-action-brings-back-nature-un-recognizes-three
🔗 https://www.decadeonrestoration.org/world-restoration-flagships

Harm & Repair

Environmental reporting and analysis on how war damages soil, water, air, food systems, and long-term restoration capacity, with emerging efforts to document harm for accountability and repair.

International Committee of the Red Cross — Environmental damage and armed conflict
🔗 https://international-review.icrc.org/articles/protection-natural-environment-time-armed-conflict 

UNEP — Environmental risks and devastation in Gaza
🔗 https://www.unep.org/resources/report/environmental-impact-escalation-conflict-gaza-strip 

Environmental Law Institute — Environmental damage in Ukraine and paths to accountability
🔗 https://www.eli.org/vibrant-environment-blog/preventing-environmental-exploitation-armed-conflict-how-ukraine 

Good Reads

Emma Marris et al. — “Many Pasts, Many Futures” (forthcoming)
A future-oriented exploration of species reshuffling, conservation values, and how restoration can prevent extinctions without clinging to a single ecological past.
🔗 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/0BE558C6B4F353F4AC57E596205C3ABF

Clare Follmann — Scapegoat: What the Invasive Species Story Gets Wrong (AK Press, forthcoming)
A sharp critique of invasive species narratives and how ecological fear stories can obscure deeper political and economic drivers of harm.
🔗 https://www.akpress.org/scapegoat.html

Music for this episode is from Grey Room "Down the Rabbit Hole" found on YouTube Audio Library.