The Plant Initiative

09/05/2026

Article from Mongabay.com by Naina Rao ‘Lost’ for 170 years, rare plant recorded in Sri Lanka "Researchers have found a population of an extremely rare plant species, last recorded in Sri Lanka in 1855, growing in a lowland forest fragment along the Sitawaka Ganga River."

Researchers have found a population of an extremely rare plant species, last recorded in Sri Lanka in 1855, growing in a lowland forest fragment along the Sitawaka Ganga River. Documenting the finding in a recent study, researchers write that the plant, Indianthus virgatus, while officially listed a...

09/05/2026

Free webinar from World Resources Institute's Global Nature Watch What’s Driving Deforestation? Exploring Alert Drivers Data on Global Nature Watch, Sep 8, 2026. 10-11am EDT. "...for a closer look at the data identifying what’s driving forest disturbance alerts across the tropics."

Join the Global Nature Watch team and researchers from Wageningen University & Research (WUR) for a closer look at the data identifying what’s driving forest disturbance alerts across the tropics. In this webinar, we will showcase the drivers of disturbance alerts data, a high-resolution data set ...

09/05/2026

Orion Magazine invites nonfiction pitches by Sep 15, 2026 for its digital platform that will appear only online, including short essays on general topics, food-related pieces, enumerations, conversations, graphic stories & art portfolios.

Thank you for your interest in submitting work to Orion Magazine! Here is what you need to know.

09/03/2026

Action alert from Environment America Tell Toledo Manufacturing: Don’t allow mining near the Okefenokee "The Okefenokee [primarily in Georgia, USA] is the largest wildlife refuge east of the Mississippi River and the largest intact freshwater ecosystem in North America."

The Okefenokee is one of America's most vibrant ecosystems. We shouldn't threaten it with harmful strip mining just to make toothpaste whiter.

08/21/2026

Seed Savers Exchange's Virtual Seed School is "devoted to the practical skills of seed saving-from understanding plant reproduction to harvesting, cleaning, storing & sharing seeds." 6 Mon evenings, Sep 28-Nov 2, 2026, 6-7:30pm CT. $60-$110. https://shop.seedsavers.org/events/virtual-seed-school

08/21/2026

Action alert from the SELC Southern Environmental Law Center - Save the South’s wildest forests "Help us fight for our wildest forests by telling the Forest Service to drop its misguided effort to get rid of the Roadless Rule."

For decades, some of the South’s wildest public lands have been safeguarded by a critical Forest Service policy called the Roadless Rule. These roadless areas boast world-famous hiking and mountain biking trails, contribute clean drinking water for downstream communities, ...

08/21/2026

Ways of Treeing: Meditations on time and rebellion against the straight line, a short piece by Sumana Roy from Orion Magazine "It is difficult to compare the shapes of trees with almost anything else."

Meditations on time and rebellion against the straight line

08/21/2026

Action alert from Rainforest Rescue Liberia: Protect forest defenders, reject false climate solutions "Liberia’s rainforests are among West Africa’s last great forest strongholds."

Liberia’s rainforests are among West Africa’s last great forest strongholds. They are still standing in large part because forest communities have defended them for generations. Now a proposed Carbon Market Policy threatens those communities’ rights and puts the future of the forests at risk. ...

08/21/2026

Action alert from Women's Earth and Climate Action Network, others - "We have until Sep 21, 2026 to save America’s Roadless Forests" "Keeping The Roadless Rule makes sure forests can’t be destroyed by preventing the first step of the heaviest industrial practices: building roads..."

WE have until September 21 to save America’s Roadless Forests.After you click “send this letter,” organizers will submit it to the US Forest Service as a public comment and email it to your Senate & Representative offices based on your zip code. For more on what’s happening, scroll past it. ...

08/20/2026

The video recording is now posted for the Plant Initiative program "Rooted Relations: A Conversation with indigenous artists Tʼuyʼtʼtanat-Cease Wyss and Jaz Whitford" as moderated by Giovanni Aloi and held August 20, 2026.

This is a video recording of "Rooted Relations: A Conversation with...