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How Clayoquot Sound's War in the Woods transformed a region

Stephanie Wood

August 28, 2021 |

The Narwhal |

Multi-Media |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, British Columbia

Tofino, a popular tourist destination in Clayoquot Sound, a region on the west coast of Vancouver Island, attracts about 600,000 annual visitors. The Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation and other Nuu-chah-nulth nations have created an eco-based tourism market. They are trying to restore the area after it was decimated by decades of logging in the area. The five central Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations took over tree-farm licenses and created Guardian programs, as well as restoration and monitoring projects. Tofino's tourism generated $250 million in profits, setting up a model that could be used by other First Nations.

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Meet the Cheakamus, the only community forest to develop carbon offsets in B.C.

Stephanie Wood

August 14, 2021 |

The Narwhal |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, Whistler, British Columbia

The Cheakamus forest, which spans 33,000 hectares, is a community run forest, managed by the two First Nations and the city of Whistler, in British Colombia, Canada. By not logging massive amounts of wood, the forest keeps 15,000 tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere per year, the equivalent of the total emissions produced by 773 Canadians. The partners then sell those carbon offsets, generating about $100,000 in annual revenue a year. The move is one being done by community forests around the country and can provide an example of climate-based solutions that are economically beneficial.

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Evidence Indigenous burning works is growing. Could Australia offer a model for B.C.?

Stefan Labbé

August 07, 2021 |

Tri-City News |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Australia

A review of 120 years of data found that traditional indigenous fire burning practices, which are low-intensity and controlled, lead to an increase in biodiversity. The practice has been done for years in indigenous communities to clear forage space, stimulate growth, or clear waterways. In Australia, where the practice has wide support, traditional low-intensity fires have led to a reduction in the intensity of large wildfires. They have also reduced and methane and nitrous oxide emissions by close to 40 percent. Other countries like Canada face hurdles to implementing the practice on a wider scale.

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Fighting fire with fire

Amanda Monthei Zoeann Murphy Lo Bénichou Shikha Subramaniam Dylan Moriarty

July 29, 2021 |

The Washington Post |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Seeley Lake, Montana

Regular burns of forests in the American West historically occurred naturally or as a forest management tactic by Indigenous people, but suppressing all fires has been the predominant policy for well over a century. As a result, what would be small fires that benefit flora and fauna have turned into giant, uncontrolled wildfires that feed off uncleared brush and deadwood. The Forest Service and others use prescribed burns, in fairly limited ways at this point, to prevent bigger fires in the future. More could be done but budgets are consumed fighting the many uncontrolled wildfires.

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Meet the People Burning California to Save It

Emma Cott Caroline Kim Elie Khadra

July 29, 2021 |

The New York Times |

Video |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Sonoma, California

Prescribed burns are an ancient method of preventing more destructive, out-of-control wildfires. They fell into disuse for decades, worsening today's wildfire risks. California and federal forestry officials want to "treat" 1 million acres per year by 2025 with tree- and brush-clearing and prescribed burns. But they are running far behind that pace as government resources get consumed by the need to fight wildfires. Private crews could expand the capacity to conduct prescribed burns, but financial liability and other barriers must be removed first.

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Many mangrove restorations fail. Is there a better way?

Katarina Zimmer

July 22, 2021 |

Knowable Magazine |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Guinea-Bissau

Mangrove forests are known to be excellent storers of carbon and hosts of biodiversity, but they are also able to protect communities on coastlines from storm surge. However, many of the projects to restore these forests fail because they are rushed or planted in the wrong places. Scientists argue that organizers should focus on natural regrowth or “ecological mangrove restoration,” a science-based approach, which has been used in Indonesia and Guinea-Bissau.

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The Brooklyn Bridge needs a makeover. Is rainforest lumber still in style?

Ashoka Mukpo

July 08, 2021 |

Mongabay |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Guatemala, Petén

In the 1990s, Guatemala established the Maya Bisphere Reserve to stop the burgeoning rates of deforestation. However, some communities lived within this region. The organization tasked with overseeing the MBP decided to let the communities stay in the area as long as they agreed to a tight supervision of how they used the forest. The arrangement is known as a forestry concessions. Community-owned concessions must follow strict guidelines or face eviction. It worked. Deforestation rates are low, wildlife is thriving, and communities earn an income without depleting the forest.

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Could miniature forests help air-condition cities?

The Economist

July 03, 2021 |

The Economist |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Japan

The Miyawaki method of planting miniature natural forests in cities as a way to reduce air pollution and cool down temperatures is gaining ground throughout the world. The process involves planting a variety of trees in a particular way that allows for them to grow rapidly. While this method is very labor intensive and can be difficult to scale, there are more than 1,500 of these types of forests in Japan, India, and Pakistan.

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The people racing to replant Africa

Laura Joffre

July 02, 2021 |

Pioneers Post |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Senegal

The Gambia river which rests in Sahel, the region between the Sahara desert and the African rainforest, used to be extremely fertile, farmers could live of the land. Yet, climate change and years of deforestation have made the land uncultivable. One NGO, with help from other organizations and international funders, is trying to rebuild the land by creating, "The Great Green Wall,” an effort to build an 8,000-km mural of plants and trees along the southern border of the Sahara desert. So far, 18 million hectares of land have been restored.

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These farmers show that agriculture in the Amazon doesn't have to be destructive

Brian Barth Flávia Milhorance

June 28, 2021 |

National Geographic |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Brazil, Nova Califórnia, Rondônia

Nearly a fifth of the Amazon has been cleared for cattle grazing and logging. However, a cooperative called RECA is making it economically sustainable for farmers to shift towards agroforestry. Agroforestry is the intentional planting of trees and shrubs in farms and forests among others. 11 tons of carbon per acre are sequestered through agroforestry systems. REFA farmers planted up to 40 species of trees then will process products from the species to be sold. The more than 300 families from the co-op made five times more per acre than local ranchers not practicing agroforestry.

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