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Healing and hope: how Indigenous guardians are transforming conservation

Judith Lavoie

February 13, 2019 |

The Narwhal |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Australia

Enrolling indigenous knowledge in environmental conservation programs empowers communities and promotes responsible land management. Conservation programs in Australia and Canada rely on indigenous communities to monitor and maintain remote and protected areas. Investment in these programs not only furthers the goal of environmental conservation, but also pays dividends by bringing jobs to indigenous communities.

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How Danone, Kashi and Land O'Lakes are backing sustainable farming

Maki Tazawa

February 11, 2019 |

GreenBiz |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

Because the upfront costs of transitioning a farm to be certified organic can be burdensome to farmers amidst a growing demand for organic food, large companies like Kashi and Land O'Lakes are creating a number of initiatives to help ease the process. Techniques include no-interest advances for expensive initial supplies, fair trade premiums that go to local community work, and soil health initiatives for suppliers. The companies even implement a complex data tracking system to gather information on yield and profitability, which can then be used to inform future sustainable practice transitions.

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Butterfly business: Insect farmers help conserve East African forests

Janet Njung'e

February 08, 2019 |

Mongabay |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Kenya, Kilifi County

In Kenya and Tanzania, butterfly farming is emerging as a viable alternative to those seeking employment beyond illegal logging or hunting practices. While up to 1,200 farmers have participated in various butterfly projects across the countries, using their profits to educate their families and begin small businesses, the initiative has seen some roadblock from government mandates preventing wildlife exports.

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Punjab's marginalised communities struggle for their right to cultivate common lands

Kundan Pandey

February 07, 2019 |

Down To Earth |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: India, Punjab

Balad Kalan’s Scheduled Castes, popularly called Dalits, collectively bid to win the rights to fertile common lands that big landlords had taken control of. Each family contributed what they could and, after protests due to the lack of transparency in the bidding process, won 53 hectares, or one-third of the common land, which was distributed among 145 families. Fifty other villages have since won collective land rights by replicating the joint bidding process. An 11-member cooperative manages the land in each village, which is distributed to families in proportion to their monetary contribution.

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Restoring the Range: Can Beef Be Earth-Friendly?

Madeline Ostrander

February 04, 2019 |

Yes! Magazine |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Hayes, South Dakota

Mortenson Cattle Ranch in Hayes, South Dakota is redefining sustainability practices for cattle-raising farmers by using a model that restored the habitat, wildlife, and water sources on their land. Mimicking the habits of bison herds, the Mortensons use a technique called holistic range management to rotate their cattle's grazing areas, which increases distribution of wildflower and grass seeds, as well as planting trees and replenishing groundwater using dikes and dams. Having started this in the 1980s, 90% of their 19,000 acre property is back to native vegetation, and efforts are still ongoing.

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What a project in Wisconsin can teach others about working with farmers to reduce phosphorus runoff

Stephanie Hemphill

January 23, 2019 |

Ensia |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Green Bay, Wisconsin

In Green Bay, Wisconsin, farmers are experimenting with BMPs, or best management practices, to farm their land in a way that protects the environment and decrease algae in the water. Five years into the pilot program, early results show some progress - and as more farmers adopt BMPs, the bigger the impact on the waterways will be.

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The Feat in Hojancha, the Town that Lost its Forest

Noelia Esquivel

January 21, 2019 |

La Voz de Guanacaste |

Multi-Media |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Costa Rica, Hojancha, Guanacaste

In 1976, the Costa Rican city Hojancha preserved only 2% of its land as forest, and as a result their water supply (the Río Nosara river basin) dried up from the lack of vegetation. Sixteen years into the crisis, two friends conceived and ran an initiative to reforest the land by asking every family in the city to donate ¢1,000 a month until they could buy back the land in full from the ranchers who owned it. Now, the land is thriving again, though the project of regrowing the forest continues still today.

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Where the Rainforest Meets the Road

Kate Schimel

January 08, 2019 |

bioGraphic |

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Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Papua New Guinea

In northeastern Papua New Guinea, community leaders and the government set aside 360,000 hectares of the Managalas Plateau as a protected conservation area in 2017. The project has strong local support. But facing destructive resource extraction and land use, conservation's longevity hangs on whether the community can create markets for sustainable agriculture, as well as workable infrastructure.

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Guatemala: An indigenous community rejects, then accepts, a protected area

Anna-Catherine Brigida

December 12, 2018 |

Mongabay |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Guatemala, Río Sarstún

After initially not involving the indigenous Q’eqchi community in designating land for the Río Sarstún Multiple Use Area – land that this community lives on – the government and the Q’eqchi since partnered together to advance conservation efforts and land management. Over a decade later, the two stakeholders work together on things like overfishing and ecotourism, part of a larger global trend of governments and local communities working collaboratively toward conservation.

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Agroforestry supports food security and conservation in Papua New Guinea

Camilo Mejia Giraldo

November 26, 2018 |

Mongabay |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Papua New Guinea

In Papua New Guinea, agroforestry--an old method of farming that more closely mimics natural ecosystems--has provided the Gildipasi community with diverse crops and greater food security. And in a boom for wildlife, the practice has allowed the community to set aside 4,940 protected acres of forestland, as well as a marine protected area, over the past two decades.

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