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How one B.C. group, First Nations bought out trophy hunters

Stefan Labbé

December 25, 2021 |

Burnaby Now |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Canada, British Columbia

First Nations, like the Kitasoo/Xai’xai, are managing forests and taking the lead on getting rid of foreign trophy hunters. The solution? Pay trophy hunting guides to stop hunting.

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He lost his best friend in a mudslide. Now he's using coconuts to fight deforestation in West Africa.

Danielle Paquette

December 03, 2021 |

The Washington Post |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Sierra Leone, Freetown

Alhaji Siraj Bah created Rugsal Trading to decrease deforestation in Sierra Leone. One of the reasons people clear forests is to make wood-based charcoal for fuel. In order to address that need while enouraging sustainability, Bah's company makes a charcoal substitute out of coconut scraps. They've made $11,000 in revenue and produced 100 tons of coconut briquettes.

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Hundreds of Companies Promised to Help Save Forests. Did They?

Lucy Tompkins

December 02, 2021 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States

About 80 percent of tropical deforestation in South America and Southeast Asia is caused by large corporations clear-cutting natural forests to graze cattle or grow crops like cocoa, palm oil, and soybeans that are turned into chocolate, processed food and cosmetics, and animal feed. Ten years ago, some of the largest offenders, including Coca-Cola, Kellogg’s, Walmart, and Mars, vowed to clean up their act. With a few exceptions, however, their efforts have failed. This article explores what's worked, what hasn't, and why.

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'Community Ownership' Might Be the Best Way to Fight Deforestation

Peter Yeung

October 15, 2021 |

Reasons to be Cheerful |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Evidence shows that "community-run forests," or forests that are owned and managed by the people that live in the community are better for the environment. In a village in the Democratic Republic of Congo 300 people manage 5,000 hectares of forest. Data shows that the rate of deforestation in 57 community concessions like the one in the village was 23 percent lower than the national average. Community-run forests also provide financial means for the people In Guatemala a community-run generated 9,000 jobs and $6 million in revenue.

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How regenerative agriculture is building soil and community in Big Sandy, Montana

Emily Stifler Wolfe

October 14, 2021 |

Montana Free Press |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Big Sandy, Montana

Quinn Organic Research Center sits at the hub of innovations slowly transforming farming culture away from industrial agriculture toward organic and regenerative strategies. Countering the decades-old "get big or get out" thinking about farming in Montana, the Quinn operation conducts small-scale experiments to develop new markets based on tactics that decrease soil erosion, improve biodiversity, and capture carbon. These climate-change-ready operations have seen many setbacks. But they've also been embraced by more locals and helped Big Sandy enjoy a subtle but real rejuvenation.

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How decades of stopping forest fires made them worse

Kimberly Mas

September 22, 2021 |

Vox |

Video |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States

Prescribed burning or controlled burning is an ancestral indigenous practice in which specific sections of a forest are burned. Controlled burning also happens naturally like when lightning strikes a forest. Controlled burning is good for a forest, it gets rid of dead areas, leads to healthier soil by clearing the ground, and minimizes the strength of large fires. However, due to U.S. laws that criminalized controlled burns the practice was discouraged in the U.S. Now, due to climate change and larger fires, prescribed burning is making a come back.

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Why these farmers are welcoming muskrats, birds, and snakes

Marsha McLeod

August 12, 2021 |

TVO |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Canada

In Canada, farmers are rewilding their farmlands, a process where a farmer restores their habitat to a more natural state. It includes things like planting trees, building hedgerows, and creating ponds. Rewilding can prevent soil erosion, carbon sequestering, and filtering water, among many other things, reversing some of the adverse effects caused by farming. One non-profit, the Alternative Land Use Services is funding these rewilding projects by paying farmers. ALUS projects span 31,000 across Canada.

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A San Francisco Airport Site Is Crawling With Snakes—And That's a Good Thing

Ashley Stimpson

July 27, 2021 |

Atlas Obscura |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

The endangered San Francisco garter snake has made a comeback due to conservation efforts at the San Francisco International airport. They built ponds and wetlands to make the conditions ideal for the snake to thrive and as a result, approximately 1,300 snakes call the property home. While there are still issues with invasive plants and industrial runoff polluting the area, the ecological improvements have helped the snake population’s rebound.

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Fighting plastic waste: a double-edged sword

Justice Nwafor

July 26, 2021 |

SciDev.Net |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Nigeria, Lagos

Teams of recyclers in Nigeria gather plastic bottles from the streets and landfills and brings them to recycling plants where they can exchange the waste for money. HISL Recyclers collects this waste — which usually contains polyethylene terephthalate, or PET, a dangerous chemical — as a way to remove the waste from the environment. However, more work needs to be done to get more people to participate in the program and to scale the operations. So far, they’ve been able to recycle up to 20 tonnes of plastic waste a month.

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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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