Artwork stating 'Education Destroys Barriers', 'We Demand Treatment', and 'I Need A Chance'

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  • The climate solution adding millions of tons of CO2 into the atmosphere

    A decade after California established its forest offset program as a way to incentivize saving trees to store carbon, a new analysis shows that it might not be working. Loopholes in the program allow for people to claim credits for trees that aren’t delivering the carbon benefits they should and ultimately results in companies emitting more pollution than is being stored. While this program has provided economic benefits for several Indigenous tribes, some argue that “the program creates the false appearance of progress when in fact it makes the climate problem worse.”

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  • How mangrove forests helped stall environmental crime

    A blue carbon credit scheme in Kenya is not only restoring mangrove forests, but it’s also reducing environmental crimes and providing a way for residents to make money. The Mikoko Pamoja carbon project is a partnership that encourages the protection of mangroves in exchange for selling carbon credits. Since the project launched 2013, each year it traps the equivalent carbon emissions of about 650 cars. While it’s not a perfect system, it has inspired other blue carbon programs in other villages.

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  • Community restores grasslands, makes village drought-resilient

    Lamakani, a small village in India, went barren and townspeople completely depended on water tankers after a drought in the 90s. One leader initiated a watershed movement. They applied a series of approaches which included things like watershed development, bans on grass grazing and tree falling, and collaborating with local artists to communicate messages of conservation. Now, the town is lush again.

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  • The Mexican women who kicked out the cartels

    Ten years after the women of Cherán, an indigenous town in Michoacán, took up arms to lead an uprising against criminal cartels, their town is an "oasis" of low crime in a region otherwise beset with violence. The town declared itself autonomous and women now belong to the community police force that patrols the town and its surroundings. The cartels' illegal logging and extortion of businesses had corrupted local politicians and threatened a way of life. The town's men did nothing about it, so the women led the uprising that established order and kept the crime at bay.

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  • With phones and seeds, jobless Kenyans tackle illegal logging

    As a way to combat unemployment due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to prevent further deforestation in Kenya, local rangers are using smartphones, satellite feeds, and global mapping to monitor their forests. The project employs more than 250 people and allows them to target vulnerable areas more effectively. Because of their efforts, there have been lower incidences of illegal logging and forest fires from poachers.

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  • They Overcame Mutual Loathing, and Saved a Town

    Loggers and environmentalists aren’t always known for getting along, but the collaboration between these two groups in Oregon may have saved a town from going under. By creating a dialogue together and working to understand each other’s side, they were able to create a contract that allows loggers to continue thinning forests that were overgrown, which, in turn, keeps the forest healthy and people employed. This kind of cooperation could offer lessons for other groups who are looking to find common ground.

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  • How Madison County Residents Successfully Lobbied Legislators Over Pollution Concerns

    After Georgian residents raised concerns about a pollutant that was being emitted by a nearby biomass plant, they banded together to pass legislation that effectively put an end to the practice. These concerned residents founded the Madison County Clean Power Coalition to raise awareness of the effects of creosote burning, which, when breathed in, has shown to increase the risk of lung and heart disease. Their lobbying efforts resulted in the governor signing into law a ban on burning creosote-treated wood.

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  • The Return of the Polish Wolf

    Scientists, NGOs, conservationists, and the government worked together to bring the Polish wolf back from the brink of extinction. Methods like GPS tracking and genetic sampling have helped politicians made decisions about how to reduce human-animal conflict and ensure human development didn’t interfere with their habitats. As a result, over the last 50 years the wolf population in Poland has increased 50-fold.

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  • Nuts for coco de mer: islanders rally to save world's biggest seed

    A public-private scheme between the Seychelles Islands Foundation and a government agency is allowing residents to plant seeds of the coco de mer, or sea coconut, as a way to save the endangered tree species. So far, 96 seeds have been planted on 26 properties. Despite its extremely slow growth rate, island residents are excited to grow trees for future generations and protect them from poachers.

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  • Planting trees can create plastic waste. One teenager is changing that.

    A teenager in India came up with a solution to combat the plastic waste crisis that usually comes with planting trees. Srija created a biodegradable pot made out of groundnut shells that decomposes in the soil after 20 days. She’s working with an organization to scale her product, which costs just 27 cents to make.

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