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  • Saving and protecting peatlands in Indonesia

    The degradation of peatlands is a public health and climate change issue. Organizations in Indonesia are working to understand these wetlands better by mapping the location of them throughout the country and around the world. By creating a comprehensive picture of peatlands, which contribute up to 10 percent of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, key partners can understand how to prevent carbon emitting from the wetlands into the atmosphere.

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  • How women in Iowa are leading farmland conservation efforts

    A group of women called The Women, Food and Agriculture Network was founded in 1998 in Iowa to educate female landowners about land conservation and implementing sustainable practices on their farms. The group has held more than 250 meetings since 2009, reaching more than 3,800 women landowners—and their surveys find that after a one-day session, 50-70% of the women go on to take an action to improve conservation on their property. Longterm, this group empowers women to play a bigger role in the future of agriculture in the state.

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  • How a Beloved Bird Is Helping Save the Chesapeake Bay

    The Natural Lands Project works with local landowners to turn hundreds of hectares of marginal croplands into native grasslands. The grasses offer refuge for the northern bobwhite quail and grip the soil, which helps prevent erosion and keeps agricultural runoff and sediment out of the Chesapeake Bay. The quail population has grown to 450, a 39% increase from 20 years ago. The project works with landowners to convert small parcels of their land for the habitat. The landowners receive a small payment and help planting and maintaining the native vegetation. Many species have flourished in the new habitat.

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  • The Bitter Side of Cocoa Production

    Carla Martin is an anthropologist at Harvard University, who also founded the Nine Cacao and Chocolate Institute — a nonprofit that brings together industry professionals, academics, and producers to share insights and discuss the challenges of producing chocolate. Cocoa production historically has participated in questionable labor practices, unfair wages, and tropical deforestation, so through her workshops, Martin aims to empower the workers along the supply chain to ensure their voices are heard through the process.

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  • The Green Miles

    After strip-mining for coal devastated Kentucky’s forests and planting grass didn’t revive Appalachia’s ecosystems, a federal employee reversed course and spearheaded an ambitious reforestation effort. By planting trees on used mine land, Patrick Angel and his nonprofit Green Forests Work are providing employment for out-of-work miners and are helping prevent frequent flooding. They have planted more than 187 million trees on about 275,000 acres of former min

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  • How Is Plastic Getting Into Hawaii's Soil?

    Hawaiian farmers are increasingly concerned about the amount of plastic they’re finding in their compost, which can have long-term effects on their crop growth. Hawaii Earth Recycling, the island’s largest compost provider, turns more than 140,000 tons of yard clippings and food scraps into compost and mulch that farmers can use for plants and crops. However, changes in where people can drop off their green waste and a lack of education among residents about proper plastic waste management have resulted in microplastics ending up in the organic soil.

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  • Gotta catch 'em all: Pokemon-style app aims to save Indonesia's forests

    A Pokemon Go-style app encourages residents in Indonesia to help map land to fight deforestation. The technology offers visitors of umapped areas surveys that they complete, which fills in the data, and motivates users with gamified statuses from “volunteer” to “warrior.” Now over 600 students across the country have participated in this application, and several international environmental organizations have supported its use.

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  • Return of indigenous crops helps reduce farm distress and restore ecosystems

    By returning to indigenous varieties of crops, farmers can increase ecological diversity and reliance to climate change. In India, hundreds of farmers in the state of Odisha have been returning to indigenous crops, like millet, vegetables, and tubers. In contrast to the high yield varieties of seeds provided by the government, heritage crops prove more resilient to changes in climate, water shortages, and local pests. Using heritage crops also reduces the need for pesticides, helping to restore ecological balance in the region.

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  • How to restore a rainforest with a nursery, science and some bat poop

    The Nature Conservation Foundation is working to restore patches of rainforests in India that were degraded due to the expansion of plantations in the region. As the climate crisis continues, rainforests can play a key role in offsetting carbon dioxide emissions. By partnering with plantation companies, conservationists have been able to collect seeds from diverse rainforest tree species to grow in a nursery before planting the saplings in the degraded patches of land. However, the organization cautions against using restoration "as a crutch."

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  • The divers rescuing a drowning island

    Vaan Island, off the coast of Indian in the Gulf of Mannar, is rapidly sinking. But scientists are working to prevent that erosion by replanting seagrass, which is an important plant in a marine ecosystem. Despite fishermen pulling up the seagrass with their nets, so far, nine acres of seagrass have been rehabilitated in the area.

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