Welcome to the quarterly Communities, Conservation & Livelihoods REVIEW, from the Community Conservation Research Network.

The CCL REVIEW focuses on local communities engaging in conservation and environmental stewardship, to sustain their local ecosystems and economies, around the world – as well as how governments, and others, can best support these community initiatives.

The “Spotlight” section features contributions from the Community Conservation Research Network, while the “Digest” section presents the latest news and resources from a wide range of sources, including international organizations, NGOs, civil society and reputable media outlets.

You are welcome to explore CCRN’s wide range of resources on community conservation and livelihoods, at the Communities, Conservation & Livelihoods website. We also invite you to connect on X (Twitter) and Instagram to share some of these stories with friends and colleagues. Finally, for any questions or feedback, please contact us at CCRN@smu.ca.

Spotlight

The “Spotlight” section features new contributions from CCRN participants around the world.

Community-Based Land and Soil Conservation on Atauro Island, Timor-Leste

By Cintia Nascimento

In Timor-Leste, traditional rules, known as tara bandu, reflect customary law to manage the relationship between humans and between humans and natural resources (read more). Tara bandu has led to successful implementation of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and Locally Managed Marine Areas (LMMAs). Now, on Atauro Island, community members, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and the Timorese government have successfully started to implement water conservation and permaculture projects to improve land conservation and food security. As reported by the community leader of Vila Maumeta, Filipe Ximenes, these initiatives included community training with Permakultura Timor Leste (Permakultura Timor Lorosae – PERMATIL). The group trained community leaders from Vila Maumeta and Beloi villages by facilitating sustainable agriculture practices through permaculture systems aiming to conserve water resources, integrating pest prevention and agroforestry for farmers undertaking horticulture activities. As a country with a hot tropical climate with an extended dry season and without rivers, this training was an important initiative to help conserve crucial water sources available to local communities for drinking and watering crops, enabling communities to protect their environment and sustain their livelihoods.

Read the full story by Cintia Nascimento

Community Conservation Horizon Scan

A new ‘horizon scan’ has been produced, looking into the future of community-based conservation, to support development and strategy for effective community conservation over the next 15 years. The project, a collaborative effort spearheaded by the Wilder Institute, Calgary Zoo’s Conservation Team, identified key emerging themes related to six broad categories: global biodiversity policy; human and community rights; shifting human geography; diversity, equity, inclusion and inclusion access; conservation finance and income; and economic reform.

Many of the results fit with the goals and priorities of the Community Conservation Research Network, including increased recognition of Indigenous and community land tenure, resource management and cultural rights; power shifting from global, transnational, or neocolonial actors to local actors; co-creating knowledge across disciplines and cultures, elevating local and Indigenous perspectives; and increasing the diversity of conservation-compatible livelihoods.

To learn more about the project or to read the full briefing document, visit their website.

Members of the Community Conservation Research Network contributed to this project

A Message of Hope from One Indigenous Community to Another

When a group of Indigenous community members of the Carcross / Tagish First Nation from Yukon, Canada visited the Maasai of Ngorongoro and Elerai in Tanzania, everyone learned that their cultures are strikingly similar in the concepts, beliefs, and practices that underpin their traditions. The Yukon visitors met with Maasai people in Engaresero village at Lake Natron in northern Tanzania, then they travelled through Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which are landscapes that were once Maasai homeland, taken away in the name of formal conservation and now reaping huge benefits for government and the private sector while the Maasai struggle. A final destination was the Maasai community of Elerai, located at the southern edge of the Maasai Steppe in central Tanzania. Discussions among the Indigenous peoples found common ground in the struggles they went through in safeguarding their ways of life.Read the full story

Maasai elders (centre) in Elerai, Tanzania sharing their traditional knowledge with Sean McDougall (Carcross / Tagish First Nation, Canada – far right) through a young community interpreter (Robert Sakinoi – far left).

Spotlight on Ocean Governance

Acknowledging the potential and current work that local communities and green leaders are undertaking in environmental conservation is an important topic. This Spotlight focuses on recently published articles from CCRN members that look at local leaders in conservation and how to recognize their contributions. From small-scale fishers’ efforts in stewardship and conservation to ensuring equity and justice are included when managing ocean resources, this Spotlight covers a range of articles that ensure ocean governance is an inclusive process.

A fish market in the Solomon Islands. Many of the examples in the SSF Stewardship initiative highlight the role of traditional knowledge in the practices of SSF communities, and the importance of abundant and rich biodiversity and ecosystems for the survival of small-scale fisheries.

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP BY SMALL-SCALE FISHERS

A major global initiative, the SSF-Stewardship project, highlights local environmental conservation and stewardship efforts being made by small-scale fishers around the globe. A recent issue of Samudra magazine provides a report on the project, a collaboration of Saint Mary’s University, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and global fisher organizations. The article, ‘Recognizing Green Leaders’ (Macnaughton, Hicks, & Charles, 2022) describes the many stewardship experiences of small-scale fishers, shown on the SSF-Stewardship website. Such examples range from Greece, where small-scale fishers are promoting sustainability of endangered crayfish, to South Africa, where small-scale fishers are protecting nearshore fisheries from the impacts of industrial activities. The project highlights these many efforts in protecting and caring for the natural environment, fishery resources and fishing livelihoods.

EQUITY AND JUSTICE IN THE OCEAN 

Spotlight on Natural Hazard Research

This Spotlight focuses on recently published articles relating to natural hazard and disaster risk management from members of the Community Conservation Research Network. The articles look at disaster risk reduction and how communities respond to natural hazards and disasters. A natural hazard is a natural phenomenon, such as hurricanes or wildfires, that might have a negative effect on humans, animals, or the environment. Disaster risk reduction (DRR) is a systematic approach to identifying, assessing and reducing the risks of disaster.

When it comes to planning for disasters, Haque and his colleagues (2021) looked at the contributions of social learning to disaster risk reduction in ‘Social learning for enhancing social-ecological resilience to disaster-shocks: A policy Delphi approach’. Their findings indicated that “social learning is useful in preparing for and responding to specific disaster events through communication; sharing experience, ideas and resources; creating synergies for collective action and promoting resilience.”

Similarly, Lejano and his colleagues (2021) also look at disaster risk in ‘Co-production of risk knowledge and improvement of risk communication: A three-legged stool’. The authors look at the future of disaster risk reduction programs and the role of risk knowledge and risk communication, viewing the public as being a co-producer of risk knowledge. They argue that disaster risk reduction needs to be reconsidered based on research focusing on Indigenous and local knowledge, social learning, and narrative ways of knowing.

In ‘Factors influencing hazard management by municipalities: The case of coastal communities’, Lalancette and Charles (2022) focus on planning for hazards, looking at local-level experiences with hazard planning and the responses carried out by coastal municipalities. This research, based on a comprehensive survey of Canadian coastal municipalities, provides insights on how to reduce community vulnerability and support community resilience.

The articles by Paterson and Charles (2019) also focus on local-level responses to hazards, but on an international basis. ‘Community-based responses to climate hazards: typology and global analysis’ examines patterns in, and variations of, community-level adaptation and disaster mitigation strategies, supporting local-level climate change adaptation.

The article by Paterson and Charles on ‘A global comparison of community-based responses to natural hazards’ explores hazard responses used by communities around the world, and how communities in different parts of the world vary in their responses.

Read the Articles

Octopus fishery monitoring in Uwedikan Village, Indonesia. Photo by Christopel Paino.

Environmental Leadership by Small-Scale Fishers

Maasai Traditional Knowledge Mapping

Elders in the village working with community researchers to map traditional knowledge. Nov. 2018. Photo: E. Val

The Kesho Trust, a CCRN partner, has released a new publication: Mapping Loita Maasai Land Use and Occupancy, Enguserosambu, Tanzania – Mapping Maasai Life, for Maasai, by Maasai. The Kesho Trust worked on this with the Enguserosambu Forest Trust (EFT), which is the managing authority for the Enguserosambu community forest lands that are central to the protection of culture and livelihoods for the local communities in the area. A key activity has been a traditional knowledge mapping of cultural characteristics and use, a need underscored by Canadian First Nations communities to the EFT representatives who visited Canada in 2019. The traditional knowledge mapping project was carried out through interviews with over 50 elders and knowledge holders in the four Maasai communities of Enguserosambu Ward. The project was coordinated by Erik Val (Yukon, Canada), working with Julius Daniel, Koisikir Nangiria, Terere Tutayo, Anna Shololoi and Stephen Sitoi.

The final report is now available online on the Kesho Trust website:

http://www.thekeshotrust.org/cms/wp-content/images/EFT_LUO_mapping.pdf  

Citation: Val, Erik.  2021. Mapping Loita Maasai Land Use and Occupancy, Enguserosambu, Tanzania – Mapping Maasai Life, for Maasai, by Maasai.  Kesho Trust, Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada pp. 96

Assessing environmental initiatives through an ecosystem stewardship lens

An environmental education workshop from the project “Our Paraitinga”. Photo: Akarui, São Luiz do Paraitinga, Brazil

New open-access research on environmental stewardship is available in a publication by Alice de Moraes, Terry Chapin and Cristiana Seixas: “Assessing environmental initiatives through an ecosystem stewardship lens”. The article analyzes and discusses 3 community-based environmental initiatives taking place in a rural watershed of southeast Brazil under the ecosystem stewardship framework. Knowledge, relational values and care are salient ingredients that shape the initiatives, combining in different ways. The initiatives promote complementary ecosystem stewardship practices at various levels in the territory, as they overlap in space and time and address a ‘mix’ of pressing and non-urgent issues. Besides developing an approach to assess ecosystem stewardship in practice, the paper brings the initiatives and local arrangements for managing and conserving natural resources and ecosystem services into the spotlight.

Read the full open-access article here:

https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol26/iss2/art29/

Digest

The “Digest” section presents the latest developments, and resources, assembled from a wide range of sources, including international organizations, NGOs, civil society and reputable media outlets.

Taloyoak land guardians take their experience to the sea

“Taloyoak’s land guardians are taking to the water. A group of six, including two youth, have expanded their duties to include oversight of the oceans and freshwater of the Boothia Peninsula region, where the community is located. Guardians are trained local experts who act as the eyes and ears of traditional lands and waters. They play a crucial role in Indigenous-led conservation and preservation efforts. The guardians are also tasked with monitoring and measuring the ocean and freshwater environments to track climate change impacts, species population health and diversity, as well as boat traffic. Combining traditional Inuit knowledge and western science methods is central to the guardian program. It allows members to build their own collections of data and observations, and strengthens the position of local Inuit as co-managers of their own lands and waters.”

Keep Reading (Nunatsiaq News)

Themes:
 ● Indigenous Issues ● Engagement, Education & Empowerment ● Governance, Rights & Conflict

Latino leaders on the power of community-led conservation

“A groundswell of support in El Paso has risen in recent years to restore and protect Castner Range as a national monument. In this binational town, where more than eight out of 10 residents identify as Latino or Hispanic, that groundswell could be a reflection of continued high levels of support for access to, and conservation of, public land in the broader Latino community. But also at work is the local leadership of those like Pastor Moses Borjas, who is part of a community-led campaign centered around improving access to nature for El Paso residents.”

Keep Reading (Hewlett Foundation)

Themes:
● Conserved Areas ● Governance, Rights & Conflict ● Engagement, Education & Empowerment 

Indigenous Knowledge guides the conservation of culturally important plants 

“Since time immemorial, the Karuk tribe of northern California have managed their ancestral lands, over 400,000 hectares of open oak woodlands, meadows, and forested mountains along the middle section of the Klamath River. They used low-level fires to maintain a healthy landscape for the plants central to their culture. But after settlers arrived in California, stole their land, and outlawed the controlled burns, the landscape changed . . . Now, the costs of fire suppression and worsening climate change are clear: Wildfires and drought have damaged the landscape and plants used by the Karuk Tribe for food, fiber, and medicine. To chart a path toward restoring a healthier balance, Tribal members are working with academic researchers to inform western science with Indigenous Knowledge.”

Keep Reading (Mongabay)

Themes:
● Cultures and Traditions ●Indigenous Issues  ● Engagement, Education & Empowerment ● Climate & Environmental Changes

A wall that restores land and empowers communities in Niger

“Within a few years, the devastating effects of climate change and unchecked human activity consumed the ecosystems like a bushfire, and Dandakoye and his community members found themselves on degraded land with no vegetation or wildlife. In 2018, the Forest and Landscape Restoration Mechanism of FAO came to his community and chose Dandakoye to head the management committee in recognition of his commitment to finding solutions. He then mobilised more than 1 500 members of his community to participate in the FAO Cash for Work seeding and planting activities. The community grew grass fodder on this area and planted trees, such as jujubes, baobabs, palms and gum trees, that yield products for human use and consumption. Under his leadership, a total of 213 hectares were recovered in 77 days, providing farmers with income totalling approximately USD 66 000.”

Keep Reading (FAO)

Themes:
 ● Climate & Environmental Changes ● Engagement, Education & Empowerment ● Livelihoods

The Restoration Initiative: A Kenya Tana Delta story

“Hundreds of mangrove seedlings stand tall on a patchy stretch of land in Kipini, a settlement along the Tana River delta in Kenya. The newly planted seedlings reach skyward despite the scorching sun above while Riziki Bwanake, a village headwoman who was born and raised here, delicately tends to the plants . . .  Bwanake’s Kipini CFA strives to address the threats to mangroves, such as the unsustainable and illegal harvesting of mangrove trees, the clearing of forests for agriculture, sedimentation of mangrove areas and sea-level rise. The 89 members of the Kipini CFA have already planted close to 100 000 mangrove seedlings and have established two mangrove tree nurseries with over 50 000 seedlings. These efforts are helping preserve the nine-mangrove species found in the Tana River delta for improved prosperity within the region.”

Keep Reading (IUCN)

Themes:
● Governance, Rights & Conflict ● Climate & Environmental Changes ● Livelihoods

Fishers in Flores Sea opt to limit harvest of overexploited sea cucumbers

“At the end of September, fishermen on Sapuka Island in eastern Indonesia’s Flores Sea made a surprising announcement. They would regulate their sea cucumber harvests, they declared, taking only those specimens above a certain size, and from clearly designated areas during clearly designated times of the year.”

Keep Reading (Mongabay)

Themes
● Wildlife & Fisheries ● Livelihoods ● Governance, Rights & Conflict

Forests for the future: making a lasting impact for people and forests in Asia and the Pacific

“Forests across Asia and the Pacific are particularly special, teeming with an abundance of birds and other wildlife. Sadly, this has not been enough to spare them from deforestation and illegal logging, but in Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and The Philippines, this is starting to change thanks to local communities.”

Keep Reading (Bird Life International)

Themes:
● Wildlife & Fisheries ● Conserved Areas ● Cultures and Traditions ● Engagement, Education & Empowerment 

Women lead marine restoration efforts in the UNESCO Seaflower Biosphere Reserve

“It is no coincidence that this Colombian island is a world-class scuba diving destination with crystal clear waters, and a tourist hub visited by over a million people each year. But being so ‘in demand’ has a key downside: San Andres’ unique ecosystems and natural resources have been deeply impacted. Ms. Maya has been diving and working most of her life to protect the treasures of the Seaflower Biosphere Reserve. She is the director of Blue Indigo Foundation, a women-led community organization that works towards the sustainable development of the San Andres Archipelago, and the protection and restoration of its marine ecosystems. She says she decided to create the foundation because she believes that the local community must lead the protection of its own resources.”

Keep Reading (UN)

Themes:
● Women & Gender ● Conserved Areas  ● Livelihoods ● Climate & Environmental Changes

Native species conservation bolstered by community-based seed banks 

“As most farmers turn to the market for seeds they hope will give them the maximum yield, Krishna Prasad Adhikari and other residents of the village of Maramche in Gandaki province, western Nepal, are opting for a variety that won’t necessarily do that. They’ve settled on a native rice variety well suited for the high altitude and wet climate. “We are trying to save our heritage,” says Adhikari, secretary of the Maramche Community Seed Bank, established in 2020 to conserve local 12 varieties of crops that include rice, cucumbers and maize.”

Keep Reading (Eco-Business)

Themes:
● Engagement, Education & Empowerment ● Cultures and Traditions ● Livelihoods ● Climate & Environmental Changes

Indigenous voices demand an end to colonial conservation at Africa Protected Areas Congress

“Indigenous peoples and local communities used the IUCN Africa Protected Areas Congress in July as a key space to present an alternative vision of conservation using effective, indigenous and community-led solutions. Through key contributions to the Congress and independently developed declarations, they rejected colonial conservation practices and shared their perspectives, experiences and stories.”

Keep Reading (IUCN)

Themes:
 ● Governance, Rights & Conflict ● Engagement, Education & Empowerment ● Indigenous Issues

Meet 3 Indigenous women fighting for the future of the Amazon

“Indigenous groups live in and manage more than a quarter of the Amazon basin. Within these communities, women take on many roles- from caretakers and mothers to teachers and healers. They are often also on the front lines of protecting the nature their communities rely on.” Meet three of these Indigenous conservation leaders in this article, including efforts to recover ancestral practices, fighting pollution, and protecting species.

Keep Reading (Conservation.org)

Themes:
 ● Women & Gender ● Indigenous Issues ● Governance, Rights & Conflict

A Conservation Project in Jamaica Puts Community First

“Often, environmental conservation comes across as a philosophy, or a political or moral conviction. The human element—the fact that people are relying on these same ecosystems for survival—is generally overlooked. But a large part of the magic and beauty that remains in Oracabessa is the result of efforts by local fishers. ‘I’ve been a registered fisherman since 1975, and I’ve seen the depletion,’ says Captain Murray, a vessel operator and warden at the Oracabessa Fish Sanctuary. ‘We saw the need to put something in place, because if you have a farm and you’re always harvesting without replacing new seedlings, it will run down.’”

Keep Reading (Yes Magazine)

Themes:
● Conserved Areas ●  Engagement, Education & Empowerment ●  Livelihoods

Podcast: How marine conservation benefits from combining Indigenous knowledge and Western science

“Listen to two stories that show the effectiveness of combining traditional Indigenous ecological knowledge and Western science for conservation and restoration initiatives. Dr. Gary Paul talks about eelgrass, an ancestral food of the Comcaac people in the state of Sonora in Mexico, explaining why eelgrass is making a big comeback as a sustainable source of food for the Comcaac community and gaining international attention in the process. Dr. Sara Iverson discusses a research project called Apoqnmatulti’k that aims to better understand the movements of lobster, eel, and tomcod in Canada’s Atlantic coast. Iverson tells us why those study species were chosen by the Mi’kmaq people and why it’s so important that the project combines different ways of knowing.

Listen to the podcast (Mongabay)

Themes:
● Cultures & Traditions ● Wildlife & Fisheries ● Indigenous Issues

‘Trying to save our fish’: B.C. First Nations appeal a court ruling in an attempt to restore the Nechako River

“Seventy years ago, B.C. approved a hydroelectric project that would irreversibly alter an entire watershed and forever change the lives of First Nations living along the Nechako River. Decades later, the Saik’uz and Stellat’en First Nations took Rio Tinto Alcan and the province to court. They wanted to force the company to restore some of the river’s flow and salvage what little remains of vital habitat for endangered white sturgeon and struggling salmon populations.”

Keep Reading (The Narwhal)

Themes
● Wildlife & Fisheries ● Livelihoods ● Governance, Rights & Conflict

On the frontlines of drought, communities in Mexico strive to save every drop of water

“‘Look up to the El Peral mountains. That is where we do our ritual ceremony to call for rain,’ says Josefina Santiago, 43, a Zapotec Indigenous leader. ‘We bury chocolate, flowers and a maize beverage called tejate to ask for gentle rainfall. We call ourselves water sowers: [we are] reclaiming our traditional rituals while developing absorption wells, water pans, and small dams.’ Sixteen Indigenous Zapotec communities in Mexico have created over 579 water infrastructure projects, including absorption wells, small dams and water pans, to conserve water in the Oaxaca Valley – a region impacted by recurrent droughts.”

Keep Reading (Mongabay)

Themes:
● Climate & Environmental Changes ● Cultures and Traditions ● Indigenous Issues

This Cuban Town Has A Sustainability Lesson to Share: La Picadora’s embrace of agroecology has fundamentally changed its landscape, both environmentally and economically

“In La Picadora, we see not only a microcosm of the changing agricultural realities in Cuba, but also an example of what such a shift towards small-scale agroecology might look like on the ground. On one hand, it would be a lie to say that La Picadora and surrounding communities are producing more agriculturally than they were before, at least by some metrics. The total acreage under production, for example, has dropped precipitously since the early 2000’s. On the other hand, it would be accurate to say that La Picadora and surrounding communities are producing differently than before and in ways that have more immediate benefits to the region.”

Keep Reading (Orion Magazine)

Themes:
● Climate & Environmental Changes ● Livelihoods ● Engagement, Education & Empowerment

From waterworks to wild water park in community hands

“From a historic waterworks into a place for urban wild swimming, a community group in East London wants to buy up and rewild more than five hectares of concrete into a ‘brownfield rainforest’. The site in Walthamstow is currently a fenced-in public works depot for car parking and storage by the River Lea. But the East London Waterworks Park project aims to show the power of an environment-first, community-led approach to land ownership to transform the way we think about green spaces.”

Keep Reading (Resilience)

Themes:
● Engagement, Education & Empowerment  ● Conserved Areas  ● Climate & Environmental Changes

Why Africa Needs Community-Led Conservation | Resson Kantai Duff | TED

“Conservation efforts in Africa have typically been led by “parachute conservationists” — outsiders who drop in thinking they have all the answers, hire locals to implement them and then disappear. But conservationist Resson Kantai Duff has a better way to save wildlife in Africa: let locals lead these efforts themselves. She calls for a major shift in how conservation in Africa works, showing why the people closest to the land are the ones best fit to care for it.”

Watch the Talk (TED)

Themes:
● Governance, Rights & Conflict ● Conserved Areas ● Wildlife & Fisheries

Funding for women-led conservation remains tiny, but that’s changing fast

“Women-led NGOs are rare in many sectors, including climate change. Currently, 80% of climate philanthropy goes to NGOs led by men, according to a report by the Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity. And 90% of philanthropic funding for climate change goes to organizations led by white people . . . Initiatives such as the Wild Elements Foundation, Women’s Earth Alliance, Daughters for Earth and WE Africa are supporting women-led efforts around the world to protect and restore the environment through providing funding and publicity, as well as technical, entrepreneurial, and leadership skills.”

Keep Reading (Mongabay)

Themes:
  ● Women & Gender ● Engagement, Education & Empowerment ● Governance, Rights & Conflict

The frontline of conservation: how Indigenous guardians are reinforcing sovereignty and science on their lands

“Land-based activities are integral to Inuit culture. They play a key role in maintaining community wellbeing across the four regions of Inuit Nunangat, the expansive Inuit homeland . . . Related to these land-based activities and skills is an emerging Inuit-led conservation sector. It includes environmental management and scientific research, fisheries, food security and eco-tourism, areas where land-based skills can be used in innovative ways. And new policy programs and private sector investments could unlock their economic potential.”

Keep Reading (Policy Options)

Themes:
● Indigenous Issues ● Livelihoods ● Cultures and Traditions

More secure land tenure in Senegal lays the groundwork for agroecology and women empowerment

“Binta Ba is helping to lead a quiet green revolution in the fields of Mboro, where she lives. In this coastal region of Niayes, close to Senegal’s capital Dakar, she is training her fellow growers in agroecology, an integrated approach applying ecological and social concepts to sustainable agriculture, which turns a lot of conventional farming wisdom on its head.”

Keep Reading (FAO)

Themes:
● Women & Gender ●  Engagement, Education & Empowerment ●  Livelihoods

Journalist Peter Martell on How Conservation Brought Kenyan Communities Together

“This group of people asked themselves, “How can we, as a democratic community, organize the land for us all?” In practical terms, that meant setting aside a small area for a community-owned tourist lodge. The money that came through the tourists would be reinvested into the lodge, to the staff, and a percentage would be plowed back into whatever the community decided to spend their money on—water, wells, education, roads, or what they thought was the most valuable in that budget year.”

Keep Reading (AFAR)

Themes:
● Livelihoods ● Conserved Areas ● Engagement, Education & Empowerment

In Tanzania, Carbon Offsets Preserve Forests and a Way of Life

“The Hadza people, often called “the last archers of Africa,” are selling carbon credits generated from conserving their forests and using the revenues to employ their youths as scouts to keep forest destroyers away. Starting this March, some 1,300 Hadza and members of the cattle-herding tribes with whom they share the Yaeda Valley of northern Tanzania, began receiving the first payments of what will be nearly half a million dollars annually from a local social enterprise, Carbon Tanzania, for protecting woodland hunting and grazing grounds across an area larger than New York City.”

Keep Reading (Yale Environment 360)

Themes:
● Conserved Areas ● Livelihoods ● Governance, Rights & Conflict

Indigenous-led conservation aims to rekindle caribou abundance and traditions

“It’s been many years since community members from West Moberly First Nations last ate caribou meat from their traditional territory. Southern Mountain Caribou haven’t been hunted by this community in central British Columbia since it voluntarily decided to stop hunting them in the 1970s . . . An Indigenous-led effort to increase caribou abundance and cultural practices such as hunting is reshaping ideas about the best approach for caribou recovery and is successfully increasing the caribou population in B.C. every year. When I joined this project in 2020, there were 87 caribou. This number has now crossed 114 and is growing daily. In fact, we expect the birth of 20-30 calves this spring.”

Keep Reading (The Conversation)

Themes:
● Cultures & Traditions ● Wildlife & Fisheries ● Indigenous Issues

It’s Time to Decolonize Conservation

“When setting quotas for salmon fishing, the Wuikinuxv focus on the whole ecosystem. They ensure that there is enough salmon for local people’s food and cultural needs, but also that there is enough for bears. Commercial fisheries are a secondary concern. Why bears? Like many First Nations in British Columbia living in grizzly bear habitats, the Wuikinuxv consider grizzlies to be close relatives, which is one reason they look out for them. But they also understand that ensuring bears get enough salmon means less human-bear conflict. It also means that there will be enough salmon for marine predators such as orcas, who take their cut before the fish swim upstream to spawn. Plus, grizzlies with enough salmon will carry the fish into the forest where their remains feed other species and, ultimately, decay and fertilize the trees.”

Keep Reading (The TYEE)

Themes:
● Wildlife & Fisheries ●  Cultures & Traditions ●  Indigenous Issues

Agritourism promotes food traditions in Palau

“Rose Ongalibang shows off the pinkish-purple powder in a small bag. “It’s taro flour,” explains the genial retiree at her home on Palau’s largest island, Babeldaob . . . The slow food community, which Rose and a group of her female neighbours started last year, is an example of how Palau’s Sustainable Tourism Value Chain Programme is being put into action with FAO support. For the community members, it’s a chance to refocus on taro cultivation traditions, while also finding new, innovative uses for the product.”

Keep Reading (FAO)

Themes
● Women & Gender ● Cultures & Traditions ● Livelihoods

Protecting wildlife and Indigenous Peoples’ livelihoods in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

“Since the dawn of time, the Mbuti people have lived in harmony with this incredible biodiversity. Their survival depends on a healthy ecosystem, and their food system and livelihoods support that. Their hunting practices ensure that a natural balance remains, keeping the ecosystem in check, while wild meat offers the communities an important source of protein, fat and micronutrients.”

Keep Reading (FAO)

Themes:
● Conserved Areas ● Livelihoods ● Indigenous Issues ● Cultures and Traditions

A community in Mexico reforests its land against the advance of illegal logging

“In recent years, illegal logging and the establishment of illegal sawmills have hacked away at the forests in and around the national park. Nueva Vaquería sits in the middle of it all. Of its fewer than 800 residents, 87 are members of the local ejido, a system of communally managed farm. And it’s through this system that the community has achieved what once seemed impossible: restoring their forest and sustainably managing their forested land.”

Keep Reading (Mongabay)

Themes:
  ● Indigenous Issues ● Governance, Rights & Conflict ● Conserved Areas ● Cultures and Traditions

The frontline of conservation: how Indigenous guardians are reinforcing sovereignty and science on their lands

“Indigenous guardians are patrolling vast areas of the B.C. coast that otherwise don’t see much monitoring activity from the provincial or federal governments. Because of their regular patrolling, Indigenous guardians are filing in an important patchwork of monitoring efforts designed to keep species and people safe and coastal ecosystems intact. The people at the helm, two young Wuikinuxv (O-wik-een-oh) Guardian Watchmen, cover 120 kilometres a day, most days of the month. Over several months they’ll patrol about 2,000 square kilometres of coast by boat alone, according to data shared by the guardians with The Narwhal. Their neighbours, the Heiltsuk and Kitasoo/Xai’Xais will reach even larger areas — nearly 3,000 and 8,000 square kilometres, respectively.”

Keep Reading (The Narwhal)

Themes:
● Indigenous Issues ● Governance, Rights & Conflict ● Conserved Areas ● Cultures and Traditions

Women building a sustainable future: fighting back the desert, amid Niger’s refugee and climate crises

“In the dusty plains outside Ouallam, a town some 100 kilometres north of Niger’s capital Niamey, verdant rows of vegetables sprout from the soil in neat plots. Adding further contrast to the parched surroundings, women in bright shawls walk among the rows, checking irrigation pipes and adding a splash of water to any thirsty-looking specimens. “We did this all together with the different communities: the refugees, the displaced, and the local community of Ouallam. We are very happy to work together,” says 35-year-old Rabi Saley, who settled in the area after fleeing armed attacks in her hometown Menaka, 100 kilometres further north across the border in Mali.”

Keep Reading (UN)

Themes:
● Women and Gender ● Engagement, Education & Empowerment  ● Livelihoods ● Climate & Environmental Changes

Snow Leopard Network Webinar: Women & Community Conservation

“Across the range, snow leopards and people share space. Engaging with local communities is essential for snow leopard conservation. Community based programmes tend to engage with men largely due to social norms and existing power structures. This often results in excluding women, who are important stakeholders and form almost 50% of the adult population, from conservation action and decision making. In this webinar, we explore how to better engage women in conservation programs across the snow leopard landscape. We hear examples from existing programs that specifically target women and discuss how conservation programs can themselves shift social norms around gender equality (positively or negatively). We also examine the key role of policy in transforming community based programs through incorporating gender sensitive approaches.”

Watch the Video (YouTube)

Themes:
● Women and Gender ● Wildlife and Fisheries ● Engagement, Education & Empowerment  ● Climate & Environmental Changes

A Saskatchewan Métis community wants to save its land. Dealing with government? ‘Like talking to a wall’

“The historic fur-trading community of Île-à-la-Crosse wants to create an Indigenous protected area named Sakitawak to protect the region’s forests, ways of life and vast carbon stores. Getting the province on board has proved to be a challenge. Gardiner has lived his whole life in Île-à-la-Crosse, a small Métis settlement with a population of just over 1,000 people in northwest Saskatchewan. The community, known as Sakitawak in Cree, was first established by fur traders in 1776. Today, it’s an area where locals hope increased control of their land will help ease the pressures of a changing climate, industrial activity and what they see as the Saskatchewan government’s outdated approach to forestry and fishing in the region.”

Keep Reading (The Narwhal)

Themes:
● Indigenous Issues ● Governance, Rights & Conflict ● Conserved Areas ● Cultures and Traditions

Red River Métis IPCAs

“The Manitoba Métis Federation is establishing two Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) in the Red River region (Kettle Hills Blueberry Patch IPCA and Thompson Region Protected Area). Moderated by Eli Enns, we heard from Minister Will Goodon (Minister of Housing & Property Management, Manitoba Métis Federation), Riley Bartel (Conservation Coordinator, Manitoba Métis Federation) and Jessica Lagimodière (IPCA Project Officer, Manitoba Métis Federation) as they shared Métis knowledge, culture and identity and how these are woven into the vision for these IPCAs.”

Watch the Webinar (CRP)

Themes
● Indigenous Issues ● Conserved Areas ● Governance, Rights & Conflict ● Engagement, Education & Empowerment  ● Cultures and Traditions

Indigenous Women’s Leadership Series: The Trailblazers of Conservation

“On Tuesday, March 8, 2022, in collaboration with the IISAAK OLAM Foundation and the Indigenous Leadership Initiative, we celebrated and honoured Indigenous women trailblazers of all ages in conservation leadership in a special session to commemorate International Women’s Day. Moderated by Valérie Courtois (Indigenous Leadership Initiative), this intergenerational discussion explored the contributions of fearless Indigenous women who have forged a path before us, who are currently leading the way, and who are shaping the future of Indigenous conservation leadership. This dialogue explored stories of breaking barriers, activating change, uplifting the principle of ‘love’ and asserting responsibilities to protect, restore, and reinvigorate the gifts of Earth Mother for current and future generations.”

Watch the Webinar (CRP)

Themes:
● Indigenous Issues ● Women and Gender ● Cultures and Traditions ●   Engagement, Education & Empowerment

‘Reimaanlok’: The Future of Community-led Ocean Conservation in Marshall Islands

“‘Reimaanlok’ is a Marshallese term that means ‘look towards the future’. . . Traditional cultural practices in Marshall Islands have always promoted conservation and sustainable resource management. In return, the Marshallese have been nurtured by the islands, atolls, and ocean around them for thousands of years. The Reimaanlok promotes cultural insights held by local leaders and communities and augments them with rigorous scientific studies of the local environment. This approach empowers well-informed, community-led conservation.”

Keep Reading (World Bank)

Themes:
  ● Indigenous Issues ● Governance, Rights & Conflict ● Conserved Areas ● Cultures and Traditions

Mangrove conservation takes root with local communities on Kenya’s coast

“Every morning, members of the community-based organisation called the Brain Youth Group gather here to tend mangrove nurseries, plant seedlings, and harvest seeds. Mostly young women, they start early to take advantage of the cool morning temperatures, weaving across the soft, sinking mud to the restoration site of the day, their colorful kangas hitched up on their waists. Today, the main task is to transplant mangrove seedlings from nurseries into designated plots.”

Keep Reading (Mongabay)

Themes:
● Livelihoods ● Governance, Rights & Conflict ● Conserved Areas ● Women and Gender

The Restoration Initiative: A Cameroon story

“In the Aissa Hardé village in the Far North Region of Cameroon, Mamma Salamatou tends to the rows of tiny seedlings in plastic bags growing under awnings – protection from the blistering sun that bakes this landscape of grasslands and trees for much of the year. One of several community members working in partnership with the TRI Cameroon restoration project – she is also a pioneer. In this largely conservative part of Cameroon, it is uncommon for women to take on work and responsibilities outside the household. Mamma Salamatou was the first woman to join the local Madadakouda Common Initiative Group (CIG) that serves as a local governing board for the community, and she has played a key role in encouraging other women from her village to participate in the CIG and TRI project-supported restoration work.”

Keep Reading (IUCN)

Themes:
● Women and Gender ● Engagement, Education & Empowerment  ● Livelihoods

Four ways people are trying to protect Canada’s natural landscapes

“Canada is home to 25 per cent of the Earth’s wetlands and boreal forests, not to mention endangered prairie grasslands and the world’s longest coastline. These ecosystems can store immense amounts of carbon, a power that makes them crucial in the fight against the climate crisis.” Read stories such as how the Dene Tha’ are forging a plan to protect Alberta wetlands with more carbon-storing capabilities than the Amazon.

Keep Reading (The Narwhal)

Themes:
● Indigenous Issues ● Conserved Areas ● Climate & Environmental Changes

K’ómoks Guardians: Caretakers for the Land of Plenty

“Established in 2014, the K’ómoks Guardians monitor, restore, document, patrol, and protect their territory and all the species therein. Their work sustains the ecosystem, protects cultural values, and supports the K’ómoks people. . . Since time immemorial, their lands and waters have provided salmon, herring, duck, shellfish, berries and so much more. In return, the K’ómoks applied harvesting, preparation, and cultivation techniques to ensure the well-being of their environment and people.”

Keep Reading (Coast Funds)

Themes:
● Indigenous Issues ● Governance, Rights & Conflict ● Livelihoods ● Engagement, Education & Empowerment

Madang women take lead in mangrove conservation

“The group of women led by Budai Timon and supported by the community based organization Madang Forest Resources Owners’ Association (MFROA) initiated the mangroves conservation and rehabilitation project with an aim to help the local community and support the government and contribute to addressing climate change, a global issue.”

Keep Reading (Post-Courier)

Themes:
● Women and Gender ● Climate & Environmental Changes ● Livelihoods

Bhutan’s ‘spicy’ journey to preserve the country’s taste for chilli peppers

“Farmers win the battle against climate and terrain to start domestic chilli cultivation. They soon faced their first hurdle. Chillies in the nurseries started dying due to the high temperature and humidity of the area. To resolve the issues, the farmers adopted a different potting method. Encouraged by this success, the farmers started using other sustainable technologies that had been provided by the FSAPP to improve the crop yield, including drip irrigation facilities and protective coverings for the plants.”

Keep Reading (FAO)

Themes:
  ● Engagement, Education & Empowerment ● Climate & Environmental Changes ● Cultures and Traditions

In DRC, community ownership of forests helps guard the Grauer’s gorilla

“The Congolese government has officially recognized community ownership of a conservation area linking two national parks in the Democratic Republic of Congo, giving hope for the survival of the Grauer’s gorilla, a critically endangered species. The Nkuba Conservation Area is co-managed by local communities and the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, with the latter providing jobs and training initiatives for women.”

Keep Reading (Mongabay)

Themes:
● Conserved Areas ● Wildlife and Fisheries ● Governance, Rights & Conflict

Fish sanctuaries and community support for conservation of Meghalaya’s mahseer

“The chocolate mahseer, listed as a Near Threatened species in the IUCN Red List, is thriving in the Nengmandalgre Fish Sanctuary − one of the 79 pocket fish sanctuaries in the state, completely managed by the local communities. The conservation success is the result of seven decades of Meghalaya’s tryst with fish conservation.”

Keep Reading (Mongabay India)

Themes:
● Wildlife and Fisheries ● Conserved Areas ● Cultures and Traditions

Podcast: Reforestation done right, from Haiti to Honduras and Ho Chi Minh City

“Erin Axelrod is the project director for Trees For Climate Health, and joins the discussion to share the program’s “right tree, right place, right community” approach, and why local community-based reforestation is key to success. Reforestation projects they support from Haiti to Honduras, Madagascar and South Dakota are also discussed.”

Listen to the podcast (Mongabay)

Themes:
● Conserved Areas ● Climate & Environmental Changes ● Cultures and Traditions

Restoring ecosystems and tiger populations in Bhutan

The programme is supporting not only tigers but local communities and their livelihoods because we realize that the two are interdependent, and both are affected by the impacts of climate change. Grassland restoration is a community effort involving local forestry and livestock officials. Herders and farmers identify locations that were once grassland and need to be restored. Communities decide which grass species are sown in the cleared patches of land.”

Keep Reading (UNEP)

Themes:

● Livelihoods ● Engagement, Education & Empowerment  ● Wildlife & Fisheries

Protecting people and biodiversity: Addressing gender-based violence (GBV) and conservation links

“Biodiversity is essential to the well-being of humanity and the health of our planet, but it cannot be protected to the best of our ability unless conservation efforts also address gender equality and recognise women’s human rights. Women have an important lead role to play in conservation and the sustainable and equitable access and control of natural resources. By improving gender equality and reducing risk of GBV, the RISE Challenge and other global efforts will ensure that they are able to fulfill that critical role.”

Keep Reading (IUCN)

Themes:
● Engagement, Education & Empowerment ● Women and Gender ● Climate Change & Environment

Community restores grasslands in Lamkani, making the village drought-resilient

“’Twenty years ago, we did not have 10 litres of milk available in Lamkani village in Dhule district. Today, Lamkani sells about 3,000 litres of milk to Dhule every day,’ boasts Dhananjay Newadkar, who, in 2000, initiated a watershed development programme to solve the water scarcity problems of the people of his village.”

Keep Reading (Mongabay)

Themes:
 ● Factors of Success in Community Conservation ● Climate & Environmental Change ● Livelihoods

Watch: a look at the promise of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas in Canada

Watch the Video (The Narwhal)

Themes:
● Indigenous Issues ● Conserved Areas ● Governance, Rights & Conflict ● Livelihoods ● Places & Spaces

As pandemic pounded Peru, one region thrived on coffee, carbon

“Supported by Conservation International, in partnership with local communities and the Peruvian government, the Alto Mayo REDD+ initiative uses proceeds from the sale of carbon credits to finance voluntary conservation agreements. The pacts aim to galvanize community support. They provide coffee growers living in the protected forest with agricultural training, financial skills and access to specialty-grade coffee markets. In exchange, the farmers commit to zero net deforestation.”

Keep Reading (Conservation.org)

Themes:
● Factors of Success in Community Conservation ● Climate & Environmental Change ● Livelihoods

Brazil court orders illegal miners booted from Yanomami Indigenous Reserve

“A court in Brazil has ordered the federal government to remove all illegal gold miners from an Indigenous reserve in the Amazon, following at least five days of attacks and intimidation by miners on a local community. However, the government has still not complied with the May 17 ruling . . . More than half of the environmental degradation caused by mining in the reserve is concentrated along the Uraricoera River, where Palimiú is located, according to a report published earlier this year by the Instituto Socioambiental (ISA), a nonprofit that defends the rights of Indigenous and traditional people.”

Keep Reading (Mongabay)

Themes

● Indigenous Issues ● Conserved Areas ● Governance, Rights & Conflict ● Climate & Environmental Changes

Giving back to seagrass

“In the Trang province of southern Thailand, seagrass is more than just food and jobs – it enables communities to uphold their cultural identity. Now it’s time to give back . . . Our interactive seagrass events are an important step in building knowledge and unearthing some of the needs, opportunities and challenges to seagrass conservation from the community perspective. So far, we’ve hosted two – one in Koh Mook and another in Mod Ta Noi, where both communities have rich seagrass areas and a dependency on small-scale fishing.”

Keep Reading (Blue Ventures)

Themes:

● Engagement, Education & Empowerment ● Factors of Success in Community Conservation ● Livelihoods ● Wildlife & Fisheries

Gender is linked to the biodiversity and climate crises. When will our policies reflect this?

“At the IUCN World Conservation Congress, the Union’s 1,400 Member organisations democratically determine the most pressing issues in nature conservation and agree actions to address them. But very few of the motions proposed for Congress in September 2021 meaningfully consider the connections between biodiversity conservation and gender equality.”

Keep Reading (IUCN)

Themes:
● Governance, Rights & Conflict ● Engagement, Education & Empowerment ● Factors of Success in Community Conservation ● Climate Change & Environment

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• CCL Review Issue #17
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