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

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  • The Brooklyn Bridge needs a makeover. Is rainforest lumber still in style?

    In the 1990s, Guatemala established the Maya Bisphere Reserve to stop the burgeoning rates of deforestation. However, some communities lived within this region. The organization tasked with overseeing the MBP decided to let the communities stay in the area as long as they agreed to a tight supervision of how they used the forest. The arrangement is known as a forestry concessions. Community-owned concessions must follow strict guidelines or face eviction. It worked. Deforestation rates are low, wildlife is thriving, and communities earn an income without depleting the forest.

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  • Could miniature forests help air-condition cities?

    The Miyawaki method of planting miniature natural forests in cities as a way to reduce air pollution and cool down temperatures is gaining ground throughout the world. The process involves planting a variety of trees in a particular way that allows for them to grow rapidly. While this method is very labor intensive and can be difficult to scale, there are more than 1,500 of these types of forests in Japan, India, and Pakistan.

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  • These farmers show that agriculture in the Amazon doesn't have to be destructive

    Nearly a fifth of the Amazon has been cleared for cattle grazing and logging. However, a cooperative called RECA is making it economically sustainable for farmers to shift towards agroforestry. Agroforestry is the intentional planting of trees and shrubs in farms and forests among others. 11 tons of carbon per acre are sequestered through agroforestry systems. REFA farmers planted up to 40 species of trees then will process products from the species to be sold. The more than 300 families from the co-op made five times more per acre than local ranchers not practicing agroforestry.

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  • Why ‘tiny forests' are popping up in big cities

    In Europe, India, and other countries like the Netherlands tiny forests are being deployed to fight the effects of climate change. The small forests, some about the size of a parking lot or a basketball court, can help cities mitigate rising temperatures and sequester carbon. In the Netherlands, 144 tiny forests have been planted. A study that analyzed 11 tiny forests showed these forests hosted more than 600 animal species and close to 300 plant species.

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  • Chiredzi-Mwenezi rural communities burn biogas to save trees

    Rural communities in Bandama and Dungwe villages in Chiredzi and Mwenezi are using biogas technology to cook instead of cutting down trees for firewood. The technology relies on fermenting cow dung and using the material in biogas-specific stoves.

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  • The forest sound detectives

    After remote Indigenous communities in Papau New Guinea set aside some of their land as conservation areas, they wanted to know if it was working. With the help from scientists and The Nature Conservancy, they were able to use bioacoustics or audio recordings of the rainforests to map out the biodiversity. Using 34 recording devices, they were able to record the forest, listen to them, analyze the sounds, and determine that these areas had a healthy biodiversity.

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  • The Farmer Trying to Save Italy's Ancient Olive Trees

    An imported strain of bacteria is threatening to destroy olive trees in Italy that produce about 12 percent of the world’s olive oil. An agronomist is working with other scientists to graft trees — taking a different kind of tree that could be resistant to the bacteria and inserting it into the trunk of an older tree. After years of trial and error, they’ve found some success. On one farm, 70 percent of the grafts used have survived. But conspiracy theories and financial difficulties have made it a challenge to have a coordinated response to the problem.

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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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