In Northern Quebec, scientists, government officials and researchers have seen the positive environmental effects that stem from giving indigenous groups their land rights back. Because many of these indigenous communities have closely observed and lived within the native forests, they know how to properly care for and coexist with the forest rather than cut it down; the result is a drastic decrease in deforestation as well as the restoration of indigenous land rights.

Climate change is impacting many crops and farmlands, but potato farmers in the Peruvian Andes are experimenting with genetic strains to diversify potatoes to help safeguard the vegetable for further climate changes. Scientists so far have found some success with one particular varietal and are now working to make it more resistant to temperature changes.

Revegetation and fire management practices are helping to preserve Australia’s biodiversity. In Western Australia, collaborative efforts between Environs Kimberley, an environmental NGO, and local rangers from the First Nation communities of the Dampier Peninsula are working to document, conserve, and manage the region’s monsoon vine thickets (MVT). As part of the Kimberley Nature Project (KNP), local rangers employ traditional methods like seasonal burns to allow for revegetation and to reduce the threat of larger bushfires.

In Western Uganda’s Budongo forest, the Budongo Conservation Field Station is saving chimpanzees by giving poachers the opportunity to do something different. The organization operates on two levels: First, employing former poachers to help scour the forest in search of traps, and second, by giving poachers goats in an effort to provide them with enough livelihood to stop poaching.

In Indonesia, transferring land management rights to local residents is slow-going, but one community is setting an example for what can happen when the residents are in charge. Mandiri farmers formed a cooperative and began replacing hillsides; now, tourism to the area has increased and attitudes towards the land and community have changed.

By combining biomimicry with biodiversity, Colorado’s forests have kept damaging fir beetles at bay. The city of Ouray, Colorado, and the Colorado State Forest Service have been working with the help of volunteers to apply chemical pheromones to protect Douglas firs from the damaging beetles. The pheromones mimic a warning produced by the beetles, discouraging them from settling on the tree. The pheromones are applied by hand, requiring teams of trained volunteers.

Protecting forests requires collaboration between conservation groups and government authorities. In Mozambique, the Peace Parks Foundation is working with support of the Mozambique government to protect the Zinave National Park from illegal poaching and logging. By increasing patrols and tightening the laws surrounding illegal logging, Mozambique’s government has made conservation work in the area much more effective.