A Philippine town and its leaders show how mangrove restoration can succeed

Members of the B’laan ethnic group in a community in the Philippines are improving their livelihoods by foraging for coffee beans excreted by wild palm civets. They can sell the beans at a premium price because they are used to make a luxury coffee brew. And the practice encourages the locals to protect the wild animals, which benefits the ecosystem, too.

The community on St. Helena’s two-decade reforestation initiative is successfully revitalizing rare native species through a community-driven approach. The project began with the intention to create a public place for island residents and that sense of ownership has allowed the project to keep moving forward despite obstacles.

For two decades, the Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds has restored native trees on ​​São Miguel Island to increase the food and nesting habitat available for the Azores bullfinch. As a result, the population of the bird increased enough to be downlisted from critically endangered to vulnerable.

The Nusantra Fund provides financial support directly to community-led projects in Indonesia. The aim is to improve the livelihoods of Indigenous and local people while tackling climate change impacts and protecting biodiversity.

Auroville is home to foresters, ecologists, and other conservation advocates working on various reforestation efforts like propagating tropical dry evergreen forest species and planting drought-resistant species. Today, community-run nurseries supply about 50,000 saplings a year for tree-planting projects in Auroville. There are also “forest groups” made up of local residents who plant native species, collectively planting more than half a million evergreen saplings of over 200 different species.

A village in India plants and maintains 111 trees to honor every newborn girl. The process has improved the local environment and air quality, thus improving the status of girls and women in the community.

Mangroves are biodiverse growths that provide a variety of benefits to coastal regions including food security, a breeding ground for various species and protection from erosion and storms along the coast. Previously destroyed by deforestation, efforts to regrow mangroves are a cost-effective solution to climate change.

After years of drought and land-clearing that left Niger with few trees left, the country now boasts about 200 million trees, which have mostly been reestablished naturally. While the effects of climate change could threaten the future of these trees, this method has also increased crop yields in villages. This model of letting trees grow back with little human influence could be implemented in other countries.

The Hā'ena Community-Based Subsistence Fishing Area (co-managed by a local Native Hawaiian nonprofit and the state) uses traditional fishing rules to restrict over-extraction along a mile of Kauaʻi's nearshore waters. Early scientific surveys and community testimony suggest fish populations, species diversity, and biomass are recovering after a decade of implementation.

KRAPAVIS has restored 249 sacred groves in Rajasthan through a community-led model where villages share restoration costs and appoint local custodians. They've successfully reviving water sources, wells, and biodiversity while securing a 2024 Supreme Court ruling that protects these community-conserved ecosystems across India.