Bird-friendly maple syrup boosts Vermont forest diversity & resilience

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.

Local authorities in Spain are introducing restoration measures to clean up the Mar Menor lagoon, which is suffering from years of nitrate and phosphate contamination. Their methods include mandating hedges are planted as barriers on farmland, collecting rain on farms so it doesn’t flow into the water, and limiting fertilizer use.

A group of conservationists created Techo de Agua to engage communities in Colombia with conservation efforts for endangered species like the black-and-chestnut speckled eagles and spectacled bears. The nonprofit educates locals about the importance of these animals and reduces human-wildlife conflict with individualized solutions.

An Arizona farmer became the first organic regenerative certified farm in the southwest using practices that conserve water and improve soil health along the drought-stuck Gila River. His practices include growing arid-adapted crops, integrating livestock grazing, and planting cover crops.

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.

The Bee Better Certified program encourages farmers to to build and restore habitat for native bees on their land. Doing so can earn them the certification, reduce the need to rent honeybees for pollinationion, and benefit the planet.

Farmers and scientists in Assam, India, are creating artificial nest boxes for barn owls to help conserve and increase the population while reducing farmers’ use of chemicals to control pests.

With the growing trend in regenerative agriculture, Propagate Ventures is working with farmers to transition them from conventional agriculture to agroforestry. This technique focuses on incorporating trees into farmland which can improve soil health and crop production, and reduce carbon emissions. The company offers farmers help to build the system and connections to investor financing. While implementing an agroforestry system can take time, Propagate Ventures is seeing the interest grow: They’ve expanded to eight states and recently received $1.5 million in capital funding.

As concerns about food security grow in Hawaii amidst a backdrop of climate change, Pacific Islanders are leaning into agroforestry as a means to address the problem. Resilient to extreme weather, agroforests allow for multiple plants to be farmed together and can "grow double or triple the amount of plants in the same area of land as mono-culture."

In Brazil, 45% of agriculturally viable land is owned by 1% of tenants. To combat this inequitable ratio, the Landless Workers’ Movement formed and took a stand for seizing lands that are "not fulfilling a productive or social use." The group successfully reclaimed an area known as Mario Lago and has since begun a reforestation process alongside agroforestry which has allowed for an increase in diversity of food produced. The farmers haven't stopped there, however. To sell their produce, they have implemented a system of turning the consumer into a co-producer thus ensuring economic stability.