How Montana tribes are using sovereignty to restore their waterways

Mangroves can store up six times more carbon than an area equal to the Amazon rainforest. However, they are rapidly declining, over the past century their population has been reduced by 30 to 50 percent. One nonprofit, Blue Ventures, is working with local communities to regenerate fisheries, which helps the mangroves. They're also helping local communities to manage their mangroves.

The Grand Coulee, a 500-foot-tall dam on the Columbia River, nearly eradicated the salmon population that the Colville Tribes relied on, but the Indigenous community initiated a restoration effort to save the fish. They released by hand 100 adult Chinook salmon and scientists were able to confirm that the species was spawning on the upper part of the dam for the first time in 80 years.

The Swinomish tribe in Washington state is combining traditional knowledge and science to combat the effects of climate change and improve the health of its land, water, and people. In recent years, their salmon harvest has diminished due to warming waters, but they’ve instituted salmon recovery efforts by restoring tidelands and channels and planting trees along stream beds to cool the waters. Their focus on ecosystem and community health could be a model for other Indigenous tribes looking to create their own climate plans.

In Benin, indigenous beliefs, knowledge, and traditional governance systems are helping communities protect biodiversity and adapt to climate change. Vodun, a spiritual practice that protects fragile and vital ecosystems, has enabled the preservation of more than 1,200 acres of mangroves over the last decade.

Several villages are establishing no-take zones, or tengefus, to address issues of overfishing, allowing fish to repopulate. With the help of several local organizations and government authorities, there are currently 22 tengefus in various stages of development across the country.

Removing dams pays back dividends by restoring ecological diversity. In Washington State, the decommissioning of the Elwha and Glines Canyon Dams began a decades-long process of restoring the Elwha River’s floodplain. By studying the river and learning from their failures, researchers are learning the best ways to maintain salmon populations and foster an environment more resilient to climate change.

ReShark, the world's first shark rewilding program, has successfully transported surplus leopard shark eggs from aquariums to community-managed hatcheries in Raja Ampat, Indonesia, releasing 43 healthy juveniles that are surviving in the wild and demonstrating a replicable model for reversing marine extinctions through international collaboration and local stewardship.

By strategically restoring native riparian plants, removing invasive species, and implementing efficient water management practices, the Fort Yuma Quechan Tribe has successfully revitalized ecosystem health and cultural traditions along the Colorado River.

Researchers, conservationists, and shellfish farmers on both U.S. coasts are starting and studying seaweed farms as a way to soak up excess nutrients in acidic water to help shellfish survive and grow.

A fishing cooperative at the San Ignacio Lagoon protects gray whales that use the lagoon as a nursery by not fishing at that time of the year. Instead, their income comes from ecotourism which brings people close to the whales during that season.