Nepal's tiger population reaches record 429: What the new national survey reveals

Women's conservation collectives in Nigerian villages surrounding Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary use community patrols, enforcement of bylaws, and collaboration with traditional leaders to reduce illegal logging, river pollution, and wildlife crimes. Their approach has reduced river poisoning in some communities, fostered the return of chimpanzee calls, and delivered forest regeneration.

The community living in Northern Guatemala’s Sierra del Lacandón National Park monitors the landscape for fires set by people looking to clear the forest illegally and is trained to prevent them from spreading. They’re focusing on ecotourism as an alternative way to earn a living.

Conservationists in Japan are rewilding the country’s vast monoculture plantation forests to restore biodiversity and allow the ecosystem to return to its natural state, deciduous forest. They are doing so by turning the tree plantations into meadows and buying plots of land with private donations to plant native trees on.

Thirty-five communities in Bahia, Brazil, are working together to restore the Caatinga dry forest by managing goat and sheep herds and fencing areas off to let nature heal itself over time.

Two nonprofits came together to manage Hawai'i's Kaua‘i’s Hā‘ena State Park in a community-led way, creating a more equitable relationship between the tourism industry and the local community. Native Hawaiians work at the park, lead restoration projects and run educational programs. And to prevent overtourism, tourists must make reservations and pay to enter.

An Indonesian government program called Masyarakat Peduli Api, or “Fire Care Community,” aims to improve community responses to wildfires and restore peatlands — valuable ecosystems that store carbon. Through community engagement and education, this volunteer fire brigade patrols the peatlands and addresses small fires before they spread. The program remains underfunded, but residents recognize the importance of their work.

Python removal agents with South Florida’s Water Management District hunt the invasive Burmese python in the Florida Everglades to prevent the snakes from continuing to destroy the ecosystem. Since launching the program in 2017, agents have removed 8,565 pythons across the state.

The Power of Mama is an all-female firefighting unit that protects the health and livelihoods of the local community and environment by working with village authorities to educate local farmers on safe practices to prevent wildfires and preserve the ecosystem. The unit formed in 2022 with just 44 volunteers, but has since grown to 92 members aged 19 to 60 across six villages.

The Resilient Cerrado Project funds Indigenous-community-led economic projects in Brazil’s Cerrado region. Projects like the Terena people’s beehive installation and beekeeper training help to protect the region’s biodiversity, cultural diversity, and improve community members’ welfare.

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.