To Protect the Environment, Buddhist Monks Are Ordaining Trees

A collective of timber companies, conservationists, and forestry professionals has made the adjacent national forest more resilient to wildfires by focusing on small-diameter trees while preserving old growth. In 2019, the Northeast Washington Forest Coalition allowed for the harvesting of 87.1 million board-feet from the forest and 16,561 acres underwent controlled burns and mechanical thinning to mitigate the risk of wildfires. The group’s record of compromise and innovation could offer a blueprint for other areas looking to boost the resilience of fire-prone forests and rural economies.

13 years ago, Brazil didn't have satellite data or heat mapping to track illegal logging. Neither did they have weapon wielding agents working to stop ecological crime. These tools, in addition to the help of indigenous Brazilians is making the goal of ending Amazon deforestation by 2030 seem more and more likely.

Patients' last years of life are the most expensive for the health care system. For a fifth of the cost, a Zen hospice program, in San Francisco, is helping those who are dying improve their quality of death by enjoying the present.

Women in central India are being recruited and professionally trained as wildlife safari guides and naturalists. Government hiring initiatives and Pugdundee Safaris' ProNat program have provided rural women with stable, well-paying careers while improving the safari experience for tourists and increasing conservation compliance in tiger reserves.

Indigenous women in British Columbia are leading the revival of cultural burning practices and integrating Indigenous knowledge into wildfire management. Organizations like the Salish Fire Keepers Society have led to policy changes and an increase in Indigenous representation in firefighting roles.

The Corridors of Life project, led by IPÊ and driven by land reform settler families in Brazil's Pontal do Paranapanema region, has restored over 6,000 hectares of Atlantic Forest through community nurseries, rural startups, and agroforestry systems. Since 2002, they have brought back 174 bird species, 29 mammal species, and economic opportunity to hundreds of families.

Kigali has restored over 1,600 acres of degraded wetlands, transforming polluted swamps into functioning ecosystems with ponds, forests, and native vegetation. This has eliminated flooding, created green spaces, and supported over 200 bird species.

Facing flooding and degraded farmland in West Tennessee, The Nature Conservancy partnered with state agencies to transform 860 acres of flood-damaged agricultural land into Middle Fork Bottoms State Park. Since the process began in 2018, flooding has decreased by 85%, and the ecosystem and native wildlife have been restored. Plus, the park attracts about 15,000 visitors monthly during peak season.

A partnership between the Africa Nature Investors (ANI) Foundation and Nigeria's National Park Service introduced a community-led conservation model at Okomu National Park that transformed former illegal loggers and poachers into paid rangers and entrepreneurs. This reduced chainsaw incidents, expanded patrol coverage, recorded a stable elephant population, and provided over 120 residents with access to savings and loans that reduced their economic dependence on the forest.

University of Alaska researchers have developed biodegradable insulation boxes and building materials made from local beetle-killed spruce trees and fungal fibers that successfully shipped seafood across the country while offering a sustainable alternative to plastic foam that could reduce Alaska's 1+ million annual styrofoam boxes, create local jobs, and address rural housing quality issues.