Volunteers of a nonprofit tree-planting initiative in Paris are planting pocket forests, based on Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki’s method, to increase biodiversity and combat extreme heat. These mini-forests are made of native species planted close together at random to mimic a natural forest.
Read MoreIn Phoenix's historically Black neighborhoods, community organizations have transformed vacant, heat-trapping lots into thriving urban farms. One initiative, Spaces of Opportunity, converted a 19-acre abandoned site into a community farm with 250 garden plots available. Spaces of Opportunity serves over 1,000 residents each month, and other community farming initiatives also help in providing food and jobs for participants, many of whom are formerly incarcerated or unhoused.
Read MoreThe Fund for Frontline Power directs philanthropy funding to grassroots environmental justice organizations through grants. Thirteen environmental justice leaders, who are mostly women of color, organize the fund and ensure the community leaders are the ones who decide how the grant money is used once it is awarded.
Read MoreEn la bahía de Cispatá, Colombia, antiguos cazadores ilegales se convirtieron en conservacionistas que, junto a asociaciones comunitarias, han recuperado la población de caimán aguja de 6 a más de 12,000 ejemplares liberados. También han restaurado más de 1,000 hectáreas de manglar mediante un innovador programa de carbono azul que ha evitado 168,000 toneladas de CO₂, beneficiando a 435 familias y transformando una economía extractiva en un modelo de conservación sostenible reconocido internacionalmente.
Read MoreThe 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.
Read MoreMeadows + More is a farm in New Jersey that specializes in edible wild plants and its owner, Tama Matsuoka Wong, seeks to educate people about the important role wild plants could play in future food systems if disasters and climate change were to eradicate plant species. She tends over 200 varieties of wild plants that she sells to top chefs and restaurants and to home cooks. While the community of wild plant enthusiasts is small, her business has received renewed interest during the COVID-19 pandemic as people looked for alternatives to grocery stores.
Read MoreIn many low-income neighborhoods, new green infrastructure elements and green spaces signal the beginnings of gentrification. A coalition in one of the most ethnically diverse neighborhoods in Portland, Oregon is drawing on grassroots leadership, leadership development and job training programs, and culturally-specific green infrastructure construction to fight displacement and ensure that the current residents can benefit from the sustainability and livability improvements they make to their neighborhood.
Read MoreIn 2007 a program in Meghalaya, India called The Khasi Hills Community REDD+ Project was created to bring together the community members in an agreement to protect the sacred groves there. This was part of the larger REDD project within India by the United Nations to mitigate some of the effects of deforestation and forest degradation. The longterm goal is to revive 27,000 hectares (about 66,718 acres) of forests and to serve as an example for other biodiverse areas in the country. The project has since received international funding to support other things as well, like stimulating the tourist economy.
Read MoreTo address shade inequality and rising heat deaths, the American Forests launched a digital tool in 2021 that scores geographic areas based on tree canopy and surface temperature, as well as other factors such as income, employment, race, age and health. It then calculates a Tree Equity Score and maps out the regions that have the greatest need for trees. With this information, Tucson aims to plant one million trees by 2030, and has already planted 120,000 over the past four years.
Read MoreThe First Nations Garden, run by the Chi-Nations Youth Council, is a gathering space for the area’s 65,000 Native people, providing them with a garden and a highly-requested green space that hosts regular events and provides cultural resources and education while fostering community.
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