"We Are the People of the River"

Lake associations in New Hampshire are using a combination of chemical herbicide treatments, manual diver removal, and volunteer Lake Host inspection programs to manage invasive variable milfoil. Since 2002, their work has achieved up to 100% reduction in treated areas, and more than 1,500 invasive species intercepted at boat launches statewide.

In Santa Fe, Peru, an ancestral system of water storage is helping communities cope with water scarcity: qochas are artificial lagoons built to store rainwater during the wet season, which is later used during droughts. The use of qochas has allowed Santa Fe to have 41 reservoirs that store 2.9 million cubic meters (102.4 million cubic feet) of water, three times more than before.

The Yurok Tribe is tackling climate change through the use of a carbon-offset program, sustainable forestry principles, watershed and river recovery methods, and even beaver restoration practices. Over the years, the Indigenous community has worked to restore their territory using sustainable land management initiatives and because of their efforts, they were awarded the Equator Prize from the United Nations Development Programme in 2019.

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.

Through a co-management system, which has successfully rehabilitated degraded watersheds, the 2015 Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes-Montana Water Rights Compact has restored tribal sovereignty over their waters. This has brought bull trout back to their native streams and reconnected tribal members to traditional lifeways while maintaining water access for existing agricultural users.

The Rye Resurgence Project planted 4,000 acres of rye in Colorado's San Luis Valley, leading to a 30% reduction in soil nitrogen leaching, dramatically improved water infiltration, and reduced soil erosion and dust storms, while providing farmers with profitable markets that incentivize soil-protecting practices.

St. George, Utah, is building wastewater recycling plants to convert sewage into usable irrigation and drinking water, a solution already proven effective in communities like Las Vegas in conserving water resources and supporting sustainable urban growth.

A community gardening project growing the guajiro bean has allowed Wayuu farmers in the Colombian desert to achieve food security despite the effects of climate change and external pressures. While scaling this agricultural success to other Indigenous clans can be difficult, using a low-tech irrigation system and red earthworm compost has allowed one settlement to feed its community and make their soil fertile again.

The Arctic Eider Society, an environmental and social justice organization based in Nunavut, developed an app called SIKU that allows users to enter real-time data on conditions in the arctic. Inuktitut hunters use the app to alert others to hazardous ice conditions and observations about wildlife and vegetation. The app is funded by private foundations as well as federal and indigenous governments and has over 6,000 users. Users maintain intellectual property rights of their data and the app respects traditional knowledge by encouraging indigenous communities to merge old ways with new technologies.

Women “warriors” of the indigenous Guajajara people in Brazil use drones to patrol their territory of the Amazon rainforest in an effort to prevent deforestation. Because of their work, they have been able to cut deforestation down to just 63 hectares in 2018 compared with 2,000 hectares in 2016. While the work can be dangerous and difficult at times, the women are committed to protecting the forests as a way to combat climate change. “If we don’t act, there would be no forest standing,” says one of the women warriors.