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  • In green jobs boost, communities get bigger role running Pakistan's national parks

    July 17, 2020 |

    Thomson Reuters Foundation |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Pakistan

    Khunjerab is the country’s oldest and largest national park and is a model of successful community-led management and conservation. Eight villages inside the park agreed not to graze livestock in a 12-square-kilometer area in exchange for designated grazing areas that rotate so each can recover after being used. Locals get 80% of the park’s employment opportunities and the local communities receive 75% of the visitor-generated revenue. As a result, Marco Polo sheep and Ibex numbers have grown substantially. A new Protected Areas Initiative has been funded to expand conservation efforts using this model.

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  • Can the forests of the world's oceans contribute to alleviating the climate crisis?

    June 24, 2020 |

    Ensia |

    Text |

    1500-3000 Words

    Response Location: Australia, Tasmania

    A researcher in Tasmania is working to create climate-resilient “super-kelp” that could survive in its new climate along the coastline and help absorb carbon to prevent it from being released into the atmosphere. Other conservationists around the world are using different techniques to revitalize its diminishing kelp forests. In California, they have hand-cleared 52 acres of invasive purple urchins from the seas to bring back its kelp forest. While kelp can be tricky to work with, rebuilding these forests is one way to combat climate change.

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  • Around the world, Indigenous seed banks are helping to preserve culture, boost nutrition and protect the environment

    June 02, 2020 |

    Ensia |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Guatemala

    Indigenous seed banks preserve and reintroduce native agricultural varieties, which in some cases are more nutritious than other varieties. Qachuu Aloom runs a one-room seed bank that provides raw materials for its 500 active members, 80% of whom are women, to practice agroecological farming. The Cherokee Nation Seed Bank preserves more than 100 different kinds of seeds, distributing over 10,000 packets to growers in 2019. Several international organizations are working with seed banks to drive more resilient and diversified food production with native varieties as a way to address food insecurity.

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  • Why This New Jersey Forager Thinks Weeds Are the Future of Food

    May 19, 2020 |

    Next City |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, New Jersey

    Meadows + 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.

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  • Can Genetic Engineering Bring Back the American Chestnut?

    April 30, 2020 |

    The New York Times |

    Text |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, New York

    Researchers successfully genetically engineered American Chestnut trees to resist the blight that decimated the species. Using a resistance-conferring gene from the wheat plant, the trees are grown in the lab and then can mate with trees in the wild to produce hardier blight-resistant trees. Although there are several regulatory hurdles to clear, and some environmental activists oppose the use of genetic modifications, the group continues to receive substantial grants and the trees have passed years of safety and efficacy tests showing they are safe and can even contribute to a healthy diet for many species.

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  • Working to recover the ocean ecosystems that sea urchins gobbled

    April 22, 2020 |

    Cronkite News - Arizona PBS |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Los Angeles, California

    In partnership with the company Urchinomics, a lab in California is developing a type of feed that helps sea urchins captured in the wild grow so they can sell them for commercial purposes. Sea urchins have been ravaging bull kelp forests along the coasts and scientists are looking to sustainably control the urchin population. The algae-based feed that scientists produced helps the urchins grow and produce uni — the urchin’s edible gonads — which are sold to restaurants, and a test run of the product in Japan was well-received.

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  • City Nature Challenge Can Help Us Find Resilience and Mindfulness at Home

    April 22, 2020 |

    Texas Observer |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Houston, Texas

    Throughout the United States, an annual community science competition known as the City Nature Challenge (CNC), has brought residents together to document research-grade observations as a means of locating and identifying species with conservation needs. Although it's yet to be seen how this competition will fare during the coronavirus pandemic, in past years, thousands of observations have been made representing hundreds of species.

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  • In Kenya, herders turn an invasive cactus into biofuel

    March 12, 2020 |

    Deutsche Welle (DW) |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: Kenya, Laikipia County

    The invasive prickly pear cactus is spreading over grazing lands in Kenya and is harming herders’ livestock. So a local environmental science graduate is testing a system to turn the cacti into biogas. While the system can be expensive to install, the gas can be used for cooking and fertilizer, which can free up time for pastoralists and reduce the amount of firewood used. The graduate is training eight women’ groups to use the system.

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  • A Second Life for Flowers

    March 10, 2020 |

    The New York Times |

    Text |

    800-1500 Words

    Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

    Horticultural therapy – a mix of art therapy, wellness activity, and a way to reuse viable flowers – is gaining popularity amongst hospitals and nursing homes due to its nature-centric therapeutic benefits. Although medical research is limited, some studies have shown that it can have a positive impact on one's mood and participants have expressed sentiments such as, "It relaxes me. Just holding the flowers takes me away from my situation."

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  • Montana's Grand Prairie Experiment

    February 21, 2020 |

    Bitterroot |

    Text |

    Over 3000 Words

    Response Location: United States, Malta, Montana

    According to the WWF, 69 percent of the Northern Great Plains remains untilled, providing great opportunity for making sure that land remains untouched. Two conservation organizations, the Nature Conservancy and the American Prairie Reserve, are butting heads as they both try to preserve the land, albeit via different means. Although they both face opposition for their methods, this article lays out exactly how both have already managed to make great strides in conserving the land and increasing biodiversity.

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