Our Stories

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Burkina Faso boosts access to safe drinking water

An ambitious government effort to spread water resources more widely among Burkina Faso’s 15 million people has increased the proportion of the population that has access to water from nearly one fifth to two thirds in the last two decades.  Despite being a landlocked country and suffering the more

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Thousands get clean water in Sudan

Before the development of a new water reservoir in the El Ganaya district in southern Sudan, members of the Turab family, often the women, had to trek four hours just to collect enough water to survive. Some 40 percent of people living in the state do not have access to groundwater through wells or more

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Solar power changes families’ lives in Botswana

Until recently, the Mokgatlhe family in Kgope, a remote village situated 50 kilometres west of Botswana’s capital, had been using firewood to light and heat their home.  This practice, used by 80 percent of Botswana’s rural population, has led to the destruction of countless acres of forest.&nb more

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Communities help manage Turkey's national parks

Turkey is home to three globally recognized biodiversity hotspots and has a system of protected natural areas in place, but half its forests are considered degraded as a result of encroachment, overgrazing and illegal logging. Forests are among the most significant of Turkey’s ecosystems in terms of more

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Biomass fuel brings jobs and energy independence to Moldova

The kindergarten in the village of Ermoclia has declared its independence — energy independence, that is. Instead of struggling to keep students warm with expensive imported gas, the kindergarten now heats up with locally produced biomass fuels. It’s good for the children and the environment t more

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Afghanistan: New environmental councils spur development in provincial communities

Standing at the edge of Joe-e-Projey canal in the northern town of Char-i-Kar, Mohammad Tahir, a car mechanic, rues the fate of children who drink water from the local canal. “This canal has snuffed out many, many young lives. It is a bed of dirt and disease,” he says sadly, with moist eyes. The 70- more

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In Peru, new recycling organizations improve waste management

In the Peruvian district of Arequipa, Roque Flores Calle leaves his home in the suburbs from Monday to Friday to make a living for his family. Every morning he collects recyclable waste (plastics, bottles, cartons, cans) that local families provide. During weekends, he separates the materials for la more

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Modern conservation helps farmers prosper in Uganda’s drylands

In the Lyantonde district of Uganda, farmer David Muhoozi Kiseetula is seeing big changes in his harvest – and his life – after his farmers’ cooperative received a grant for education and instruction on new farming methods. “I used to harvest less than 100 kilos of maize from my garden. Today, I ha more

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Mongolia: Better-managed natural resources expand livelihoods

Naranbek Ristan slings his binoculars and notebook around his neck and mounts his horse with graceful ease. He is setting off on a monthly patrol of 6,000 hectares of community land to check on wildlife.   The country he will cover is harsh, magnificent and daunting. But for Ristan, most import more

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Restoring hope in the future for Prespa Lake, FYR Macedonia

“We used to do a lot of things without thinking about the effects on the environment,” says Naume Toskovski, an apple farmer in the Prespa Lakes region of Macedonia. “We didn’t know that dumping apples would pollute the water. Perhaps it’s a different story with pesticides and fertilizers— the tempt more