Our Stories

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India: Conserving the Gulf of Mannar’s biodiversity

The Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve, off the south eastern coast of India, is home to one of the world’s largest concentrations of marine species. Much of the Reserve’s biodiversity depends on the coral reef, which houses numerous species of fish and supports the livelihoods of close to 150,000 fis more

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Coping with environmental change in Ethiopia

Climate change has hit hard in the Afar Region of Eastern Ethiopia. Ali Hamadu has lost all his livestock as a result of five years of drought. Once a thriving pastoralist, today Ali and his wife and three children rely on food aid from the government and humanitarian organizations. “I was previousl more

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Burundi: Reclaiming forest reserve while improving livelihoods

During Burundi’s civil war, thousands of people sought refuge in the Kibira forest reserve near the capital Bujumbura. But since the war ended in 2002, damage to the forest has been exacerbated as internally displaced persons and nearby communities cut down trees to clear land for farming, and use t more

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In Bolivia, microloans lift thousands of women from poverty

Linet Claros Yevara, a resident of Mizque, a municipality in Bolivia with an 85 percent rate of extreme poverty rate, has seen her situation improve a lot lately. “My family eats better," she says. "Every day I give them fruit.” These improvements are thanks to the Semilla, or Seed, prog more

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In Myanmar, communities use water to power the future

For the 47 families of Thicong village, going on two-night expeditions into the forest 12 km away to collect wood was part of a routine. They needed wood to cook, to keep warm and to light their homes. Collecting enough wood to last a family two weeks took time and effort. But this is how life had a more

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Solar power provides sustainability to Croatian village

“The milk that we produce, we cannot sell,” says Mileva Desnica, who lives in the small village of Ajderovac in Croatia. “We don’t have electricity for a refrigerator, so we can only store food in the cold room for a day or two at most.” The municipality of Gračac where the village is located was cu more

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Nigeria: Sawdust recycling creates jobs while cleaning up city

For environmentalist Leslie Adogame in Lagos, Nigeria, his daily commute past large sawdust piles from the local timber factories got him thinking - how to clean up the waste and create jobs at the same time? “After brooding over it for a while, I decided that I had to do something to stop the burni more

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Lao PDR: Diversifying crops to cope with climate change

For Ki Her, the head of Kioutaloun village in mountainous northern Lao PDR, and 95 percent of the population who grow rice, the change in the weather over the past five years presents significant challenges. With shorter but more intense rainy seasons, followed by longer dry seasons, farmers are st more

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Building a brighter future for rice farmers in Cambodia

Farmers in the small community of Tuol Sdey, in the Svay Rieng province of southeastern Cambodia, have reason to be happy.  For the first time in decades they can rejoice in having two harvests in one season. This is largely due to the construction of a new water dam which stores rain in a near more

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Ethiopian families use cultural crafts to improve livelihoods

Genet Tesfaye is a young, married mother of one living in Ethiopia’s capital city of Addis Ababa. A potter by trade, Genet has been contributing more and more to her family’s income through her craft. Ethiopia has a diverse and rich cultural heritage, and a joint UNDP-UNESCO project is taking advant more

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