Pacari Network brings together 47 traditional pharmacies and community-based organizations to cultivate medici-nal plants, preserve traditional ecological knowledge and health traditions, and protect the biodiversity of Brazil's Cerrado biome. In the absence of comprehensive legisla-tion recognizing traditional health practices, Pacari has mo-bilized medicinal plant producers and local health practitio-ners to develop self-regulation.Standards have been put in place to regulate the prepara-tion of traditional remedies, safety and sanitary conditions for plant processing, and sustainable harves...

The Ngata Toro Community's 22,300 hectares of traditional lands lie partly within Lore Lindu National Park, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve located on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. Since 1993, two local organizations have worked to strengthen traditions, customary laws, and local institutions for sustainable use of forest, land and water resources.The Organization for the Indigenous Women of Ngata Toro Village (Organisasi Perempuan Adat Ngata Toro - OPANT) and the Institute for Indigenous People of Ngata Toro Village have promoted the sustainable harvesting of non-timber forest products, low-i...

This network of marine and terrestrial protected areas spanning the Vanuatu islands of Nguna and Pele has brought together local, national and international actors in a diverse partnership for the conservation of the area's unique biodiversity. The network comprises sixteen indigenous communities engaged in the conservation of more than 3,000 hectares of marine and terrestrial resources.The project has become a case study for best practice in community marine conservation within Vanuatu and the Pacific islands for its strategies of proactive conservation, resilient management, and locally-appr...

To reduce dependence on declining fisheries and vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, Namdrik Atoll Local Resources Committee is promoting a model of community self-sufficiency, local food security and adaptation. Traditional crops such as breadfruit, taro and native pandanus have been reintroduced to protect and restore soil, improve food security and open value-added secondary processing industries for local communities.A pearl farm provides jobs and a revenue stream to fund community development projects in education and health. Training in rainwater harvesting is providing the co...

With 912,000

Muliru Farmers Conservation Group is a community-based organization located near Kakamega Forest in western Kenya. The group generates income through the commercial cultivation and secondary processing of an indigenous medicinal plant, to produce the Naturub® brand of medicinal products.The enterprise reduces pressure on the biodiverse Kakamega Forest by offering an alternative to the exploitation of forest resources, while the commercialization of the medicinal plant has heightened local appreciation of the value of the forest's biodiversity. Over half of the project participants are women a...

Since 2005, this federation of women's economic interest groups, centered on the island of Niodior, has worked to rehabilitate mangrove ecosystems and promote natural resource management in the Saloum Delta Biosphere Reserve. The group was founded in response to multiple pressures on the reserve's mangrove and marine resources, and a 22-woman monitoring committee was established to regulate the harvesting of marine and forest resources.With funding from the UNDP-implemented GEF Small Grants Programme, the initiative developed a participatory code of conduct for marine harvesting, purchased equ...

Kwetu Training Centre is based in Kenya's coastal district of Kilifi where it uses a model demonstration site and extensive youth group engagement to promote sustainable environmental management of the coast’s mangrove forests. This has involved voluntary reforestation efforts and development of silviculture based around the mangrove ecosystems, such as crab farming, bee keeping and ecotourism. To this end, the centre has recently constructed a boardwalk through the local mangrove forests.As local illiteracy rates are high, Kwetu uses methods such as dance, drama, and music to convey conserv...

Kijabe Environment Volunteers (KENVO) has worked with rural communities on the Kikuyu Escarpment in Kenya since 1996, with a primary focus on forest conservation and reforestation in response to human pressures on the escarpment’s forests. The organization has evolved beyond this initial focus, however, into a flexible delivery mechanism for donor-funded interventions and a powerful vehicle for holistic local development.The current range of activities includes selling affordable fuel-efficient stoves to poor farming households; distributing mosquito nets to combat increased incidence of mal...

The village community of Bigodi, near Fort Portal, western Uganda, straddles an eight kilometre stretch of papyrus wetland that is home to an abundance of wildlife. Eight primate species and more than 200 bird species draw tourists from neighbouring Kibale Forest National Park, for which the Bigodi swamp forms an important wildlife corridor. Through the work of Kibale Association for Rural and Environmental Development (KAFRED), the community benefitted substantially from this ecotourism trade by establishing guided tours along a boardwalk through the wetlands, supplemented by the sale of hand...