• In Costa Rica’s Talamanca region, Indigenous Bribri women are championing sustainable agroforestry practices in a tradition that stretches back for millennia.

• Known as fincas integrales, it’s a system that mimics the diversity and productivity of the forest: timber trees provide shade for fruit trees, which in turn shelter medicinal plants, amid all of which livestock and even wildlife thrive.

• One of the few matrilineal societies in the world, the Bribri women are taking back their leadership after decades of decline and social problems in the community.

• Talamanca is also home to vast monoculture plantations of crops like bananas, a completely different farming system that relies on the heavy use of pesticides — a practice that the Bribri women say destroys the land.

Sammy Gensaw, 26, grew up paddling redwood canoes on the Klamath River and driving the winding mountain roads of California’s North Coast. Since he was 10, Gensaw has been advocating for his people – and the food provided by the river and its valley – at government meetings and with nonprofit groups.

Giving Indigenous communities the means to feed their families is a responsibility Gensaw wants to take on, starting with giving people access to healthful food choices.

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The jewels of America’s landscape should belong to America’s original peoples.

By David Treuer

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“In this critical phase of life on our planet, a new paradigm of economic and demographic growth is only possible if the Earth’s ecology is preserved and enhanced,” says Davide Bollati, Davines Group Owner & Chair. “With the aim of tackling this gigantic task, Davines Group has been doing its part throughout the years with humility and enthusiasm for the cause. Partnering now with Rodale Institute, a true kindred spirit and dynamic pioneer of this regenerative vision, is a collaborative way to take greater steps on our journey to making the world a more beautiful place through beauty, ethics and sustainability. We hope our partnership will not only positively impact our product development and supply chain, but also serve as a catalyst for change that will animate sustainability studies and regenerative organic farming practices in Italy, Europe and beyond.”

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Scientists from South Africa and the United States are launching a campaign to map marine, freshwater, and terrestrial species and ecosystems in one of Earth’s biodiversity hotspots: the Greater Cape Floristic Region at the southwestern edge of South Africa.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will fly planes over the area for six weeks in 2023 to measure the height and structure of vegetation and collect ultraviolet, visual, thermal, and other imagery across terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. In addition, teams on the ground will observe locations of particular interest, log plants and, possibly, animals they detect.

Using this data, the team will map the region’s biodiversity, provide estimates of species’ distribution and abundance, and the boundaries of ecosystems, and research how biodiversity impacts the physical environment and vice versa. In other words, the campaign will help scientists understand the structure, function and composition of ecosystems in the study area.

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Most conversations about food tend to travel along a horizontal plane, spanning the distance from farm to table. But in continuing the work toward a more just food system, we also must travel vertically — deep into the soil. We need to talk about seeds and, in doing so, some of us need to do less talking and more listening.

Shiloh Maples is affiliated with the Ojibwe and Odawa tribes as part of the larger Anishinaabe community. She is based in Southeast Michigan and acts as Upper Midwest regional coordinator for the Indigenous Seed Keepers Network, a national program organized by the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance. Her work is centered on seeds as a core element of food sovereignty for Indigenous communities across the United States.

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A colleague recently told me that climate justice is about building ties between people, their land, and their traditional, ancestral ways. In all my years of doing environmental work, this is one of most succinct ways I’ve heard to describe what climate justice means for Indigenous People and communities: Reconnecting to our land is an integral piece of addressing climate change, for both our Nations and our wider communities.

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The People’s Summit is composed primarily of movements of landless peasants, agricultural workers, fisherfolk, indigenous people, rural women and youth—or small food producers who produce 70% of the world’s food, yet remain among the world’s poorest and food insecure.

“The issue of landlessness and land grabbing is not in the agenda of the UNFSS. Nowhere in its so-called Action Tracks do discussions highlight critical trends such as on land concentration and reconcentration in the hands of big agribusiness firms and their network of local landlords and compradors, nor on the massive displacement of rural communities to give way to big private investments and large development projects,” said Chennaiah Poguri, chairperson of the Asian Peasant Coalition (APC).

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"We argue that Indigenous Māori frameworks offer powerful ways of thinking about how we protect the Antarctic, by focusing on responsibilities rather than rights, including the responsibilities we have to future generations," she says.

Antarctica is unlike any other place on Earth -- it is remote, there are no permanent human settlements, and no one nation has sovereignty.

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Director of the Sicangu Food Sovereignty Initiative (FSI), Matte Wilson, weaves together Lakota tradition and modern models to form award-winning ideas about regenerative farming on the Sioux Rosebud Reservation in south-central South Dakota.

Today, high rates of food insecurity, unemployment and diseases such as diabetes and heart disease are common among many Native American tribes including the Sicangu Lakota Oyate (Burnt Thigh Lakota Nation). As such, organizations are working to help reestablish the economy.

Wilson explains that food insecurity on various reservations is common with the destruction of the buffalo economy. (The Sioux historically refer to bison as buffalo.) The Lakota/Dakota/Nakota nations, which are all part of the Great Sioux Nation, traditionally followed and hunted buffalo herds and harvested plants along the way.

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Vanishing insects, soil without earthworms, dying coral reefs: biodiversity is clearly on the decline. Two years ago, the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) published an alarming report with a clear message: we must turn the tide before ecosystems collapse. The future of humanity is hanging by a thread. Biodiversity forms the basis for our existence, providing us with food, clean drinking water, climate adaptation, and a buffer against disease. This realisation is the driving force behind the mission that Liesje Mommer, Professor of Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation, has formulated for Wageningen University & Research (WUR): to reverse the decreasing biodiversity curve. She wants to connect all WUR initiatives, research studies and researchers working on biodiversity. Her motto: we are better together.

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An urban farmer, seed keeper, and member of the Tlingit Nation, Kirsten Kirby-Shoote is uplifting Indigenous food sovereignty

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“Our theme for the Center for Architecture Lab residency is ‘Indigenous Futurism,’” Gallegos said. “We will be exploring narratives of the future for Indigenous communities and architectural sovereignty guided by the lenses of technology, alternative worlds, science fiction and studies of temporality.”

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A new study by historical ecologists finds that Indigenous-managed forests -- cared for as 'forest gardens' -- contain more biologically and functionally diverse species than surrounding conifer-dominated forests and create important habitat for animals and pollinators.
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Do you want to start a community pantry in your barangay? 

What started out as a lone initiative in Maginhawa created ripples across the country as several barangays put up their own community pantry or “bodegang bayan” to help Filipinos badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.  (READ: ‘Pagod na ako sa inaction’: How a community pantry rose to fill gaps in gov’t response)

The woman behind the initiative, Ana Patricia Non, set up a bamboo cart with free grocery goods along the popular Maginhawa Street in UP Village on Wednesday, April 14. 

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Currently, the focus is on soil research. Specifically, using regenerative practices to restore degraded soils and increase soil carbon. Examples include various applications of multispecies cover crops, effects of pesticides on soil microbial diversity, integrating biochar into regenerative agriculture practices and building soil carbon through regenerative practices.

“In order to have impact, these projects have been designed as pilots to build capacity in different bioregions across the country. Our multi-species cover cropping will be triangulated across three states of Australia,” said Ms Gordon.

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“Small planning grants and proof of concept models were able to work and show [tribal networks are] a viable solution that could bring in more money later,” says Hannah Trostle, the author of the ILSR report. “It’s feasible, and it’s possible.” ILSR has counted nearly four dozen tribes in what’s considered the United States with their own internet networks.

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By establishing portfolio of emerging companies targeting improved soil health outcomes, TNC aims to prime the pump for sustainable innovation across investment sectors

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AS the recovery from COVID-19 in the Pacific gains momentum, agriculture and food systems are central to its success.

The organic movement in Fiji and region-wide has continued to grow, even during this still lingering calamity.

Now is the time to support organics in agriculture, and the movement cannot play a strong role in COVID recovery without recognising one of its central driving forces – women.

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Farming for Nature is a national initiative that highlights the positive role that farmers play in looking after nature on their land. It aims to share their practical insights through a range of short films, podcasts, webinars, and farm walks.

These give them a louder voice in the debate as to how action can be taken at farm level to tackle biodiversity and climate crises in Ireland.

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The Earth’s forests are some of the richest and most biodiverse habitats we have.

Not only do they serve as important carbon sinks, but up to 350 million people living in or near them rely on their ecosystems for a range of basic needs, from food and shelter, to energy and medicine.

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Mitchell, 28, who was a board member at the Food Project in Boston before going to work at Greensgrow Farm in Philadelphia, told Sierra, “When I started farming, it felt very healing to me. It was a way of doing some ancestral trauma healing work, and it felt very important to me that my agricultural practice was related to this.” 

Eventually, Mitchell searched for ways to deepen her agricultural practice and knowledge. In 2016, she attended the Northeast Organic Farming Association conference, and while there she couldn’t help but notice that she was one of the few people of color. Looking to connect with farmers of color, she struck up a conversation with a Black elder and asked what his needs were. He told her: high-quality seeds that are culturally appropriate and easily accessible to Black farmers and gardeners

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Soil microorganisms play a critical role in the survival of life-sustaining ecosystems and, consequently, human well-being. Global assessments continue to provide strong evidence that humans are causing unprecedented biodiversity losses. However, existing information is strongly biased towards selected groups of vertebrates and plants, while much less is known about potential shifts in belowground communities.
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In nature, everything works together and there is deep collaboration from all beings to survive. Moss, lichen, fungi, trees and roots are all connected to each other and create life and possibility beyond language, time and generation. The roots of the forest floor share knowledge and guidance in the movement for change and liberation.

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The benefits are sometimes ignored with tropical tree-sourced foods clustered as “lost, underutilized or neglected” because they are overlooked by governments and development agencies. But hundreds of millions depend upon them, and they have huge potential to contribute significantly to the availability of fruit and vegetables.

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New research shows that biodiversity is important not just at the traditional scale of short-term plot experiments--in which ecologists monitor the health of a single meadow, forest grove, or pond after manipulating its species counts--but when measured over decades and across regional landscapes as well. The findings can help guide conservation planning and enhance efforts to make human communities more sustainable.

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The seed for food sovereignty has been firmly planted on South African soil. It is this seed which must now grow into a stronger, bolder, impactful network that can take food sovereignty to the next level.

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