Feature Stories

A year ago, UNDP launched the UN Biodiversity Lab in partnership with UN Environment and the UN Biodiversity Convention to support nearly 140 countries to use spatial data to better deliver on their global commitments to biodiversity and sustainable development. Photo: Enrique Aguirre/Shutterstock.

July 29, 2019

How data can protect wildlife
A new pilot initiative covering about 25,000 hectares and using shepherds, has succeeded in increasing production of rangeland lamb and beef while simultaneously restoring vegetation and fostering biodiversity. Photo: Jonathan Taylor/Landmark Foundation.

July 26, 2019

Win-win for people and planet: smart shepherding in South Africa
Over the past two years, IFC’s Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Services’ Advisory Services team has been working on a pilot project with 11 of Neuland’s farms to showcase the operational and financial benefits of shifting to more efficient and environmentally sustainable ranching practices. Photo: Neuland Cooperative.

July 17, 2019

Beefing up Paraguay's meat industry
At least four indigenous groups live in the Sierra. The most populated and influential are the Rarámuris, known for their ancient traditions, their colourful clothing and their unbreakable relationship with nature. Photo: Svetlana Bykova/Shutterstock.

July 15, 2019

Protecting the Sierra Tarahumara, a biodiversity hot spot
With the onset of climate change, Cambodians are seeing changes. Temperatures are rising; the arrival of the monsoon is becoming less predictable; floods and droughts are increasing in frequency and severity.

July 10, 2019

Reducing risk, reaping resilience: Furnishing Cambodia’s farmers with the knowledge to adapt to climate change
Recovering traditional conservation practices in natural resource management through a self-strengthening process was the goal of this project.

July 2, 2019

Women, culture, and territory: Safeguarding biodiversity by protecting ancestral culture in Colombia
Although the Amazighe have been able to maintain Imegdale’s ecological balance through ingenious socio-ecological management systems, there are threats that render this delicate balance precarious.

June 5, 2019

Harnessing traditional knowledge and innovation in Morocco, conservation and livelihoods flourish
Bananas are grown extensively in Western Uganda and are an important source of livelihoods. The region is however one of the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Photo: mbrand85/Shutterstock.

May 28, 2019

Building climate change resilience of banana farmers in Western Uganda
Amazon biodiversity also plays a critical role as part of global systems, influencing the global carbon cycle and thus climate change, as well as hemispheric hydrological systems, serving as an important anchor for South American climate and rainfall. Photo: Alexandr Vorobev/Shutterstock.

May 22, 2019

Why the Amazon’s biodiversity is critical for the globe
The GEF project – described as “a trendsetter for Madagascar” by Erik Reed, a Natural Resources Management Specialist with the World Bank aims to reverse degradation of natural resources, while increasing the value of production, thus developing a model for integrated landscape management that can be replicated and scaled up across the country. Photo: Milan Zygmunt/Shutterstock.

May 21, 2019

Protecting land and livelihoods in Madagascar
Sought after for subsistence-based hunting, as part of rural communities’ diets for centuries, the critically endangered tree kangaroos have been hunted almost to extinction, but now local communities and conservation groups are fighting together to save them. In the subsequent decade, the TKCP and the YUS Conservation Area have become a national model for conservation within the unique context of PNG’s customary land tenure system. Photo: Jonathan Byers/TKCP.

May 17, 2019

Local action to protect biodiversity: the tree kangaroo in Papua New Guinea
More efficient management of global nutrient cycles could contribute substantially to reducing pollution and to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Photo: iMoved Studio/Shutterstock.

May 10, 2019

Bittersweet nature of nitrogen calls for better management practices
In Northern Sumatra and Sulawesi, boasting some of the most biologically diverse habitats on Earth and possessing staggeringly high numbers of unique plants and animals, the race to preserve these iconic species is now underway.

May 9, 2019

A race against time: combatting the illegal trade of endangered species in Indonesia
Ben Ruli, Thingreiphi Lungharwo and Dr Bo Liu work locally and internationally defending the rights of indigenous people.

May 1, 2019

UN convenes forum on indigenous issues: traditional knowledge has a lot to offer the world
These ‘magic’ oils are Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs)—a group of industrial chemicals that have been banned across much of the world since the 1980s due to their acute toxicity. But it is in the power industry where their use has proved most enduring—and dangerous. Photo: yevgeniy11/Shutterstock.

April 29, 2019

The dangers of modern magic