CCL Digest

Explore how local communities engage in conservation to address environmental and economic challenges through stewardship, sustainable livelihoods, supportive policy and innovative governance. In particular, see what is happening across the Community Conservation Research Network (CCRN), including research updates, community stories, videos, publications and student news. To stay updated subscribe to our newsletter using the signup field to the right.

Women Are Becoming Agents of Change in Indonesian Fisheries

“Octopus fisheries provide critical opportunities for women. Wa Dimba is an octopus fisher in Darawa, a small coastal village in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. When the tide is low and reef areas become exposed, Dimba ventures into the water with her metal spear and gleans for octopus. Her fishing skills were passed down through generations”.

Keep Reading (Walton Family Foundation)

Themes:
● Engagement, Education & Empowerment ● Factors of Success in Community Conservation ● Livelihoods ● Wildlife & Fisheries 

How a ‘tree mortgage’ scheme could turn an Indian town carbon neutral

“In the misty, hilly terrain of Wayanad, in the southern Indian state of Kerala, the people with any access to land in the quiet town of Meenangadi have been out counting their trees… Sheeja CG, a 46-year-old farmer, has lived among coffee, coconut and pepper plantations all her life but last month she increased her income dramatically by mortgaging 53 of her trees at the local bank, in return for a sum of 2,650 rupees (£26.96), or 50 rupees each. She was one of the first beneficiaries of the state-sponsored scheme”.

Keep Reading (The Guardian)

Themes:
● Climate & Environmental Change ● Factors of Success in Community Conservation ● Livelihoods 

MARPLASTICS: Telling the stories of small-scale Circular Economy initatives in Eastern and Southern Africa – making change for good

“Through the capacity component of the Marine Plastics and Coastal Communities (MARPLASTICCs) project, IUCN has supported  various Circular Economy initiatives aiming at reducing plastic leakage into the marine environment. As part of this effort, a new video showcases three of these projects within the Eastern and Southern Africa region. The video shares the work of local communities in Kenya, Mozambique and South Africa. Implemented in the local context and engaging communities, these initiatives play a role in filling the social equity gap currently prevailing in the Circular Economy”.

Watch the Video (IUCN)

Themes:
● Engagement, Education & Empowerment ● Factors of Success in Community Conservation ● Livelihoods ● Places & Spaces 

Award-winning Thai community continues the fight to save its wetland forest

“A village leader, Srongpol lives in Ban Boon Rueang, a town in Thailand’s northern Chiang Rai province. Nestled between the Doi Yao mountain range and the lower reaches of the Ing River, a 260-kilometer (160-mile) tributary of the Mekong, Ban Boon Rueang is an unassuming town with an agrarian lifestyle that goes back generations. But in recent years, community members have been roused to take action to protect the surrounding nature that provides them with sustenance and secures spiritual connections to their ancestors”.

Keep Reading (Mongabay)

Themes:
● Climate & Environmental Change ● Factors of Success in Community Conservation ● Livelihoods ● Places & Spaces 

New global platform connects small-scale fishers to promote sustainability and improve livelihoods

“A new online portal launched this week to promote more sustainable small-scale fisheries. Developed by a global coalition of fisheries organisations, the interactive site connects fishers, fishworkers, communities and allies worldwide to share and learn together”.

Keep Reading (Blue Ventures)

Themes:
● Engagement, Education & Empowerment ● Livelihoods ● Wildlife & Fisheries 

Making waves: the hit Indian island radio station leading climate conversations

“Selvarani Mari is a fisher and seaweed collector who lives on Pamban Island of Tamil Nadu, on the southernmost tip of India… Every day she helps her husband cast the fishing nets, maintains rafts for cultivating seaweed, and dives into the ocean to gather sargassum. But she always makes time to listen to the radio… Mari, 33, and her friends and family all unfailingly tune into Kadal Osai on 90.4FM, India’s first local radio station for a fishing community. With guests including from older people from the villages sharing their fishing wisdom or chatting about the climate crisis, the station has become an integral part of local life, featuring gossip, jokes, old songs and news on fish prices and sea conditions”.

Keep Reading (The Guardian)

Themes:
● Climate & Environmental Change ● Engagement, Education & Empowerment ● Livelihoods 

How shea products are boosting Ghanaian women’s livelihoods

“An FAO training has been a turning point in Rita’s shea business. Now she is an advocate and employer of other rural women, promoting sustainable livelihoods that can offset deforestation in her region”.

Keep Reading (FAO)

Themes:   
● Climate & Environmental Change ● Engagement, Education & Empowerment ● Livelihoods 

In a Nepali wetland, a traditional craft helps a community earn a livelihood and keeps invasive weeds in check

“To the officials of Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, water hyacinths and bulrush are destructive invasive plants that disturb the aquatic ecosystems of Nepal’s only wildlife reserve. But to Rudridevi Sardar, they are what sustains her livelihood”.

Keep Reading (The Third Pole)

Themes:
● Engagement, Education & Empowerment ● Indigenous Issues ● Livelihoods ● Wildlife & Fisheries 

Indigenous People Have Reclaimed the National Bison Range

“After 113 years of fighting the U.S. government and systemic racism, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes are once again managing 18,800 acres of wildlands, and its resident bison herd”.

Keep Reading (High Country News)

Themes:
● Governance, Rights & Conflict ● Indigenous Rights ● Livelihoods ● Wildlife & Fisheries 

The bold plan to save Africa’s largest forest

“The Congo Basin contains the world’s second-largest rainforest, crucial for regulating the world’s climate. Inside it, a plan to halt the forest’s decline is bearing fruit”.

Keep Reading (BBC)

Themes:
● Climate & Environmental Change ● Engagement, Education & Empowerment ● Livelihoods ● Places & Spaces

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