Communities in Action

A World of Communities, Conservation & Livelihoods

Communities in Action places the spotlight on local communities, around the world, working to conserve their environment and sustain their local economies and livelihoods. The map below shows these community stories, all shared by local communities and others (and validated with external information) – we are grateful for their participation. If you wish to share a community story of environmental conservation and sustainable livelihoods, please see the bottom of this page…

To begin:

Search the map by typing a location name or selecting keywords to filter the results.

Press “Reset Map” at the bottom left of the map, before starting a new location or keyword search.

  • São Luis do Paraitinga, Brazil

  • Mambucaba, Brazil

  • Qeshm Island, Iran

  • Bay of Ranobe, Madagascar

  • Bunji, Pakistan

  • Shiretoko, Japan

  • No-Cah, Mexico

  • Mahahual, Mexico

  • Isla Grande, Colombia

  • Matipwili, Tanzania

  • Port Mouton Bay, Canada

  • Galiano Island, Canada

  • Clayoquot Sound, Canada

  • Halifax, Canada

  • Catuçaba, Brazil

  • Ebenhaezer, South Africa

  • Bluefields, Jamaica

  • Eastern Shore, Canada

  • Praia do Sono, Brazil

  • St. Margaret's Bay, Canada

  • Vila dos Pescadores, Brazil

  • Punta Herrero, Mexico

  • Sasaab, Kenya

  • Indigenous Xinshe Community, Taiwan

  • Urok Islands, Guinea-Bissau

  • Waterton Biosphere Reserves, Canada



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Agricultural
Air
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Climate change
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Ecological Restoration
Education
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Gender issues
Governance/Management
Grassland
Human-wellbeing
Indigenous peoples
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Land
Land use
Local/Traditional knowledge
Mangrove
Marine
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Policy and planning
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Public awareness
Public participation
Resource use
Soil
Tundra
Urban
Urbanization
User-rights
Water
Wildlife




IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN CONTRIBUTING A COMMUNITY STORY…

We welcome contributions of “community stories” that describe (1) a specific local community, (2) an environmental challenge (e.g., an environmental or natural resource problem) that affected the community’s economy and livelihoods, (3) the community’s response through conservation (stewardship) initiatives, and (4) the eventual outcomes.

If you would like to provide a community story as described above, simply send us an email at Communities-in-action@smu.ca which indicates which of the three choices you prefer for providing your experiences: (1) a fillable online form, (2) a fillable Word file which, once completed, can be sent by email as an attachment, or (3) working interactively with our CCRN team. We will then contact you to provide your preferred choice. Please note that you will have the opportunity to change, edit, add or remove the information you provide, even after your ‘story’ becomes available online.

If you would like more information first, please write to Communities-in-action@smu.ca.

A NOTE ABOUT COMMUNITIES

 Community stories involve a particular local community that is identified by its location and that lies within modest spatial boundaries. Communities are suitably small in size, such that a community’s residents identify with being part of the community and quite likely know many others in the community. Communities may be rural, whether small towns, villages or other locations (or groupings of small communities in a given area), or they may be urban neighbourhoods within a city (but not cities themselves). Note that how ‘small’ a community is will vary from one place to another, but usually their populations will be well under 20,000. If a community is larger, the contributor will be asked to provide some context as to why it can be viewed as a community.