Climate change is impacting Pacific island nations harder than most – and sooner than most, too. Surprisingly, archaeologists have discovered that some islanders have been coping with climate change issues for hundreds of years.
Bruny Island: Working Towards Feral Cat Freedom
Feral cats are a significant pest in all parts of Australia. They have helped kill off dozens of small mammal species, and are getting more vicious and more numerous by the year. But some places are fighting back against the pussycat peril. One of the success stories comes from tiny Bruny Island, off the coast of Tasmania.
Nimmie-Caira: A Wetland Reborn
Champs-Elysées, Paris: Evolving Green
Coping With Corona: Raja Ampat Eco Resort
Many eco-resorts have been hit particularly hard by the recent pandemic. Relying heavily on incoming tourists, often situated in remote areas with relatively limited connectivity and supply chains, many have been left out on a limb. One dive resort in West Papua has taken the pandemic as an opportunity to relook its overall approach to sustainability.
Passions in Cairns: Coral Reef Planters
Despite having to close temporarily due to the coronavirus pandemic, Cairns-based diving outfit Passions of Paradise couldn’t stop thinking about their local reef even though they had no customers. So they did what they do best: helped look after Mother Nature. They teamed up with some reef scientists and got stuck into work on a new coral reef nursery.
Tengah New Town: Car Free in Singapore
McDonald's Sustainability Moves & Renewable Energy
The Lisbon Experiment: Making Cities Social Post-COVID-19
Many cities across the globe have banned AirBnB to avoid hollowed-out city centres and displaced local residents. Covid 19 has changed all that, with many cities seeing hundreds of short term rental properties lying unused. Fernando Medina, mayor of Lisbon in Portugal, has come up with an innovative suggestion for remedying both problems at once. He also plans to use the re-livening of the city centre to springboard greening initiatives including adding cycle lanes, creating green areas and public spaces to give people more places to socialise and exercise.
The Maowusu Miracle – Turning the Desert Tide
Most news we get about deserts today is bad. Creeping sands, disappearing rivers and croplands – it’s a gloomy subject. But in one remote area of China, local people decided to fight back against the invading sands. Today, the Maowusu is desert no longer, but a swathe of waving plants covering an area the size of Belgium.
Phoenix: Rising From Its Own Ashes
Luxembourg: First Country to Offer Free Public Transport - Everywhere
Seychelles: Searching Sustainable Balance
Ambikapur: Free Food from Plastic Waste
Sustaining Culture: The Kumano Kodō
The Kumano Kodō mountain paths have been trodden for over 1000 years, and are one of only two pilgrimage routes worldwide that have been awarded UNESCO World Heritage status. Today, the mountain trails are helping to sustain and renew communities that have been clinging on to survival for the last few decades.