Climatelinks Photo Gallery

Water debit and quality of Ake Gaale spring’s retention pond have increased after the infiltration ponds were built. The infiltration ponds construction is one of the key recommendations of the Spring Vulnerability Assessment and Action Plan (KKMA) that Ternate city government and USAID IUWASH PLUS has conducted since early 2017. Based on the assessment result, Ternate city government expects to build 1,000 infiltration ponds to restore Ake Gaale water quantity and quality.

Tirta Wiyata Academy (AKATIRTA) students are learning to measure the water quality of Bening River in Magelang district using the Water Quality and Quantity (WQQ) equipment provided by USAID IUWASH PLUS through its Local Sustainability and Innovation Component (LSIC) grant. On April 24, 2018, USAID IUWASH PLUS handed over the equipment to AKATIRTA and trained the students and lecturers on how to use the equipment to collect accurate data on the water quality and quantity. AKATIRTA is an environmental engineering academy in Magelang that has a specialty in the water supply sector.

Workmen building house connections to the master meter system. With this system, PDAM (municipal water utility) could serve low income communities in the areas unreachable by the PDAM regular connections, such as informal areas and stage houses above the sea. In the Master Meter system, PDAM is responsible for distributing water supply from the main pipeline connections owned by the PDAM to the Master Meter equipment. The local community is responsible for distributing water from the Master Meter equipment to the respective houses. The master meter system is managed and maintained by community group organization.

Costa Rica, November 2014. The fertile fields of Costa Rica as seen from the slopes of Irazú volcano. Costa Rica's government acknowledges the importance of environmental sustainability, and has created many programs to incentivize good practices by the agriculture and infrastructure sectors, among others. 

Lake Arenal Hydropower Plant, Costa Rica, October 2014. Costa Rica runs on renewable energy for an average of 300 days a year, largely thanks to hydropower generated in stations like this one. Costa Rica’s proactive environmental policies are the reason it is considered a strong example of sustainable development around the world. However, much of Costa Rica's environmental development was not well regulated as it was undertaken, and numerous problems persist.

Limón Province, Costa Rica, November 2014. Pineapples are by definition unsustainable, requiring high use of agrochemicals and replacing large swaths of land with a single, spiny crop. However, pineapples are also extremely popular, so in spite of their inherent unsustainability, they’re not going anywhere. To meet increasing global demand for sustainably produced crops, companies in Costa Rica are investing in improved agricultural practices, certifications, and better conditions for laborers.

Monteverde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica, November 2014. In spite of its small size, Costa Rica accounts for nearly 6 percent of the world’s biodiversity. Cloud forests like the one at Monteverde are crucial habitat for plants and animals, such as this colorful hummingbird. Recent studies predict that cloud forests worldwide will diminish by 60 to 80 percent in the next 25 years as a result of climate change.

Chirripo Volcano, Costa Rica, 2014. Agroforestry is gaining popularity worldwide as a method of sustainable land management. At AsoProLa, an agricultural cooperative high in the mountains of Costa Rica's Puntarenas province, coffee is grown in the shade of banana trees. Coffee grown in this manner requires less agrochemicals, provides habitat to animals, and tastes better than non-shade grown varieties.

Kusor, Palawan, Philippines, June 20, 2019.
By Jessie Cereno, Talakatha Creatives.

In Kusor, southern Palawan, Philippines, women farmers plant cassava to help augment their livelihood and get less resources from the forest. The USAID-funded Protect Wildlife Project, together with partners like Lutheran World Relief and Sunlight Foods Corporation, is teaching and helping communities in southern Palawan to grow high-value crops, such as ube and cassava, and improve their farming practices. Together with local government partners, Protect Wildlife trains beneficiary communities in sustainable farming of high-value crops as an alternative to livelihood practices that adversely impact our natural resources and wildlife habitats. The project partnered with ECLOF, along with local governments and the private sector, to help communities get started on farming high-value crops and connecting them with buyers who can guarantee sustainable purchase of those crops, while redirecting farmers’ activities away from forests to help conserve natural resources and protect biodiversity. By enhancing their livelihoods, these farmers, many of whom are from upland indigenous communities who rely on traditional slash-and-burn farming, exert less pressure on their land, forests, water, wildlife and other natural resources, particularly in the Mount Mantalingahan protected landscape where they live.

Bataraza, Palawan, Philippines, June 18, 2019.
By Jessie Cereno, Talakatha Creatives

A woman farmer sows rice seeds in what used to be a slash-and-burn area of Mount Mantalingahan in southern Palawan, Philippines. Slash-and-burn farming has become rampant in the mountain, aggravating occasional timber poaching and hunting of threatened species like the talking mynah and blue-naped parrot, which are popular pets even among the locals.

To establish and strengthen financing support for sustainable agricultural production in target communities within the Mount Mantalingahan Protected Landscape, the USAID-funded Protect Wildlife Project holds capacity-building workshops for local farmers in project sites. These farmers are now learning how to make their ancestral land more productive.

Protecting the forest and stopping illegal wildlife trade is a livelihood issue. One cannot just tell the person to stop hunting birds without offering alternative livelihood. By introducing a better source of income or livelihood, controlling the spread of slash-and-burn areas, the project hopes to reduce the human pressure on Mount Mantalingahan, so that the protected area can perform its natural functions in helping mitigate climate change.

Bataraza, Palawan, Philippines, June 18, 2019.
By Jessie Cereno, Talakatha Creatives.

A woman farmer in Bataraza, southern Palawan walks through a slash-and-burn area of an agricultural section of Mount Mantaligahan, 140 kms south of Puerto Princesa City in Palawan, Phiippines.

The Mount Mantalingahan Protected Landscape encompasses five municipalities, within these municipalities and bordering the protected area are 140,184 hectares of forestlands. The largely forested protected area and the forestlands around it provide various ecosystem services that benefit the local and indigenous communities. These ecosystem services include supplying water, food, medicine, scenic places, fertile soils, and wildlife habitats. The forest cover also prevents the occurrence of destructive forces like flash floods. Thus, it is in the best interest of the communities to have their forests and forestlands placed under an effective management system.

The USAID Protect Wildlife Project builds farmer capacities to use sustainable farming methods. The Project promotes planting a diversity of food crops, creating buffer zones of native trees around existing forest, and the reclamation of degraded land through reforestation and other practices.

Forests are still being cut down and burned to clear land for farming, ranching, and road building. Slash-and-burn contributes to climate change by releasing all the carbon that the forest trees have absorbed over their lifetimes.

Kusor, Palawan, Philippines, June 18, 2019.
By Jessie Cereno, Talakatha Creatives.

In Kusor, southern Palawan, Philippines, an indigenous tribal woman tends to her farmers’ group purple yam (ube) plot. Through diversified and sustainable farming of high-value crops, upland communities have less reason to expand their slash-and-burn further into forests or hunt for wildlife just to make a profit. The USAID Protect Wildlife Project is focusing on activities that promote more sustainable farming practices, particularly for upland indigenous peoples' communities that are farming in or around forests and protected areas. Aside from improving the farming of usual crops, Protect Wildlife is also leading these farmers to plant high-value crops, such as cassava and the tuberous purple yam popularly known as “ube.” The project hopes that with this livelihood approach, upland communities will practice sustainable and environmentally conscious agriculture that puts less strain on forests and other natural resources so they can function well to help slow down and fight climate change.

Trail expert Matt Woodson, left, directs the team creating a new trail up Nyiragongo Volcano in Virunga National Park in April 2018. The U.S. Forest Service International Programs, supported by USAID’s Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment, is working with Virunga National Park and local communities to improve tourist hiking trails as well as create a more accessible trail up the volcano. This trail has a low gradient, which will allow local school groups to climb the volcano, and due to its route, will help rangers dissuade illegal charcoal and poaching operations in the park. Building capacity of national park staff to promote ecotourism not only improves visitor experience and creates economic opportunities for neighboring communities, but also puts the park on track for long-term financial stability, an essential step in the long-term protection of these landscapes, and the preservation of the forests within them.

John O. Niles (right) speaks to participants in a workshop held in May 2018 by the U.S. Forest Service and The Carbon Institute and supported by USAID’S Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment. Participants learned about calculating greenhouse gas emissions from land-use change. The U.S. Forest Service has partnered with the Carbon Institute, as well as government agencies, universities, and NGOs in the region to build regional capacity in carbon accounting to help countries better estimate greenhouse gas emissions in order to protect and preserve their rainforests. Accurate carbon accounting not only allows countries to identify threatened areas and causes of deforestation, but also allows them to apply for international funding to set up programs to protect these forests.

In May 2018, the U.S. Forest Service International Programs, in partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society and supported by USAID’S Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment, held a birdwatching training to train guides from Kahuzi Biega and Virunga National Parks in birdwatching with the aim to diversify tourism activities to attract new types of visitors. Building capacity of national park staff to promote ecotourism not only improves visitor experience and creates economic opportunities for neighboring communities, but also puts the park on track for long-term financial stability, an essential step in the long-term protection of these landscapes, and the preservation of the forests within them.

In May 2018, the U.S. Forest Service International Programs, in partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society and supported by USAID’S Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment, held a birdwatching training to train guides from Kahuzi Biega and Virunga National Parks in bird watching with the aim to diversify tourism activities to attract new types of visitors. Building capacity of national park staff to promote ecotourism not only improves visitor experience and creates economic opportunities for neighboring communities, but also puts the park on track for long-term financial stability, an essential step in the long-term protection of these landscapes, and the preservation of the forests within them.