Climatelinks Photo Gallery

Illegal alluvial gold mining in Colombia is a complex phenomenon that not only sweeps away vegetation but alters the balance of ecosystems through aggressive mechanical extraction methods that create deserts. In Antioquia, Colombia this has degraded over 45 thousand hectares of land, stripping away valuable trees that can absorb carbon dioxide (CO2), one of the main greenhouse gases. The USAID-Oro Legal Activity brought together indigenous and Afro Colombian communities, the private sector, and local and departmental governments to mitigate the environmental impact of uncontrolled mineral exploitation on more than one thousand hectares of degraded ex-mining land. Today 1,133,220 Acacia mangium trees and other native species are greening large tracts of land where just a few years ago only rocks and bare soil could be found.

The Pasig River runs through the heart of Manila and flows from Laguna de Bay to Manila Bay. The river was a major source of water, food and livelihood and offered an alternative mode of transportation. In the 1990s, Pasig River with all its garbage and foul odor, was declared biologically dead. Rehabilitation efforts started after the Pasig River Rehabilitation Commission was created in 1999. The photo shows a section of the Pasig River two decades after rehabilitation.

This common sighting in the rivers of the Peruvian Amazon portrays a "buoyer," a person whose job consists of untying the logs that have floated to the bank of the river-like buoys from the forest concessions, a journey that usually takes over 24 hours. Nearly 40% of the Amazonian population in Peru rely economically on the timber value chain-including over 250,000 families, mostly of indigenous descent- which presents a unique opportunity to draw increased attention to the challenges and opportunities the forest sector faces nationwide. The Pro-Bosques Activity aims to capitalize on timber harvesting by promoting sustainable forest management in Peru, strengthening forest governance with innovative forest control and monitoring tools, while promoting private sector engagement and indigenous participation in forest value chains.

Jean Bruno, nursery agent, and his wife on April 12, 2019. Sahambavy, Fianarantsoa, Centra Madagascar on their tree nursery.

The ASOTRY project, implemented by ADRA and funded by USAID/FFP, restores forests through reforestation activity. It contributes to mitigating global warming by soaking up greenhouse gas emission. In Madagascar where bush fire and slash hand-burn agriculture are a common practice, reforestation is crucial.

In March 2019 in Son La Province, Vietnam the USAID/Vietnam Vietnam Forests and Deltas Project joined with Son La Province for a ceremonial tree planting commemorating Vietnam’s commitment to sustainable development. In Son La Province, the Vietnam Forests and Deltas project supports Vietnam’s Payments for Forest Environmental Services (PFES) mechanism. The project supports the transition from cash-based payments to electronic payments to improve transparency and accountability, and works with provincial authorities to better monitor and evaluate the impact PFES has on Vietnam’s forests. The Vietnam Forests and Deltas project is implemented by Winrock International in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam.

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.

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.

The U.S. Forest Service International Programs, supported by USAID’s Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment, awards annual scholarships to promising government officials who complete Forest and Environmental Management Master's programs to improve capacity within environmental ministries across the region. Scholarship recipients traveled from Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, and São Tomé & Príncipe for a two-day networking event in Brazzaville in December 2017, where current students and program alumni had the opportunity to share their areas of expertise with U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of the Congo Todd Haskell. Training the next generation of professionals in the environmental sector is an essential step in helping countries develop sustainable economies as well as find ways to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change.

In developing countries, women often have key economic roles in fish marketing and processing. Fishery stocks worldwide are depleting rapidly due to overfishing and pollution and face additional risks from climate change. Fish are critical sources of high-quality protein for human and wildlife populations.

September 23, 2015.

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.

Basil Mpati, second on the left, works with the National Center for Forest Inventory and Zoning in the Republic of the Congo (CNIAF) and teaches workshop participants how to identify peat soils versus mineral soils in Mbandaka, Democratic Republic of the Congo (January 2018). This training, held by the U.S. Forest Service International Programs and the FAO and supported by USAID’s Central Africa Program for the Environment and the SilvaCarbon program, was an opportunity for technicians from the DRC Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development's Department of Forest Inventory and Zoning to learn about inventory sampling methods in peat forests so that they will be able to more accurately calculate how much carbon is currently stored in the country's forests. The Democratic Republic of Congo covers over 900,000 square miles and contains 60 percent of the Congo Basin’s forests, the second-largest tropical forest in the world after the Amazon. While there are many initiatives being put in place to sustainably manage these forests, the ability of national and regional actors to map and monitor them is an essential step in identifying critically threatened areas and developing effective resource management solutions to combat climate change.

Mrs. Noun Muoyheang fundraising to support her community’s fish conservation efforts in Aren, Pursat province, Cambodia. Noun and other community members have used these funds to plant trees and to make lasting improvements to key local fish habitats. With support from the USAID-funded Feed the Future Cambodia Rice Field Fisheries II project, 140 Cambodian communities like Noun’s have raised over US$150,000 to support and sustain their fish conservation efforts. Over 100 communities have expanded local dry season fish refuges, including in partnership with local government and the private sector. These expanded refuges provide wild fish with sustained protection from climate shocks such as seasonal and unseasonable dry periods, thus protecting a valuable resource that many local families rely on. Photo credit: Nin Mao, ANKO

Fishermen in Pursat, Cambodia collect the fish caught in their bamboo fish traps from the surrounding seasonally-flooded rice fields. Thanks to the USAID-funded Feed the Future Cambodia Rice Field Fisheries II project, people in 140 communities are trained and resourced to improve and protect fish habitats. This in turn helps to protect local fish from climate shocks and illegal fishing, thus helping to secure a valuable public resource for future generations. By 2021, the project will benefit over 290,000 people in four provinces of rural Cambodia. Photo credit: Fani Llauradó / WorldFish.