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Inside Nature Newsletter

People at the Heart: Conservation in Partnership with Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities

Hands hold beaded hearts made by Northern Rangelands Trust-Trading's BeadWORKS artisans in Kenya.
BeadWORKS Hands hold beaded hearts made by Northern Rangelands Trust-Trading's BeadWORKS artisans in Kenya. © Roshni Lodhia
The Inside Nature newsletter is created twice annually for some of The Nature Conservancy's most dedicated supporters. Learn more about our special membership levels.

 

Conservation is part of the long arc of history.

Since 1951, The Nature Conservancy has worked around the world to restore forests and grasslands, protect rivers and streams  and safeguard oceans and coasts.
 
While we have much to be proud of, we understand that the most enduring conservation is led by the Indigenous Peoples and local communities whose lives and livelihoods have been intrinsically linked to those natural systems since time immemorial.
 
Today, TNC supports Indigenous and local communities across 24 countries. We offer technical assistance to nomadic herders in Mongolia and access to allies and markets to artisans in Kenya. Building on our decades of experience with controlled burning in fire-dependent landscapes, we collaborate with and learn about fire from Indigenous communities in North America.
 
In this issue of Inside Nature, you can read more about these efforts and meet some of our leaders who are challenging our thinking and ensuring  that our work in partnership with Indigenous Peoples and local communities is built on respect and reciprocity.
 
These relationships are built at the speed of trust—and that truism applies to our relationship with you, too. We are grateful for your support, because it gives us the resources to follow each community’s vision for the lands and waters they steward toward a future when we all thrive .

In This Issue

An aerieal view of a forested landscape

Newsletter

Forever Forests: The Indigenous Peoples Burning Network in Action

Reviving traditional burning practices for the benefit of U.S. forests and Indigenous Peoples.

A woman sits atop her horse on snow-covered grasslands in Mongolia

Newsletter

Traveling Far, Together

Thoughtful conservation strategies in Mongolia allow nomadic herders and grassland ecosystems to flourish.

A woman stands on a grassy bank in front of an Alaskan waterway

Newsletter

Q&A: Listening with Open Hearts

A conversation with TNC's global director of Conservation in Partnership with Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, Andrea Akall’eq Burgess.

A smiling mom helps the youngest of her seven children get dressed for school

Newsletter

Beads of Change

The BeadWORKS program helps women artisans create and sell traditional handicrafts for income in place of work that can have harmful impacts on the environment.

The Blackfeet Nation will guide the future use and stewardship of the Heart Butte property in partnership with TNC as the short-term owner.

Newsletter

Nature Briefs

Key lands in Montana and Alaska have been returned to the Indigenous Peoples who traditionally stewarded them.

Read These Stories
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NRT-Trading Volunteer for BeadWORKS, U.S. Sales & Marketing, and Legacy Club Member

Donor Story

Joanna Brown

Joanna moved to Kenya for a year to support important conservation work, communities and livelihoods.

Meet Joanna
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Newsletter Article Archive

Explore more on-the-ground conservation success stories from around the globe.

See Archive
The communities are able to convert a low-value product, raw wool, into valuable commodities such as socks, shoes and bags that can be sold to other herders and tourists.
Mongolian boys shearing sheep The communities are able to convert a low-value product, raw wool, into valuable commodities such as socks, shoes and bags that can be sold to other herders and tourists. © Ted Wood