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Life on a Sustainable Planet

Starting a Summer of Sustainability

Enjoy five summery stories of conservation and sustainability successes from across the Smithsonian.

A pair of silhouetted people stargaze

Stars, Seas and Other Scientific Successes

We recap five of our favorite optimistic stories from March, featuring everything from a historic agreement to protect our oceans to a small island working together to save confused puffins

A view of an island with a wave revealing a coral reef underwater. Photo courtesy of Ishan on Unsplash.

Science from Sea to Sky

February was full of stories exploring Smithsonian research from the deepest to highest points on our planet.

Illustrator Max Jake Palomino imagines a

Exploring the Social Side of Conservation

A case study demonstrates how incorporating social science into conservation actions can produce more effective, equitable, and lasting change.

Pollard swimming near the Placencia Producers Cooperative farm where she sources her seaweed. Photo by Nick Perry, Coastline Studios

Sustaining a Green Business

Belizean eco-entrepreneur Jolie Pollard shares insights into breaking into the green beauty business in this second story of a two-part series.

Belize seaweed farming pioneer Lowell

Seaweed Offers Solutions for Humans, Habitats, and Hair in Belize

In this first part of a two-part series, discover how seaweed is bringing a Belizean community together to explore its potential, from sustaining their local environment and economy to helping them take care of their hair!

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How Long Have Sea Cows Thrived in the Arabian Gulf? We Literally Stumbled on a Clue

An overcast stroll on a rocky, oil-stained shoreline is probably not your idea of a day at the beach. It didn’t bother us. We were wandering up and down Qatar’s coast to find the bones of recently dead marine mammals.

Vatosoa is an award-winning advocate for protecting Madagascar's coastlines and their wealth of resources for the local communities.

Meet the Community-led Conservation Advocate Working to Protect Madagascar's Coasts

Vatosoa Rakotondrazafy is a passionate advocate for conservation and sustainability along Madagascar’s coastline communities. After working on small-scale fisheries research supported by the United Nations Nippon Foundation, Rakotondrazafy joined the Madagascar Locally Managed Marine Area Network (MIHARI), an organization that aims to represent marginalized fishing populations and work with them to create locally managed marine areas (LMMAs). Through these LMMAs, local communities can manage and protect both their own fishery practices and biodiversity by combining their traditional knowledge with the support of conservation practitioners.

Gerald Schombs/Unsplash

More Sharks in the Water? That's a Good Thing.

Shark expert David Shiffman gives us reason for optimism this Shark Week.

Catch Bill's 90-minute special on Saturday April 25, 2020 on CNN.

Bill Weir's Road to Optimism

CNN's Climate Correspondent Bill Weir talks finding optimism in a contentious climate.

Steven Canty and Cristhian Perez of the Centro de Estudios Marinos of Honduras in the field. (Mayra Nuñez/Centro de Estudios Marinos)

Mangroves of Mesoamerica Will Start Getting Report Cards

The health of coral reefs in Central America is graded every two years and issued a report card. As of next year, two other coastal ecosystems that coral reefs heavily depend upon —mangrove forests and seagrass beds— will also start getting scores. This will help strengthen the everyday management strategies of these habitats, crucial to the livelihoods of over 2 million people.

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