The Amazon is one of the most important biomes on the planet - not only for its biodiversity, but also for the essential role it plays in regulating the global climate. Protecting this territory requires solutions that integrate nature, society, and the economy in a sustainable way.

Written by Gabriela Fang for Amazon People

At last year's Merrell Hobbit Trail Runs, hosted by Mountain Runner Events, finishers of the 90km Hobbit Wayfarer did not receive a traditional medal. There was no metal disc stamped and ribboned to hang around the neck. Instead, runners were gifted something alive: an indigenous tree, planted nearby on their behalf.

Climate change is no longer a distant threat—it’s a daily reality for millions of people around the world. And nowhere is this more evident than in the systems that feed us.

Farmers and fishers are on the frontlines of a crisis they did not create. As the climate shifts, so too must our approach to food. It’s time to put food and agricultural systems at the centre of climate adaptation.

Read the full story from WWF

In 2023, the Kenyan Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry developed a national strategy, the Forest and Landscape Restoration Plan (FOLAREP) to apply nature-based solutions to conserve forests and combat land degradation. Forest conservation offers a highly effective carbon-capturing sink and maintains biodiversity and other ecosystem services.

CIFOR-ICRAF has been working to develop county-specific plans for Makueni and Taita-Taveta counties in partnership with local governments, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the African Wildlife Foundation through the UKPACT Nature-based solutions project funded by the UK government.

In the small village of Kikandwa, in the Mityana district of Uganda, villagers have transformed their landscape by sheer force of will, a commitment to healthy soils, and by working together to form the Kikandwa Environmental Association (KEA).