Welcome to Terralingua — Your Hub for Biocultural Diversity.

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Did you know? Biocultural diversity is the diversity of life in nature and culture. It’s a living network made up of the millions of species of plants and animals and the thousands of human cultures and languages that have evolved on earth. And you are a part of it!

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Think of it as biodiversity, cultural diversity, and linguistic diversity all bound together — interconnected and interdependent. That “inextricable link” has arisen over time through coevolution and through the myriad ways in which people around the globe have interacted with the natural environment.

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We at Terralingua came together around the idea of “biocultural diversity” 25 years ago. In fact, we coined that term! We recognized that diversity in both nature and culture is vital for the thriving of life on earth, and since then we’ve been promoting understanding, appreciation, and support of biocultural diversity worldwide.

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If you, like us, believe that sustaining biocultural diversity is essential for a healthy, just, and resilient future of life on earth, you’ve come to the right place! We’re your hub to learn more about biocultural diversity, then read stories, find resources, watch videos and listen to podcasts, and more.

Featured Updates

**The Latest Issue of Langscape Magazine is Here!**

Langscape Magazine Vol. 11 was an invitation to storytellers around the world to share their reflections about how the Indigenous principles of Reverence, Respect, and Reciprocity can help build a just, equitable, sustainable world in which biocultural diversity can thrive. Buy one for yourself or someone else.

Indigenous Youth Storytellers Circle

Explore inspiring first-person stories from Indigenous youths worldwide! We started our Indigenous Youth Storytellers Circle in 2019 as an official project of the UN’s International Year of Indigenous Languages. The project was such a great success that we are continuing to gather and publish Indigenous youth stories. Learn more.

Donate to Support Terralingua’s Mission

Yes, it’s that giving time of year! This year, we’re fundraising to publish an entire issue of Langscape Magazine that explores the role of rights and responsibilities in achieving a biocultural resurgence — a renewed flourishing of life’s diversity in nature and culture. For this year’s donation appeal, we’re simply — yet crucially — asking you to invest in our next issue. Please Donate Here.

Langscape Magazine

Unique stories celebrating the bounty of diversity in nature and culture. Indigenous and non-Indigenous voices and viewpoints. Stunning pictures, videos, and art. Discover Langscape Magazine, our flagship publication — thought-provoking, inspiring, and always ad-free.

Explore

It All Starts with Opening Our Hearts: A Dialogue about Earth Jurisprudence

Every being on Earth has both inherent rights and the responsibility to participate in the web of life. WORDS Mashudu Takalani and Gertrude Pswarayi-Jabson | IMAGES Tim Hawkins The Gaia Foundation is an international organization with nearly forty years of experience accompanying allies to revive biocultural diversity. Having graduated from Gaia’s three-year, UN-recognized “Trainings for

The Oyster Picnic

A designer takes responsibility to learn about the landscape and the Aboriginal languages that describe it. WORDS AND ART Kathryn Morgan . In this body of work, I explore the role language can play in honoring lives of the past and the present-day sovereignty of First Nations people. I’m trying to learn about the precolonial

It All Starts with Opening Our Hearts: A Dialogue about Earth Jurisprudence

Every being on Earth has both inherent rights and the responsibility to participate in the web of life. WORDS Mashudu Takalani and Gertrude Pswarayi-Jabson | IMAGES Tim Hawkins The Gaia Foundation is an international organization with nearly forty years of experience accompanying allies to revive biocultural diversity. Having graduated from Gaia’s three-year, UN-recognized “Trainings for

The Oyster Picnic

A designer takes responsibility to learn about the landscape and the Aboriginal languages that describe it. WORDS AND ART Kathryn Morgan . In this body of work, I explore the role language can play in honoring lives of the past and the present-day sovereignty of First Nations people. I’m trying to learn about the precolonial

Featured Projects

A Glimpse of the Sea: Healing from Trauma and Abuse through Kristang Songs

Embracing his mixed Indigenous identity helps a young Singaporean embark on a healing journey. WORDS, MUSIC, AND IMAGES Kevin Martens Wong . Little Lion Boy Little lion boy Come sing of the night with me And we’ll curl up beside the fire And you’ll forget your misery Let their memory fade Let their

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Indigenous Youth Storytellers Circle

Explore inspiring, first-person stories from Indigenous youth worldwide — and share your own! Our Indigenous Youth Storytellers Circle (IYSC) provides a global platform for Indigenous youths to share their unique perspectives online and/or in print via Langscape Magazine, Terralingua’s flagship publication.

Explore

News & Views

A Culture in Peril: Tanzania’s Maasai Forced from Their Ancestral Lands

The Maasai take their culture with them wherever they go. WORDS AND IMAGES Melanie Furman “My grandparents only ate cow’s milk, cow’s meat, cow’s blood, and wild fruit they would find while grazing cattle. They still don’t eat maize meal, but now we have to. They never go to a hospital when they get sick.

The steps of the BC Provincial Legislature at the July 1, 2021, First Nations memorial gathering.

Mom, Dad . . . Where are you?

Indigenous Adoption Stories Knowing one’s origins can bring healing and closure. Marie-Émilie Lacroix and Marco Romagnoli “I could hand you a braid of sweetgrass, as thick and shining as the plait that hung down my grandmother’s back. But it is not mine to give, not yours to take. Wiingaashk belongs to herself. So

Collaborate with Us! We’re Seeking an Executive Assistant

Thank you for your interest! The APPLICATION PERIOD is CLOSED: No longer accepting applications. Terralingua is a small international nonprofit organization that for over 25 years has been a pioneer and recognized leader in promoting understanding and appreciation of the value of diversity in both nature and culture (“biocultural diversity”) for the thriving of life

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