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

**Submit a Story to Langscape Magazine Vol. 13**

Submissions are open for next year’s Langscape Magazine! We’re calling for stories on Indigenous and community conserved areas, also known as “territories of life.” This concept embodies the core tenet of the idea and practices of biocultural diversity: that there is an inextricable, mutual link between people and the natural world. Read Our Call for Stories

A Call for Stories for the Indigenous Youth Storytellers Circle

Submissions are open for the Indigenous Youth Storytellers Circle. Are you an Indigenous youth who has something to say about your experiences connecting to your ancestral languages, cultures, and lands? If so, send us your Expression of Interest by September 29, 2023. Read the Call for Stories.

Purchase the Latest Issue of Langscape Magazine!

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.

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

“Good Fire”: An Intertribal Alliance Empowers Native Californians to Restore Their Homelands

Tribal members take responsibility toward the land by reviving ancestral cultural burning. WORDS AND IMAGES Jeanine Pfeiffer AUDIO AND VIDEO Tribal EcoRestoration Alliance . In Northern California’s Lake County, young and young-ish Tribal women and men are reclaiming their eco-cultural heritage four generations after their great-great-grandparents were massacred, enslaved, and ousted from their homelands,

Forest of Our Past, Forest of Our Future: Managing the Woods of an Ancient French Common

A walk through one of France’s land commons reveals that the right to self-govern ensures the responsible management of natural resources. Gretchen Walters and Alain Levet . . The Stevenson Trail, a meandering 220 km path across rural central France, passes through the forests of the Mercoire massif, in the department of Lozère. The Mercoire,

“Good Fire”: An Intertribal Alliance Empowers Native Californians to Restore Their Homelands

Tribal members take responsibility toward the land by reviving ancestral cultural burning. WORDS AND IMAGES Jeanine Pfeiffer AUDIO AND VIDEO Tribal EcoRestoration Alliance . In Northern California’s Lake County, young and young-ish Tribal women and men are reclaiming their eco-cultural heritage four generations after their great-great-grandparents were massacred, enslaved, and ousted from their homelands,

Forest of Our Past, Forest of Our Future: Managing the Woods of an Ancient French Common

A walk through one of France’s land commons reveals that the right to self-govern ensures the responsible management of natural resources. Gretchen Walters and Alain Levet . . The Stevenson Trail, a meandering 220 km path across rural central France, passes through the forests of the Mercoire massif, in the department of Lozère. The Mercoire,

Featured Projects

Rani’s Rayah

A Dayak woman unleashes the power of song in defense of Borneo’s forest. WORDS Pinarsita Juliana | IMAGES AND VIDEO Save Our Borneo . “What is the purpose of the invitation for the Dayak to stand united? What is the purpose of loving the forest? As an inheritance for posterity, it is,” sang Rani

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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.

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News & Views

Send A Story for Our Next Issue of Langscape Magazine

We’re inviting Expressions of Interest on the theme of “Territories of Life: Sources of Biocultural Diversity, Resilience, and Self-Determination” for Langscape Magazine, to be published in 2024. “Territories of life” includes — but is not limited to — Indigenous and Community Conserved Areas (ICCAs) and Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs). This concept embodies the

Indigenous Youth Storytellers Circle Call for Stories

Send Your Story to the Indigenous Youth Storytellers Circle

We’re calling for stories from young Indigenous people from around the world. If you’re a young Indigenous person up to 35 years old, we invite you to join the Indigenous Youth Storytellers Circle! Your story can be about any of the following four areas, or any combination of them. We are interested in hearing how

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.

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