Biocultural Diversity

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and linguistic diversity around the world.

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Biocultural Diversity
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Sustaining biocultural diversity — the true web of life.

Welcome to Terralingua! For over two decades, we’ve been working to promote understanding, appreciation, and support of biocultural diversity (BCD) — the vital diversity of life in nature and culture. We believe that the world’s biodiversity, cultural diversity, and linguistic diversity are interdependent and that sustaining biocultural diversity is essential for a healthy, just, and resilient future of life on earth. Learn more about BCD.

Featured Projects

Donate to elevate young Indigenous voices!

Sponsor a young Indigenous writer or artist. We’re raising funds as a way to honor the efforts of the young Indigenous writers and artists whose stories, poems, digital media, and artwork will be published in Langscape Magazine, released in December 2020. Help us show our gratitude to these talented young visionaries. Learn How

Indigenous Youth Storytellers Circle

Explore inspiring first-person stories from Indigenous youth worldwide! Our Indigenous Youth Storytellers Circle (IYSC) was an official project of the UN’s International Year of Indigenous Languages in 2019. The IYSC was such a great success that we are continuing that project. Learn More

Voices of the Earth

We’re supporting Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ efforts to maintain or recover their languages and cultural traditions. Explore projects with the W̱SÁNEĆ and Tsilhqot’in First Nations in British Columbia, Canada; Swahili communities in Zanzibar, East Africa; and Xhosa youth in South Africa. Learn More

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 — always ad-free, since 1996.

Explore

Drawing the Line at the Black Line: The Indigenous Sages and Stewards of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia

No Word for Goodbye: Reclaiming Abalone’s Home on the California Coast

Our Work

Our Biocultural Diversity Toolkit

Discover a wealth of resources and tools to help you understand biocultural diversity and learn how you can help to sustain it worldwide. Learn More

Biocultural Diversity Bookstore

Browse a collection of helpful books, maps, reports, and other media to assist you on your BCD journey.
Learn More

Teach Biocultural Diversity
in Schools!

Our Biocultural Diversity Educational Initiative helps high school students foster curiosity and caring for the diversity of life in nature and culture. Get Resources

News & Views

Pandemic Perspectives: Mayan Communities Reconnecting with Nature

During a pandemic, Indigenous communities tend to be among the most vulnerable, given their often-limited access to water, food supplies, adequate healthcare, and other factors. In this special “Pandemic Perspectives” series of our Dispatches, we’re sharing stories from around the world to shed some light on the obstacles Indigenous Peoples face in light of COVID-19

Creating Spaces for Indigenous Voices: Q&A with Nigel Crawhall of UNESCO

Since Terralingua’s founding in 1996, our mission has been to promote the understanding and appreciation of biocultural diversity (diversity in nature, culture, and language), and to serve as a platform for amplifying Indigenous voices. Over the years, we’ve been privileged to form productive working relationships with likeminded colleagues, including Nigel Crawhall—sociolinguist and Chief of Section,

Wai Wai community Guyana Masekenari, August 2008. Photo by Cristina Mittermeier

Sponsor a Young Indigenous Writer/Artist on Giving Tuesday

Over the past two years, we at Terralingua have been sharing with you more and more biocultural diversity stories by Indigenous writers and artists—particularly from the younger generations—on the pages of Langscape Magazine and through our digital and social media channels. We think it’s critical for diverse Indigenous voices to be heard and want to

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