Rising sea levels threaten a local community’s biocultural heritage and the residents’ right to an ecologically responsible way of life. WORDS AND IMAGES Thor Morales   . Coconut palm trees stand tall, their roots kissed by the sea in its incessant going back and forth. Soon these tropical palms will be wiped out by the

A local community grapples with increasing social and environmental pressures that are shifting the balance between rights and responsibilities. WORDS Léa Denieul-Pinsky | IMAGES Thomas Ravessoud . The right to have responsibility, the responsibility to have rights. This is what emerges when I reflect on the moments shared at kitchen tables, on the phone, in

Indigenous artisans rekindle reverence for a plant that has been traditionally used for centuries. WORDS Clare Dowd, Isabel Carrió, and Leah Struzenski | IMAGES Tulio Dávila     Armed with long black spines, the chambira plant, a canopy palm that grows throughout the Amazon rainforest, is integral to the economy of the Bora, an Indigenous

WORDS AND IMAGES Thor Morales At the onset of this decade, members of three ethnic groups gathered in the state of Sonora, northwestern Mexico. Seri (Comcaac), Rarámuri, and Yaqui participants went to the Yaqui village of Vicam to get their first exposure to participatory video (PV), with training provided by the U.K.-based organization InsightShare. Three

Felipe Montoya-Greenheck Southern Costa Rica is one of the country’s most biodiverse regions, with ecosystems ranging from the highest tropical alpine peaks and glacial lakes in the Talamanca mountain range, to the lowland rainforests and Pacific mangroves, with an endless network of streams and rivers forming the Great Terraba River watershed. The region is home

Harvy King At 4,207 meters above sea level, where the hot sun burns and harsh winds blister and have a tendency to scrape the soul, stands the summit of Mauna Kea, a mountain on Hawai‘i Island (a.k.a. the “Big Island”) that is sacred to Native Hawaiians. That summit has become a “frontline of ideology”—the site

Simon Mitambo Right now, in July 2020, it is the harvest season in Tharaka, the bigger of the two harvest seasons we get every year in this part of Kenya. Usually this is a busy time on the farm, a time when people come together and work communally to ensure a good harvest. But the

by Soner Oruç & Ceren Kazancı . . In 2016, we set off on a journey to the highlands (yaylas) of the Georgia–Turkey border region. We were very excited and eager to learn new things. We wanted to breathe some fresh mountain air, drink from pasture springs, and get in touch with the pastoralists of the

by Eliot Gee Josephat Werimo doesn’t have an easy job. As principal at Mundika Special School, he is responsible for over one hundred students with disabilities. The staff is dedicated to making the school a safe haven for the students, many of whom are regarded as burdens in their own homes. Parents often entrust their

by Mariia Ermilova and Tatiana Ilinich Every Russian knows the tall herb with elegant pink flowers and a reddish stem: Ivan-Chai (Epilobium angustifolium or Chamaenerion angustifolium). This plant is found throughout Russia, from Europe to the Far East. It usually appears on the outskirts of towns, one of the first species to appear when land