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,

Une promenade dans l’un des communs fonciers montre que le droit à l’autonomie garantit une gestion responsable des ressources naturelles. Gretchen Walters et Alain Levet . Le chemin de Stevenson, un sentier sinueux de 220 km à travers le centre de la France, passe par les forêts du massif de Mercoire, dans le département de

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

A community advocates for land rights and protects its ancestral forest with mapping technology. WORDS AND IMAGES Rudo Kemper   The Ogiek of Mount Elgon are an Indigenous group native to western Kenya. They have lived across the vast swathe of moorland and forests of Mount Elgon since before colonial occupation and the subsequent creation

A forest community in Gabon affirms its will for self-determination and responsible management of its ancestral land. WORDS Benjamin Evine-Binet | IMAGES Nsombou Abalghe-Dzal Association   Ours is a real story, one both lived and shaped by the Kota community of Massaha — a group of villages located in the Ogooué-Ivindo province of northeastern Gabon,

Sitting in Terralingua’s offices a couple of weeks ago, I looked out the window. All I saw was a thick, white haze enveloping and obliterating the landscape. Wildfire smoke. My office is in the woods; on a normal day, I would be greeted by the awe-inspiring sight of giant Douglas firs—the signature tree species of

Lina A. Karolin One morning, I woke up early and, carefully parting the mosquito net that hung above me, I walked to the window next to my wooden bunk. I opened the window gently, trying not to make any noise so as not to wake the others up. It was dim outside, but I could

Pinarsita Juliana Coconut leaves and other decorations were hanging on the frame of the meeting hall’s gate of Laman Kinipan, a village in Lamandau district of Central Kalimantan province, Indonesia. At the gate, a welcoming ritual called potong pantan was taking place. One after the other the honored guests, wearing traditional clothes, were given a

by Hilary Vidalakis . There’s a tiny subculture of place-loving men and women who specialize in burning the land. “Prescribed fire,” they call it, though the term strikes me as arrogant; after three winters spent elbow-deep in the craft, lighting fires across the swamps and mountains and sandhill forests of Georgia, and despite the physical

by Tom Corcoran . To Walk in the Gamaran Protected Forest Given the myriad of contradictions, spending time in the ancient forests of West Sumatra with Minangkabau people (Minang) is perhaps a challenge for the mind and spirit of any conservationist. Traditionally a people of the forest, the Minang are the world’s largest matrilineal society, with