Colombia elects first Black woman vice president, Francia Marquez
Marquez is a celebrated environmental activist whose opposition to gold mining in her home municipality of Suarez saw her receive the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in 2018.
Citizens
Ousted anti-mining mayor heads back to Philippine city hall after landslide win
After being stripped of her post for vigorously opposing mining in her community, a local official in Palawan has won in landslide victory in the country’s May 9 elections.
Formerly warring factions in Burundi have now planted over 150 million trees together since 2018
In 2018, Burundi launched a vast national reforestation program to boost the country’s dwindling forest cover, which will run until 2025.
Quebec became the first jurisdiction in the world to explicitly ban oil and gas development in its territory
For two decades, citizens have mobilized against different oil and gas projects in Quebec, including shale gas in the St. Lawrence Valley and oil projects in Gaspésie.
Gabon announces immediate end to the logging of the Massaha ancestral forest
This is a precedent-setting case in the country’s management of forests, representing the first time an area will be declared protected at the request of the resident community.
Opium production down as one thousand families in Mexico’s Golden Triangle turn to agroforestry
The project has helped lift the Tamazula municipality, where the four communities are located, off the state’s poverty list, raise their income above the minimum wage and contain narcotrafficking.
Haiti hikes minimum wage by up to 54% following worker protests
The office of Prime Minister Henry posted a sliding scale of wage hikes that vary by industry, with the greatest increase going to workers in areas such as the electricity and telecommunications.
Master violin luthier invents world’s first vegan violin
Currently, most violins contain glues made from animal hooves and hides. Violin bows are often also not vegan since they’re made from horsehair.
World’s largest grassroots recycling program turns glass into sand to prevent coastal erosion in New Orleans
The non-profit organization Glass Half Full collects glass bottles and grinds them down into super soft sand to use for disaster relief, eco-construction, and even new glass.
Sara Gill becomes Pakistan’s first transgender doctor
Dr. Gill has been described as a “beacon of hope” for the country’s neglected transgender community to pursue their dreams.