Civil society includes the nonprofits, advocacy groups, community organizations, and grassroots movements that operate outside government and business to advance the public good. This archive collects 290 stories about civil society actors driving measurable progress on issues ranging from human rights and environmental protection to public health and civic participation. Browse to see how organized citizens and institutions are shaping a better world.
When American naturalist Dian Fossey moved to Rwanda half a century ago to study mountain gorillas, their numbers were dwindling, down to just 254 individuals, but today they’re up to over 600.
This project, which was started by the Peace Parks Foundation more than six years ago, aims to create a sanctuary in the Zinave National Park of Mozambique, which experienced a drop in wildlife in part due to the 1977 civil war which lasted 15 years.
Eastern monarch butterflies covered 35% more ground in the mountain forests of central Mexico this past winter than they did the year before, according to a World Wildlife Fund survey.
Environmentalists say the mix of traditional knowledge from Indigenous elders, hands-on community engagement, and Western science offer a model for improved conservation.
The International Rhino Foundation announced the milestone, reporting that the population now numbers 4,014 individuals—up from just 100 individuals 50 years ago.
Monitors have identified 70 individuals in 2021, with 114 newborns since launch of repopulation scheme in 1996.
Renewables can grow enough to limit global warming to 1.5C if the 10-year average compound growth rate of 20% can be maintained to 2030, according to climate think tank Ember.
The new 8,600 square-meter park and cemetery is planted with pines and oaks, ready to host 1,500 new, more environmentally-friendly graves.
New targets include ensuring 247 million acres of freshwater and forest ecosystems, as well as Indigenous and local communities’ lands, are effectively managed.
In 2007, the first pair of giant anteaters was reintroduced Iberá reserve, a region from which it had gone extinct decades earlier. Today, more than 200 anteaters live free in the reserve.
