Civil society encompasses the nonprofits, advocacy groups, community organizations, and grassroots movements that operate outside government and business to advance the public good. This archive collects stories of civil society actors driving measurable progress on issues ranging from human rights and environmental protection to public health and civic participation.
Seeing just two humpbacks in Puget Sound was noteworthy in the 1980s. Today, the number of humpbacks has grown by an order of magnitude from about 500 on the West Coast to more than 5,000, including about 2,000 in Washington and southern B.C. waters.
More than 2,000 white rhinos — roughly 15% of the wild southern white rhino population — are heading back to the wild, thanks to a landmark purchase by African Parks. The conservation NGO bought the entire Platinum Rhino herd and plans to release the animals across protected sites in southern Africa over the next decade. The rhinos lived in semi-wild conditions on the ranch, and experts believe they’ll adapt quickly to true wilderness, drawing on African Parks’ experience relocating thousands of animals across the continent. If it succeeds, this rewilding effort could become a defining chapter in one of conservation’s greatest comeback stories — and a hopeful blueprint for protecting threatened species worldwide.
The new vaccine developed by the International Vaccine Institute, Gotovax, and Valneva Sweden is low-cost, lasts longer than alternatives, and is easier and cheaper to deliver around the globe. Cholera kills more than 100,000 people worldwide every year.
Launched in 1995, the program spans five countries and reportedly gifts over 2.4 million free age-appropriate books each month to children around the world.
The current estimates suggest that as many as 2,000 blue whales travel up from Mexico to Southern California waters every year, a large chunk of a global population that may be topping 25,000.
The Serum Institute of India and Path successfully tested an effective and affordable vaccine for meningitis, a disease that claims the lives of an estimated 250,000 people each year.
Tribal-led conservation is finally getting the funding it deserves — and the scale of this commitment reflects how seriously some funders are taking that responsibility. Fifteen philanthropic organizations have pledged $102.5 million over five years to support Indigenous-led stewardship, a meaningful shift given that less than 0.5% of philanthropic dollars have historically reached Native communities. The 574 federally recognized tribes already manage more than 140 million acres, yet annual funding for that work has remained strikingly thin. Because the pledge is voluntary and self-determined, sustained follow-through will matter far more than the launch itself.
Spanning more than 1,700 miles across Patagonia, the route crosses 17 national parks and protects more than 27 million acres of land.
The Yasuní Strip of Diversity and Life was created to protect the area’s Indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation and to uphold the rights of Indigenous and farming communities in the region.
According to the airport, private and small business travel departing from Amsterdam emits around 20 times more climate-warming carbon dioxide per passenger than commercial aircraft.
