SDG15

The church forests of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) are a remarkable example of environmental conservation upheld through spiritual reverence, indigenous knowledge and traditional beliefs.

Frank Schwabe, the commissioner for religious freedom of Germany’s federal government, elaborates why the rights of indigenous peoples deserve respect.

Burundi’s tourism sector faces challenges, with underdeveloped parks struggling due to encroachment, poaching and lack of funding. Environmental activists urge better protection of the country’s natural reserves.

Brazil is plagued by devastating natural disasters. Environmental and climate protection is not progressing for various reasons, and the country’'s colonial legacy also plays a role.

Year after year, valuable ecosystems are destroyed by wildfires. This drives climate change and decimates biodiversity. Slash-and-burn agriculture is partly to blame.

Kenyan legislators are seeking to ban the cultivation of eucalyptus along riparian lands, because the trees deplete the water, often resulting in the drying up of streams, aggravating the effects of climate change.

The Tanzanian government is systematically disenfranchising the Maasai in Ngorongoro. Most recently, all polling stations there were closed, and voters were assigned to stations in an area 600 kilometres away.

The global food system is not only environmentally harmful, but also makes poverty worse in rural areas of emerging markets and developing countries.

In an ambitious plan to protect forest habitats and contain the climate crisis, Kenya wants to resettle the indigenous Ogiek people from their habitat, the Mau Forest.

Himalayan nation can benefit from foreign visitors, but must control cultural and environmental harm.