Nepal is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world. Rural villagers in Nepal directly depend on their natural environment for food, shelter, and income. When the local environment is damaged or destroyed, the poor are the first to feel the negative effects. Forced to live on marginal lands, they are at the greatest risk of experiencing these effects. Without financial resources or the knowledge to manage vulnerable resources sustainably, they often further degrade their lands to survive. In this way, the problem perpetuates their poverty.

Madagascar is more than just an island from an animated movie. It’s a nation with over 200,000 species of plants and animals that don’t exist anywhere else in the world. Yet, more than 90% of Madagascar’s original forests have been destroyed, displacing entire animal species and taking away the Malagasy’s ability to farm and live on the land. Entire mangrove estuaries are gone, leaving the bare earth to wash away into the sea.

An estimated 40 million rural dwelling Indonesians rely heavily on the biodiversity of their environment for subsistence needs. Traditional fishermen rely on the wetland ecosystems all around the islands, including mangroves, coral reefs and sea grass for their livelihood. In the last 3 decades, Indonesia has lost over 40% of its mangrove forests, affecting not only the environment and the species that rely on them but also the communities that depend on this ecosystem for survival.