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To achieve the better livelihood of the rural population of different sections of the community through initiation of environmental conservation, social justice as well as innovative environmental friendly sustainable development activities. The goal is to assist for the improvement of household economy of the pro-poor population in order to achieve enhanced livelihood.

Our mission is to develop new ideas and implement new solutions to address the short and long-term threats to elephant survival, providing them a new future free of cruelty and death at the hands of humans. Our unique approach of developing communities that will end poaching and illegal trafficking, implementing humane economies within host countries and by creating non-invasive research facilities, we will bring transformational change to this epic struggle while bettering the lives of the indigenous population and the host government. The Elephant Project will create self-sustaining and self-funding sanctuaries and communities reducing the need to constantly fundraise for the project. This project is designed to be a model that can be used all over the world to protect endangered species, better the economies of the host country, provide skills training, jobs, healthcare and educational opportunities for the indigenous population.

Our vision is to realize a future where all inhabitants of the Costa Rican coasts, human and sea turtle alike, can live together in balance; where healthy populations of sea turtles fulfill their ecological roles and economic potential; and critical natural habitats are sustainably managed. Fiscally sponsored by WIDECAST (Wider Caribbean Sea Turtle Conservation Network)

The Center for Renewable Energy and Appropriate Technology for the Environment (CREATE!) was established in 2008 to help rural populations in the developing world prepare for water, food, and fuel shortages resulting from the impact of climate change on their communities. CREATE! operates on the principle that all people have a right to water, food, shelter, energy, and the means to earn a living. We work with village populations to meet these needs through a culturally respectful, participatory process grounded in our belief that people must have a stake in their development and contribute towards solving their own problems. The cooperative groups in our beneficiary villages have already demonstrated the validity of this approach. CREATE! currently operates in Senegal. Senegal is representative of many Sub-Saharan African countries that are hardest hit by the increasingly disastrous effects of global climate change. CREATE! responds to the inter-connected crises generated by climate change with strategies that decrease dependence on fossil fuels, conserve natural resources, and increase the use of appropriate technologies. Our programs produce sustainable, human needs-based development at the village level while forging resilient and vibrant communities across rural Senegal. CREATE! seeks to face these challenges and assist rural Senegalese residents with small-scale, accessible, and "appropriate" technologies - technologies that are adapted to, and fit, their local conditions - and with human needs-based strategies that can both better their lives and build their capacity to meet these inter-connected challenges. CREATE! works in six villages in two regions of Senegal. One region is in the rural north of Senegal, centered around Linguere in the Louga Region, where CREATE! implements programs in the village of Ouarkhokh. The other region is in the central-west of Senegal, centered around Gossas in the Fatick Region. CREATE! implements program activities in five villages in this region. The total beneficiary population of the six villages is approximately 12,000 people, comprised of both agricultural and pastoral peoples. The average per capita annual income of the population in these villages is approximately $350 a year. In each of these villages, CREATE! staff work closely with local and traditional authorities, including village chiefs and imams, in addition to other community leaders, families, and public schools. CREATE! values the expertise and input of community members and strives to incorporate their knowledge and participation into each stage of our programs. As a registered NGO in Senegal, CREATE! works with government officials from the regional office of the Department of Water and Forestry. CREATE! also respects the Senegalese government's strategic development goals for rural communities. Although CREATE!'s administrative office is located in the United States, CREATE! relies on local Senegalese staff and volunteers to plan and implement successful development interventions. Barry Wheeler, CREATE! Founder and Executive Director, has spent the past 27 years working to alleviate suffering and to provide basic human needs for rural villagers, displaced persons, and refugees in several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. After serving in the Peace Corps for six years as an Improved Cook Stove and Appropriate Technology volunteer, trainer, and technical advisor in Togo, Barry earned a Master's degree in International Agriculture and Rural Development from Cornell University. Barry has served as Country Director for the American Refugee Committee's programs in Uganda, Sudan, and Rwanda; as a consultant for UNICEF and UNHCR; and as a team leader and training coordinator in local capacity building, renewable and appropriate technology, and sustainable rural development. CREATE! Chief Operations Officer Louise Ruhr has more than 30 years of private sector and nonprofit management experience and has spent the past eight years working with international NGOs, including the American Refugee Committee, to support women's cooperative groups in Rwanda and Senegal. CREATE! Country Director Omar Ndiaye Seck oversees program activities and conducts site visits in CREATE! communities. He also manages CREATE!'s finances and staff in Senegal. Omar closely collaborates with local and traditional authorities, community volunteers, and CREATE! staff to achieve both organizational and village goals.

Who We Are: The need for a grassroots organization that would galvanize communities across Africa to positively contribute towards sustainable management of natural resources was an idea born out of a discussion by a group of environment and natural resource management practitioners gathered in Arusha Tanzania in 2010. The idea was subsequently shared with other like-minded individuals and culminated in the formation and subsequent registration of Africa Nature Organization as Non-Governmental Organization on the World Wetlands Day 2nd February 2012 in Kenya. Our focus has been to promote sustainable environmental and natural resource management best practices among grassroots communities working closely with civil society organizations, private sector actors and Government. Our Vision: A well-managed environment and natural resource base benefiting People and Wildlife. Our Mission: To enhance sustainable management of environment and natural resources by empowering grassroots communities, supporting development of effective natural resource management instruments, promotion of green innovations and the advancement of wise-use practices. Programmes: Our work is organized around three themes. These are conservation, people's organizations and livelihoods. 1. Environmental Education and Awareness Sustained environmental education and awareness campaigns have been known to change the behavior and attitudes of stakeholders towards environment and natural resources. Africa Nature Organization environmental education and awareness campaigns target both the young and the old through targeted campaigns such as the Young People4Nature Initiative, environmental demonstrations, environmental days, cross-site visits, workshops and seminars are some of the activities in this category. 2. Conservation of Species and Habitats With the threat of species extinction and habitat loss aggravated by climate change, Africa Nature Organization has taken a special interest in the conservation of species and habitats through rehabilitation, restoration and protection. Afforestation on terrestrial areas, coral transplant in marine ecosystems, dyke construction, development of management plans, support for community guards to protect and monitor species and habitats are some of the activities undertaken to reduce species and habitat loss. 3. Enterprise-led Conservation (ECO) Communities for ages have depended on natural resources for their livelihoods. However, with dwindling natural resource base due to extraction of natural resources for commercial purposes, population increase and climate changes, communities have trapped in a vicious cycle of destroying environment and natural resources for survival. To stem this downward spiral, Africa Nature Organization works with grassroots communities to empower them with business skills and knowledge to initiate nature-friendly enterprises and link them with markets. 4. Research and Innovation for Conservation (RI-Conserve): Relevant information to undertake important decisions regarding natural resources has been an impediment to sustainable management of environment and natural resources. This has been more profound with grassroots communities and organizations, including government, working to empower them to sustainably manage environment and natural resources. To bridge the information gap, Africa Nature Organization undertakes research and develops innovative ways of overcoming environmental challenges facing communities, civil society organizations, private organizations and governments. Baseline surveys, environmental impact assessments, documentation of indigenous knowledge on biological resources, and innovative mobile technology for conservation are some of the activities undertaken in this category. 5. Conservation Communication (COCO): Communicating conservation information to relevant stakeholders is key in to their engagement and involvement in our conservation effort. Conservation Communication maintains stakeholder interest through: Newsletter, Development and distribution of environmental documentaries, Production of other education, information and communication materials.

Too often grocery stores and restaurants find themselves throwing out food, when there is great need in nearby communities. MEANS Database modernizes food recovery in 48 states and the District of Columbia by connecting excess food to organizations and individuals who need it. Hunger lingers in the lives of the people it affects. In infants and toddlers, food insecurity is associated with failure to thrive, a devastating condition with consequences into adulthood (1). In early childhood, hunger is associated with diminished academic progress, more behavioral problems and unhealthy weight (2). By high school, it's linked with dropping out, and by early adulthood, with having children who also face hunger, the cycle starts over again (3). Food insecurity exists in every American demographic and geography, affecting every population tracked by the US Census. However, as it seems for every other social ill, the most rural, the most urban, and minorities in any location bear a disproportionate burden of the weight of hunger. While 12.7% of American families are food insecure, the rate for Black and Latino families are each about 20% (4). Jefferson County, Mississippi, is a study in these disparities: it has the highest percentage of black residents of any American county, and also holds the dubious distinction of having the highest rate of food insecurity in the United States, with nearly 38% of residents facing hunger (5). Meanwhile, while more than 42 million Americans rely on food pantries, soup kitchens and other emergency food providers to feed their families, the United States grapples with an massive food waste problem. Forty percent of the American food supply ends up in landfills, with perfectly edible meals being thrown away at all stages of production (7). Food is the single largest contributor to landfill and incinerator mass in the United States, choking the nation's air while 1 in 8 Americans face food insecurity (8). Further complicating this feast and famine dynamic is the uncomfortable truth that even programs meant to address hunger frequently end up wasting food. The issue we are tackling with MEANS is huge: we're trying to prevent food waste and adequately address the problem of hunger. The USDA reports that 48.1 million Americans live in food-insecure households, while Feeding America says that 70 billion pounds of food are wasted in the US each year (8). This task may seem daunting, but we know that through the use of innovative technology like ours, we can help to change the future of food recovery. MEANS (Matching Excess And Need for Stability) is an online communications platform for emergency food providers and their donors. On a desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone, agencies create an account with MEANS, registering their contact information, location, the kind(s) of foods they are searching for, and the distance they are willing or able to travel to pick up those goods. Donors post their excess goods on MEANS, and the system emails and/or texts organizations nearby that need those goods. Our tool substantially reduces the communications gap between emergency food providers and their donors, preventing "donation dumping" on both sides. MEANS was designed to handle both traditional food donations, from grocery stores or caterers, and donations between emergency food providers. There is no charge for any of our organization's services, for nonprofit agencies or retailers. Citations: 1) Kersten, Hans B. and Bennett, David (2012) "A Multidisciplinary Team Experience with Food Insecurity & Failure to Thrive," Journal of Applied Research on Children: Informing Policy for Children at Risk: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 6. 2) Jyoti, Diana F.; Frongillo, Edward A.; and Jones, Sonya J. (2005) "Food Insecurity Affects School Children's Academic Performance, Weight Gain, and Social Skills" The Journal of Nutrition vol. 135 no. 12 2831-2839. 3)"Changing the Picture of Education in America: Communities in Schools Spring 2014 Impact Report" (2014) 4) USDA (2015). "Food Security Status of U.S. Households in 2015" 5) Feeding America (2016). "Map the Meal Gap 2016" 7) Gunders, Dana (2012). "Wasted: How America Is Losing Up to 40 Percent of Its Food from Farm to Fork to Landfill" 8) Feeding America (ND), "Food Waste In America"

Our mission is to facilitate integral and sustainable prosperity in rural families and their environment, discovering and strengthening their potential, cooperating with companies, governments and local institutions. We are a non-profit civil association based in the city of Cusco, Peru. We have implemented proven projects to eradicate poverty in more than 280 rural communities in various countries around the world. In Peru, since 2008, in Tanzania since 2015 and in Nepal since 2016. The methodology we use in Pachamama Raymi, is a training system that was developed since 1988 by our president, we implemented it with the same elements in the various projects we promote. Some of these elements are used by other institutions in Latin America, Europe and Africa, such as contests between families. Our main objective is to break the vicious circle of environmental degradation and rural poverty, making communities and rural families improve, substantially and sustainably, the management of their natural resources, achieving prosperity. We don't have political or religious affiliation, we do have concrete goals in the task of eradicating poverty, through the promotion of sustainable practices. Our Objectives are: Break the vicious circle of environmental degradation and rural poverty in 90% of the communities where we work, achieving within three consecutive years that more than 60% of the population change the management of their natural resources for one that generates the recovery of such resources and prosperity. Get 60% of the families of each community to obtain: - Dignified and healthy homes, with food security. - Productive activities that in the short term generate income, almost constant during the year, above the level of the country's minimum wage. - Raise the self-esteem of the farmers with an optimistic vision of their future. - The plantation of 1,000 forest trees per family per year, with a percentage of tree life higher than 80% that will provide them with long-term income.