The environment is everywhere, and protecting it goes far beyond creating national parks. Working from where you are, wherever that may be, you can improve the environment by bringing together the commitment of those who live there.
This Future Generations approach launched national parks on both sides of Mount Everest (Tibet/China and Nepal). This approach advances a you-can-do-it-also approach for the highest priority on Earth, extending from this model that is the highest place on Earth. For an example of how one alumnus built on the work of Future Generations’ co-founder Carl Taylor in the Everest national parks, see the work of Norbu.
What We Are Doing:
- Class of 2015 alumna,Yu Huiling of Beijing, China has been using her skills developed while earning her Master’s degree in Applied Community Change to conduct a strategic and comprehensive clean-up and conservation project on the outskirts of Beijing. With the backing of Future Generations China, Huiling’s Watershed Protection and Pollution Control Project (WPPC) spans three years and involves a multi-stakeholder approach that combines consultation with outside experts, governmental support, and community participation among residents of the ShangZhuang village, which is located about 60 km outside of the center of Beijing. . ShangZhuang is situated in between the Shayukou Reservoir and Beijing Ming Tombs Reservoir which together supply drinking water for 20 million residents of the Beijing area. Village residents have been dumping wastewater and garbage into a channel that connects these two reservoirs for over a decade, so the WPPC project involves three phases of action to combat the problem and turn ShangZhuang into a “model eco-community.”
Class of 2009 alumna Joy Bogyereire of Uganda worked with the Africa 2000 Network-Uganda to enable households to transform their land into ecologically sustainable and financially productive farms. During her first year as a Master’s student, Alumna Joy Bongyereiere co-founded a new community-based organization in her home country of Uganda. Biodiversity Conservation for Rural Development (BCRD-Uganda), registered in 2008 with the Kisoro District Local Government, engages rural smallholder farmers, indigenous Pygmies (Batwa) and other minority groups in community-development projects to alleviate poverty and promote conservation. For her Master’s research, she advanced organic agricultural practices by working with potato farmers in the Kisoro District where there is widespread use of chemical fertilizers. A second focus of her efforts in conservation has been protecting Uganda’s rare mountain gorillas that live on lands bordering two national parks. Joy worked on strengthening partnerships with government agencies and neighboring communities (including local farmers) to incentivize community participation in wildlife protection through a more equal distribution of tourism revenue. Joy was a 2009 recipient of a grant from the Kathryn W. Davis 100 Projects for Peace program, which enabled her to facilitate dialogue and trainings in peace building in order to forge stronger partnerships with the various stakeholders involved in protecting Uganda’s mountain gorillas.- Class of 2009 alumna Tshering Lham-Tshok of Bhutan worked as a Program Officer for Bhutan’s Royal Society for the Protection of Nature. Noting how “Bhutan is at a crossroads of one of the most profound dilemmas of environmental preservation versus economic progress,” Lham’s aimed to integrate conservation and development while looking to Bhutan’s future. She focused this research on the depletion of ringshoo, an endemic species of wild bamboo frequently harvested for use in handicrafts. Her work in the villages of Kangpara, known for producing the finest bamboo crafts in her home country, helped facilitate more sustainable solutions for ringshoo management.
Class of 2009 alumna Joy Bogyereire of Uganda worked with the Africa 2000 Network-Uganda to enable households to transform their land into ecologically sustainable and financially productive farms. During her first year as a Master’s student, Alumna Joy Bongyereiere co-founded a new community-based organization in her home country of Uganda. Biodiversity Conservation for Rural Development (BCRD-Uganda), registered in 2008 with the Kisoro District Local Government, engages rural smallholder farmers, indigenous Pygmies (Batwa) and other minority groups in community-development projects to alleviate poverty and promote conservation. For her Master’s research, she advanced organic agricultural practices by working with potato farmers in the Kisoro District where there is widespread use of chemical fertilizers. A second focus of her efforts in conservation has been protecting Uganda’s rare mountain gorillas that live on lands bordering two national parks. Joy worked on strengthening partnerships with government agencies and neighboring communities (including local farmers) to incentivize community participation in wildlife protection through a more equal distribution of tourism revenue. Joy was a 2009 recipient of a grant from the Kathryn W. Davis 100 Projects for Peace program, which enabled her to facilitate dialogue and trainings in peace building in order to forge stronger partnerships with the various stakeholders involved in protecting Uganda’s mountain gorillas.