Photo: Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
In today’s edition: an unusual experiment sees residents of a west African island become stewards of its ecosystem, Indigenous campaigners put a stop to the privatisation of Amazonian waterways, and microschools emerge as a blueprint for accessible education in the US.
A ground-breaking experiment is underway on the West African island of Príncipe, where villagers who agree to follow an environmental protection code will reap a quarterly dividend. To date nearly 3,000 have joined the Faya Foundation’s project, more than 60% of the adult population. The first payment of €816 (£708) has just been delivered, a large amount of money on the island.
Source: The Guardian
Indigenous activists have staved off a threat to the Tapajós River by occupying a grain terminal operated by Cargill, the biggest privately owned company in the US. On one side were about 1,000 local river defenders, mostly from the Munduruku, Arapiun and Apiaká peoples; on the other were some of the most powerful forces of capitalism and climate breakdown.
Source: The Guardian
Investigators in Zimbabwe analysed DNA samples from confiscated lion parts, matching it to a radio-collared lion in their database that had been killed in 2024. Experts argue that DNA forensics could be the undeniable evidence needed in hard-to-prosecute wildlife crimes.
Source: Mongabay
In Indiana, school district leader George Philhower started a network of microschools to keep students who didn’t thrive in public school or homeschooling in education. The model is spreading: an estimated 750,000 to 2 million students now attend the schools.
Source: Hechinger Report
The process of alkaline hydrolysis, more commonly known as water cremation, is a greener alternative to traditional burials or existing cremation methods. A typical cremation has a footprint equivalent to about 320kg of carbon dioxide, whereas alkaline hydrolysis is found to result in the emission of seven times less CO2.
Source: BBC News
Communication and digital affairs minister Meutya Hafid said in a statement that children under the age of 16 can no longer have accounts on high-risk digital platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Roblox and Bigo Live, a popular livestreaming site. With a population of 285 million, the fourth-highest in the world, the south-east Asian nation is a big market for social networks.
Source: The Guardian
In Colorado, from 2016 to 2020, 33 women who were pregnant or had recently given birth died from accidental overdoses. However, new data show that the number of maternal overdose deaths has dropped 60%, from 20 in 2022 to eight in 2023, with increased access to naloxone across the state likely a contributing factor.
Source: The Conversation
Although much of the attention surrounding psychedelics has concentrated on depression and other mental health conditions, new research indicates that these substances also might be useful within addiction treatment.
Source: NPR
Seagrass meadows provide flood protection, store carbon, improve water quality, and sustain thousands of species, but they are disappearing. BBC journalists talk to Maryland scientists identifying heat resistant genes and reseeding meadows from grasses that have them, and locals in northeast England working to regrow lost meadows there.
Source: BBC News
For many of the residents of Lyon’s La Maison de la Diversité, their new home offers safety and security in a way that they do not experience in traditional social housing projects. This is the first co-living project from Les Audacieuses & Les Audacieux, an organisation fighting isolation and promoting social inclusion within the LGBTQIA+ community and its allies.
Source: Positive News
