In a milestone moment for its newest international collaboration, the U.S. Forest Service International Programs Office recently hosted representatives from the Algerian Direction Générale des Forêts (DGF) in the Southwestern United States. Over 10 days, officials from Algeria’s Department of Fauna and Flora, as well as the Sétif and Tlemcen Forests, toured watershed restoration and […]

The desert city of Kairouan in northern Tunisia is renowned for its rich cultural heritage and centuries-old monuments. As a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a pilgrimage destination for Muslims, the city holds significant historical and spiritual value. However, the ancient city now faces modern challenges, including a noticeable waste management problem. For years, Kairouan

The International Programs Office of the U.S. Forest Service has completed three of ten identified hiking trail circuits in Liberia and has trained 55 Liberians and Guineans in trail building.  The trail building and training activities are part of the Forest Service’s broader efforts to support ecotourism development and promote nature-based tourism in Liberia’s protected

The Forest Service, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and High Atlas Foundation recently celebrated the first-ever Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) graduation in Morocco. Fifteen young women, ages 18 – 25, completed a six-month residential course focused on civic engagement values, environmental stewardship skills, and the attainment of technical knowledge to improve their livelihoods

A group of 20 young people and their parents gathered excitedly on a warm morning in early June on the shores of Lake Tanganyika in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The group was from diverse ethnic backgrounds, neighborhoods, and religious traditions, but they had at least one thing in common: they were the

Youth Conservation Corps graduates take on conservation and restoration in Lebanon In the hills north of Beirut, Lebanon, a group of young citizen scientists collect the footprints of small mammals using contact paper and charcoal. They are hoping they might find signs of forest dormice, a fluffy-tailed squirrel-like animal that thrives in dense forests. But

Fostering coexistence in the Okavango Delta of Botswana Daniel Sekunja whoops, yells, and bangs sticks in front of a captivated audience. He’s reenacting an elephant encounter from his youth, employing the best tactic he knew – make noise—to deter a trio of elephants from destroying his family’s crops.  The intelligent elephants, wary of humans and

In  biodiversity-rich areas of Zimbabwe, women, men, and even children venture into national parks and other protected areas to dig and sluice for gold, platinum, and diamonds. They are artisanal small-scale miners, a livelihood that supports an estimated 300,000 Zimbabweans. Small-scale mining has the capacity to generate revenue for governments and communities, reduce rural poverty,

Namibian law enforcement officers learn how to recognize and act on illegal trade in forest products. The Walvis Bay port of Namibia is bustling. A newly enlarged container terminal, expanded rail lines and paved access points are helping the port become the most cost-effective transshipment hub in the region, servicing all of southern Africa. Importantly, the state-owned port also

CAMEROON – The economic value of biodiversity might seem like a complicated concept, but its core theory is rather simple: diverse organisms are crucial to the short and long-term economic health of humankind. Think of the Amazon rainforest. Millions of people rely on the expansive biome’s unique biodiversity to sustainably produce valuable species like rubber trees