Brazil's Xingu Park is the oldest indigenous territory in Brazil. Its 2.6 million hectares provide a home to 16 different tribes. The Rede de Sementes do Xingu brings together over 500 indigenous seed-collectors to gather and disperse native seeds, preserving the Amazon's essential biodiversity while at the same time providing income and employment for rural women. 249 tonnes of over 220 species of seeds have so far been collected, generating R$4 million for indigenous communities.
Up Next in Science: Ages 11-14
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Replanting Mangroves
Mangroves are one of the most effective natural carbon sinks on earth, storing up to four times more carbon per hectare than rainforests. They are also rich in biodiversity and mitigate some of the most catastrophic local effects of climate change; particularly flooding and coastal erosion. Despi...
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Reintroducing Buffalo
Kainai knowledge-keeper Leroy Little Bear explains the importance of reintroducing buffalo in their traditional heartlands, where they hold a central place both in the local ecosystem and the culture of indigenous people.
The buffalo is a "keystone species": an eco-engineer which regenerates the...