The United Nation predicts that we only have a little over 11 years to prevent irreversible damage from climate change. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global organization that aims to tackle climate change, protect land and water, provide food and water sustainability, and build healthy cities.
Zooming out, TNC is a global non-profit organization that focuses on innovative, science based solutions to climate change. They protect more than 119 million acres of land globally. Right now, they have a plan to ensure protection of up to 1.5 million square miles of the world's most biodiversity-critical ocean habitats. This is crucial because scientists estimate that 90% of coral reefs will be gone within our lifetimes. This is incredibly effective as ocean protection shows that in just 10 years, a study in Mexico shows that it conservation reversed tolls of decades of overfishing and increased fish stock by 400%. Some of their other projects involve carbon capture, refinancing costal islands, and policy changes.
Today, I want to focus specifically on the Tuungane Project. Although TNC is a huge organization, people can choose where their donation should be focused on. I would like the class to consider donating to the Tanzania chapter of TNC. In Tanzania, the Nature Conservancy partnered with Pathfinders to create the Tuungane Project. The project started in 2012 and has expanded from 6 to 24 villages.
In Tuungane, girls had to walk more than 8 miles (6 hours) to school on a muddy, long, and dangerous road. They don't even have time to cook before leaving the house and obviously no time to go home midday. After school, the girls have to do chores and can only study for a limited time with a flashlight. On top of that, many girls dropped out of school due to farm work or pregnancy. This results in a 10% attendance rate for girls 18 years old.
In 2019, TNC built a new dorm equipped with solar panels next to the school which provided beds for 80 girls. In addition, they instilled a school cook who provides 2 hot meals a day for each student. This changed the lives of the girls drastically as they are able to actually focus on their future and succeed.
Research shows that by staying in school, girls marry later and have more opportunities to become employed. Thus, reducing their overall reliance on natural resources. By educating girls, they have a better change of saving forests that are home to 93% of chimpanzees and the lake that provides food and income for thousands of families. Many of TNC's projects are like this: scientifically backed and achieve more than one goal.
This is just one of many programs in the Tuungane Project. Their goals are establishing healthier families, fisheries, and forests along Lake Tanganyika.
In addition, TNC has many amazing opportunities for students. In my junior year, I participated in the Leader for Environmental Action for the Future Internship. The internship matched me with three other peers and a mentor. We were sent to a random state within the US for a month to do conservation work. I went to New Hampshire and learned about nature hands-on. My team focused on conservation so we did a lot of manual labor in the woods. In addition, we visited two TNC branches and learned with the employees. I was able to not only learn about technical ways to conserve trails, but the policy side too. The program was helpful and cemented my interest in environmental studies. I am now pursuing a environmental policy degree with hopes of working in sustainability.
Although TNC is a big organization, they are very transparent and ethical with fundings. 71.2% of funding goes directly to science-driven program work and they have high charity ratings from several charity watchdog organizations.
In conclusion, the Nature Conservancy is a great organization that contributes immensely. With the president backing out of the Paris Accords and weakening environmental laws, it is important to donate to charities that work to protect the environment.
To learn more: https://www.nature.org/en-us/
Zooming out, TNC is a global non-profit organization that focuses on innovative, science based solutions to climate change. They protect more than 119 million acres of land globally. Right now, they have a plan to ensure protection of up to 1.5 million square miles of the world's most biodiversity-critical ocean habitats. This is crucial because scientists estimate that 90% of coral reefs will be gone within our lifetimes. This is incredibly effective as ocean protection shows that in just 10 years, a study in Mexico shows that it conservation reversed tolls of decades of overfishing and increased fish stock by 400%. Some of their other projects involve carbon capture, refinancing costal islands, and policy changes.
Today, I want to focus specifically on the Tuungane Project. Although TNC is a huge organization, people can choose where their donation should be focused on. I would like the class to consider donating to the Tanzania chapter of TNC. In Tanzania, the Nature Conservancy partnered with Pathfinders to create the Tuungane Project. The project started in 2012 and has expanded from 6 to 24 villages.
In Tuungane, girls had to walk more than 8 miles (6 hours) to school on a muddy, long, and dangerous road. They don't even have time to cook before leaving the house and obviously no time to go home midday. After school, the girls have to do chores and can only study for a limited time with a flashlight. On top of that, many girls dropped out of school due to farm work or pregnancy. This results in a 10% attendance rate for girls 18 years old.
In 2019, TNC built a new dorm equipped with solar panels next to the school which provided beds for 80 girls. In addition, they instilled a school cook who provides 2 hot meals a day for each student. This changed the lives of the girls drastically as they are able to actually focus on their future and succeed.
Research shows that by staying in school, girls marry later and have more opportunities to become employed. Thus, reducing their overall reliance on natural resources. By educating girls, they have a better change of saving forests that are home to 93% of chimpanzees and the lake that provides food and income for thousands of families. Many of TNC's projects are like this: scientifically backed and achieve more than one goal.
This is just one of many programs in the Tuungane Project. Their goals are establishing healthier families, fisheries, and forests along Lake Tanganyika.
In addition, TNC has many amazing opportunities for students. In my junior year, I participated in the Leader for Environmental Action for the Future Internship. The internship matched me with three other peers and a mentor. We were sent to a random state within the US for a month to do conservation work. I went to New Hampshire and learned about nature hands-on. My team focused on conservation so we did a lot of manual labor in the woods. In addition, we visited two TNC branches and learned with the employees. I was able to not only learn about technical ways to conserve trails, but the policy side too. The program was helpful and cemented my interest in environmental studies. I am now pursuing a environmental policy degree with hopes of working in sustainability.
Although TNC is a big organization, they are very transparent and ethical with fundings. 71.2% of funding goes directly to science-driven program work and they have high charity ratings from several charity watchdog organizations.
In conclusion, the Nature Conservancy is a great organization that contributes immensely. With the president backing out of the Paris Accords and weakening environmental laws, it is important to donate to charities that work to protect the environment.
To learn more: https://www.nature.org/en-us/
I appreciate the dinstinctions you made between the TNC's more global mission to help female students abroad and their more domestic work in educating students from the US. It really provides insight to how they go beyond just basic conservatory work and strive to have a lasting impact in wherever it is that they find their resources being utilized. The higher retention rates for female students providing them with not only access to more education but specifically trying to get those educated women to help serve the communities they grew up in.
ReplyDeleteYour experiences with the organization in high school seemingly has left an impact on you and how you view the issues tackled by TNC. It brings me back to my volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity when I was in high school. I, too, learned skills hands-on and had the opportunity to speak with some people more familiar about the organization and how they can successfully accomplish their goals.
Thank you for providing a statistic showing how they spend their funding and for relating it to current political news, particularly Trump's decision to pull-out of our international commitments to fight climate change.
I like the comprehensive nature of this program, and I think you did a very good job highlighting the ways that this organization is multifaceted and works to improve the lives of so many more than it appears to. From first glance, it appears to be another environmental program (which, for the record, is never a bad thing,) however, the scope of works expands far beyond that.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate that you were able to incorporate your own, localized experience with the program while recognizing that much of the work they do is on a global scale. The tie between your story, as a high school student volunteering in New Hampshire, and those of the girls who have to walk 6 hours just to go to school may seem like a stretch, especially when factoring the conservation aspect of this organization, however, they make it work.
I think that this program, while it has a broad set of values and goals that it hopes to achieve, is a great illustration of how to incorporate several seemingly unconnected aspects of life into one organization. Not only does it promote environmental conservation, but it does so by providing alternative economic and career developments for girls; which can make all the difference for these young girls; all while spreading awareness and working on a global scale. Thank you for sharing about this organization, and I am definitely interested in learning more!