The UN Development Programme (UNDP) announced the winners of the Equator Prize 2017, recognizing 15 local and indigenous communities from Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
The winning organizations, which showcase innovative solutions for tackling poverty, environment, and climate challenges.
The 15 Equator Prize 2017 winners are protecting, restoring and sustainably managing marine, forest, grassland, dryland and wetland ecosystems. In the process, they have created several thousand jobs and livelihoods, improved food and water security for hundreds of communities, protected endangered wildlife, and decreased risks from natural disasters. The communities reinvest revenues generated by their initiatives into water supply, education, women’s economic training and other development goals.
This is the first time the Equator Prize has been awarded to groups from Kazakhstan and Pakistan. Winners are also based in Belize, Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mali and Thailand.
Equator Prize winners receive US$10,000 and the opportunity for a community representative to join a week-long summit in New York during the 72nd United Nations General Assembly.
The Equator Prize has been supported by former Heads of State Gro Harlem Brundtland and Oscar Arias, Nobel Prize winners Al Gore and Elinor Ostrom, thought leaders Jane Goodall and Jeffrey Sachs, indigenous rights leader Vicky Tauli-Corpuz, philanthropists Richard Branson and Ted Turner, and celebrities Edward Norton, Alec Baldwin, Gisele Bündchen, and many more.
The Equator Prize 2017 marks the 15th anniversary of the Equator Initiative, a partnership that advances local, nature-based sustainable development solutions. Partners of the Equator Initiative include the governments of Germany, Norway, and Sweden, as well as Conservation International, the Convention on Biological Diversity, EcoAgriculture Partners, Fordham University, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, The Nature Conservancy, PCI Media Impact, Rainforest Foundation Norway, Rare, UN Environment, UNDP, UN Foundation, USAID, and the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Equator Prize 2017 winners:
Community Baboon Sanctuary Women’s Conservation Group – CBSWG, Belize
Led by women from seven communities in the northern coastal plain of Belize, CBSWG has improved local livelihoods and market access while safeguarding critical populations of black howler monkeys (locally called baboons) and other vulnerable wildlife populations.
Associação Ashaninka do Rio Amônia Apiwtxa (Association of Ashaninka People of the Amônia River), Brazil
Located in the heart of the Amazonian rainforest, Associação Ashaninka do Rio Amônia Apiwtxa uses participatory 3D mapping, advocacy, education, and cultural exchange to ensure healthy forests and communities.
Associação Terra Indígena Xingu – ATIX (Xingu Indigenous Land Association), Brazil
The first community-based organization to achieve organic certification in Brazil, ATIX produces two tons of certified organic honey each year to generate income, maintain vibrant indigenous culture, and promote traditional sustainable livelihoods in the 27,000 km² Terra Indígena Xingu.
Organización para la Defensa y Conservación Ecológica de Intag – DECOIN (Organization for the Defense and Ecological Conservation of Intag), Ecuador
DECOIN, an organization active in the Intag Valley for over 20 years, provides essential support to communities resisting mining interests, conserving over 12,000 hectares of Andean biodiversity and advancing alternative livelihood options for 38 communities.
Alianza Internacional de Reforestación – AIRES (International Alliance for Reforestation), Guatemala
Led by indigenous Maya women, over the past 24 years AIRES has created a network of community practitioners engaged in reforestation and agroforestry for food security, disaster risk reduction, and better incomes.
Federación Tribus Pech de Honduras – FETRIPH (Tribal Pech Federation of Honduras), Honduras
In northeastern Honduras, FETRIPH has created a successful access and benefit sharing project integrating sustainable liquidambar production and government-sanctioned indigenous land management in order to sustain livelihoods, maintain healthy forests, and protect traditional knowledge, while providing the global fragrance industry with an essential ingredient.
Swayam Shikshan Prayog, India
Operating at the nexus of nutrition, sustainable agriculture, and gender, Swayam Shikshan Prayog (Pune based) empowers 72,000 women in the drought-prone state of Maharashtra to act as agricultural decision-makers, improving their health, food security, and economic well-being.
Asosiasi Usaha Homestay Lokal Kabupaten Raja Ampat (Local Homestay Business Association of the Raja Ampat District), Indonesia
This association of 86 community-owned businesses has created a homestay web portal for sustainable jobs through ecotourism, guaranteeing hospitality standards and environmental sustainability while enhancing community well-being and conserving fragile ecosystems.
Yayasan Planet Indonesia (Planet Indonesia Foundation), Indonesia
Under the leadership of local Dayak communities, Yayasan Planet Indonesia creates conservation compacts and community businesses that provide sustainable livelihoods, enhance local resilience, and protect intact native ecosystems.
Obschestvennyj Fond “Zhassyl Azyk” (Public Foundation “Zhassyl Azyk”), Kazakhstan
The Public Foundation “Zhassyl Azyk” utilizes sustainable alfalfa production to restore soil fertility, conserve water, and improve agricultural yields in a drought-prone region of Kazakstan, providing scalable solutions that address global challenges of food security, land degradation, water scarcity, and adaptation to climate change.
Mikoko Pamoja (Mangroves Together), Kenya
Mikoko Pamoja is a community-based initiative that has pioneered carbon credit payments for mangrove restoration, and is reinvesting the profits into local community development.
The Kuruwitu Conservation & Welfare Association, Kenya
The Kuruwitu Conservation and Welfare Association is the first locally managed marine area in Kenya, a ‘small but beautiful’ initiative grounded in local community needs that has become a nation-wide model for sustainable fisheries, sea turtle protection, and small-scale business for improved livelihoods.
The Mali Elephant Project, Mali
The Mali Elephant Project promotes social cohesion, reduces violent extremism, and protects a critical population of the endangered African elephant through community-led natural resource management, support for alternative livelihoods, and a youth ‘eco-guardian’ initiative in a conflict zone.
Baltistan Wildlife Conservation and Development Organization – BWCDO, Pakistan
Tackling acute human-snow leopard conflicts in northern Pakistan, BWCDO works in 17 villages to protect Baltistan’s snow leopards through insurance schemes and financial compensation against livestock losses following snow leopard attacks.
Community Mangrove Forest Conservation of Baan Bang La, Thailand
After their 192-hectare mangrove forest protected them from a devastating tsunami, the community of Baan Bang La rallied to secure forest management rights, a process which has ensured long-term mangrove protection, increased populations of endangered species, strengthened disaster resilience, and generated opportunities for small-scale business owners.