Combating climate change requires a wide range of strategies—advocating for legislation, launching social enterprises, raising awareness—all of which are vitally important. Unfortunately, solutions led by the communities most affected by climate change are often the most overlooked. And with the impacts of climate change being felt differently around world, it’s imperative to invest in the local leaders most familiar with the challenges facing their communities.

That’s why we launched the GlobalGiving Climate Action Fund this year to provide steady, monthly support to five, highly effective local leaders seeking climate justice. Say hello and join the 2019 Climate Action Fund cohort in:

1. Bringing forests back to the Samburu tribe.

Sadhana Forest Kenya is led by husband-wife duo Yorit and Aviram Rozin. The organization works to sustainably bring back water, forest, and wildlife to degraded lands and helps Indians, Haitians, and Kenyans achieve food self sufficiency.

2. Generating economic incentives for farmers to abandon open field burning for greener alternatives.

Around the world, agricultural burning is a major contributor to greenhouse gases. Warm Heart Worldwide launched a “Stop the Smoke!” campaign in rural northern Thailand. What excites Evelind Schecter, the project’s leader, is that “this project is globally replicable. It expands the village co-op model producing biochar products, improves health outcomes, reduces global warming.”

3. Planting second-generation, climate-adapted corals.

The rainforests of the sea, coral reefs play vital roles in the health of the ocean. Unfortunately, approximately 75% of coral reefs worldwide are currently threatened by a combination of local and global stressors. In and around Fiji, where Corals For Conservation works, over 90% of the corals have bleached and died. Luckily, project leader Austin Bowden-Kerby reports, “We have developed coral gardening techniques that are both effective and low cost.”

4. Cultivating regenerative food forests in the Amazon.

The Chaikuni Institute works to revitalize ancestral practices in rural Amazonian areas, combining permaculture design and traditional knowledge to train committed local farmers in the indigenous and mestizo communities of the Peruvian Amazon. Executive Director and political ecologist, Stefan Kistler, says, “The philosophy of Akinananti—working together and unity through thoughtful actions in community—is the motivating inspiration behind this program.”

5. Supporting environmental youth leaders to spearhead local adoption of climate solutions.

The Sierra Gorda is an alliance of organizations working towards conservation, restoration, and sustainable development of the Sierra Gorda region. Group leader Pati Ruiz Corzo tells us the region “suffers from deforestation, biodiversity loss, trash mismanagement, and unsustainable agriculture.”

Read the full article about climate leaders by Kelly Wilson at GlobalGiving.