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Save the Date for This Year’s Brower Youth Awards

Save the date! Earth Island Institute is excited to announce that this year’s Brower Youth Awards ceremony will be held on Tuesday, October 17, 5:30 p.m., at the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, California, followed by a ticketed reception with the winners. Now in its 24th year, the Brower Youth Awards is produced by Earth Island’s New Leaders Initiative, annually honoring six young activists for their leadership and achievements on environmental projects. The theme of this year’s event is Moving Forward Together. Stay tuned for details on registration.

Restoring Mangrove Forests in Brazil

The Atlantic coastline of Piauí, Brazil, a place of breathtaking natural beauty, is home to the Delta do Parnaíba with its sacred mangroves and diverse ecosystems. But this fragile ecosystem is threatened by climate change impacts, including rising sea levels and the loss of one of the country’s largest mangrove carbon sinks. To stem the tragedy, Women’s Earth Alliance, a project of Earth Island, and the local women-led organization Filha do Sol have joined forces. Their Women and Tropics Accelerator is catalyzing the leadership of grassroots women across the delta to protect and restore these precious mangroves. Read more here.

Protecting the Marine Environment in Timor-Leste

Earth Island’s Stop Fish Bombing (SFB), which works to prevent the unlawful fishing practice of bombing coral reefs, recently ventured to Timor-Leste, where the community is mobilizing to stop fish bombing that threatens to decimate the coral reefs there. SFB’s initial trip was to gather information. Next steps will involve analyzing the data and assessing the scope of the incidents using cutting-edge technology. With the support of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and East Timor President José Ramos-Horta, seen in the photo here flanked by SFB representatives, SFB aims to help the community in its efforts to secure a vibrant future for their marine environment. Read more here.

New York Moves to Ban Wildlife Killing Contests

New York legislators recently took bold action to protect wildlife and ecosystems by passing a bill to enact a state ban on wildlife killing contests — events in which participants compete for cash and prizes by killing the most, largest, or smallest of targeted wildlife species, including coyotes, foxes, squirrels, and raccoons. Earth Island’s Project Coyote and allies continue to urge New York Governor Kathy Hochul to sign the bill into law, which will position New York as the ninth state to ban these egregious and ecologically destructive contests. Join Project Coyote’s efforts to reform wildlife management and to ban wildlife killing contests state by state here.

Ideas for Plastic-Free July

During Plastic-Free July, Earth Island’s Plastic Pollution Coalition (PPC) is busy highlighting systemic solutions to plastic pollution. To uplift and showcase the progress of its diverse global members, PPC publishes a monthly coalition Member Spotlight blog (see May and June). This month, Member Spotlight features companies and organizations building plastic-free reuse-and-refill systems to help end plastic pollution: FillGood, Plastic Free Future, Plastic Free Restaurants, and USEFULL. To further establish and incentivize universal adoption of plastic-free and other environmentally responsible business practices, PPC is now offering its business members verification through Oceanic Global’s Blue Standard seal. 

Earth Island Is Growing!

Earth Island Institute recently added Ernesto Arévalo and Bridget Hughes to its Project Support Program as senior program advisors, while Pia MacDonald newly joined the organization’s board of directors. Learn more about our new team members on our staff page. In addition, Earth Island is still growing and looking for individuals who are passionate about creating a more just and sustainable future. Are you the one? Take a look at our job listings here.

The IslandWire editorial team would like to thank Earth Island Summer 2023 intern Joanne Yen for her assistance with this issue.