As government and corporate leaders gather for New York Climate Week, founding members of the Peoples Forests Partnership have launched the Equitable Earth Coalition. In partnership with Indigenous Peoples, local communities and Global South countries, the Coalition is committed to developing a new voluntary carbon market standard and platform to help end deforestation and biodiversity loss by driving finance directly to communities. Michael Jenkins, CEO of Forest Trends, said: “As a longtime champion of trustworthy and accessible carbon markets, we are excited about a process that centers Indigenous Peoples and local communities. We believe this fills a major gap in the carbon ecosystem. Forest Trends is glad to support the Equitable Earth approach, and we look forward to seeing it deliver on its goal of rapidly scaling direct climate finance to communities on the front lines of efforts to safeguard forests.” The goal of the Equitable Earth Coalition is to develop that solution through a new voluntary carbon market (VCM) standard and platform that is: ● Developed in partnership with Indigenous Peoples and local communities, with an aim of delivering transformative finance directly to communities to fund their own development ambitions. ● Founded on transparency, robust science and rigorous due diligence, a standardised approach to measuring carbon, societal and biodiversity impacts, and best practices for IPLC ownership and inclusion. ● Holistic by driving investment both to stop deforestation, and to restore and steward forest ecosystems. ● Designed to nest into national forest carbon programs that contribute to global climate commitments. The founding members of the Coalition include Forest Trends, Wildlife Works and Everland. Beto Borges, Director of the Forest Trends Communities and Territorial Governance Initiative, will be Chair of the Equitable Earth Indigenous Peoples & Local Communities Advisory Group. “The voluntary carbon market can help address forest loss at its root, by providing essential finance to Indigenous Peoples and local communities to make conservation a viable development path. But the market has not been designed to meet the needs of the communities on the ground, who hold the key to reducing emissions from deforestation,” Beto Borges said. “A fit-for-purpose solution is needed now. Forests are being destroyed and we have run out of time.” Also joining the Equitable Earth Indigenous Peoples & Local Communities Advisory Group will be: ● Francisca Arara, Extraordinary Secretary for Indigenous Peoples in the State of Acre, Brazil, and President of the Regional Committee for Brazil of the Governors Climate and Forests Task Force ● Gustavo Sánchez Valle, President of the Mexican Network of Community Forest Organizations (Red MOCAF) ● Mary Allegretti, Anthropologist, President of the Institute of Amazonian Studies ● Julio Barbosa de Aquino, President, National Council of Extractivist Populations (CNS) The Coalition is growing rapidly and currently undertaking stakeholder consultations with IPLC leaders; Global South governments; project developers; carbon market participants; scientific and policy experts; and others, with further announcements planned for later this year. For further information, visit www.eq-earth.com

By Jane Okoth Wildlife Works’ Kasigau Corridor REDD+ team has partnered with the County Government and local community health volunteers to ensure quality health care services are available to community members in the project area. Recently, we hosted a free medical health outreach clinic in Kale Primary School, located in the project area. Throughout the day, community members had access to health advice, as well as a wide range of services including eye care, cancer screening, physiotherapy, dental care, HIV testing, pediatric services and more. This partnership was aimed at improving access to quality healthcare, since community members have limited access to healthcare facilities and lack adequate personnel and expertise to address their medical needs. During the outreach program, 270 patients were able to access free medical care, and eye patients were booked for surgery at the County Referral Hospital in Voi. The health of people, animals, and our shared environment is all interconnected, and an investment in the health of a community is just as much an investment into the forest and wildlife.

By Jane Okoth The ongoing drought in Kenya has led to a scarcity of water and food, causing elephant herds to roam long distances in search of resources, which can unfortunately result in young and weak members being left behind. On the 3rd or April 2023, the Wildlife Works team in Kasigau received a call from a local community member advising us that a baby elephant had been abandoned by its herd in Rukanga, a water catchment dam in the project area. With this information, Wildlife Works’ Head of Security dispatched  a ground ranger  patrol team to the scene to verify the information. Upon arrival, they found a 3 month old baby elephant that had been abandoned, and no herd in sight. The team remained with the calf while Danny Zuma, Wildlife Works’ gyrocopter pilot was requested to fly over the area to see if any elephant herds were evident. This was crucial in deciding whether it would be possible to reintroduce the baby into the herd or if the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust would need to take in the calf to their elephant orphanage.      With no herds in the vicinity, and given that the baby elephant had been in the dam since the weekend, the Kasigau team Project Lead made the necessary decision to request the elephant to be airlifted by the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. In another similar incident on the 6th of April 2023 at around midnight, a three-month-old male elephant was discovered in a community cattle enclosure kicking a 20-liter water drum, which quickly got the attention of the herders. Extremely thirsty, it had most likely not been able to keep up with its family and had been separated from them. The cattle herders quickly contacted Wildlife Works patrol base nearby to advise them of the situation. Upon arrival at the area, our team decided it was best to transport the calf to the Wildlife Works headquarters for the rest of the night. At the break of dawn, our Project Lead contacted Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, and requested air evacuation assistance. Sheldrick Wildlife Trust immediately dispatched their helicopter and a trained orphan elephant keeper to our headquarters and by 9.00 am, little Mwakazi (named after a small rocky hill where he was found) was airlifted to their orphanage in Nairobi. Ten days on, Mwakazi is doing well and is another example of our commitment, coupled with the expertise of Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, to save elephants that are caught up in the horrendous drought. Both baby elephants are now safe and in good hands, all thanks to great teamwork between the members of the community, Wildlife Works, Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and Kenya Wildlife Service. Learn more about The Sheldrick Wildlife Trust: https://www.sheldrickwildlifetrust.org/