Environment
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Photo: Miguel Samper for Mercy Corps
Climate change is worsening an already unprecedented scarcity of resources, including water and arable land in some of the world's most volatile and impoverished regions. Environmental degradation most strongly impacts vulnerable communities, primarily because these places lack the coping mechanisms that normally protect lives and livelihoods.
Mercy Corps is committed to helping these communities address and adapt to environmental changes. Our programs increase access to clean energy, manage limited water supplies, and teach farmers to protect their land.
All stories about Environment
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Somalia: Healing the wounds of natural resource conflict in Somalia May 24, 2011
It was one of my toughest decisions ever to join Mercy Corps in Somaliland as the Project Officer for the People-to-People Environmental Peacebuilding Program. My main motivation was twofold, to join as a humanitarian and for personal career development.
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Nepal: Bamboo and bio-engineering interventions for mitigation of riverbank erosion April 27, 2011
Floods are a major hazard in Nepal contributing to endemic poverty, an occurrence that is likely to increase and magnify due to climate change.
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Somalia: A lot has changed February 16, 2011
It was a long journey full of rough terrains and sleepless nights while we were assessing the areas that have been hit by droughts in the Bari Region of Puntland, Somalia. Farmers and pastoralists lost most of their assets and suffered from lack of water.
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Colombia: One emergency after another in Colombia December 9, 2010
In November, the Mayor's Office of Barranquilla requested Mercy Corps' support with a humanitarian response to the neighborhood of El Bosque that was affected by a landslide that brought down more than 300 households.
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Colombia: Landslide — 8,635 families in Barranquilla affected November 10, 2010
During a routine visit to one of our Disaster Prevention Pilot Projects in the city of Barranquilla, Colombia and a fast conversation with German Manota — the right-hand man of Barranquilla's Mayor — I was quickly introduced to the devastation that is currently occurring here.
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Timor-Leste: Small disasters with no voice are important too November 2, 2010
In Timor-Leste (East Timor), this year’s weather has caused more serious problems than ever encountered in living memory and beyond. The dry season was meant to start last March.
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Cleaner, safer living through improved cookstoves October 1, 2010
Cooking is one of the most basic human activities.
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Alleviating energy poverty September 22, 2010
Energy poverty and community-based energy solutions have been back in the news lately, and have been a focus of Mercy Corps’ programming for the last couple of years.
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Colombia: Video: Conserving the mangroves in Bocas Del Atrato May 14, 2010
See how we're helping an Afro-Colombian fishing community along Colombia's northern coast conserve mangrove forests that protect their homes, secure their livelihoods and sustain the region's biodiversity.
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Putting aside the climate change debate March 31, 2010
I can still remember being recruited by my friend, Reena, for the “Save the Earth Club” in high school. My first activity was helping out at a community garden and learning more about the importance of respecting the environment.