One key to getting work done is buy-in. In this weekâs spotlight on positive global news we feature Ecuador, where municipalities started a successful conservation program by asking people how much they would be willing to pay for their water.
1. United States
The entire West Coast now has access to early earthquake warnings after Washington state was added to the mobile alert system. First launched in Los Angeles, the system began notifying cellphone users in 2018. Because modern telecom systems can send messages faster than shock waves move through the ground, the alerts offer users crucial seconds to prepare for the shaking â enough time to find shelter or to drop, cover, and hold on.
Ecuadoran water fund transforms consumers into conservationists
by Dimitri Selibas on 4 May 2021
The Regional Water Fund of Southern Ecuador (FORAGUA) operates in 14 municipalities, serving 500,000 residents, and has restored 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres) of land and put an additional 337,000 hectares (833,000 acres) under conservation.
By 2030, the fund aims to work in 39 municipalities, serving 1 million people and conserving 600,000 hectares (1.48 million acres) of land.
A pilot project to incentivize landowners to rewild their properties and take up alternative livelihoods shows that where landowners could earn 50 times more per hectare cultivating guanabana, a local fruit, than raising cattle.
Municipal residents pay on average $1 per month to FORAGUA for their water consumption, with 90% of funds raised going to conservation projects.