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Dear Friend,

March is Women’s History Month. What better time to celebrate the leadership of those who have long been at the forefront of protecting our planet, often without recognition? From community organizers to scientists to youth activists, women are driving solutions and challenging the systems that harm people and our planet. At Earth Island, we know that building an inclusive movement makes our work stronger, more innovative, and more effective. In these troubled times, as we continue fighting for a just and livable future, let’s honor the women who lead the way and recommit to ensuring all voices are heard in the movement to protect our planet.

In community,

Your Friends at Earth Island Institute

In this edition of IslandWire: Earth Island at the Bioneers Conference, Brower Youth Awards applications open, a win against logging in Borneo, defending NOAA staff, a photo workshop for kids, a call to protect wolves, children in nature, and a film fest celebrating our wild world.

On March 28, Women's Earth Alliance (WEA) will take the stage at Bioneers 2025 in Berkeley, California, to share urgent, women-led solutions advancing climate resilience and protecting vital ecosystems. At noon Pacific, WEA Co-Directors Kahea Pacheco, Melinda Kramer, and Amira Diamond will present a keynote on how women-led, community-based solutions are shaping a just and sustainable future. Later, at 3 pm Pacific, WEA team members will lead an interactive workshop on the intersection of gender, climate, and environmental justice. Join WEA in these critical conversations about the power of grassroots leadership.

Friends of Earth Island can get a 20 percent discount on conference registration by applying the code: Biopartner25. Register here: Bioneers 2025.

Earth Island representatives will be tabling at the Brower Center lobby during the conference. If you are around, do swing by and say hello.

Register

The 2025 Brower Youth Awards application is open! Since 2000, the Brower Youth Awards, a program of Earth Island’s New Leaders Initiative, has recognized 153 outstanding, emerging youth leaders who are making strides in the environmental movement. Each year, six winners are awarded a $3,000 cash prize and flown to the San Francisco Bay Area for a week of leadership training, coaching, and skill-building. Environmental changemakers ages 13 to 22 (as of the application deadline) and living in North America are encouraged to apply. The deadline for submission is Tuesday, May 20. Find out more about the award here.

Apply

Indigenous communities in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, are celebrating, as timber giant Samling has retreated from logging in the Baram River Basin. Since 2020, the Stop the Chop campaign — supported by the Borneo Project — has called for Samling to stop encroaching on Indigenous territories until they have the consent of local communities. This win is a turning point for environmental justice in Sarawak, where too often community concerns are ignored or discarded. Read the full story here.

As partners with the Friends of NOAA and the National Sanctuary Foundation, Shark Stewards is collecting signatures on a petition to the Trump administration and Congress demanding that the government restore the jobs of NOAA's scientists and other staff who are the backbone of our nation’s marine protections. The petition also asks the Trump administration to leave intact current protections provided by national marine sanctuaries to more than 629,000 square miles of marine and Great Lakes waters. Add your name here.

Lend Support

Conservation Kids and Branson High School in Marin County, California, recently teamed up for a conservation photography workshop for 16 students enrolled in the school’s photography class. After a great discussion about conservation and how photography can be effectively used in environmental protections, we hit the trail with our cameras to document the Abbotts Lagoon Trail at Point Reyes National Seashore. The highlight of the day was a bobcat running in front of the group as we hiked down the trail. We all missed the shot! Learn more about the free workshops for youth at conservationkids.org.

Republican US House representatives Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin have introduced a bill, H.R. 845, that would strip wolves of vital federal protections under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Worse, the bill would block judicial review, preventing any legal challenge to this harmful legislation. History has shown that taking wolves off the ESA list guarantees their rampant killing and persecution. In response, Project Coyote has launched a campaign urging US citizens to contact their representatives and ask them to vote “no” on the bill. Individuals can send a comment directly from Project Coyote’s website.

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Each of our student environmentalists begins their KIDS for the BAY (KftB) program with a Watershed Scavenger Hunt to help them connect with nature on their school campus and explore the wonders of their watershed. These activities help students access local green spaces, provide opportunities to engage all five senses, practice mindfulness, and become fully engaged in nature and in their own bodies. S.B. 1091, a bill recently signed into California law, will make it easier for under-resourced schools to implement schoolyard greening projects. KftB celebrates fellow Earth Island project Green Schoolyards America’s advocacy for this bill, which will have major developmental and health benefits for all students who have fewer opportunities to connect with nature and learn in the outdoors. Read the full story.

Join us for at the David Brower Center in Berkeley, California, on April 19 for this year’s Wild and Scenic Film Festival. The one-day festival will feature films that explore nature, community activism, adventure, conservation, water, energy and climate change, wildlife, environmental justice, agriculture, and more. The festival also includes a free Home Electrification Fair in the afternoon. IslandWire readers can get a discount on tickets using the code CCLALA.