Founded over 30 years ago, Earth Guardians is a global nonprofit dedicated to training and empowering diverse youth to lead impactful grassroots climate justice projects and campaigns.

Since 2012, we have onboarded over 500 youth-led Crews in over 75 countries. Our programs such as the Indigenous Youth Initiative (founded in 2019), Speakers Bureau (founded in 2019), and Earth Voices: Inspiring Shift (launched in 2024) drive our mission to create leadership opportunities for underserved youth, particularly BIPOC and low-income communities. Since 2021, our Project Grants Program has distributed $115,000 to grassroots youth lead climate justice initiatives, including $30,000 in 2024 alone, supporting 79 projects across the globe this fall. Additionally, our large-scale reforestation and mangrove restoration projects in Sierra Leone, Togo, Cameroon, and San Paulo, Odesha initiated in 2020, have made a significant environmental impact.

We are very excited to work alongside Ma Earth to implement regenerative land practices worldwide.

Understanding the Problem

Natural resources in West Africa, particularly in the Sahel, are under unprecedented pressure. Spanning 6.14 million km² across seven countries from Senegal to Chad, over 65% of agricultural land in the Sahel is degraded (according to the United Nations Development Program). This has created intense pressure on land access to meet the growing demographic needs of the region, where populations rely heavily on natural resources for their livelihoods.

Climate change and unsustainable human activities have led to severe resource scarcity, exacerbating poverty and conflict, especially among pastoralists and farmers. These communities face a range of challenges, including drought, rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, and land degradation. Poor agricultural practices, such as excessive pesticide use, chemical fertilizers, and uncontrolled well drilling for irrigation, further accelerate soil degradation. This has led to recurring conflicts, as herders and farmers compete for the increasingly degraded lands that are often abandoned, forcing the cultivation of new, fragile areas.

Earth Guardians, with extensive land management experience, is well-suited to address these urgent issues. Our goal is to expand upon the successful practices we’ve implemented across West Africa and apply them to Keur Ndiol, Senegal. As part of Earth Guardians’ broader mission to advance climate and environmental justice, gender equality, and respect for human rights, we are committed to creating regenerative, land-based economic opportunities through large-scale reforestation and land regeneration projects.

Recognizing that environmental injustice often marginalizes specific identities, we prioritize diverse collaboration and community-based approaches to enrich the global climate movement. For this project, we have engaged with a wide range of community segments in Senegal, including Indigenous residents, women, men, students, religious and traditional authorities, and other underserved socio-economic groups. These discussions have guided our approach to ensuring that the project serves the needs of the entire community.

Soil Regeneration in Keur Ndiol

Our project in Keur Ndiol, Senegal, seeks to address the severe soil degradation faced by local farmers and pastoralists through a comprehensive training and awareness program. The project aims to restore soil biodiversity, improve food security, bolster economic stability, sequester carbon, and foster conflict management between herders and farmers. By integrating scientific techniques with traditional ecological knowledge, the project combines land mapping, training, and community engagement to promote sustainable land use and governance.

Key regenerative activities of Earth Guardians Project “Soil Regeneration for Agriculture & Pastoralism in Keur Ndiol, Senegal”:

• Land Mapping and Analysis: We will utilize GIS and remote sensing to monitor seasonal land cover, water resources, and drought-related risks, such as bushfires and temperature stress. We will also analyze soil organic carbon and other soil health indicators, assess carbon sequestration, and track landscape changes over time.

• Soil Health and Regenerative Agriculture: The project will focus on restoring soil fertility and biodiversity by analyzing soil’s biological, physical, and chemical properties. We will train 100 farmers in regenerative agriculture practices, including crop rotation, biofertilizer production, and organic pest management, with an intensive 100-hour program over six months.

• Pasture Management and Reforestation: To prevent land conflicts and overuse, we will define sustainable grazing areas and train 50 livestock breeders in seasonal pasture management. We also plan to reforest 3,000 trees to restore ecological balance.
  Conflict Management Committees: Monthly community meetings, mediated by conflict management committees, will delegate project responsibilities and resolve land-use disputes.

• Public Awareness and Education: We will educate more than 250 community members annually about the dangers of unsustainable agriculture and the importance of soil biodiversity.

This funding from Ma Earth will specifically support the training efforts within the context of this larger project, equipping local farmers and community members with the skills needed to adopt regenerative land practices. Through this, we hope to restore 100 hectares of degraded soil and create long-term sustainability in Keur Ndiol and the broader Sahel region.

• Capacity Building in agroecology: Train at least 100 local individuals, including women, youth, students, pastoralists, and farmers, in sustainable agro-pastoral strategies, land management and agroecological practices.

• Biodiversity Awareness: Raise awareness among at least 100 local stakeholders about the importance of biodiversity (fauna and flora) and soil biodiversity.

• Technical Skills Development in GIS and remote sensing : Train 10 young people in assessing land degradation/evolution, drought and wildfire monitoring using remote sensing and mapping.

• Knowledge Dissemination: Publish at least two research articles in peer-reviewed journals.

• Monitoring and Evaluation: Regular socio-economic surveys, soil health assessments, and community feedback will guide our monitoring efforts. We aim to publish two peer-reviewed research articles to share our findings globally

By the end of the entire larger project, we aim to accomplish the following:

• The landscape dynamics, land use, and carbon sequestration from 1980 to 2024 will be analyzed using mapping and analysis.

• Our team & partners will develop a larger 5-year sustainable resource management plan in the first year after the drought and water resources assessments

• Preliminary and post-soil macrofauna inventories tested

• Train 100 farmers in regenerative agricultural practices

• Restore 100 hectares of degraded soil during training

• Train 50 farm animal breeders in effective pasture management practices

• Educate 250 people, including women and children, on the importance of soil fauna, biodiversity, and basic methods of protecting and sustainably managing natural resources

• Established a permanent and diverse community-based committee for managing crises related to natural resources

• Publish 2 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals

Measuring Change

The evaluation of the project will be qualitative and quantitative. It will relate to the activities and sub-activities of the project. To ensure our project’s success, we will measure the following:

• Number of participants in awareness and training activities

• Effectiveness of tools developed, such as maps and development plans

• Amount of area of cultivated land restored

• Improvement of the soil, net primary productivity, and the organic sequestered carbon.

• Level of satisfaction of beneficiaries and community members with the project

• New knowledge and skills gained by community members with the project

• The evaluation of macro-elements and other elements of the soil (organic carbon, net primary productivity, etc.)

The evaluation process will continue five years after the projects to evaluate the impacts and confirm the mode of implementation.

Our team employs a multidisciplinary approach, which is critical to addressing the complexity of land degradation. This includes the use of GIS remote sensing, biological and agronomic methods such as soil evaluation and amendment, as well as socio-cultural strategies to ensure the sustainability and scalability of the project’s outcomes. To date, our key officers and directors have reviewed scientific data related to climate, agricultural practices, land management, and livestock breeding to guide this project’s design.

By integrating these diverse elements, we aim to restore soil biodiversity, promote sustainable land management practices, and strengthen community resilience in Keur Ndiol. This project will not only enhance the local environment and economy but also serve as a model for similar efforts across the Sahel region, promoting long-term environmental and social sustainability and regenerative land practices.