National Geographic Society Furthers Investment in Efforts to Safeguard Our Planet's Freshwater

WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 25, 2024) — To address the challenges of unsustainable demands on freshwater resources around the globe, the National Geographic Society provides grants that support storytellers, scientists and educators as they analyze, document and develop solutions to emerging water scarcity issues.

Today, the Society announced an investment of more than $195,000 in the latest cohort of grant recipients supported through its World Freshwater Initiative. In 2022, the Society launched the World Freshwater Initiative to study and communicate emerging freshwater shortages worldwide and to inspire sustainable action. The Initiative supports impactful projects in freshwater conservation, education and storytelling.

These new grant recipients, whose work will span four countries, demonstrate a commitment to community engagement around freshwater issues. As National Geographic Explorers, they will receive funding of up to $50,000 for their projects implementing water conservation solutions.

The recipients are:

• Virginia Carter, who will evaluate fog’s potential as a freshwater source and work with local communities on a fog water-based project in the arid Atacama Desert along the northern Chilean coast.
• Hironori Hayashi, who will facilitate a community-led restoration of abandoned rice fields into a natural wetland and forest habitat to improve groundwater recharge and freshwater biodiversity in the Notori River Basin in Japan.
• Fatma Lestari, who will collaborate with a local farming community to integrate the Internet of Things with an Indigenous nature-based solution of conserving and equitably distributing water on Java Island in Indonesia.
• Sera Tolgay, who will collaborate with local interested groups on establishing conservation zones and wetland rehabilitation in the Asi-Orontes River Delta to improve water quality following the 2023 earthquake near the border of Türkiye and Syria.

These Explorers will lead conservation efforts in global water gap hotspots identified by the Society’s World Water Map, a geovisualization of regions where human demand for freshwater exceeds renewable supplies. With over 50,000 unique visitors in 2023, the World Water Map serves as a critical resource to help people worldwide understand water scarcity issues exacerbated by factors including climate change, increased consumption and economic development.

“Addressing water availability and scarcity issues around the world demands remarkable grit, bold science and powerful storytelling,” said Alex Moen, the Society’s Chief Explorer Engagement Officer. “Through the World Freshwater Initiative, we’re delighted to accelerate and elevate the work of National Geographic Explorers who are protecting our planet’s freshwater. These Explorers are prolific scientists and storytellers who are passionate about collaborating with communities, sharing their learnings and inspiring people to act. They’re talking to the world and building water literacy, whether that’s in classrooms or in their communities.”

Previous World Freshwater Initiative grantees include Explorer and photographer Caitlin Ochs, who is trekking across the Colorado River Basin as part of her larger “American Adaptation” project to demonstrate how the region’s 24-year-long drought is impacting the landscape and farming communities. In Peru, Explorer and photographer Musuk Nolte documents how pollution and droughts are contributing to the declining health of Lake Titicaca, the once sacred lake of the Incas and the highest navigable lake in the world. Meanwhile, in Tanzania, Explorer and filmmaker Aika Kirei produced and distributed a documentary film about human-caused threats to Dar es Salaam's shrinking lakes in schools across the region and on national broadcast television.

With the Society’s support, these Explorers will raise awareness about the worsening global crisis of dwindling freshwater resources and identify positive actions to protect our world. To learn more about the real-life stories surrounding freshwater challenges and solutions led by National Geographic Explorers, click here. To support this important Explorer-led research being conducted to protect our planet’s freshwater resources, visit natgeo.org.