Matt Binder

Matt Binder reports on Terra Nova, an innovative rainforest reserve in Belize. The government of Belize has entrusted management of the preserve to traditional healers, who tend to the area’s medicinal plants as well as the surrounding ecosystem.

Matt Binder reports from the Great Central Valley of California about two brothers who farm almonds, side by side, in the tiny town of Hilmar. One brother cultivates his nuts the way most almond farmers do, with synthetic chemical fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides and herbicides. Just across the road his brother farms organically. And as you […]

Matt Binder reports on violations of the UN’s new ban on driftnet fishing. The US Coast Guard has busted at least five illegal driftnetters in the northern Pacific. Watchdog groups say some countries may be tacitly supporting illegal fleets, but Washington says there have been few documented violations, and that compliance with the new law […]

Matt Binder reports on a new sanctuary for howler moneys, run by subsistence farmers in the Central American country of Belize. The trees in the sanctuary have helped stem soil erosion, and the large population of monkeys has helped bring tourist dollars to the area.

Matt Binder reports from Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on the efforts of some Mayan farmers to preserve their centuries-old method of rotating, slash-and-burn agriculture. The Mexican government wants to convert much of the Yucatan jungle into conventional modern cropland, but the Maya say their traditional method serves their needs better while protecting the forest.