Today's Pagan News Beagle salutes the efforts being made, worldwide, to make our world more liveable for all lifeforms. From citizen science to local farmers to composting our remains, these are stories of how we can all make a difference.

Christina Eisenberg is an amazing biologist and activist. (I had the good fortune to work with her as a writer and editor for SageWoman in the early 1990's.) In this post, she explains how the rise of the citizen scientist has profoundly affected her discipline.

Within living memory, Northern California's Mendocino County was the primary supplier to the Bay Area for crops such as oats, wheat, and barley. But for a good portion of the last century, Mendocino’s increasingly valuable agriculture land on valley bottoms haven’t been sown with grains. The farmers profiled in this report aim to change that.

Is mega-agriculture necessary to feed the world? This article at the Ecologist explains that small farms are feeding the planet because they prioritize local food production, especially for the rural and urban poor.

Deep in the rainforest of Ecuador, a village is protecting its ecosystem from Big Oil. They believe that their lifestyle, deeply connected to nature, holds promise for humans to save themselves from global warming and extinction. 

What do you want your last act to be — that is, your final gesture upon your own death? This story highlights the work of a woman that is trying to make it possible to legally arrange for your physical body to be composted when you die.