Our STORY
Legado offers a radical new approach for securing Thriving Futures for both people and the places they call home.
This work began in the mountains of Mozambique. In 2010, professional climber and social entrepreneur Majka Burhardt was sent a photo of a granite rock face in northern Mozambique. Majka’s curiosity about what was behind and beyond that rock face ultimately led to a May 2014 expedition with an international team of biologists, climbers, conservation workers, and filmmakers who collaborated in an exploration of Mozambique’s second highest peak, Mount Namuli. The expedition spent a month using rock climbing to access previously unexplored habitats and conducting cliffside scientific research while working with Namuli’s community members to understand their conservation priorities for their mountain ecosystem.
The 2014 expedition launched Legado and an enduring partnership with Namuli community members to support their priorities for their people and their mountain ecosystem. It also was the start of a joint program on Namuli with Mozambican conservation organization, LUPA.
Building off the partnerships forged with local communities and LUPA, today Legado is an international nonprofit that works alongside indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) in places important for biodiversity to ensure they have the tools, resources, and partnerships they need to design and implement solutions of their choosing that benefit both their communities and landscapes—an outcome we call Thriving Futures. We work to build a locally-led system for sustained collective action that fosters adaptability and resilience for meeting current and future challenges—such as those brought on by climate change. Our work revolves around legacy as an activator for individual and collective change.
Legado currently works in Kenya, Peru, and Mozambique and is expanding our partnerships and program areas yearly.
Our Vision
Our Mission
Why Now?
Climate change is the greatest threat of our time, and indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) are particularly vulnerable to its effects. At the same time, IPLCs are poised to help lead the charge to save our planet. IPLCs steward at least 32% of global lands, most of which are considered high value for climate change mitigation and include 85% of the world’s most biodiverse areas. To meet the ambitious global climate and biodiversity targets, IPLCs must play a major role.
However, after centuries of unjust treatment and marginalization, IPLCs often lack support, capacity, and/or legal recognition of their authority, meaning their future ability to sustainably manage and conserve lands and biodiversity is at risk.IPLCs have diverse priorities for the management of their lands, including economic development and traditional, cultural, and spiritual uses. Thus, collective action must go beyond conservation alone and instead take a holistic approach, with the end goal being THRIVING PEOPLE IN THRIVING PLACES.
Mayanae Lemojong (right), Ngilai community ambassador in Northern Kenya, with community member, Nteyiana Lekerpees (left) walk to a community meeting (photo by Roshni Lodhia).
WATCH NAMULI
— THE FILM
