Until recently, the people living on the island of Kokota thought their forests were lost forever.

The tiny Tanzanian islet measures only one square kilometer and is home to just 500 people.

For centuries, Kokota's residents subsisted by harvesting the island's natural resources, including its trees. By the early 21st century, though, the deforestation had become unsustainable and the islanders faced a crisis. Fisheries were depleted, which threatened the Kokotan’s food supplies, and rivers ran dry, which left people with little water to drink or cook with.

Kokota’s residents also faced threats largely out of their control. A changing climate has meant the island is now experiencing rising sea levels, more erratic rainfall, and coral bleaching in the surrounding waters.

But