Batbayar Nyasambuu laughs with glee upon reaching the site in Mongolia's Altai mountains where a spiritual ceremony for the snow leopard is to take place. After the fall of communism, Mongolians quickly began to embrace their ancestral spiritual practices and many returned to boo murgel, or animism, which has helped them reconnect with the land.

Greenland sled dogs pull a loaded sled at a run across the sea ice of Inglefield Gulf. Greenland dogs, a unique breed, are genetically closer to wolves than other dogs. Considered only partly domesticated, they can be dangerous, but their strength and endurance in this difficult environment are unmatched. To keep the breed pure, no other dogs are allowed in Greenland north of the Arctic Circle.

Bulmba Ranger Gavin Donahue manages a cultural burn at the edge of the forest in Djabugay country. This fire is intended to eradicate saw-sharp invasive grasses that local wallabies can’t eat, so Donahue has set it to burn hot. Nonetheless, it fizzled out—exactly as he intended—at the top of the rise, leaving the forest unaffected. Softer wallaby-friendly grasses will grow back here.

Narwhals rest along the edge of the sea ice near the Inughuit village of Qaanaaq, Greenland. Inughuit have hunted and managed narwhal populations for centuries and continue to maintain some of the healthiest populations of marine mammals on the planet.

By protecting their environment, the Cofán seek to maintain the conditions in which their families have traditionally flourished. Pictured here: (left to right) Joaquina Criollo, Luis Quenama, their daughter Malene Quenama, and her daughter, Jhulysi Mendua.

Young navigator Walter Andrew relaxes aboard a Palaun Southwest Islander outrigger canoe. The arts of traditional navigation and fishing are revived to Palau, as more young people embrace the Indigenous systems that keep their fisheries and livelihoods the envy of tropical nations across the globe.

At the 2017 Nalukataq festival, the Utqiaġvik village celebrates and gives thanks for a successful whaling season. Nalukataq means “blanket toss,” referring to the festival’s main focus, in which successful whalers are thrown up to thirty feet in the air and must trust their neighbors to catch them.

Margo Robbins weaves the start of a traditional Yurok baby carrier basket. Baskets carry great importance, and the ability to manage forests for basket materials has long driven Yurok forest management practices that make forests both more diverse and productive.

Manta rays and fusiliers feed in the plankton-rich currents flowing between Palau’s outer coral reefs.