We tend to focus on and remember the most negative and depressing stories about the world. This can have a really bad impact on our emotions and on our motivations to work to better the world. So here I want to pinpoint a few conservation projects that have done well and have given me hope that things will turn out for the best!
Protection of the Red Sea’s coral reefs
Researchers from Arab countries are now working hard to declare the 2,500 miles of coral reef in the Red Sea as a Marine World Heritage Site. Climate change seriously threatens coral – rapidly warming oceans cause mass coral bleaching. But the Red Sea’s coral seems to be largely resilient to warming, and so is a vital feature to protect, as a potential lesson to other parts of the world. Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen are collaborating to protect the Red Sea, and hopefully soon we will see some solid action being put in place.
The Red Sea is an important area for conservation of coral (Source: Open Access Government)
Numbers of red kites in the UK are soaring
Thinking a little closer to home, we can point to red kites as one of the most successful British conservation projects of the 20th century. By the end of the 1980s, egg collection and illegal poisoning had pushed these birds to the brink of extinction. But in 1989, conservationists reintroduced them and numbers have grown to over 10,000 red kites now in Britain. Threats, such as poisoning and collisions with power cables, still persist, but this reintroduction program seems to be one of much success.
Red kites have been thriving in the UK since their reintroduction (Source: Independent)
Bison populations are recovering across Europe
Thanks to large-scale conservation strategies, the European bison populations have increased so that they are no longer considered “Vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List. 100 years ago, there were only 50 bison left - now there are 6,200 individuals across the continent. There are currently plans to reintroduce them to England, which, if successful, will become home to wild bison for the first time in 6,000 years. England is currently seen as one of the most “nature depleted countries in the world” with one out of seven native species at risk of extinction. The bison should help fix this, with their foraging and digging that have revitalizing impacts on ecosystems, hopefully helping reverse the decline of many UK species. The success in Europe provides hope for England and also for wider conservation work, proving that reintroduction can work.
The growth of the European bison population proves that conservation can work (Source: Blog.Nature)
A development project on the Mekong River has been stopped
The Cambodian government has stopped plans to build the Sambor hydropower dam on the Mekong River which would’ve damaged one of the most productive freshwater fisheries in the world. This river is home to a high amount of biodiversity and has the world’s largest population of Irrawaddy river dolphins. The prevention of these kinds of destructive projects saves key areas of wildlife from destruction, and so supports the global conservation movement.
Irrawaddy dolphins in the Mekong River are no longer threatened by the development of a dam (Source: WWF)
Of course, there is still a way to go, but looking at these stories, we can see that there is a reason to keep motivated and continue working to protect our beautiful, biodiverse land and sea!
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