Wondering what went right this year in the conservation world? We’ve got you covered with our Conservation Optimism Round-Up! We have collated 12 stories of optimism (one from each month) from around the globe for that final dose of motivation of 2024. Looking forward to spreading even more conservation success stories and conservation optimism in 2025.

Photo Credit: PROGRAMA DE CONSERVACIÓN EX-SITU DEL LINCE IBÉRICO (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:High_resolution_photo_of_Iberian_Lynx_cub.jpg).

1. January: Nine countries sign global pact to protect endangered river dolphins

“According to WWF, the declaration focuses on halting and reversing the decline of all river dolphin populations, creating a network of protected and well-managed river habitats and promoting research on these marine mammals. It also calls for collaborating with local communities and Indigenous people, as well as eradicating unsustainable fishing practices, among other issues.”

2. February: Incredible conservation success in Nepal as tiger population triples.

“As shared by the UN Environment Programme, the conservation flagship landscape ‘Terai Arc’, which spans India and Nepal, is celebrating their accomplishments in increasing tiger population, restored forest areas, engaged local community members, and more!”

3. March: The cities stripping out concrete for earth and plants

” The idea of depaving, sometimes known as desealing, is a simple one – replace as much concrete, asphalt and other forms of hard landscaping as possible with plants and soil. […] Proponents say depaving allows water to soak into the ground, which reduces flooding in times of heavy rain – aiding the “sponginess” of cities. Native plants help wildlife cling on in urban spaces, and by planting trees you can increase shade, protecting residents from heatwaves. Injecting city streets with greenery may even improve people’s mental health, too.”

In this article from BBC, find out more about the movement to replace concrete with nature in urban spaces, and hear from the people powering these initiatives in their cities – including Ontario, Canada; Leuven, Belgium; and Melbourne, Australia. “

4. April: Conservation can and does work!

” A new study published online, April 25, in the scientific journal Science provides the strongest evidence to date that not only is nature conservation successful, but that scaling conservation interventions up would be transformational for halting and reversing biodiversity loss—a crisis that can lead to ecosystem collapses and a planet less able to support life—and reducing the effects of climate change.“

5. May: Indigenous leaders want to protect whales by granting them legal personhood

” The indigenous leaders of New Zealand, Tahiti, Tonga and the Cook Islands have signed a treaty granting whales legal personhood. It’s a step Māori conservationist Mere Takoko says will pressure governments to do more to help the large sea mammals. ”

6. June: Iberian lynx doubles in population size and considered no longer endangered after numbers improve in Spain and Portugal

“ The change in status, announced on Thursday by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (ICUN), is the result of a two-decade-long effort from a coalition of partners including the EU and regional and national governments in Spain and Portugal, as well as wildlife NGOs and local people. ”

7. July: UNESCO inscribes 6 new natural World Heritage Sites including some of the most globally important and unique ecosystems and landscapes in the World. 

” These include one of the largest-remaining, in-tact peat bogs in Europe, an isolated endemic species hotspot in polynesia and many others. Find out more in this roundup: https://conservationoptimism.org/7-stories-of-optimism-this-week-19-08-2024-26-08-2024/ “

8. AUGUST: New hope for critically endangered Siamese crocodiles in Cambodia

” In what has been called the ‘find of the century’, “sixty Siamese crocodiles, from five separate nests, have successfully hatched in Cambodia’s Cardamom National Park.” This represents over 20 years of conservation efforts to protect this species in peril, and provides a new spark of hope for the rare crocodile’s recovery!

Pablo Sinovas, Country Director, Fauna & Flora Cambodia Programme, comments: “For over a decade, Fauna & Flora, alongside our dedicated partners, has been steadfast in our mission to bolster Siamese crocodile populations in Cambodia’s Cardamom Mountains. This involves not only breeding them in captivity but also ensuring they have a suitable habitat to be released into. Strengthening protection of key sites within Cardamom National Park is crucial, shielding these habitats from threats such as deforestation and poaching. “

9. SEPTEMBER: Conservation Optimism Summit brings together conservationists from across the globe in Oxford, UK 

” Inspiring words from the director and the founder of #ConservOptimism, so much is being done to protect the natural world by people who care deeply. We are stronger together. “

10. OCTOBER: ‘It’s hugely moving’: sea turtle nests in Greece reach record numbers

” After nearly a quarter of a century observing one of the world’s most famous sea turtle nesting grounds, Charikleia Minotou is convinced of one thing: nature, she says, has a way of “sending messages”.

Along the sandy shores of Sekania, on the Ionian island of Zakynthos, what she has seen both this year and last, has been beyond her wildest dreams. The beach, long described as the Mediterranean’s greatest “maternity ward” for the Caretta caretta loggerhead sea turtle, has become host to not only record numbers of nests, but record numbers of surviving hatchlings as the species makes an extraordinary resurgence. “

11. NOVEMBER: A 1,000 rescued lemurs and tortoises to head back home to Madagascar

“This has been one of the finest examples of cooperation between Thailand where the animals were confiscated, and Madagascar where the animals were smuggled from.”

12. DECEMBER: The rangers turning the DRC’s ‘triangle of death’ back into a thriving wildlife reserve

” Despite trying circumstances and limited resources, however, Upemba has managed to pull itself back from the brink. “Step by step, we have been able to find funding,” says Lain, who describes finding snares around Lusinga only a few years ago – a sign that rangers were setting them to poach animals. That has all but stopped. “We have also been able to recover a ranger force that had lost hope,” she says.”

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