Wondering what went right this week in the conservation world? We’ve got you covered with our Conservation Optimism Round-Up! We are collating stories of optimism from around the globe so that you never miss your dose of weekly motivation. (Featured Image: Oriental Pied Hornbill, Thai National Parks)
1. Yurok Nation reclaims vital creek and watershed to restore major salmon run
The Blue Creek in northern California critically serves as “the first cold-water refuge for migrating salmon that enables the fish to cool down, survive, and move farther upriver to spawn. The dams and logging have damaged this important watershed for decades.”
The Yurok, California’s largest Indigenous tribe, lost ownership of Blue Creek, which they considered to be a sacred place, to westward U.S. expansion in the late 1800s. Now, after two decades of fundraising to buy the land back, the Blue Creek watershed returns to the Yurok in its entirety for conservation and restoration. In the coming generations, active Yurok land management intends to deepen the creek and restore the entire watershed to the biodiverse old-growth forest it once was.
Read the full story on Mongabay to learn about the significance of the Blue Creek habitat and the restorative power of climate justice.
Four dams are now down on the Upper Klamath River in northern California in the largest river restoration project in U.S. history. But a rarely mentioned cold-water creek is essential to restoring health to what was once the third-largest salmon run on the West Coast of North America.
— Mongabay (@mongabay.com) June 11, 2025 at 8:17 AM
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2. Tiny endangered turtle hatchlings get a head start in life
In last week’s 7 Stories of Optimism, we shared a story about the recovery of the Northwestern pond turtles in Yellowstone National Park after invasive bullfrogs were removed. For this week, 17 hatchlings of the same species make their way to Oregon Zoo’s turtle conservation lab, where they will be cared for with food, safety, and heat lamps until they are “big enough to have a fighting chance in the wild.”
“These hatchlings are very vulnerable to predators,” said Jen Osburn Eliot, who oversees the zoo’s turtle recovery program. “At this small size, a bullfrog can gobble them up right out of the nest like a bunch of M&M’s.
Due to threats such as the invasive American bullfrogs, Northwestern pond turtles were on the verge of completely dying out in the state of Washington 20 years ago, with fewer than 100 turtles left in the state. Since then, more than 1,500 zoo-head-started turtles have been released.
Seventeen tiny northwestern pond turtle hatchlings just arrived at our conservation lab, where they'll be kept safe from predators until they're big enough to survive in the wild. pic.twitter.com/wumesf4jkK
— Oregon Zoo (@OregonZoo) June 4, 2025
3. Landscape that inspired Dickens made nature reserve
“A Kent landscape of ancient woodlands, wildflower meadows and chalk grasslands that inspired novelist Charles Dickens has been made a national nature reserve.
“As a result, the 800-acre site near Snodland has been marked out as an area of focus for conservation and nature restoration efforts.” The area is home to many native species “including Man and Lady orchids, the Maidstone mining bee, Hazel dormouse and skylarks, about 1,700 ancient and veteran trees, and the Silverhand Estate – one of the UK’s largest organic vineyards.”
"This new reserve, with its hundreds of ancient trees set amid extensive chalk grasslands, lays the foundations for multiple partners to work together to improve Nature across a significant area of countryside." #rewilding #conservationoptimismhttps://t.co/y8IG3vwYGg
— Citizen Zoo (@CitizenZoo) June 9, 2025
4. People and nature thrive at Faro National Park, Cameroon, thanks to water access and sustainable farming
Water scarcity has long been a problem in the communities surrounding Faro National Park in Cameroon, forcing villagers to search for water for their households and livestock, sometimes even leading their animals into protected park areas to graze.
The African Wildlife Foundation, with funding from the European Union, have worked alongside local communities to improve access to clean water. Alongside other initiatives focused on the livelihood of local people alongside nature, “these changes have collectively minimized environmental strain, reduced the ecological footprint of the communities, and fostered a more harmonious coexistence with the park’s ecosystem.”
Changing the Conservation Story in Northern Cameroon
— AWF (@AWF_Official) June 3, 2025
When rice bags start stacking up in a remote corner of northern Cameroon, it’s not just a good harvest—it’s a sign that conservation is working differently.
In the Faro Landscape, 25 members of the FONDEN LAREN MARORI… pic.twitter.com/BuuxrX9K2p
5. White rhinos from South Africa arrive in Rwanda for rewilding program
In a collaboration between African Parks and the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), “[s]eventy southern white rhinos have completed a journey of more than 3,400 kilometres (at least 2,112 miles) by truck and Boeing 747 from South Africa to Rwanda in what has been described as the largest translocation of its kind.”
“The objective of the Rhino Rewild Initiative is to rewild over 2,000 rhinos to safe, well-managed protected areas across the continent. This will ensure the establishment of several viable populations of southern white rhinos, thereby de-risking the future of the species and playing an important role in restoring ecosystems.”
70 southern white rhinos relocated by truck and airliner as part of a major rewilding effort involving South Africa and Rwanda https://t.co/fakCxoxdiP pic.twitter.com/GQOEjHwtwr
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) June 11, 2025
6. Samoa leads the way in ocean protection
“Samoa, an archipelagic country composed of nine islands in the South Pacific Ocean, is on the frontline of climate change. Rising sea levels, ocean warming and acidification all pose significant threats to the country’s coastal communities. To help protect its future, the Samoan government announced June 3 that it has enacted a law establishing a marine spatial plan to sustainably manage 100% of its ocean by 2030.
“The plan, which became law May 1, also establishes nine new marine protected areas (MPAs) that cover 30% of Samoa’s ocean, an area of 35,936 square kilometers (13,875 square miles), roughly the size of Taiwan.”
Samoa is on the frontline of climate change. To help protect its future, the Samoan government announced June 3 that it has enacted a law establishing a marine spatial plan to sustainably manage 100% of its ocean by 2030.
— Mongabay (@mongabay.com) June 10, 2025 at 1:10 AM
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7. A look at urban rewilding animals around the globe
We’ve shared countless stories of species reintroductions in our past 7 stories blogs, in which animals once locally extinct are reintroduced to their former wild ranges. This article invites us to consider: “What if cities could become part of the solution — places to actively restore biodiversity rather than just areas of loss?”
“To date, the rewilding movement has largely focused on reintroducing animals to “wilder”, more remote areas. Our review of more than 2,800 rewilding papers found only 17 in urban environments.
While these numbers are low, their successes show rewilding cities can and does work. Beavers now swim in a wetland in London for the first time in 400 years, platypuses are once again breeding in Sydney’s Royal National Park and hornbills fly amid Singaporean skyscrapers.”
"Urban rewilding offers a way to change this. By bringing native animals back into city parks and reserves, we can create everyday opportunities for people to see, hear and connect with wildlife." #rewilding #conservationoptimismhttps://t.co/646xfcRUCC
— Citizen Zoo (@CitizenZoo) June 6, 2025
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