7 stories of optimism this week (05.01.26-12.01.26)

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 credit: Ludovic Hirlimann via Wikimedia Commons)

1. Green sea turtle rebounds thanks to global conservation action

Despite ongoing threats to some populations, the Green Sea Turtle, Chelonia mydas, has seen a 28% increase in population since the 1970s.

Global conservation efforts, including protecting nesting females and their eggs on beaches, expanding community-based initiatives to reduce unsustainable harvest of turtles and their eggs for human consumption, curtailing trade, and using Turtle Excluder Devices and other measures to reduce the accidental capture of turtles in fishing gear, have improved their status from Endangered to Least Concern.

“Sea turtles cannot survive without healthy oceans and coasts, and humans can’t either. Sustained conservation efforts are key to assuring that this recovery lasts,” said Roderic Mast, Co-Chair of IUCN’s Species Survival Commission Marine Turtle Specialist Group.

2. Twin Mountain Gorillas are born in the DRC!

Raising hopes for the survival of one of the world’s most threatened and most beloved apes, the male twins were born to mother Mafuko in Virunga National Park.

While raising hopes for the conservation of the species, park authorities are concerned that caring for the twins will be ca hallenge for them and the mother, with additional monitoring and protection measures deployed to ensure their survival

3. North Atlantic Right Whale populations are giving more births!

With 18 calves born this breeding season so far, scientists seem optimistic about the survival of the rare giant of the oceans!

4. Fundraising helps preserve 133,000 hectares of Chilean Patagonia.

After a landmark grassroots campaign by a local NGO, the Cochamó Valley of Chilean Patagonia is now a protected ecosystem, preserving a landscape renowned for ancient Alerce forests and turquoise rivers.

5. 100 million samples in the Shanghai Seed Bank!

In a vital push for biodiversity conservation and the preservation of our genetic wealth, the Shanghai Seed Bank is now home to 100 million viable seeds, representing 1,950 wild plant species from 159 families and 785 genera.

6. Another Christmas miracle – a rare chick raised by a previously thought ‘infertile’ takahē couple!

In an ecosanctuary in Wellington, a breeding pair of endangered takahē birds was found to be rearing a chick, having previously been thought of as infertile.