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.

1. Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna, lost to science since 1961, has been rediscovered!

” Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus attenboroughi) was captured for the first time in photos and video footage using remote trail cameras set up in the Cyclops Mountains of Indonesia’s Papua Province. “

2. Agreement was reached this year on the ambitious EU nature restoration law

The law should set in motion a process for continuous and sustained recovery of nature across the EU’s land and sea. As an overall target to be reached on EU level, Member States will put in place restoration measures in at least 20 % of the EU’s land areas and 20 % of its seas by 2030. By 2050 such measures should be in place for all ecosystems that need restoration. 

3. Sound recordings and AI tell us if forests are recovering, new study from Ecuador shows

Acoustic monitoring and AI tools were used to track biodiversity recovery in plots of tropical Chocó forest in northwestern Ecuador. The study found that species returned to regenerating forests in as little as 25 years, indicating positive progress in forest recovery.

4. ‘I got to know the wolf’: how Spain’s shepherds are learning to live with their old enemy

As wolf numbers surge, herders in the north of the country are relearning old ways to keep the apex predators at bay

5.  Banham Zoo in the UK releases endangered crayfish into the wild

Almost 100 endangered crayfish reared in a special breeding programme have been released into the wild. The white-clawed crayfish, which hatched last year, were set free at a remote chalk stream in North Norfolk.

6. Deforestation in Colombia Down 70 Percent So Far This Year

Since taking power last year, leftist President Gustavo Petro has enacted a slate of new policies aimed at protecting Colombian forests, including paying locals to conserve woodland. These policies are having an effect, environment minister Susana Muhamad said in a statement.

7. How Tiny Wetlands in the Midwest Are Combating the Gulf of Mexico’s ‘Dead Zone’

Small, constructed wetlands on farms keep excess nutrients out of waterways — and the impacts can go a long way.

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