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. Leopards Are Living among People. And That Could Save the Species

” This is a story of two highly adaptable species sharing the same space—and a story of hope in these otherwise bleak times for wildlife. Here commonplace notions about large cats being fearsome and bloodthirsty break down. Instead we find wild carnivores and people trying to survive, having their young and living in their societies right next to each other.”

2. Bigger Is Better: Panama Expands MPA to Protect More Than 54 Percent of Its Oceans

” The expansion of the Banco Volcán Marine Protected Area in 2023 has not only led Panama to protect more than 54% of its territorial waters, but will also buffer climate change, protect Panama’s deep-sea mountain environments, and help safeguard fauna from human interventions, including several fish and invertebrate species of high commercial value, such as the Caribbean spiny lobster (Panulirus argus). “

3. A new species of gecko has been discovered in India

” We describe a new species of rupicolous Cnemaspis from the Male Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary in the Eastern Ghats. The current description is based on a type series of eight specimens that bear a unique combination of morphological and colour pattern characteristics that do not occur in other closely related species.”

4. Province extends old-growth logging deferral in endangered spotted owl habitat

” More than 280,000 hectares of spotted owl habitat have been protected as part of an integrated strategy that safeguards 100,000 hectares of long-term owl habitat, in addition to the 180,000 hectares of protected habitat within provincial parks, Greater Vancouver watersheds, ecological reserves and regional parks.”

5. Demographic rates reveal the benefits of protected areas in a long-lived migratory bird

” Here, we take advantage of a 30-y dataset on Whooper swans which provides a rare opportunity to quantify the role of nature reserves in the population dynamics of a migratory waterbird. We find that nature reserves play a key role by boosting the survival of this species and will effectively double its population size by 2030.”

6. Wisdom, the world’s oldest known bird in the wild, is a grandmother again

” Biologists first identified and banded Wisdom in 1956 after she laid an egg. Mōlī, aren’t known to breed before age 5, making Wisdom at least 71 years old. It is estimated that Wisdom has produced 50-60 eggs and as many as 30 chicks that fledged, according to Jonathan Plissner, supervisory wildlife biologist at Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. “

7. Indigenous funding model is a win-win for ecosystems and local economies in Canada

” First Nations in the Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii of Canada, have successfully invested in conservation initiatives that have benefited ecosystems while also increasing communities’ well-being over the past 15 years, a recent report shows. ”

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