7 stories of optimism this week (27.10.25-03.11.25)

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: Vitu Levu, Fiji by the European Space Agency via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO).

1. Fiji’s Coral Reefs Show Remarkable Recovery After Category 5 Cyclone

A new study has shown coral reefs in Fiji recovering after huge losses in coral cover, reaching nearly pre-cyclone conditions within just four years. Cyclone Winston in 2016 caused losses of up to 54% of coral cover in 2016, but all 18 sites studied “showed strong signs of recovery by 2020, supported by high levels of herbivorous fish biomass and larval replenishment from surrounding reefs,” reports the Wildlife Conservation Society.

“At a time when the news about coral reefs is often doom and gloom, these findings give us hope and cause to continue to invest in coral reef conservation in places we believe stand a strong chance to persist even in a rapidly changing climate.”

2. A river restoration in Oregon gets fast results: the salmon swam right back

Dams on the Klamath River in Oregon had blocked salmon and other fish from travelling upriver since 1912, with populations of Chinook salmon — historically the most abundant fish in the river — dwindling to almost zero. But now, one year after demolishing the last major dam, salmon have returned to their historic spawning grounds in the headwaters of the Klamath.

The win comes from decades of efforts by Native American groups, including the Yurok, Karuk, and Klamath tribes — as well as environmental organisations, anglers, and other campaigners. “It was both a blessing and filled with remorse,” William E. Ray, chairman of the Klamath tribes, told the NY Times. Many people had “fought hard all those decades”, and would not see the results — but “it was also very joyous.”

Joy was shared by conservationists working on monitoring salmon populations, as they found the fish could safely navigate outdated fish ladders upriver in remaining dams, leading to “at least 140 adult fish spawning in the tributaries as of late October.” While the growing population faces threats from pollution and uncertain restoration funding, tribes are celebrating the conservation success. “This is a renewal of our culture that we’ve had for thousands of years,” Mr Ray said.’

3. ‘Next great leap’: grassroots movement to wild East Anglia goes national

WildEast’s ‘map of dreams’ collects pledges to restore nature in the UK: it started with three farmers’ commitment to return a fifth of their land to nature and has grown into a national movement connecting community restoration efforts. “Anyone can make a pledge and share pictures, tips and success stories, in what the farmers call digital “witness statements” to nature recovery.”

“WildEast is all about the soft tissue that connects up the beating organs of nature recovery – schoolyards, churchyards, farmyards and people’s gardens.”

Hugh Crossley, co-founder of WildEast, told the Guardian “Wild Kingdom is the next great leap – one map to bind us all. It isn’t about one person or place, it’s about thousands of acts of care and imagination.”

4. Nuns, scientists & microchips: An alliance to save Mexico’s achoque salamanders

Wild achoque salamanders number fewer than 150 in the wild, critically endangered and found only in Lake Pátzcuaro in Mexico — but a breeding programme by Dominican nuns has given new hope to the species. The nuns have used achoques to produce a traditional cough syrup for generations, and began breeding the salamanders after a major population crash in the 1980s — now holding the largest captive population in the world and a wealth of knowledge about their biology.

Collaboration between Chester Zoo, researchers in Mexico, and the nuns has allowed scientists to develop a new method of microchipping salamanders that will allow them to track achoques’ health and population size in the wild. “We were chipping them with the nuns watching protectively,” Adam Bland, assistant team manager for amphibians at Chester Zoo, said in a press release. “It’s a real demonstration of how anyone can be involved in conservation. People from all different backgrounds are working to save this species.”

“If we don’t work to take care of it,” Sister Ofelia Morales Francisco said, “it will disappear from creation.”

5. Scientists map Italy’s entire coast to guide seagrass and marine recovery

Posidonia oceanica, a species of seagrass, forms vast, ecologically complex underwater ecosystems unique to the Mediterranean that host an estimated 20% of all Mediterranean marine species and lock away carbon up to 35 times faster than rainforests. Conservation work has long been limited by a lack of data on seagrass meadows, but Italy has recently launched an ambitious project aiming to create a complete, high-resolution map of its coastal habitats.

The MER coastal mapping project is the first of its kind, and will ultimately “allow scientists to evaluate the current conservation status of Posidonia meadows, identify the most vulnerable areas, and monitor the effectiveness of protection and restoration actions.”

“For areas already mapped in the past, this new cartography will help compare data over time and better understand the dynamics of change in these ecosystems,” said Chiara Robello, a doctoral researcher, told Mongabay. “This is essential for planning more effective protection interventions, preventing impacts, and contributing concretely to achieving the conservation objectives of the 30×30 target.”

6. Water buffalo ‘to boost biodiversity on moor’

The National Trust has released six water buffalo to a site in Exmoor, UK, aiming to turn agricultural land back into wetlands. Water buffalo have been successfully introduced around the UK as ‘wetland architects,’ which help water settle across moors by churning soil with their hooves and keeping ponds open.

“By grazing and browsing around the many ponds, scrapes and ditches on site, they’ll help shape a broader range of habitats than we could achieve without them,” Murray Sharpe, farm manager for the West Exmoor National Trust, told the BBC. “In doing so, they’ll create a wealth of new niches for wildlife and play a role in driving the ecology of the site.”

7. Long time, no sea: more than 100m red crabs migrate on Christmas Island, delighting conservationists

This week, over 100 million red crabs on Christmas Island began their annual migration between the rainforest and the coast — an encouraging sign for conservationists. Around two-thirds of the red crab population was lost in the early 2000s and mid-2010s due to the introduction of the highly territorial yellow ant, but ongoing conservation work has helped them make a remarkable recovery.

The ants “spray formic acid on passing crabs, dehydrating and eventually killing them” — devastating for a species that spends almost its entire life on land. Malaysian micro-wasps were introduced in 2016 to target the ants’ preferred food source and bring populations down. Brendon Tiernan, Christmas Island National Park’s senior field program co-ordinator for threatened species programs, says they have done a “fantastic job,” but “we haven’t won the war,” with ant colonies tapping into other food sources.

9 years later, the red crab population is estimated to have rebounded to 180 million, and its spectacular migration is set to continue to the delight of the residents.

Have a story to share for our weekly round-up? Use #ConservationOptimism on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram!