Talking about nature has become too often talking extinction, decline and loss. But it’s not all “doom and gloom”. The project “Lost & Found”, much like Conservation Optimism, uses the power of hope to bring positive change in the way our society values the natural world and to empower us to transform our challenges and successes into opportunities for conserving the diversity of life on Earth.

Launched on Earth Day at the 2017 Earth Optimism Summit, Lost & Found works to spread a message of hope, determination and passion by bringing life to the inspirational stories of those that never stopped believing and whose effective actions led them to rewrite the history of the species they deeply cared about. Our goal is to use the universal language of storytelling and art to showcase in narrative, comics and other innovative formats the most interesting, formidable and serendipitous species rediscoveries across five continents and all animal and plant groups. We aim to spread this tales far and wide and beyond talking about animals and plants we also focus on telling the stories of the incredible people involved in these rediscoveries. This means that, beyond spreading a message of hope to all those who care about nature, our content can be exciting even to those readers not naturally motivated to read about lizards, bats or snakes. After all, who does not like a good story?

To get there we will make all our stories freely available online in multiple languages. We currently have 15 stories, soon to be 20 (available in English), covering anything from squirrels to toads and fish to bower birds, from across Latin America, Africa, Oceania and Asia. Have you heard the story of the Woolly Flying Squirrel? The Rainbow Toad? What about the Bermuda Petrel? If you are curious, have a look! We also have a blog, where we hear from those with a story to tell around a species rediscovery. Many of these are scientists that have themselves been involved in rediscovering or searching for a species long considered extinct, but we welcome a variety of content around species rediscovery. So drop us a line if you are interested!

By joining the ConservationNOW, we hope to join our voice to the growing movement of positive-minded conservationists and better inspire others in valuing nature. Through the development of this exciting partnership, we plan to capture the power of networking with like-minded people to share and broaden our knowledge and experience in embracing reality and optimism, to access an established support system to stay resilient and inspired, and to amplify our common voices to engage a wider audience for the benefits of Earth biological diversity.