Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library celebrates gifting 200 million books
Launched in 1995, the program spans five countries and reportedly gifts over 2.4 million free age-appropriate books each month to children around the world.
Civil society
Blue whales return to California at levels not seen since before the whaling industry
The current estimates suggest that as many as 2,000 blue whales travel up from Mexico to Southern California waters every year, a large chunk of a global population that may be topping 25,000.
Meningitis vaccine trial in Mali and The Gambia shows promise in “groundbreaking” development
The Serum Institute of India and Path successfully tested an effective and affordable vaccine for meningitis, a disease that claims the lives of an estimated 250,000 people each year.
Funders launch pledge to support tribal-led restoration & conservation efforts in the U.S.
Fifteen funders have already committed $102.5 million to support the Tribal Nations Conservation Pledge goals across the country since its launch in March.
The world’s first rewilding center opens in Scotland
The Dundreggan Rewilding Centre in Glenmoriston offers a gateway to the U.K.’s largest nature recovery site. The 10,000-acre landscape is being nursed back to health by the charity Trees for Life, which bought the site in 2008.
National corridor project aims to save Chile’s endangered huemul deer
Spanning more than 1,700 miles across Patagonia, the route crosses 17 national parks and protects more than 27 million acres of land.
Ecuador project aims to protect Yasuní park borders & Indigenous peoples
The Yasuní Strip of Diversity and Life was created to protect the area’s Indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation and to uphold the rights of Indigenous and farming communities in the region.
Amsterdam airport bans private jets to reduce noise and climate pollution
According to the airport, private and small business travel departing from Amsterdam emits around 20 times more climate-warming carbon dioxide per passenger than commercial aircraft.
New project to bring education to 10 million girls in rural India
Working in partnership with the government, Educate Girls operates in over 20,000 villages serving adolescent girls and young women who have permanently dropped out of school.
Critically-endangered West African lion rebounding in Senegal
The lion population in Senegal’s Niokolo Koba Nation Park has grown slowly from a razor’s edge pride of 10 to 15 individuals in 2011 to perhaps as many as 40 today.