World’s largest four day work week trial deemed a success
An incredible 92 percent of companies said they would continue to have employees work four days.
Civil society
Civil society encompasses the nonprofits, advocacy groups, community organizations, and grassroots movements that operate outside government and business to advance the public good. This archive collects stories of civil society actors driving measurable progress on issues ranging from human rights and environmental protection to public health and civic participation.
26 Australian species no longer need threatened listing
Australian wildlife is staging a quiet comeback, with 26 threatened animals — including the greater bilby, humpback whale, and sooty albatross — now recovered enough to fall outside the country’s threatened-species criteria. A new study in Biological Conservation, drawing on more than two decades of data, credits much of the progress to fencing off predators like cats and foxes, relocating vulnerable populations to island sanctuaries, and steady habitat care. Researchers call these “partial successes” — many species still occupy just slivers of their historic range — but the pattern is unmistakable: when people show up year after year, decline can be reversed. In a country that has lost more mammals to extinction than any other, it’s a hopeful blueprint for conservation everywhere.
Rhinos, elephants, and buffaloes are rebounding in Uganda
Since 1983, the population of buffaloes has grown 77 percent, reaching 44,163 in 2021. And over the same period, the population of elephants grew nearly 300 percent, reaching 7,975.
Ecuador establishes new reserve protecting over 3 million acres of forest
Indigenous land protection at this scale is rare — and this story shows what’s possible when communities lead the way. Four Indigenous nationalities in Ecuador’s Morona Santiago province spent more than a year in community-led consultations before a single boundary was drawn. The resulting reserve connects to protected areas across eastern Ecuador and northern Peru, giving jaguars, tapirs, and thousands of bird species room to move and survive. When Indigenous communities hold legal authority over their own land, forests stand a far better chance — and that’s a model the world needs more of.
Guinea worm is on the brink of becoming the second human disease in history to be eradicated
A painful, parasitic disease that once infected 3.5 million people per year is tantalizingly In 2022, just 12 cases were record worldwide.
Morocco becomes first African nation to produce its own cancer diagnosis tests
Morocco’s research foundation has developed cancer diagnostic tests made entirely in Africa—a breakthrough that promises to slash waiting times from weeks or months down to hours, and potentially cut costs in half. The leukemia test, already used on 400 patients, sidesteps the costly delays of importing kits from Europe or North America. Because results no longer need to travel abroad for interpretation, patients can receive treatment sooner when it matters most. This success builds on Morocco’s earlier COVID-19 test and positions African nations to control their own medical futures rather than depend on distant supply chains.\n\n**Word count: 95**
Saudi Arabia hosts its first international football tournament for women
Saudi Arabia launched it’s national women’s football team last year. Last week, Anoud Al Asmari made history by becoming the first Saudi female referee to be accredited by Fifa.
30% of Barbados seas to be protected under innovative “blue bond” financing scheme
The Nature Conservancy announced it will work with partners to buy a piece of Barbados’ national debt and refinance it to facilitate this goal.
No rhinos poached in India’s state of Assam in 2022 for first time in 45 years
Rhino poaching in Assam dropped to zero in 2022, the state’s first clean year since at least 1977. That’s a remarkable turnaround for a species hunted down to fewer than 200 animals a century ago. Kaziranga National Park, where rangers and a dedicated Special Rhino Protection Force now patrol around the clock, alone shelters 2,613 greater one-horned rhinos — the largest population of the species on Earth. Local communities have become partners too, as ecotourism turns these animals into a shared asset rather than a distant abstraction. It’s a hopeful reminder that even species pushed to the brink can recover when protection, science, and community support pull in the same direction.
Manta ray populations are surging in Indonesia’s Raja Ampat archipelago
A new study from the University of Auckland shows that reef manta ray populations in the region have seen up to 10.7% compound annual increase from 2009-2019.