Wildlife & land conservation

This archive tracks meaningful progress in protecting wildlife and preserving land — from habitat restoration and endangered species recoveries to new protected areas and conservation policy wins. These stories focus on what’s working, grounded in evidence and reported with care.

Misty Philippine rainforest canopy with towering trees and lush green foliage

Indigenous community fighting a mine in The Philippines wins a milestone legal verdict

By / / Good News For Humankind

A writ of kalikasan — a rare Philippine legal remedy reserved for environmental threats spanning multiple provinces — has halted nickel mining on the ancestral lands of the Pala’wan people in Brooke’s Point, Palawan. The August 2023 Supreme Court ruling protects Mount Mantalingahan, a 120,457-hectare sacred range and watershed for five municipalities, where roughly 80% of the mining concession sat inside the core protected zone. For the Pala’wan, who have refused consent since 2005, the decision arrived after years of being ignored by the agencies meant to protect them. Lawyers call it unprecedented, and believe it could open the courtroom door for other communities defending forests across Palawan and beyond.

Young snow leopard

Bhutan announces a “milestone achievement” with a 39.5% increase in snow leopard numbers

By / / Good News For Humankind

Bhutan’s snow leopard population has climbed to 134 cats, up from 96 in the previous national survey — a 39.5% jump for a species the IUCN still lists as vulnerable. Researchers confirmed the count using camera traps scattered across high-altitude terrain, identifying individuals by the unique rosette patterns on their coats. Much of the credit goes to Bhutan’s deep commitment to conservation: its constitution requires that at least 60% of the country stay forested forever, and protected areas now cover more than half its land. With fewer than 8,000 snow leopards thought to remain across 12 countries, Bhutan’s quiet success offers a hopeful blueprint for what’s possible when legal protection, intact habitat, and political will come together.

Bengal tiger peers through dense jungle foliage, reflecting Sundarbans conservation efforts in Bangladesh

Sundarbans tiger and prey numbers rise amid Bangladesh conservation efforts

By / / Good News For Humankind

Bengal tigers are quietly reclaiming ground in Bangladesh’s Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest — and the prey recovery driving that rebound is just as striking. Spotted deer, which make up roughly 79% of tigers’ diet here, have grown to more than 141,000, while protected land has more than doubled to cover 52% of Bangladesh’s share of the forest. Community response teams have helped eliminate human-tiger conflict incidents for five years, treating local people as active partners. Poaching pressure remains real, though, and long-term survival will depend on how the forest holds up against rising seas and intensifying storms.

Two white rhinos crossing a dirt road in African savanna, herd of antelope in background

Africa NGO purchases world’s largest captive rhino population to rewild 2,000 across the continent

By / / Good News For Humankind

More than 2,000 white rhinos — roughly 15% of the wild southern white rhino population — are heading back to the wild, thanks to a landmark purchase by African Parks. The conservation NGO bought the entire Platinum Rhino herd and plans to release the animals across protected sites in southern Africa over the next decade. The rhinos lived in semi-wild conditions on the ranch, and experts believe they’ll adapt quickly to true wilderness, drawing on African Parks’ experience relocating thousands of animals across the continent. If it succeeds, this rewilding effort could become a defining chapter in one of conservation’s greatest comeback stories — and a hopeful blueprint for protecting threatened species worldwide.

Aerial view of rainforest clearing

Brazil’s Amazon deforestation continues to fall dramatically

By / / Good News For Humankind

Amazon deforestation in Brazil dropped 42% in the first seven months of 2023 compared to the same period the year before — a signal that determined policy can turn the tide fast, even within a single year. After President Lula took office, environmental agencies were restaffed and enforcement resumed, reversing years of weakened protections, with satellite data confirming the trend in near real time. Whether these gains hold across future governments and economic pressures remains an open question — but for now, Brazil is offering the world a measurable, verified proof of concept.

Concrete dam holding back a reservoir in a hilly landscape under overcast skies

Work begins along California-Oregon border on largest dam removal project in U.S. history

By / / Good News For Humankind

Klamath River restoration is now the largest dam removal effort in U.S. history, reopening more than 400 miles of river to salmon once the last three dams come down. But the real story is what comes next: members of the Karuk, Yurok, and other tribal nations spent five years hand-gathering seeds from nearly 100 native plant species, and roughly 17 billion of those seeds will be sown along the freed riverbanks over the coming decade. Tribal ecological knowledge is shaping every phase, woven together with western science. For Indigenous communities worldwide fighting to restore ancestral waters, the Klamath offers a powerful template — proof that rivers, and the cultures rooted in them, can be brought back to life.

Mursi people with their cattle

Indigenous communities take ownership of what is now Ethiopia’s largest community conservation area

By / / Good News For Humankind

Four Indigenous communities in southwestern Ethiopia now legally steward 197,000 hectares of savanna in the Lower Omo River Valley — the largest community-managed conservation area in the country. The Mursi, Bodi, Northern Kwegu, and Ari peoples will govern the land through a community council with real authority over land use, revenue, and conservation rules, replacing decades of top-down designations that brought little protection or benefit. The area shelters reticulated giraffes, elephants, lions, and the endemic black-winged lovebird, and ecotourism and regulated hunting are expected to fund the work ahead. It’s a meaningful shift toward a truth that conservation research keeps confirming: when Indigenous communities hold the cards, both biodiversity and local wellbeing tend to flourish.

Close-up profile of a tiger partially hidden among dark green jungle foliage

Landmark Nepal court ruling ends impunity for wealthy wildlife collectors

By / / Good News For Humankind

Nepal’s Supreme Court has ordered the government to seize illegal wildlife collections held by wealthy citizens, ending decades of selective enforcement that punished poor and Indigenous communities while elite collectors displayed tiger pelts and rhino heads openly in their homes. The May 2023 ruling, sparked by a writ petition from conservationist Kumar Paudel, requires private collectors to register their holdings — anything acquired after 1973, when Nepal’s conservation law took effect, is subject to seizure. In a thoughtful twist, the court ordered confiscated items preserved for public education rather than incinerated, turning evidence of wildlife crime into tools for awareness. By insisting that conservation law reach the powerful as well as the poor, the ruling points toward a more just foundation for protecting wildlife everywhere.