Norway’s walrus population bounces back thanks to hunting bans
By the 1950s, only a small population of Svalbard’s walruses remained. In 2006, researchers were thrilled to count 2,629 walruses, and the latest count in 2018 recorded 5,503.
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.
Panama legally recognizes rights of nature
The new law could have major implications for Panama’s land and energy development policies, which are now required to respect and protect the natural world’s new rights.
Giant anteaters lead biodiversity resurgence in Argentina’s Iberá
In 2007, the first pair of giant anteaters was reintroduced Iberá reserve, a region from which it had gone extinct decades earlier. Today, more than 200 anteaters live free in the reserve.
Judge restores protections for gray wolves across much of U.S.
U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White in Oakland, California, said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had failed to show wolf populations could be sustained in the Midwest and portions of the West without protection under the Endangered Species Act.
Western monarch butterflies make a spectacular comeback in California
The population of monarch butterflies overwintering in California has increased a hundredfold, according to an annual count: more than 247,000 butterflies were counted in 2021, up from 2,000 butterflies in 2020.
California redwood forest returned to Indigenous group
The group of 10 tribes that have inhabited the area for thousands of years will be responsible for protecting the 500-acre parcel dubbed Tc’ih-Léh-Dûñ, or “Fish Run Place,” in the Sinkyone language.
World’s largest grassroots recycling program turns glass into sand to prevent coastal erosion in New Orleans
The non-profit organization Glass Half Full collects glass bottles and grinds them down into super soft sand to use for disaster relief, eco-construction, and even new glass.
European supermarkets discontinue selling Brazilian beef to protect the Amazon
Sainsbury’s in the U.K., Lidl in the Netherlands, and the Dutch retailer Alhold Delhaize were among the companies saying they would move away from stocking Brazilian beef.
12 international donors pledge $1.5 billion to support protection of the Congo Basin forests
The 500 million acres of forests may be the last significant land-based tropical carbon sink in the world, making the forests vitally important in the global fight against climate change.
Landmark ruling blocks mining in Ecuadorian forest, citing rights of nature
Ecuador’s constitutional court has blocked plans to mine copper and gold in Los Cedros, a protected cloud forest, ruling that the plans violate the rights of nature.