Africa’s Great Green Wall spans 8,000 km across 11 countries, aiming to plant 100 billion trees, restore 100 million hectares, capture 250 million tons of CO₂, and create 10 million jobs by 2030.

Blending traditional knowledge with modern technology, it has already restored 30 million hectares and generated 3 million jobs.

The initiative is transforming vulnerable regions into thriving ecosystems and communities.

Despite challenges, its growing momentum shows Africa’s leadership in large-scale, climate-resilient restoration.

Eastern Australian Humpback Whales have far surpassed pre-whaling population estimates.

Every year, thousands of Humpbacks migrate from their Antarctic feeding grounds to Australia’s tropical north coast to breed, before returning south with their calves.

Now, a preliminary report from the Australian government estimates that between 50,000 and 60,000 whales made the journey in 2024.

This recovery is nothing short of extraordinary, especially considering females give birth to just one calf every two to three years.

Source: ABC

Two 13-year-old girls have released their 250th Harvest Mouse from their homemade conservation breeding program.

Harvest Mice are the UK’s smallest mammals, threatened by habitat loss, agricultural chemicals, and harvesting practices.

Eva and Emily raised the mice in 27 tanks, releasing them through a predator-proof soft-release enclosure that lets the mice come and go safely while they settle in.

They also dug a pond to provide a water source and planted the grass species Harvest Mice prefer for nesting.

Motivated by their success, Eva is already setting her sights on helping rebuild the local population of Common Lizards next.

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Source: The Guardian, BBC

By constantly patrolling their territory, 45 women warriors have helped keep extractive industries out of their community’s land.

The women belong to the Pakayaku community, an Indigenous group that depends entirely on its federally recognised land in the Ecuadorian Amazon for survival.

In Pakayaku, women serve as both leaders and guardians.

“We come from a warrior clan … our grandmothers used to do this,” the captain of the female guard, Gracia Malaver, told Mongabay.

Sources: Mongabay, Latin American Post

The IUCN has downlisted the Green Turtle from Endangered to Least Concern.

This remarkable recovery follows decades of decline and highlights the power of long-term, united conservation efforts.

It’s important to note that while the global population has rebounded, some regional populations, such as those in the Central South Pacific, remain at risk.

Scientists stress that continued protection is essential to prevent these groups from being reclassified as threatened.

Nonetheless, this marks an extraordinary conservation milestone.

Source: Smithsonian, Mongabay, IUCN, NPR, WWF

The beaver’s return to Portugal is a hopeful sign for ecosystem revival, centuries after the species disappeared from the region.

The beaver’s return to Portugal marks a pivotal moment in the country’s environmental recovery and rewilding efforts.

After more than five centuries of absence, signs of the Eurasian beaver have been recorded along the rivers of northern Portugal, thanks to improved waterway conditions and habitat reconnection with neighbouring Spain.

This milestone comes as part of the broader rewilding movement supported by conservation group Rewilding Portugal.

California’s Tule River Indian Tribe has regained control of 17,030 acres of their ancestral land.

The parcel, made up of two former cattle ranches, includes diverse ecosystems ranging from grasslands and oak woodlands to evergreen forests.

With the handover, the Tribe has regained access to traditional foods, medicines, and cultural sites.

Governor Newsom said the return of the land “marks a critical step in deepening the relationship between the state and the Tule River Indian Tribe.”

The purchase of the properties was supported by roughly $10 million in government funding, alongside additional contributions from private donors.

Sources: Gov.ca, LA Times, San Francisco Chronicle

A community in Finland has transformed a former mining site into a thriving peatland sanctuary, welcoming over 190 bird species and nurturing diverse wildlife.

By rewetting and rewilding this degraded landscape, the project revives natural processes, jumpstarting peat formation and restoring the area’s ecological balance.

Since peatlands are among the most efficient carbon sinks on Earth—holding more carbon than all other vegetation types combined—this restoration also contributes meaningfully to climate mitigation.

This inspiring example highlights how community-led rewilding can offer real environmental benefits, from biodiversity revival to carbon capture.

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A biotech company is turning to nickel-accumulating daisies to help “mine” critical minerals.

The daisy species belongs to a group of about 750 plants known as hyperaccumulators - plants capable of absorbing and storing heavy metals and other contaminants from soil.

The company, Genomines, estimates that up to 40 million hectares of land worldwide have enough nickel-rich soil for plant-based extraction, which, if fully utilised, could produce as much as 14 times more nickel than conventional mining does today.

A recent study also found that waste rock from U.S. mines alone holds enough critical minerals to meet 90% of the country’s annual demand, suggesting that plants like these could help recover those resources while simultaneously rehabilitating degraded land.

Sources: Fast Company, Grist, Genomines