Nature’s Resilience: Triumphs Amidst Turmoil

Warning signs erupted for nature in 2024. 

Every week appeared to deliver new alerts about wildlife decline, habitat devastation, and the rising effects of climate change. 

Yet amidst the despair, subtle triumphs surfaced, as everyday individuals made remarkable strides for nature. This year, Conservation News showcased unexpected collaborations rescuing wildlife from the edge of extinction, communities discovering creative methods to harmonize with nature, and renewed initiatives to revive ancient customs and Indigenous practices that support the environment essential for our survival. 

Here are several key moments: 

In 2020, wildlife reserves in Kenya — safeguarded zones owned and overseen by Indigenous People — were on the verge of failure. However, from that situation arose something extraordinary: a novel conservation model that not only salvaged these reserves but might also possess the solution to safeguarding Africa’s most vulnerable wildlife, within Kenya and beyond.

© Jon McCormick

Concealed in the depths of Southeast Asia, the Central Cardamom Mountains serve as a refuge for some of the region’s rarest creatures. Long regarded as an essential sanctuary, a pioneering new camera trap research disclosed just how vital this region truly is. Armed with this data, researchers anticipate their conclusions will facilitate expanded protections and mitigate the rising dangers of poaching and deforestation. 

In the small fishing community of Topón in southern Mexico, deforestation and climate change were drastically reducing shrimp harvests, jeopardizing the well-being of its inhabitants. Confronted with this dilemma, the community sought an unlikely partner: crocodiles. Despite a natural trepidation towards these predators, the community began to appreciate their role as managers of wetland ecosystems — capable of aerating water, enhancing oxygen levels, and potentially revitalizing the shrimp population.

© Flores

Deep within the wilderness of Mozambique’s Limpopo National Park, anti-poaching specialists oversee an extended, porous boundary with South Africa, where poachers annually kill a thousand rhinos for their horns. With the implementation of new technologies by Conservation International, these teams have made progress in disrupting poaching networks. However, achieving success comes with its own challenges. As lions, elephants, cheetahs, and African wild dogs return to the park, the communities residing along its periphery encounter new threats to their livelihoods.

© Peace Parks Foundation

Bolivia once recorded one of the highest rates of deforestation per capita globally. Now, however, small municipalities are challenging the odds, enacting laws to preserve extensive areas of the Amazon rainforest. In unity, they are forming a conservation network that has connected millions of hectares of protected territory. What is driving this extraordinary turnaround? It all traces back to one unexpected champion: the Brazil nut. 

Dams built upstream on the Mekong River — the essential artery of Southeast Asia — are threatening livelihoods along its banks and putting some of the world’s most endangered freshwater species at risk of extinction. Nonetheless, there remains an opportunity to rectify the harm done to the river — provided nations collaborate.

© JMBAUD74

Will McCarry serves as a staff writer for Conservation International. Interested in reading more articles like this? Sign up for our email notifications. Additionally, please consider contributing to our vital initiatives.