Bandicoots, Jaguars, and Half-Earth in This Week’s Earth Optimism
These stories celebrate success, uncover a spark of hope, share a new idea, or might just make you feel good about Planet Earth.
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How to Best Save the Earth
Whether it's 30 by 30 or Half-Earth, any preservation goal cannot just be a shot in the dark on a map to be the most effective. But which areas of the Earth are the most critical to save? Research has answered this thorny question with a map that shows which hotspots will have the most significant impact on climate resilience if protected. Dig deeper into this valuable study in New Study Shows Which Places Must Be Protected to Stave off Catastrophic Climate Change from Yale Environment 360.
A Committed Climate Activist's Story
From Mother Jones comes a moving profile on the climate activist Casey Harrell. Despite a life-altering diagnosis of ALS, he continues to fight for climate action and battle some of the financial management giants who invest in fossil fuels, deforestation, and other leading causes of climate change. This Ailing Climate Activist Plans To Go Down Fighting is not only a powerful biographical read but an influential reminder that we all can be strong agents of change for the planet.
Living with Jaguars
The historical range of jaguars once covered areas in the southwestern United States, including Southern California. Although driven out of the U.S. by habitat loss and poaching between the 1800s and mid-1900s, there is some hope that jaguars will make a comeback with the help of corridor conservation efforts. In the Revelator's Humans and Jaguars Can Live Together — Here's How, conservationist John Polisar lays out evidence-based strategies for coexistence between jaguars and humans – particularly ranchers.
Bringing Bandicoots Back from the Brink
Australia's eastern-barred bandicoot was heading toward extinction and in desperate need of intervention. Through collaborative conservation action and science, a captive breeding program managed to recover the species. Now, eastern-barred bandicoots have been released into the wild under the supervision of guardian dogs. Read more about this success story in Smithsonian Magazine: How Australia's Eastern Barred Bandicoot Came Back From Extinction.
This recovery effort is also featured by Reverse The Red – a movement that works to ensure the survival of wild species and ecosystems through strategic collaboration and action. Earth Optimism is a partner of Reverse The Red with the IUCN Species Survival Commission, WAZA, HHMI Tangled Bank Studios, On The Edge Conservation, and the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. The creative team at Peppermint Narwhal designed the infographic below for Reverse The Red to highlight the steps along the way to the successful reintroduction of eastern-barred bandicoots to the wild.
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