Good News for Nature from 2024

Sometimes, it can feel like all the news about Nature is doom and gloom. While there’s no doubt that the planet still urgently needs our help, there were some significant wins for the natural world in 2024. Here are some of our favourites…

LEGAL RIGHTS FOR WHALES AND WAVES

The Rights of Nature movement continued to make great gains in 2024. Perhaps the most groundbreaking of these was He Whakaputanga Moana, a treaty signed by Indigenous Leaders in New Zealand, Tahiti and the Cook Islands that officially recognises whales and dolphins as ‘legal persons’.

Elsewhere, waves off the coast of Brazil were given intrinsic legal rights and mountains in New Zealand were given legal personhood. In Ecuador, a judge ruled that pollution in the Machángara River violated its legal rights. A new report showed that rights of Nature rulings in Ecuador are helping endangered ecosystems. And Teresa Vicente, who spearheaded the campaign for Spanish lagoon Mar Menor to be given legal rights, won a Goldman Environmental Prize, AKA a ‘Green Nobel’. We can’t wait to see what’s next for the Rights of Nature in 2025…

NATURE AS AN ARTIST – AND PRESIDENT?

At the heart of the Rights of Nature movement is the belief that Nature is worthy of respect and protection – and that humans are a part of Nature, not separate from it. And in 2024, Nature was given some much-deserved recognition and appreciation.

In April, Nature was listed as an artist on major music streaming platforms. Royalties from tracks that sample sounds from the natural world go to Brian Eno’s Earth/Percent charity, supporting climate action.

Summer saw the launch of the #WeAreNature Campaign to change the dictionary definition of Nature to include humans. Sign the petition here.

Inspired by Rights of Nature, Icelandic campaigners set out to have Snæfellsjökull, a 700,000-year-old glacier, included in the ballot for the country’s presidential election. They say the glacier, atop a volcano, could melt away in the next 50 years. Although the campaign was unsuccessful, it threw the concept of Nature’s rights into the limelight – and inspired many to think differently about the natural world.

THE YEAR OF THE BEAVER

2024 saw a British beaver baby boom. Beavers were hunted to extinction in the UK in the 16^th century, but have been gradually reintroduced since 2002. For the first time in around 400 years, in 2024, kits (baby beavers) were born in Hampshire, The Cairngorms, Northumberland, Cumbria and even London.

Beavers are brilliant for biodiversity, and their clever dam-building can help alleviate the impact of floods and droughts, filter water and capture carbon. They create ecosystems where other species, including otters, water voles, fish, amphibians, birds and invertebrates, can thrive.

Not everyone welcomes the return of beavers, with opponents concerned about flooded crops and felled trees – and many of the mammals are released into enclosed areas. In August, the Wildlife Trust published A Vision for the Return of Beavers to England and Wales, calling upon the UK and Welsh Governments to support beaver reintroduction into the unenclosed wild. They believe beavers and humans can live in harmony – and that beavers should be recognised as a native species in Wales, giving them legal protection. Hopefully, things will keep getting better for beavers in 2025.

BRIDGING THE GAP

The world’s biggest wildlife crossing moved closer to reality, with the basic structure completed. Spanning the 10-lane 101 Freeway in Liberty Canyon, California, the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing will offer a safe route to animals including mountain lions, American badgers, coyotes and crocodile lizards. It’ll also be home to 5000 local, specially-grown plants, including wildflowers and plants chosen for their benefits to insects. Completion is expected in 2026.

Wildlife bridges were a recurring theme in 2024. Closer to home, in West Sussex, a ‘mammal ledge’ was installed on a bridge as a lifeline for otters. In the Forest of Dean, mini rope bridges were hung to help endangered dormice navigate gaps in the canopy. And in Kent, construction work began on four bridges that will let humans safely observe the UK’s only herd of wild bison – and enable the animals to roam a wider area.

CONSERVATION WORKS – AND SEEDS OF HOPE GROW

A major study, published in the journal Science, revealed that conservation is working! Researchers spent ten years analysing of hundreds of worldwide studies and trials, covering over 100 years of conservation interventions. They found that 66% of interventions, such as removal of invasive species and creation of protected areas, boosted biodiversity or slowed its decline.

With 44,000 species at risk of extinction worldwide, there’s still lots of work to do – but it’s wonderful to see that conservation really does work. Why not make 2025 your year to join in? From litter-picking to taking action for rivers, there are so many ways to make a difference.

This news signals hope for the future of our planet. And 2024 ended with another beautiful story of hope: saplings grown from the seeds of the Sycamore Gap, felled illegally in 2023, have been given new homes. 49 young trees – one for every foot of the iconic tree’s height – were gifted from the National Trust to recipients including charities, schools and hospitals. The Sycamore Gap may be no more, but these new trees, representing renewal, will go on to bring people joy for very many years to come.