Global Good News About Wildlife & Conservation
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Summary of all the top stories from around the world in March 2026.
Penguin Protection: Chile has blocked a $2.5 billion mine to protect Humboldt penguin habitat. Chile’s courts have permanently rejected a massive iron and copper mining enterprise near the Humboldt Penguin National Reserve, safeguarding one of the most biodiverse marine ecosystems in the Pacific.
Attenborough's 100th: As the world's foremost advocate for wildlife and conservation, it seems entirely appropriate that the BBC has announced that Sir David Attenborough's 100th birthday will be celebrated with three special programmes in May, plus a star-studded party.
First in a Century: Wildlife biologists in far Northern California are beaming with cautious pride, as a pair of California condors appears to be tending to the region’s first wild egg in more than a century.
Nature Protection: The Scottish Parliament has passed a new bill putting nature recovery on a legal footing for the first time by requiring statutory targets to enhance biodiversity. This follows a new law designed to reverse the loss of wildlife and better protect nature in Wales that passed in March too.
Butterfly Boost: If you live in the path of migrating monarch butterflies, the happy news is that you're going to see more of them as the weather warms up this year. The population of the at-risk pollinators increased by roughly two thirds in Mexico this winter compared with last year, says the World Wildlife Fund.
Ossivorous Comeback: In "one of the most successful wildlife comeback stories," bearded vultures have now returned to the French Alps after a decades-long conservation effort that has enabled the species to soar back from local extinction. Bearded vultures are believed to be the only animal that is ossivorous - they feed mainly on bones.
Ambitious Rewilding: Kazakhstan is preparing to reintroduce Amur tigers to a special habitat in the country’s south, one of the most ambitious rewilding programs anywhere on Earth. Thus far, a single breeding pair of Amur tigers (also known as Siberian tigers) from the Netherlands has been introduced, with the first wild Amur tigers from Russia arriving in Kazakhstan in the coming months.
India Tigers: Conservation in India has successfully doubled the native population of tigers, a new study reveals. India’s native tiger population has clawed its way above 3,600. Along with being 75 percent of the world’s tiger population, it was twice as many as the best estimates of the numbers in 2006.
‘Africa's Galapagos’: A billionaire is funding a sustainable development project on a west African island that makes the local population stewards of its future - keeping it pristine and beautiful.
Land-Back: Across the western United States, the Land-Back movement is returning ancestral lands to Indigenous communities. California is moving to scale the shift, pledging to bring 7.5 million acres, about 7 percent of the state, under tribal stewardship.
Remarkable Comeback: River otters have staged an amazing comeback across North America’s Great Lakes after disappearing from many waterways by the 1970s. Reintroductions beginning in the 1980s, combined with wetland restoration and pollution controls, have allowed breeding populations to recover across Ohio, New York, Ontario and beyond. As apex predators, their return signals cleaner water and healthier ecosystems.
Lazarus Species: Two marsupial species presumed extinct have “risen from the dead” after being rediscovered on the island of New Guinea, which lies north of Australia. One is the pygmy long-fingered possum, a small, striped animal with one exceptionally long digit on each hand - see image. The other is the ring-tailed glider. Both creatures were believed to have disappeared more than 6,000 years ago, making them rare examples of “Lazarus species.”
Bolivia Protections: Bolivia has now created four new protected areas covering 907,244 hectares, or 2.2 million acres, of Amazon lowlands and Andean highlands. The new areas create corridors to improve wildlife migration and maintain forest-based economies for Indigenous peoples.
Ocean Protection: The Chilean president has signed a decree adding 140,000 square miles of full protection to waters around the Juan Fernández archipelago. The move brings the fully protected area around these parks to almost 386,000 square miles (almost million sq. km), making it the third-largest fully protected marine area in the world.
Land Conservation: A California environmental nonprofit just acquired 2,284 acres in southern Santa Clara to protect the land from development. It’s now a protected area for mountain lions, bald eagles, steelhead trout, and more.
State Purchase: A famous Oregon waterfall that lies on private land is set to be purchased by the state after being placed on the market. Abiqua Falls are one of the Pacific Northwest’s most iconic, and are located on land owned by Mount Angel Abbey. The state will pay $2 million - including 42 acres immediately around it, and another 160 acres upstream.
Brazilian Amazon: After thousands of Indigenous people protested for 33 days - inspiring solidarity demonstrations across the country - Brazil’s government said it would revoke a decree that allowed private concessions for waterways in the world’s largest rainforest. “What won today was life. The river won, the forest won, the memory of our ancestors won.”
Super Sniffer Dogs: Detection dogs can now detect trafficked wildlife hidden in shipping containers from tiny air samples - with 98 percent accuracy. The advantage is that inspectors don't have to investigate the entire shipping container. One tiny air sample is all that's required thanks to the incredible power of a dogs’ nose.
Rhinos Return: For the first time in more than 40 years, rhinos are roaming Uganda’s Kidepo Valley national park thanks to a conservation effort that will help restore the wider ecosystem.
‘Firefighting’ Donkeys: Known as Doñana’s Firefighting Donkey Battalion, this unit is responsible for preventing wildfires in parts of Spain - all thanks to their remarkable appetites. Their area of operation has not recorded a single wildfire in nine years. Unsurprisingly, the success of the Andalusian project has inspired others to follow suit.