One of Europe's Most Endangered Birds Is Bouncing Back

A group of conservationists created Techo de Agua to engage communities in Colombia with conservation efforts for endangered species like the black-and-chestnut speckled eagles and spectacled bears. The nonprofit educates locals about the importance of these animals and reduces human-wildlife conflict with individualized solutions.

The California Condor Recovery Program used captive breeding, innovative reproductive techniques, genetic management, and binational collaboration to bring the species back from 24 individuals in 1987 to 561 today, with 344 living in the wild across the US and Mexico.

Working with communities to develop alternative forms of livelihood helps to curb unsustainable practices and land degradation. In Uganda, the destruction of wetland habitat by farmers had had a serious impact on the population of grey crowned cranes in recent decades. The Cranes and Wetlands conservation project provides support to local communities, working to find alternatives to draining wetlands and promoting habitat restoration.

The monarch butterfly is a migratory species that winters in central Mexico. However, warming temperatures have threatened the forests that house the butterflies. Scientists have responded by creating a greenhouse to grow trees that would shift the monarch’s habitat to a higher altitude, where temperatures are more favorable to helping the butterflies survive.

The local tribe in the Pueblo of Santa Ana in New Mexico has been working on restoring their land for some time in order to maintain the health of the ecosystem and their culture. They've since expanded through collaboration efforts with state and local government that have helped reintroduce species and further restore the area.

Threatened wildlife co-exists with poverty stricken communities who inhabit the Arizona-Mexico border region. Borderlands Restoration's conservation scientists are hoping to alleviate poverty while repairing the local environment by providing jobs that help preserve and renew the environment.

The Wall of Trees initiative in Nigeria's Makoda village created a four-tiered barrier of windbreak, orchard, woodlot, and economic trees that tripled crop yields and provided income opportunities for 200 women, successfully reversing desertification on 15 hectares over two decades.

The Okanagan Nation Alliance leads a Fish in Schools program that donates fish spawn and the equipment to raise them to elementary and secondary schools near their territory. Thousands of fish raised by the students are released into local waterways during ceremonies at the end of the school year as a part of their efforts to bring salmon back to the area.

Several organizations in Vermont banded together to create the Bird-Friendly Maple Project. The program encourages maple syrup makers to safeguard their forest habitats for birds using agroecology practices like keeping a diverse variety of native trees. Operations that meet the requirements receive an official label for their products.

Scientists in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, are propagating common species of mussels to restore the once-thick mussel beds in local waterways. The mussels work as filters that purify the water and improve the health of the ecosystem.