Conservation wins, clean energy milestones, and habitat restoration.
Environmental Victories
On September 26, 1918, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Tampa was torpedoed while sailing alone toward Wales and sank in under three minutes, killing all 131 people aboard — still the largest single American naval combat loss of life in World War I. For 107 years nobody knew where she lay. In 2
Environmental Victories
In 1995 there were 51 kākāpō left alive — only 20 of them female. On September 1, 2026, New Zealand's Department of Conservation added 90 fledged chicks to the official tally, bringing the population to 325. The last time there were more than 300 of these flightless parrots may have been 7
Environmental Victories
Known only from ancient fossils, two marsupial species were presumed extinct for over 6,000 years — until scientists found them alive in a remote New Guinea rainforest, with help from Indigenous communities who knew they were there all along.
Environmental Victories
The wood stork lost most of its population by the 1980s and was listed as endangered in 1984. Four decades of wetland protection later, its numbers have more than doubled — and this spring, it was officially taken off the endangered species list for good.
Environmental Victories
In 2009, Nepal counted just 121 wild tigers left in the country. This summer, the newest national census found 429 — a more-than-threefold increase built on fifteen years of habitat restoration, anti-poaching enforcement, and wildlife corridors.
Environmental Victories
North America's largest wildlife bridge just opened over I-25 in Colorado — and in June, cameras caught the first elk crossing it on their own.
Environmental Victories
For more than 65 years, fencing along the Trans-Mongolian Railway cut khulan — wild asses native to the region — off from half their historic range. After conservationists opened a permanent, fence-free crossing zone, hundreds of khulan have crossed back over and are starting to resettle l
Environmental Victories
A creek north of Ukiah, California hadn't seen a baby coho salmon since 1991. Then Pinoleville Pomo Nation water specialist Dakota Perez Gonzalez went snorkeling — and found the first proof in 34 years that the species is coming back.
Environmental Victories
Declared extinct in the wild in 1991, the eastern barred bandicoot was down to about 60 animals living in a rubbish tip. This spring, a genetic-rescue program grew that population past 2,000 and released 100 of them onto an Australian island — the largest reintroduction of the species ever
Environmental Victories
Only 22 red wolves are left in the wild — anywhere on Earth. This year that fragile population just grew by four new litters of pups, with up to sixteen surviving so far.
Environmental Victories
A starving orphan manatee named Alpine was rescued from Florida's Crystal River, rehabbed for two years, released - then rescued all over again. On June 23rd he finally swam free for good.