When reading the news it's easy to get the impression that we are inevitably ruining the environment and there is nothing we can do about it. However, great strides were made in 2018, giving us a few more reasons to be hopeful that we could turn things around as much as we can.
Below are just 6 big milestones that were reached in 2018:
· China Halts Coastal Land Reclamation
China announced it was to halt all ‘business-related’ land reclamation along its coast. This is incredibly good news for globally threatened coastal birds
· Flamingo breeding Ground, Lake Natron, has Been Saved
The most significant breeding site for Lesser Flamingos was under threat from plans to build a soda ash factory. However, the Tanzanian government announced it has abandoned those plans.
· Conservation has Saved at least 25 Species
25 species have been saved from being Critically Endangered since 2000, as stated in BirdLife’s State of the World report.
· Christmas Island Saved from Mining
It was an early Christmas present when Australia’s Environment Minister announced that he was rejecting an application for the expansion of phosphate mining on Australia’s Christmas Island, consequently saving the island’s rainforests that support a number of critically endangered birds.
· Malawi Upholds Plastic Ban
A ban on thin plastics was introduced in June 2015, and this was upheld despite challenges in court by plastics manufacturers.
· New Conservation Area in Singapore was Established
A new conservation sit has been confirmed, this is good news in itself but it has also been planned to sit upon one of the last remaining mangrove habitats – great news for birds migrating along the East Asian - Australasian Flyway.
