A big victory for one of our partners: Tacugama protects 6,000 hectares in Sierra Leone
Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary in Sierra Leone is more than a safe home for orphaned wildlife. Over the past 20 years they have played a critical role in safeguarding three of Sierra Leone's four national parks and provided alternative livelihoods to over 100 local communities. We've spoken to their founder Bala Amarasekaran on our podcast, and you helped us sponsor the rehabilitation of two rescued chimpanzees, Esther and Koba, in March 2024.
This week, Tacugama celebrated a huge milestone. After years of advocacy, 6,000 hectares of the reserve surrounding the sanctuary was declared as a protected area. According to the team, this isn’t just about saving trees and preserving land for chimps - it’s also about securing the water supply of thousands of people in Freetown. There's a lot more still to be done (you can help them here) but this is a great moment to stop and appreciate the hard work that got them here.
This week's top stories
Scientists have reconstructed the insane weather of Tylos, a world so hot, and so close to its sun that the clouds are made of vaporised metal, and where it rains liquid sapphires and rubies. Using the European Space Observatory's telescopes in Chile to look into the exoplanet's atmosphere, they've discovered the fastest atmospheric jet stream ever recorded, made of 'iron winds' that blow faster than the planet rotates. Science Alert
The Global South is deploying renewables twice as fast as the Global North, thanks to record levels of investment and decreasing costs of clean power. Last year, deployment of clean energy sources in the Global South outpaced fossil fuel-based electricity generation seven-fold, a huge shift from a decade ago when it was even. RMI
It's the one year anniversary of the malaria vaccine rollout: just over 12 months ago Gavi officially launched its malaria vaccination programme in Africa. In that time over 9.8 million doses have been delivered to 17 endemic countries, protecting an estimated five million children. Gavi is hoping to protect an additional 13 million children by the end of this year, expanding coverage to eight new countries.
California’s connecting MPAs, and fish populations are rebounding Fish biomass has surged throughout California's 25-year-old marine protected area network, with the greatest gains in older reserves containing diverse habitats. The statewide MPA network, the first of its kind in the United States, shows the benefit of connecting smaller protected areas rather than single large reserve. Baird Maritime
Once down to just 10,000 birds, American Oystercatcher populations are soaring. The American Oystercatcher is a coastal bird vital to salt marsh ecosystems, and populations have rebounded by 45% since 2008, thanks to a data-driven, public-private conservation effort focused on habitat restoration, predator control, and nesting site protection. E+E Leader
…and as part of a decades-long conservation project, Brazil has re-introduced more than 70,000 yellow-spotted river turtles into their original wild habitats. Last week, almost 5,000 baby turtles were released into to the Iguapo-Acu River, a place where they had very nearly disappeared. BBC
Iraq’s first nationwide census reveals poverty decline. A Ministry of Planning spokesperson said that the soon-to-be-published General Census of Population and Housing shows a reduction in the poverty rate, from 21.5% in 2022 to 17.6% in 2024. Impressive if you consider that the total population exceeds 45 million and has an annual growth rate of 2.3%. Shafaq
Nine Asian countries have halved child mortality since 2000 Afghanistan, Cambodia, Laos, Bangladesh, Myanmar, India, Nepal, Indonesia and China, and Cambodia, which witnessing the biggest drop, from 11% in 2000 to just 2% today. Key reasons for the decline include improved nutrition, clean water, sanitation, vaccinations, and poverty reduction efforts. Our World in Data
More than 10,000 aid trucks have entered Gaza since ceasefire began With more than half a million people returning to northern Gaza since the ceasefire began, the need for food, tents, and life-saving medicine is immense (this video makes clear the level of devastation). Across Gaza, 22 bakeries supported by the World Food Programme are now operational and nutrient supplements are being provided to more than 80,000 women and children. UN
In 2023, official development assistance from OECD members totalled $212 billion, part of a slow but steady rise in foreign aid since the year 2000. The funding primarily supports the economic development and welfare of developing countries. Given the priorities of the current US administration, we're likely to see this number fall in the next four years - but it's not going to undo the progress of the last 25 years. Our World in Data
The ancient Amazon housed thousands of garden cities. Using laser scanners mounted on aircraft to create detailed terrain maps, scientists have discovered evidence of tens of thousands of pre-colonial urban centres in the Amazon rainforest. Multiple studies have shown that ancestral Amazonians created sustainable urban systems with composted gardens and managed forests.
By systematically composting scraps of food and organic waste, they created vast swaths of fertile 'dark earth', or terra preta, covering a 154,000 km2 stretch of the nutrient-poor soils of the Amazon basin nearly twice the size of Ireland – a circular economy before the phrase existed.
Also - "We've found an ancient Amazonian civilization that had a million inhabitants."
Brazil's government and indigenous peoples have started restoring the Amazon's "arc of deforestation." The country's government has begun granting 35-year forest regeneration concessions, across five states, in the Amazon's most degraded areas. Indigenous communities will participate as paid restoration agents, providing seeds and planting services. The initiative is the centrepiece of a broader ecosystem recovery strategy aiming to regenerate 12 million hectares of native vegetation by 2030. Folha
Analysts are still shocked about China’s fuel demand plateau: “For China’s fuel growth trajectory to be levelling off at this early stage of development is without historical precedent,” according to the International Energy Agency. “This slide is likely to accelerate over the medium-term, which would be sufficient to generate a plateau in total China oil demand this decade.” Bloomberg
Quantum computing is inching closer to usefulness. Oxford researchers have successfully transmitted quantum algorithms between separate quantum processors, achieving 86% information fidelity across a two-meter distance, enabling them to function as a single, more powerful computer, and Microsoft just unveiled its new “topological qubit” that apparently, represents a phase of matter that many experts didn't think was possible.
A green belt in Burkina Faso cools surroundings, feeds residents. Started in the 1970s, the belt surrounds the capital city of Ouagadougou preventing desertification, cooling the city, and promoting urban agriculture. Many residents make a living by growing vegetables on their allotments, an added value for the greenbelt, which has seen renewed impetus following last year’s deadly heatwave. The Guardian
Arctic Cleanup removes 130 tons of trash and aims to improve trash cleanups worldwide. The Arctic Cleanup, a collaboration between the Ocean Conservancy and Keep Norway Tidy, has already deployed more than 3,000 volunteers across Norway, Iceland, Greenland, and Alaska to collect rubbish over 921km of coastline. The amount of trash the volunteers have removed since 2021 is 131,917 kg but better yet, they’re identifying ways to make other trash cleanups less logistically difficult and costly. Hold Norge Rent
Researchers at Stanford have solved a century-old biochemistry mystery by capturing detailed images of enzyme shapeshifting during reactions. The findings explain how enzymes achieve trillion-fold increases in reaction times, suggesting universal principles that could impact fields ranging from basic science to drug discovery, and provoke a rethinking of how science is taught in the classroom.
Cold-related deaths have fallen 65% since the 1990s, from a peak of 30,874 in 1995 to 10,968 in 2022, equivalent to a drop of nearly 65%. As climate change continues to throw up unpredictable weather patterns, extreme cold will remain a serious threat, but the good news is that we know how to prevent this: raising public awareness about cold-related risks and strengthening social safety nets for vulnerable populations. Think Global Health
Last week we claimed that rice production uses one third of the world's freshwater resources. We left out a crucial part of that sentence. It should have been:
Rice produces 12% of global methane emissions, and uses around a third of the world's freshwater resources dedicated to irrigation.