GLOBAL good news

Communities

RWANDA REVIEW SHOWS COLLABORATION WORKS

The results of a 15-year review of the Rwanda tourism revenue sharing programme have shown how important it is to involve local communities when protecting conservation areas. It’s a great endorsement for communities to receive both tangible and intangible benefits from protected areas as it’s been shown to increase their support of any conservation work. Rwanda introduced a tourism revenue sharing policy in 2005, which has led to a positive link between the national parks and development.

THE FIRST EVER GREENWAY CONNECTING TWO AMERICAN NATIONAL PARKS IS SET TO OPEN IN FLORIDA, LINKING THE EVERGLADES TO THE BISCAYNE PARKS

Animal welfare

Wildlife BEAVERS BACK IN THE THAMES

To meet the UK’s ambitious re-wilding targets (halt species decline and protect 30% of the UK’s land by 2030), beavers are to be reintroduced to the Thames in West London. They’re a keystone species, capable of transforming landscapes and the aim is they’re revitalise the wetlands.

Dolphins In The Bronx

Well, in the Bronx River, and a great indicator that the decades-long effort to restore the water quality is paying off. A pair of bottlenose dolphins were spotted swimming near Starlight Park in New York City, for the first time in over five years.

Native Stork Off The List

Twitchers rejoice – after balancing on the edge of extinction for nearly 50 years, North America’s only native stork is poised to fly off the endangered species list. The wood stork is now widespread across the southeastern US and more than 10,000 nesting pairs have been recorded, and is now found across Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas.

Access to water

LIQUID SUCCESS FOR INDIA’S RURAL HOUSEHOLDS

India’s Jal Jeevan mission to provide millions of rural households with tap water has reached a huge milestone. In less than four years, almost 79 million rural households (or 56%) have been connected to running water. When the project started, just 32.3 million households had access, and the aim is to reach 100% by the end of 2024. Jal Jeevan is one of the great unsung stories of human development, and a huge feat in a nation that has such extremes of wealth and poverty.

Ethical tourism MODERN ETHIOPIA

Together We Learn, a charity working in Ethiopia to break the cycle of poverty through the power of education, is launching small group tours for travellers looking for adventure and authentic experiences in Ethiopia. One of Charitable Travel’s charity partners, its first tour is Modern Ethiopia: Food and Culture in May, and promises to show the country’s best sounds, tastes and sights. charitable.travel/ together-we-learn

Shelterbox Book Club

Not strictly a book, a film, or a TV series, the ShelterBox Book Club is a virtual book club that works to help some of the world’s most vulnerable people recover and rebuild their homes after disaster. Sign up to the £10 monthly subscription and you’ll receive a book every six weeks that’s inspired by people and places in the real world, where ShelterBox has helped in an emergency. Read the books, then take part in the online discussions and exclusive experiences, including Q&As with the authors. Visit shelterbox.org to sign up.

UNFORGETTABLE JOURNEYS EUROPE: DISCOVER THE JOYS OF SLOW TRAVEL

By Joseph Reaney

Whether you prefer to travel by foot, bike, boat, car or train, DK’s latest inspirational travel book (published on 2nd March) is a vibrant celebration of taking the scenic route. Covering some of Europe’s greats – the lakes of northern Italy, the tulip fields of the Netherlands – as well as more understated scenes that are just as stunning, evocative writing and lavish photography sit alongside more practical details, such as where to start and end, and how difficult each is.

RED SAUCE BROWN SAUCE By

Felicity