Happy News and Things to Notice
We all need some positive news at the moment I think
Since the news seems to have been particularly gloomy, infuriating and saddening recently I thought it’d be nice to let you all into my little Happy News bubble. I’ve spent the past few weeks editing and putting together issue 35 of Emily Coxhead’s positive news publication, The Happy Newspaper. As Emily says in the introduction to this issue, “there’s still a whole lot of stuff to be hopeful and thankful for, especially when things feel so dark and messy” and I feel especially lucky right now that I literally get paid to read good news.
There are tons of great nature and environment stories in this issue, so I thought I’d share just a few as a little taster. If you need more Happy News in your life, you can get your hands on a copy of issue 35 if you subscribe by 25 August 2024 (I don’t get a cut, I’m just the editor and I know how needed some positivity is right now!).
Volunteers have spent three days installing 31 swift boxes on farm buildings in Wiltshire, Hampshire and Dorset to help struggling swifts find more rural nesting sites. The species has been in decline, partly due to a reduction in suitable nesting places.
The project to entice the red-listed birds follows a survey of the Allenford and Martin Down Farmer Clusters by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT).
The swift nesting boxes, which feature speakers playing the birds’ calls, will be monitored, though the trust says it may be two to three years before birds begin to nest there.
Farmland biodiversity advisor, Megan Lock, said: “It’s been fantastic. These boxes provide man-made nesting sites, which helps to create those sites that are disappearing, and the callers let the swifts know they are there which greatly increases the chances of swifts using the boxes”.
Visit swift-conservation.org to find out how to help swifts where you live.
Scientists have discovered a remarkable plastic-eating fungus, Parengyodontium album, floating amid the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a massive accumulation of trash in the North Pacific Ocean.
The international team of researchers revealed that P. album is the fourth type of marine fungus ever found that can consume and break down plastic waste.
This exciting discovery offers a glimmer of hope in the battle against oceanic plastic pollution. The fungus’ ability to degrade plastic could be a game-changer in addressing one of our most persistent environmental challenges.
However, while this scientific breakthrough is promising, collective action to reduce plastic waste is still vital. By making more sustainable choices, such as not using single-use plastics or products with microplastics in them, we can significantly decrease the amount of plastic that ends up in our oceans.
Christian Cooper, a Black man who was the victim of racial profiling in Central Park, has turned a potentially traumatic experience into an extraordinary success story.
In 2020, a woman falsely claimed Christian was threatening her life after he simply asked her to leash her dog, in line with park rules. The video of the encounter went viral, generating widespread support for Christian.
The incident inspired Black Birders Week, an annual series of events highlighting Black nature enthusiasts who face unique challenges when engaged in activities outdoors.
“The Christian Cooper incident was a turning point for Black people in the outdoors,” said Dr Earyn McGee, one of the Black Birders Week organisers. “These are spaces where we are not expected to be. Any one of us could be a Christian Cooper.”
Christian now hosts a TV show on National Geographic called Extraordinary Birder with Christian Cooper, which educates viewers about birding and encourages a greater appreciation and understanding of the natural world.
Christian’s enthusiasm and expertise in birding quickly captivated audiences and the show has now earned him his first Emmy for outstanding daytime personality.
After the event, Christian said on Instagram he was “honored… and stunned” to win the award.
Decades after it disappeared, a rare butterfly is being reintroduced into the Welsh countryside, thanks to a team of conservationists.
Hundreds of marsh fritillary butterflies, with their unmistakable cream and orange wings, can now be spotted on Llantrisant Common in Rhondda Cynon Taf.
Founder of Initiative for Nature Conservation Cymru, Rob Parry, along with his team, took caterpillars from the wild, reared them and released them back into the area.
“Many of our species are on the brink, right on the edge, and we can’t afford to monitor them disappearing,” Rob told BBC Wales Live. “Once we do that, getting them back is so much harder. That’s why these projects – where we are intervening before they become extinct – are really important.”
Also in Wales, a plant called rosy saxifrage (Saxifraga rosacea), which has been extinct in the wild in Britain for more than 60 years, has been reintroduced at a secret location, thanks to horticulturist Robbie Blackhall-Miles.
Robbie, who works for conservation charity Plantlife told the BBC: “If you think about British biodiversity like a jigsaw puzzle – all the pieces are really important, but some are missing”.
Robbie worked with the National Trust and Natural Resource Wales, to restore some of that biodiversity, reintroducing rosy saxifrage as part of a conservation partnership project called Tlysau Mynydd Eryri (Mountain Jewels of Eryri).
Rosy saxifrage is part of a plant family that thrived in the Ice Age. But the plant’s pretty appearance appealed to Victorian collectors and this, along with decades of habitat loss and pollution, led to the plant becoming extinct.
The plant was last seen in the wild in 1962, when teacher and conservationist, Dick Roberts, was in Cwm Idawl on a school trip. He happened to pick up a piece of the plant that had washed down a path. He didn’t recognise it, so he took it home and grew it in his garden. The plants reintroduced to Eyri by Robbie, and all the rosy saxifrage plants in the UK, are direct relatives of this one plant found by Dick.
“I feel quite humbled to be working with part of Dick Roberts’ legacy,” said Robbie.
In May, Robbie and a team of volunteers planted rosy saxifrage back in its native soil, a moment ten years in the making
“In Welsh, we have a wonderful word, adferiad, which means restitution or restoration,” Robbie said on the day, adding that he was “absolutely over the moon”.
Subscribe by 25 August to get your hands on issue 35 of The Happy Newspaper (or buy a gift subscription for someone you love). Even Robbie Williams is a fan, apparently…
Things to Notice in Nature This Week…
A few things that have caught my eye this week and you might like to look out for too:
Rowan trees are looking particularly spectacular this week as their berries start to ripen (here in the south at least).
Don’t forget to make the most of having the swifts around before they make their long journey back to Africa! Keep an eye out for other summer visitors too, I spotted a lovely little reed warbler yesterday along the Medway.
Acorns on oak trees (and oak galls!) are looking good right now.
The plantain in Kent seems to be having a real moment - some of the plants I’ve seen this week are HUGE!
It’s kittiwake breeding season and I really enjoyed reading
’s article about the Lowestoft kittiwakes this week. My best kittiwake experiences have always been in towns and cities.If blackberries are growing in abundance where you live perhaps you could make a crumble this weekend? I was given some apples this week by an allotment neighbour, which paired beautifully with some local berries in an almondy, cinnamony crumble, YUM! (Don’t forget to leave lots of ripe berries for the birds!)
Thank you for the happy news - its made my morning :)
Glorious! I love Emily’s publication and thanks very much for the shoutout!