“The Don River in Toronto was once so polluted with waste, garbage and chemicals that it caught on fire. The water itself, which flows towards Lake Ontario, was so inhospitable that it hosted life’s very antithesis.

Now, after huge efforts to renaturalize the area, researchers are seeing a rebirth. The river has gone from being pronounced dead in 1969 to a place that is attracting fish and other aquatic species.

This month, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) shared its findings from the Don River in 2025, which include more than 20 fish species documented in its waters. For the first time since 2012, an Atlantic Salmon was found in the area, along with the first-ever Emerald Bowfin — a warm-water fish native to Ontario — upstream of Lake Shore Boulevard in the Don River watershed.”

From National Observer.

“The population of the Yangtze finless porpoise, the only freshwater porpoise species in China’s longest river, has risen to 1,426 in 2025, indicating that the fishing ban and other conservation efforts are reviving the ecosystem of the Yangtze River.

The figure, released in a 2025 survey, shows an increase of 177 individuals from the previous assessment in 2022 and represents a continued recovery since the decade-long fishing ban launched in 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said on Friday.

Once numbering about 2,700 in the early 1990s, the flagship species of the Yangtze River fell to just 1,012 by 2017 due to human activities, according to research institutions.”

From China Daily.

“Five red-necked ostriches have been released in a nature reserve in Saudi Arabia as part of an ambitious plan to ‘rewild’ the region.

In December, conservationists announced the release of the tall, leggy birds into Prince Mohammed bin Salman Royal Reserve, a 9,460-square-mile protected area in the northwest part of the country.

Red-necked ostriches, also known as North African or Barbary ostriches, are meant to serve as a biological replacement for Arabian ostriches, which used to inhabit the region but went extinct in 1941 because of overhunting and habitat loss. The wiped-out subspecies’ closest living relative is the red-necked ostrich, which has biological features that aid its survival in a harsh desert environment.

But red-necked ostriches are also on the brink of extinction, with fewer than 1,000 birds remaining in scattered pockets across Africa’s semi-arid region in the central north, per the announcement. Some experts consider the subspecies to be critically endangered. Biologists hope members of the recently introduced population will reproduce and help bolster the birds’ numbers.

The ostriches mark the 12th species to be reintroduced to the nature reserve, along with Arabian oryx, Persian onager, sand gazelle and mountain gazelle. Conservationists hope to eventually bring back a total of 23 historically occurring native species as part of a broader, long-term ecosystem restoration plan. The reserve is partnering on the initiative with the National Center for Wildlife, as well as Imam Turki bin Abdullah Royal Nature Reserve, Imam Saud bin Abdulaziz Royal Reserve, Aramco, NEOM and AlUla.”

From Smithsonian Magazine.

“On Floreana … efforts are underway to rid the island of invasive rats and cats and restore its native vegetation. The work, which is part of a sprawling $15 million effort decades in the making, is among the most ambitious projects ever mounted to bring an island back to its natural state. In the coming years, project leaders hope to reintroduce 12 native species…

The effort has already seen some successes. In 2024, scientists moved 19 Floreana tortoises to a protected pen on the island…

Scientists have also noticed a resurgence of native animals in recent years, including beetles, butterflies, snails, geckos, lava lizards, and the Galápagos rail, a bird known locally as the pachay that was once thought to be extinct on Floreana.”

From Science.