50 Reasons To Be Cheerful In 2021

In the face of a devastating pandemic, organisations across the globe have continued to do battle for our most precious species and habitats. As we leave 2020 behind and look forward to a more positive year ahead, it’s time to celebrate their successes.

- Sarah McPherson

1 SEAL CELEBRATIONS

The grey seals at Norfolk’s Blakeney National Nature Reserve have had another strong year. The first pup was spotted there in 1988, and the site has since flourished to become the biggest colony in England. The number of young has burgeoned from just 25 in 2001 to a whopping 3,399 in 2019, a result of low levels of disturbance and mortality during the first key weeks of life, and lack of natural predators. Autumn 2020 again predicted about 4,000 new arrivals – so many that rangers are having to change the way they count. nationaltrust.org.uk

2 TENERIFE A TOP SITE FOR WHALES

In February 2021, the pristine waters of Franja Marina Teno-Rasca, south Tenerife, are set to become Europe’s first Whale Heritage Site. The area has long been popular with whale-watchers, boasting 28 species of cetacean, including a resident population of short-finned pilot whales. Whale Heritage Site status is granted to outstanding destinations where cetaceans are embraced through the cultural, economic, social and political lives of their associated communities, and where people and cetaceans co-exist in an authentic and respectful way. whaleheritagesites.org; worldanimalprotection.org.uk

3 VERGE VICTORIES