Creating a high-tech island to save one of the world's rarest birds

A Rocha Kenya is an environmental organization that connects Christian conservationists around the world to protect endangered habitats and species with the both the power of prayer and practical conservation efforts. Today, the group is also working to train local farmers in new methods to protect the forest, focusing on topics like promoting soil health, increasing crop yields and reducing water usage.

There used to be a time when oil spills devastated entire populations of animals. Although still an environmental disaster, scientists and wildlife veterinarians have become profoundly more successful at treating oiled birds. Crediting much of the success to better understanding the importance of order of treatment, rehabilitated birds are surviving at a much higher rate than ever before.

The swift parrot population in the NSW Riverina in Australia is quickly declining and historically used tracking methods are falling short in accurate measurements. To better track the birds and monitor survival methods, researchers are using drones to track the species' movement.

In Washington State, wildlife overpasses and tunnels across I-90 are going a long way to reduce traffic collisions with animals. Even before its completion, coyotes and other animals are using one overpass to cross safely. These corridors have broad support across the country, though such projects can be expensive.

At a decommissioned chemical depot, a lone biologist has been building artificial homes for burrowing owls. To date, he's installed some 182 burrows. Not only have his efforts helped bring a declining species back across the region, but his studies have gone a long way to better understanding the birds.

The gray wolf was on the Endangered Species list when they were first reintroduced to the West in 1995, and although they have made an impressive comeback, there is now a debate between ranchers and environmentalists about the best way to handle the influx of predators to their cattle. Ranchers like Joe Purdy in Montana have found a successful mix of nonlethal tactics to keep them at bay: patrol of the area during the hours of 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., wildlife cameras, inviting campers to stay, building fences, and more.

A unique partnership between the U.S. military, conservation groups, private landowners, and state and local governments has allowed the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker to grow in numbers. By working together, they’ve been able to protect the forests near military bases where these birds live. Environmentalists are worried about efforts to remove the birds from the endangered species list, saying their work isn’t over. However, this partnership has become a model for other conservation efforts throughout the United States.

The nonprofit group Save Giraffes Now, the Kenya Wildlife Service, the Northern Rangelands Trust, and local community members are working together to save the endangered Rothschild’s giraffe species. Rising lake levels and flooding have stranded the animals on its island, so they made a custom-built steel barge to relocate them to a protected wildlife reserve. It’s not easy to move giraffes, but so far they’ve successfully moved three out of nine of them.

A cheetah conservation project in South Africa has helped the cat population rebound over the years by securing them in wildlife reserves. The Cheetah Metapopulation Project started in 2011 when there were 217 cheetahs, but a decade later, there are now 419 across the reserves. While there is debate about whether the focus should be on the quantity of cheetahs or the quality of their enclosures, the project has been successful and they’re looking to share their cheetahs and conservation lessons with other countries.

To adjust from L.A. regularly draining Owens Lake for its water supply, locals have found that they can recover the dry lake by simply re-adding water to it, which prevents it from creating toxic dust storms. When water is added to the lake, the environment wakes up and becomes home to several plants and animals, specifically millions of birds, which depend on habitats like Owens Lake when traveling around the world.