Good New Friday: Improving Our Waterways in 2023

Today I am continuing to share good news stories because we all need more good news stories. Today I am highlighting advances for our rivers, oceans, and other waterways globally in 2023 as shared on the site gapminder.com 

1. Release of 5,000 Polynesian snails was biggest ever release of an ‘extinct in the wild’ species. They had previously been driven away by an invasive species
2. It was revealed that a record number of river barriers were removed across Europe in 2022, allowing rivers to flow freely and migratory fish to reach breeding areas.
3. For the first time in a century, Paris is making the River Seine swimmable thanks to a major cleaning operation. It should be ready for next year’s Olympics.
4. 38 new countries joined the world’s largest freshwater restoration and protection initiative
5. A mammal (the water vole) facing extinction is thriving two years after being reintroduced to a Hertfordshire river in the UK. 
6. Countries signed the High Seas Treaty which aims to protect more of the ocean than ever before.
7. Australia rejected a coal mine near the Great Barrier Reef due to risk of ‘irreversible damage’.
8. A new law to phase out commercial gillnet fishing in the Great Barrier Reef world heritage area by mid-2027 to create new net-free zones to better protect endangered marine species.
9. Australia signed off on plans to almost triple the size of a marine park off Macquarie Island.
10. A tanker adrift in the Red Sea since 2015 was drained of one million barrels of oil, averting the threat of a disastrous spill.