The Waggle
Issue 90 Boots and Cats and a Freerange Bison
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A honeybee collects pollen from the flowers of desert false indigo.
Tomasz Klejdysz / Alamy Stock PhotoPollinating Change | Rajiv Joshi
As May gently unfurls and spring reaches its peak in the northern hemisphere, we pause to honor mothers everywhere, including our shared Mother Earth. With the flowering comes the rising hum of honeybees discovering hidden blossoms. Like the vibrant energy of a spring beehive, the stories gathered here illuminate a dynamic and diverse regenerative movement.
In Wyoming, the thunderous return of bison restores sacred bonds and revitalizes prairie ecosystems. Local communities in Italy creatively transform waste into the compost we need for a new economy. In Bali, the hopeful chorus of restored songbirds reflects the gentle healing power of collective action, while beneath our feet, geothermal energy reveals hidden potential in our quest for a sustainable future. And as a newborn black rhino steps cautiously onto the African plains, we glimpse how conservation practices can support nature's enduring rhythms.
Together, these stories reveal the rich spectrum of regeneration in action. Just as bees cross-pollinate spring blooms to sustain life, may those working to restore our planet find strength in these narratives of connection and shared purpose.
In Wyoming, the thunderous return of bison restores sacred bonds and revitalizes prairie ecosystems. Local communities in Italy creatively transform waste into the compost we need for a new economy. In Bali, the hopeful chorus of restored songbirds reflects the gentle healing power of collective action, while beneath our feet, geothermal energy reveals hidden potential in our quest for a sustainable future. And as a newborn black rhino steps cautiously onto the African plains, we glimpse how conservation practices can support nature's enduring rhythms.
Together, these stories reveal the rich spectrum of regeneration in action. Just as bees cross-pollinate spring blooms to sustain life, may those working to restore our planet find strength in these narratives of connection and shared purpose.
Really Rewilding Bison | Amy Boyer
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Native American buffalo, Kinnear, Wyoming. Credit: Melissa Hemken / Alamy Stock Photo
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Are bison wildlife or livestock? The Eastern Shoshone have decided to manage their bison herd as wildlife, and their answer decides how those bison, also known as American buffalo, are managed: free range or fenced? Hunted for food or trucked to a slaughterhouse? Related to or controlled? It also influences the diversity and carbon sequestration of the grasslands where the bison live. Most bison are raised like livestock—even kept on feedlots—for the growing bison meat market. However, bison formerly ranged from Florida to Alaska and co-evolved with North American grasslands. Prairies are more biodiverse with grazers, even (well-managed) cows, but bison cause a greater increase in species richness. They also improve drought resilience. Therefore, restoring free-ranging bison can restore grasslands. Not only that, they restore an important relationship of Tribes: bison were nearly eradicated as a way to control Tribes, and remain sacred to them. Today, 86 Tribes are involved in efforts to restore bison through the InterTribal Buffalo Council, with partner organizations providing herd-starting bison that would otherwise be culled. To learn more, see our Indigenous Sovereignty or Grasslands Nexus.
How Italy Became a Global Leader in Recycling
Claire Inciong Krummenacher
Claire Inciong Krummenacher
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New recycling bins for the collection of unusual products were inaugurated in Rome in 2023. Credit: Vincenzo Nuzzolese / Alamy Stock Photo
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In 1997, largely in response to a waste-management crisis in Lombardy, Italy passed the Ronchi Decree, which created a mandatory municipality-level minimum recycling rate of 35% while also establishing the infrastructure for local governments to achieve it. Italy is now the top country for overall recycling within the European Union and among the best at the household level. The government utilized a federal outreach campaign to reach about half of the population, but implementing recycling infrastructure at the municipal level allowed organizers to leverage close community ties to spread word of the new program, encourage participation, and hold neighbors accountable. In addition, establishing a door-to-door collection system and providing bins and bags free of charge helped Italy raise its minimum recycling rate to 65% of all household waste in 2012, over half a decade before the EU followed suit. To learn more, see Circularity Nexus and Compost Nexus.
A Life-Sustaining Future | George Biesmans
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Wild garlic and bluebells in woodland near Camborne in Cornwall.
Credit: Helen Hotson / Alamy Stock Photo |
This week, I stumbled across three stories about the power of legislation to protect and restore nature. The first was in Illinois, where rewilding could be codified into state law this summer. This would empower the state’s Department of Natural Resources to harness rewilding as a “conservation strategy, " including restoring land to its “natural state” and reintroducing apex predators and keystone species. In a vacuum of federal leadership, it would allow the state to push ahead with rewilding policies regardless and offer a template for other states to do the same. The second story was on the other side of the Atlantic, where, almost a year since the groundbreaking adoption of the EU Nature Restoration Law, Rewilding Europe has unveiled practical guidelines for governments to achieve biodiversity goals specifically using rewilding. The last of the stories took place in Strasbourg, France, where the global movement to enshrine the crime of ecocide in law scored an important victory. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe endorsed a Convention which, if adopted and ratified by member states, would become “the first legally-binding international treaty to criminalise severe and large-scale environmental destruction”. While it remains to be seen how each of these stories will unfold, they can be seen as part of the Great Turning: as old systems unravel, the regenerative systems of a life-sustaining future are being built as we speak. To learn more, read our Rewilding Nexus.
A Crisis of Songbird Inspires Creativity | Jonathan Hawken
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Bali myna or Bali starlings. Credit: AGAMI Photo Agency / Alamy Stock Photo
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In Indonesia, keeping songbirds is a centuries-old tradition, but this cultural practice has created and been dubbed the “Asian Songbird Crisis,” pushing many species toward extinction due to unsustainable wild trapping. However, in Bali, a community-led conservation program is breathing hope into the survival of the critically endangered Bali myna, a striking white bird with black-tipped wings and vivid blue eye patches, once nearly wiped out by poaching driven by a very lucrative black market. The Bali myna’s population plummeted to “fewer than 10” in the wild by the early 2000s.
Fortunately, volunteers like Agung Rai Astawa breed over fifty Bali mynas and black-winged mynas, supported by local laws banning poaching and a small tourism boost from visitors paying to see the birds. Efforts across Bali, including West Bali National Park and Nusa Penida’s Bird Sanctuary, show a shift toward community-based conservation. A legal breeding loan program in the park has slashed black market prices by allowing breeders to sell Bali mynas while contributing 10% of their birds for release, significantly reducing poaching incentives. It gets even better, so get the full scoop from Paige Cromley @ The Revelator.
Fortunately, volunteers like Agung Rai Astawa breed over fifty Bali mynas and black-winged mynas, supported by local laws banning poaching and a small tourism boost from visitors paying to see the birds. Efforts across Bali, including West Bali National Park and Nusa Penida’s Bird Sanctuary, show a shift toward community-based conservation. A legal breeding loan program in the park has slashed black market prices by allowing breeders to sell Bali mynas while contributing 10% of their birds for release, significantly reducing poaching incentives. It gets even better, so get the full scoop from Paige Cromley @ The Revelator.
Geothermal in the House | Juliana Birnbaum
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Coming to you hot from @ProjectInnerSpace, in collaboration with musician and songwriter Mike Roberts, singer Will Hammond Jr., and a full team of supporting creatives. (4 mins.)
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Last Wednesday, in the heart of San Francisco Climate Week, I got to drill down into the most underrated powerhouse in the clean energy transition: geothermal. The pun-laden Geothermal House, hosted by the trailblazing nonprofit Project InnerSpace, was arguably the hottest event of the summit. Helmed by the dynamic and fiercely driven Jamie Beard, the organization is on a mission to unlock geothermal’s potential to hyperscale the clean energy transition. Last year, they teamed up with the International Energy Agency to publish a report showing that the often overlooked “red-headed stepchild” of renewables holds the potential to meet global electricity demand 140 times over. Geothermal House made its San Francisco debut as part of its globetrotting tour that included stops from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to the South by Southwest festival in Texas. The free event broke the mold of the bland corporate conference, offering a dynamic and immersive experience that blended art, science, and innovation. Highlights included a virtual reality journey to the center of the Earth, an exploration of global geothermal resources through Project InnerSpace’s interactive GeoMap™, and a startup showcase featuring some of the industry’s leading innovators and entrepreneurs. Equal parts electrifying and educational, Geothermal House offered a compelling look at geothermal energy’s expanding role as a climate solution. Curious if Geothermal House is headed to a city near you? You can explore upcoming tour stops and check out the GeoMap to learn more about the heat beneath your feet at Project InnerSpace and our Geothermal Nexus.
Newborn Black Rhino Calf Brings Hope | Scott Hannan
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Black Rhinoceros cow and calf, Etosha National Park (Namibia). Credit: Johan Swanepoel / Alamy Stock Photo
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Wildlife ACT, a non-profit organization specializing in endangered species conservation, has just announced that a second black rhino calf was born at Somkhanda Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, marking a significant milestone in conservation efforts. The calf's birth was confirmed through the use of strategically placed cameras used to record rhino behavior, revealing that it was born in December 2024 to one of the oldest females in the reserve. Thanks to persistent conservation efforts across Africa, black rhino numbers have doubled from their historic low 20 years ago to more than 6,000 today. However, even with this increase, black rhinos are still classified as critically endangered, and each new birth contributes to the species' survival. Established in 2007, the Somkhanda reserve's rhino population has been part of the WWF South Africa Black Rhino Expansion Project (BRREP), dedicated solely to increasing the black rhino meta-population. The birth of this calf not only signifies hope for the black rhino population but also highlights the possible success of collaborative conservation efforts in South Africa.
A Tale of Two Kitties | Jonathan Hawken
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Left: Snow Leopard. Credit: Abeselom Zerit / Alamy Stock Photo
Right: Fishing Cat. Credit: blickwinkel / Alamy Stock Photo |
Snow Leopards, elegant as they are elusive, are one of the least studied larger cats. Despite that, Nepal’s government just announced its first consolidated national estimate. Using data from multiple studies, researchers estimated 397 as the most likely figure, representing 10% of the global population (despite having only 2% snow leopard compatible habitat). This marks a significant milestone in the country’s conservation efforts, aligning with their new $14.24 million conservation plan for 2024-30, signaling a commitment to refining estimates and expanding surveys, despite the challenges and logistical hurdles. I'm happy to see these carnivorous marathon runners doing well, but this isn’t the only Nepalese cat finding its way into the headlines recently. Now down to their low-altitude compatriots…
There are an estimated few hundred fishing cats in Nepal and less than 10,000 globally, but their predation on fish creates friction with aquaculturists. Some farmers once mistook fishing cats for leopards, resorting to private surveillance systems to safeguard their ponds. Many past incidents of retaliatory killings highlight the felines’ vulnerability to habitat fragmentation and pollution from expanding commercial aquaculture. To help ameliorate this conflict, forester Ganesh Puri introduced “fish banks” through the Western Terai Fishing Cat Project, compensating farmers with fish instead of cash for losses to fishing cats, aiming to foster coexistence (though with mixed results), while other researchers emphasize science-based conservation, urging population assessments and education to highlight fishing cats’ ecological benefits. Get the full story from Mukesh Pokhrel @ Mongabay.
There are an estimated few hundred fishing cats in Nepal and less than 10,000 globally, but their predation on fish creates friction with aquaculturists. Some farmers once mistook fishing cats for leopards, resorting to private surveillance systems to safeguard their ponds. Many past incidents of retaliatory killings highlight the felines’ vulnerability to habitat fragmentation and pollution from expanding commercial aquaculture. To help ameliorate this conflict, forester Ganesh Puri introduced “fish banks” through the Western Terai Fishing Cat Project, compensating farmers with fish instead of cash for losses to fishing cats, aiming to foster coexistence (though with mixed results), while other researchers emphasize science-based conservation, urging population assessments and education to highlight fishing cats’ ecological benefits. Get the full story from Mukesh Pokhrel @ Mongabay.
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