Best environmental news so far this year for Earth Day - including beavers

22 April 2023 , 11:30

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Our efforts to save the environment are working, just slowly (stock image) (Image: Getty Images/EyeEm)

We often hear about the doom and gloom of environmental struggles and the climate crisis facing our planet.

There is no doubt we still have a long way to go before our detrimental impact on wildlife is reduced or better yet reversed but it's not all bad news and Earth Day can be a time to share positive stories.

Over the past few years strides have been made to improve how humans interact with our planet, with a push for renewable energy and companies ditching plastic.

We are already beginning to see some positive improvements for the world we all live in, thanks to the growing effort from people uniting to change the world.

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Plastic bag bans are working

Banning plastic bags has had an undeniable impact (stock image) (Getty Images/WaterFrame RM)

Remember back in 2015 when the government implemented their plastic bag plan, meaning customers had to pay money to have a single use bag? That has already begun to make a meaningful impact on the environment.

Over 100 countries now have put this or similar bans on single use bags or other limitations on plastic that helps the environment. In Europe, 18 countries have imposed an absolute ban on thin plastic bags.

This has led to about a 90% reduction in the use of thin plastic bags in the UK and elsewhere, as well as of 50% in many other countries.

It has also meant less plastic is appearing in our oceans as last year, the number of plastic bags collected at an annual beach clean in New Jersey, US, dropped by 37% compared to the year before.

Straws and takeaway containers also dropped by a similar amount, thanks to New Jersey's plastic restrictions.

Beavers return to London

This once extinct animal is making a comeback (stock image) (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The Eurasian beaver hasn't been seen in London for 400 years (Getty Images)

This semi-aquatic rodent was once driven to extinction by human hunting, they have been steadily brought back over the past decade.

Now for the first time in more than 400 years, the beaver will be reintroduced to the capital in a scheme by Mayor Sadiq Khan. In Paradise Fields, Ealing, at least one male and one female Eurasian beaver will be released.

Khan said: "Despite the harm inflicted on the natural world, we have the power to make amends, and I am committed to ensuring that London is at the vanguard of efforts to reverse the trends of declining biodiversity and the destruction of nature."

Beavers are great for building habitats for other wildlife to boost the overall wildlife population in the city.

The High Seas Treaty

Oceans outside of national protection will be safe (stock image) (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Protecting our oceans is a major part of creating a healthy environment for both land and sea creatures as the ecosystem below the waves does much for our planet.

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In March the High Seas Treaty was signed by United Nations members, after nearly two decades of debate.

It will provide a framework for protecting almost two-thirds of the ocean outside of national boundaries. Fishing restrictions, shipping routes and exploration activities will be limited in these protected zones.

The hope is the treaty will provide sanctuaries for marine life to grow and thrive, restoring some of the lost biodiversity.

Government set to protect British coastlines

British coastlines are being supported (stock image) (Getty Images)

British beaches and coastlines will come under the protection of the government in a new Highly Protected Marine Areas scheme.

Cumbria, Sussex and the North East will each get a stretch of coast names as an HPMA, meaning fishing, construction and digging is banned on these sites. Only non-damaging activities like swimming and scuba diving are allowed to take place.

While this is a great push forward, the proposal had suggested five sites, however the government has now settles on three; Allonby Bay, Dolphin Head, and Northeast Farnes Deep.

Although this isn't total protection for all British beaches, it does show a willingness to implement protective measures in the wake of environmental issues raise.

Danni Scott