.....and banish the darkness of 2023.
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness" .png)
"Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
Martin Luther King jnr.
Realising that this post is rather negative I have decided that my new year's resolution is to be more positive. It may not always feel like things are getting better but there are plenty of good happenings that have made our world a far better place during 2023.
1. A baby beaver was spotted in London for the first time in 400 years during summer 2023, just 18 months after an initiative began to reintroduce them to the capital.
2. The demilitarised zone between North and South Korea has emerged as an unlikely wildlife sanctuary. It is now home to 6,200 species, including 38% of the endangered birds and animals on the Korean peninsula, such as golden eagles, musk deer, and mountain goats.
3. A 20 year project in Uganda has now resulted in their mountain gorilla population being brought back from the brink of extinction.
4. Deforestation across the 9 Amazonian countries is down 55.8% on the same period a year ago - a turn around in a region we call "the lungs of the Earth".
5. There have been huge breakthroughs in treating cancer, and two new drugs developed in 2023 have been shown to slow down the pace of Alzheimer's.
6. The hole in the ozone layer is on track to be healed over by 2040, according to a UN-backed assessment. The hole was discovered in 1985, but since then countries have phased out 99% of ozone depleting chemicals under the Montreal Protocol.
This is just a handful of the many positive events and happenings that have taken place during 2023
Wishing you all a very Happy New Year
Happy New Year, Rosemary! I love that beautiful photo, the quotation, and your list of Good News. I hadn't heard that one about the DMZ -- a bright little spot in the N/S Korean tensions.
ReplyDeleteI saw a film about that area - good things do happen even when unexpected.
DeleteIn the News each night at 7 PM, the coverage is almost entirely of war, starvation, road crashes, riots, drugs etc. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the last 5 minutes each night was allocated to medical breakthroughs, environmental triumphs and peace treaties that have worked.
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DeleteI totally agree with you Hels, and I imagine that many others probably feel exactly the same re: the daily news bulletins. Good news is out there, but does it get a mention? Very rarely.
Hello Rosemary, Happy New Year! About those beavers, their coming back might not be such a blessing. Beavers are very destructive animals, but if they return no one is going to want to kill them, and trapping and releasing them elsewhere is simply foisting off the problem to someone else, and possibly illegal. Beavers need large areas of wild environment (such as parts of Canada). One of my favorite woods near a lake in Ohio was devastated by beavers. They felled some trees, but many more they just girdled so the trees died, and the whole area looked like a plague had passed over it. I admit that whenever I saw the beavers they were cute, but as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for.
ReplyDelete--Jim
Hello Jim - Beavers have been reintroduced to several parts of the country after an absence of 400 years.
DeleteThe nature conservationists say that the beaver is a keystone species and one of nature’s ecological engineers. Through the building of dams, the digging of canals, and the creation of dead wood, beavers create and maintain habitats where an abundance and diversity of life can flourish. Dams prevent soil eroded from fields from being lost to the sea. Carbon and nutrients are trapped, improving water quality downstream. The flow of water is slowed which helps to ameliorate flooding.
However, time will tell, but my husband tends to agree with you. I am sitting on the fence.
Happy New Year, Rosemary. I love the colourful photo of lanterns. it is good to see your positive list. Your mention of beavers in London made me think of the wildings project at Knepp. I just looked the beavers up now and see they escaped their "secure" enclosure.
ReplyDeleteTime will tell whether the conservationists are correct or, but they seriously consider that Beavers will help prevent flooding.
DeleteWonderful to read the postive side of things Rosemary.
ReplyDeleteA Happy New Year to you and your family.
Greetings and peacefulness to you and your family too Margaret.
DeleteDear Rosemary,
ReplyDeleteAlthough there is much brokenness and horror in the world, there is beauty and encouragement, too, and I loved all the things you mentioned. All good things. May 2024 bring peace and light to many of the dark corners of the world.
Happy New Year!
I endorse that Lorrie - may there be peace and light to all of the dark corners of the world.
DeleteThank you for those positives. A very Happy New Year to you. B x
ReplyDeleteA Happy New Year to you too Bx
DeleteWhat a wonderful list of positives for the New Year. I had no idea there had ever been beavers in the UK, having thought of them as a North American animal. How amazing they have been re-introduced. The news of the de-militarized zone being a safe harbour for nature brings a smile to my face, illustrating there is always hope, and a chance for renewal. Have a safe and Happy New Year, dear Rosemary.
ReplyDeleteI read an article this weekend giving a very long list of positives that have happened during the year 2023, but mainly what we all continually hear about are stories of horror and war. Wishing you a very Peaceful and Happy New Year Patricia.
DeleteLovely image. Well done on finding so many positive things in a troubled year. Having just watched an Alice in Wonderland film where she says much the same thing before slaying the Jaberwocky, (a list of positive things) your list reminded me of that but a more grown up version. I can also add Little Egrets and Green Parakeets spreading further north in the UK than ever before, having seen both recently up here on walks. Happy New Year.
ReplyDeleteLittle Egrets I see but Green Parakeets have eluded me to date. However, we delight in our family of garden Jays - Garrulus glandarius, which apparently are not found in Northern Scotland - I wonder if you see then in your neck of the woods? Happy New Year to you too.
DeleteMuch as I wish to see the world change, Rosemary, especially as it relates to nature and the environment, the sad history of humankind gives me little hope that it will. But on a personal note, I find much joy daily. Yesterday, for example, Miriam and I visited friends, where incredible work is being undertaken on the analysis, interpretation and understanding of the vocalizations of Song Sparrows. A great deal of work in the field with parabolas and other equipment results in sophisticated interpretation by a computer, and patterns emerge, even responses to anthropogenic interference, and a whole host of other parameters. Some of the results are contrary to what one might expect and breathtakingly encompassing in scope. It is a source of incredible happiness to me that I count among my friends people doing this kind of work. Let me hasten to add that this is personal research, not sponsored or funded in any way, conducted by a man with a passion for nature and the hope that improvements (of various kinds) may result from his work. For at least a while, this can take my mind off the dire state of the world and its rapacious human occupants. Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteIt is difficult to look beyond the troubles and strifes that confront us all daily, but for many the natural world provides a welcome diversion to those of us who have access to it. I am grateful that we live in the countryside rather than in a city or built up area. From our knowledge, more people than ever are now engaged in the restoration of wildlife habitats. This includes city dwellers too who are creating little havens of wildlife within their vicinities.
DeleteTwo books with a British context I highly recommend: 1, Wilding by Isabella Tree; 2, The Biodiversity Garden, Paul Sterry.
ReplyDeleteThank you David - I have read Isabella Tree's book but not The Biodiversity Garden.
DeleteIt is all too easy to be reduced by world events, so thank you, Rosemary, for reminding us to look also at what is positive and joyful. Sending you good wishes for the year ahead.
ReplyDeleteThe daily news can be very depressing showing very few good news stories. Thank you for visiting - may you and your family enjoy a very peaceful and happy year ahead.
DeleteThank you for sharing this positive list!!! It does make a difference to spread the word and keep people's faith alive! :):) Happy New Year to you and yours!
ReplyDeleteGreetings for the New Year to you too Daydreamer, and thank you for your kind comment.
DeleteDear Rosemary, so wonderful that you take the time to create such beautiful posts and that you share them with us. May the New Year be good to you and your family.
ReplyDeleteDearest Gina - sending blessing and a peaceful New Year to you. Your comments are always very kind and generous but much appreciated. Blog posts used to come easily, but not now.
DeleteSuch a beautiful post, Rosemary. I wish you a happy new year.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely surprise to see you here Satu - hope all is well with you and your family. Happy New Year to you.
DeleteI enjoyed this post and the facts you've shared.
ReplyDeleteThe first week of 2024 seems to have flown by.
Sending good wishes for a happy and healthy 2024 for you and your family.
All the best Jan
Thank you Jan - I can't believe that the first week has gone either or that we actually have lovely blue skies and sunshine today. May you and your family also enjoy a really happy, healthy, and peaceful 2024 too.
DeleteThank you, dear Rosemary! I wish you a Happy New Year - and a good year 2024 for us all. It is not easy to look at the bright sight of life when things as last year happen - but as you show above: the good deeds and events happen too (but they often don't get enough attention).
ReplyDeleteI try to keep up my spirits and balance - there is so much beauty around us - I want to notice both, bad and good.
Thank you Britta - positivity is the best way forward during these very difficult times.
DeleteHow extraordinary that the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea, which most humans avoid like the plague, has emerged as a wildlife sanctuary to many of the endangered creatures on the Korean peninsula. Ironic but delightful.
ReplyDeleteMay be the lack of human intervention could be the reason why.
DeleteThese are positive.
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