< Baby rhino at Kariega Game Reserve[/caption]In the 1950s White Rhino were in danger of becoming extinct and through a concerted effort by Dr Ian Player and a dedicated team of people this iconic species was brought back from the brink of extinction - "In the late 1950s we faced the challenge of the White Rhino becoming extinct. We overcame the technical and political problems and from a small number of 437 White Rhino in 1953, there are now thousands in the world. A small team of dedicated people made the difference." Dr Ian Player DMS In the 1960s there were over a million Black Rhino, but by the 1980s the world's Black Rhino population had become seriously endangered. To raise awareness about the plight of the Black Rhino and help bring the species back from the brink of extinction, two deeply committed young Zimbabweans, Julie Edwards and Charlene Hewat, undertook a "Ride for the Rhino" campaign, a gruelling 18-month cycle of 22 000 kilometres from Glasgow to Harare. They later wrote a book titled Extinction is Forever in which they described this mammoth effort to “defend the undefended and secure for the vulnerable invulnerability.

Rhinos in Africa and India are again under serious threat from poaching and again it is a relatively small group of people who are working to make a difference, often putting their lives on the line. On this World Ranger Day 2014 I honour the men and women who are working to save rhino and other species under threat, 27 of whom lost their lives in the line of duty in the last 12 months.

< Pic courtesy of Bronwyn Maree/BirdLife South Africa[/caption]At the time of writing this post an albatross conservation success story I wrote, which was published on 9th July in the Earth Island Journal, the online mouthpiece for the Earth Island Institute Inc, a prestigious organisation based in the US, had received 112 tweets and 335 “likes” and while this interest is a wonderful boost to my morale what is more encouraging is that almost 450 people have cared enough about the saving of albatrosses to a) take time to read the piece, and b) give it their support and allegiance.

Of course it is a visually beeeyootifuuul piece, with the Managing Editor of the Earth Island Journal pulling out all stops to source an exceptionally poignant pic of an albatross mother with its chick, which I’m sure helped enormously. However, the piece has also shown me that people around the world have become so habituated to environmental bad news that a good news story, especially if it is one about an iconic species such as the albatross, is a welcome indication that good things ARE happening in the world, which we all need to know about.

Having personally grown weary of the negativity inherent in environmental reporting, I have decided that this will be my focus from now on – to write uplifting stories about people and the environment that show readers what is right about the world. Onwards and upwards into a new phase ….