< 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 ….