In an exciting new conservational victory, the Mexican jaguar population has rebounded by 20% over the course of the last 8 years.

Thanks to a program that was launched by the national government in 2005, there are now an estimated 4,800 of the big cats in Mexico alone. Regional conservation efforts were also implemented in March to protect the species through 2030, according to the report.

There are 64,000 jaguars found worldwide, 90% of which are found in the Amazon rainforest. Though the species was listed as “endangered” in 1972, the big cats are currently “near threatened” – and as more conservational measures are put in place for their protection, researchers are hopeful about the future.

“The presence of jaguars ensures that these ecosystems function, by controlling the population of herbivores, and is also an indicator of the ecosystems’ good health,” said Heliot Zarza, vice president of the National Jaguar Conservation Alliance, in a statement released by the World Wildlife Fund.

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There is good news outside of Brazil as well; a 2015 study showed that deforestation in Brazil had plummeted by 90% after the government became more aggressive about creating protected parklands. In April, the top court of Colombia sided with a group of young adults and children who were suing the government for failing to properly protect the Amazon rainforest, which will facilitate new protective legislation during the coming months.

Finally, as a means of contributing to the Paris agreement, several Brazilian organizations and nonprofits launched the world’s largest tropical reforestation project in November 2017, which will amount to 73 million trees planted over the course of the next 7 years.

Plant Some Positivity And Share The Good News With Your Friends – Representative photo by Kali the Destroyer, CC