At the end of one year and the beginning of another, it is time to take stock and ask: what kind of year it has been for nature and wildlife and what is our vision for the future? What do the reports say of our key indicators, such as birds, butterflies, mammals and habitats this year? The science is stark: humans and domesticated animals make up more than 90 per cent of the mammalian mass on the planet and today, as a result of our lifestyles, one in eight species are threatened with extinction.

António Guterres, Secretary General of the UN, says: “If you compare Earth’s history to a calendar year, we have used one-third of its natural resources in the last 0.2 seconds.” Under his leadership, the UN declared 2021-2030 to be the “decade for Ecological Restoration,” aiming “to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide.” Small-scale rewilding projects have shown the way and been a leading inspiration.

In our own landscapes, this is the time to feed birds with seeds, nuts and grain, and to take care of wider wildlife. The best thing you can do in the spirit of restoration is to plant a bare-root shrub – consider planting fruit trees and the native field maple, loved by birds. Soak the roots and plant in prepared ground.

The little wren sings right through the winter with a loud and lyrical voice; in folklore the wren has been called the “winter king” for this reason. In coldest winter wrens often gather together to keep warm, forgetting their rivalries.

In the weeks following the winter solstice, light returns, the landscape responds and small signs of life will appear in our gardens. In season now is the crab apple and sweet chestnut, plus roots such as Jerusalem artichokes, wild garlic, lovage and rampion. In the UN’s decade of restoration we have purposeful work ahead of us, and I am sure many of the next generation will be fated to become gardeners in the great mosaic of nature.

The top positive restoration stories for 2022

The greatest success story in conservation: the Blue Wildebeest
The Serengeti is one of the world’s great carbon sinks thanks to the Blue Wildebeest. However, in the 1950s their population plummeted due to viruses from livestock. This led to an overpopulation of vegetation, leading to regular wildfires which destroyed much of the original ecosystem. Suddenly, the great plains of the Serengeti had become a net producer of carbon dioxide, not an absorber. But with disease management, the wildebeest regained strength and efforts to increase the population were a success – today they are at historic levels of over 1.5m, which means that at the end of 2022 the Serengeti is back to being a natural absorber of carbon dioxide. This resurgence of the Blue Wildebeest, with the help of conservationists and local communities, is one of the greatest victory stories in conservation.

Rescuing the European Bison
The European Bison has made a great comeback across Europe this year. This has been helped by many facets, especially reintroduction programmes, new habitat creations, hunting bans and higher legal protections. A major win has also been the more invisible psychological victory where local people are happy to be living next to wild herds. The last wild European Bison was killed in the Caucasus in 1927, after which only 54 were left in captivity. According to the organisation Rewilding Europe, the first bison to be released back into the wild took place in Poland in 1954. Now they estimate that the number of free-roaming European Bison is up to 7000 free individuals, with the largest herds found in Belarus and Poland.

The success of the Iberian Lynx
The Iberian Lynx is a keystone species and just like the wolf they help to maintain healthy populations of other animals. However, their fate over the years has been uncertain and there were only 94 left in 2002. Now, exactly twenty years later, Rewilding Europe states: “Thanks to a captive breeding programme, the Iberian lynx has become one of European rewilding’s greatest success stories, with numbers in the wild up to nearly 600 in 2022.” This increase now extends across 1500 square kilometres, as the lynx has spread into new territory. Further conservation is needed for this vulnerable species and there are more plans to widen Europe’s new rewilding frontier. The greatest victory in this story is that local communities are on board, which is the most crucial element to any successful programme of rewilding on this scale.

The return of the legendary Grey Wolf to Yellowstone National Park
In 1926 employees in Yellowstone National Park killed the last wolf pack, following a policy to kill all predators in the park. As a consequence the entire ecosystem of Yellowstone lost its resilience, caused by problems such as overgrazing, owing to too many roaming deer. This resulted in the loss of trees that fed local songbirds, and even beavers found it difficult to build dams. To the surprise of the fishermen, water temperatures rose from lack of tree cover and the number of cold-water fish tumbled. Then, in 1995, fourteen wolves returned; the trees re-grew and the birds and beavers returned – alongside other species such as eagles and foxes. Scientists today celebrate this as a symbol for the whole rewilding movement across the world and I can report there is now a strong pack of 95 wolves in the park.

Sky Events in December 2022 and January 2023

The Full Moon is on 8 December and known as the Long Nights Moon, which is the full moon before the Yule festivities begin. At this time of year Mars will be very close to Earth and with a medium-sized telescope you should be able to view contours and details on the Martian surface. We are also being visited by the Geminids Meteor Shower, which will produce up to 120 meteors per hour. The best dates to look for them will be from 7-17 December. Winter Solstice will be on 21 December at 21:40 UTC. In the month of January, we are lucky to have more meteors with the Quadrantids shower passing by, producing up to 40 meteors per hour. These meteors will appear mainly from the constellation Boote. The best time to view the planet Mercury is 30 January – rise early and look to the east about an hour before sunrise.

December Tides
Spring: 9–11 and 24–26 December
Neap: 1–2 and 17–18 December

January Tides
Spring: 7–8 and 23–24 January
Neap: 16–17 and 29–30 January

Andreas Kornevall is a Swedish storyteller, writer and ecologist. He is the Director of Operations for the Earth Restoration Service Charity based in the UK