Four signs of progress, from safer fishing nets to stronger rights

Recognition for women defending rights

The 2026 Right Livelihood Award will go to Timnit Gebru, Jalila Haider, the Rural Women’s Assembly and the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, the foundation announced on September 30. The recipients work across AI, legal rights and rural organising. ¹

The foundation recognised Gebru’s challenge to concentrated power in AI, Haider’s legal advocacy for marginalised communities in Pakistan, the Rural Women’s Assembly’s work across Southern Africa, and the Georgian organisation’s defence of democracy and rights. The award includes long-term support for recipients’ work. Its practical value will depend in part on how that support helps them continue their efforts, beyond the recognition itself.

Simple deterrents cut seabird bycatch

A two-year trial involving 10 Cornish fishermen found that eye-patterned floating buoys reduced the risk of guillemots and razorbills being caught in nets by 59%. Bird-scaring kites reduced it by 71%, according to the University of Exeter’s October 1 account of research published in Conservation Letters. ²

The buoy uses a spinning head with an eye effect to discourage birds from diving near fishing gear. Cameras on the participating boats helped collect trial data. Researchers also found that catches of seabirds were concentrated in particular places and seasons, giving future deployments a more specific target. The results support further use and refinement of the devices; they do not establish that every fishery would see the same reduction.

Terns recover at some sites, while others struggle

At Long Nanny in Northumberland, at least 126 pairs of little terns nested and at least 82 chicks fledged. In Norfolk, Blakeney Point recorded 1,164 pairs of Sandwich terns after two seasons without nesting, the National Trust reported on September 30. ³

Protection measures at the sites include wardening, restrictions on disturbance and, at Blakeney, predator-exclusion fencing. But the same report recorded a 27% fall in Arctic tern breeding pairs on the Farne Islands. The Trust cautioned that gains at individual colonies can reflect birds moving between sites. Successful local breeding is welcome evidence, not proof of a nationwide population recovery.

More countries adopt protections for older people

The World Health Organization reported on October 1 that 57.7% of countries now have legislation against age discrimination, compared with 44.5% in 2018. National long-term-care policies were also more widespread, reaching 56.7%, up from 49% in 2023. ⁴

Those are policy gains, rather than direct measurements of people receiving better care. WHO said 33.8% of reporting countries had very little or no dedicated funding to develop long-term care. The next test is implementation: whether legal protections and national plans become services and support that older people can actually use.

The bird photographs are archive species illustrations, not photographs of the fishing trial or the named nesting colonies. The older couple’s photograph is illustrative and does not identify participants in WHO research.