Scientists embark on seemingly impossible task in desperate attempt to save rare species: 'Like bringing them back from the dead'

It seems like we are inundated with negative news about the environment on a daily basis. However, while the challenges we face are significant, scientists and environmentalists around the globe are doing their part to combat these issues through conservation efforts. 

One such conservation effort is underway in England. Scientists are attempting to reintroduce New Forest cicadas, also known as singing cicadas, to Paultons Park, per the BBC.

The cicadas used to be ubiquitous in the area, which is just outside the Hampshire woods. But they went extinct in the region in the 1990s due to changes in land management. 

Scientists from the Species Recovery Trust, in collaboration with Natural England, captured 11 New Forest female cicadas in France and reintroduced them to the park. The hope is that they will lay eggs and repopulate. Unfortunately, they won't know if their project is working until 2029 because young cicadas spend the first four years of their lives underground. 

If the initiative proves successful, scientists plan to place the adult cicadas at secret locations all around the park, allowing them to live and continue repopulating naturally. 

Conservation efforts like this are essential for several reasons. Rising global temperatures and overdevelopment have drastically altered ecosystems around the globe. This has threatened biodiversity that has evolved over centuries.

Many species have lost their habitats entirely, and some, like the New Forest cicadas, have faced extinction. So any attempt to protect or rejuvenate these delicate ecosystems is crucial. 

Encouragingly, this is just the latest good news on the conservation front. Environmentalists in Kent, England, successfully reintroduced the large tortoiseshell butterfly, which had gone missing from the area for 60 years. Rare leaf-cutter bees were spotted in San Francisco, raising hope that other bee species can bounce back as well. 

Scientists and conservationists involved in the project were understandably excited about the possibilities. 

"After years of absence, we finally have New Forest cicada on English shores again and we look forward to the next phase of the project to explore reestablishing this species in the New Forest," Natural England's Graham Norton told the BBC. 

Charlotte Carne of the Species Recovery Trust added that the project was "like bringing them back from the dead."

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