The reviews and narratives presented here were triggered by discussions during a retreat for writers, poets and artists at Oak Spring Garden Foundation, Virginia, USA, in the northern autumn of 2019. Our visit coincided with the shock report that since 1970, North America had lost 2.9 billion birds, 30% of its total population (Rosenberg et al. 2019 Science 366:120-124). During an introductory session, the focus of one presentation struck a chord - the relatively new concept of environmental melancholia. Environmental melancholia is a condition resulting from environmentally induced stress and depression. The ailment is experienced consciously or subliminally by individuals or communities as a consequence of growing exposure to the loss of a 'sense of place'. It is associated with one's helplessness at the seemingly irreversible degradation of landscapes, the scope and scale of species extinctions and the prospect of the negative impacts of global climate change. The malady is all too familiar to African conservationists, faced with the collapse of elephant, rhino and abalone populations and their habitats through the industrial scale of the illegal trade in wildlife products. The loss of hope among some conservation professionals is understandable, especially for those on the frontline of anti-poaching actions, or working within weak governments which fail to recognise and address environmental crises. So how does one respond to the seemingly endless fow of bad news? A positive and pragmatic answer is to focus on successful models that have worked in often diffcult situations, which despite enormous challenges, have resulted in sustained success over long periods of time. I therefore sought lessons learned from colleagues across southern Africa, conservationists with 'glass half-full' attitudes, rather than the defeatist 'glass half-empty' perspective that one is often tempted to adopt. I identifed projects that ftted the criteria of ambitious but realistic goals and with proven long-term sustainability, and at different spatial scales, socio-political circumstances and institutional capacities. Their work forms the substance of these case studies and provides the evidence base of the conclusion reached: conservation success is possible in Africa.