‘Should it all just be renationalised?’ – your water crisis questions answered

Sandra Laville has been reporting on England’s sewage crisis for years. She answered your questions on the water privatisation scandal. Hosted by Guardian Moderators Wed 8 Apr 2026 15.57 CEST 221 Prefer the Guardian on Google

Guardian environment correspondent Sandra Laville’s reporting on the sewage crisis in English water has helped to expose a scandal of privatisation that has created a swell of fury across the political divide.

Sandra has now finished answering your questions. Read the Q&A below.

We know about honeybees and bumblebees, but most of the UK’s bees are neither: they’re solitary bees, loners who come in a dizzying range of sizes, colours and varieties – more than 240 species. Have you heard, for instance, of the hairy-footed flower bee? “They’re one of the first bees to emerge each year,” says Laura Larkin, the chief conservation officer at Buglife. “The males have got fantastic little fluffy bits on their feet.”

How about leaf-cutter bees, which chomp “a perfectly circular hole” out of leaves to build their nests? Or bright-orange tawny mining bees, wool-carder bees, ivy bees? “There are so many of them and I’m still learning,” says Kate Bradbury, a wildlife gardener, writer, bee lover and the author of One Garden Against the World. “They’re just great – there’s a solitary bee for every occasion.”

They’re also incredibly important pollinators. “They’re quite messy and just cover themselves in it,” says Larkin. “Because the pollen is a lot more loose on the bodies of solitary bees when they travel around from plant to plant, it’s more likely to fall off; it makes them a lot more efficient as pollinators than some of the other bees.” Estimates suggest that a single red mason bee provides the same pollination level as 120 worker honeybees. Good work, solitary bees.

Firefighters are continuing to tackle a moorland fire after a separate blaze that burned for two days was extinguished.

West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue said eight crews were still at the scene of the ongoing fire at Blackstone Edge on Marsden Moor.

A spokesperson said a fire in the Marsden Clough area, which broke out earlier, had been resolved, but people were still being asked to stay away from the moor.

Herts Environmental Records Centre (HERC) who curate biodiversity information for the county have just hit four million records. Read on to discover more about that milestone record and how HERC's data is used to inform decison-making in our everyday lives.

Herts Environmental Records Centre (HERC), who are hosted by Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, have recently hit four million species observation records on their database, with a colourful waxcap mushroom found in a Watford churchyard being the milestone discovery.

HERC curates biodiversity information for the county, managing, collating, and updating comprehensive data on habitats, species, and sites across Hertfordshire. The information is used for local planning, conservation and research, to help users make connections between biodiversity and the world around them.

Innovative research suggests Bass Rock gannet colony may be stabilising after avian flu outbreak New research is shedding light on the health of one of the UK’s most important seabird colonies, suggesting it may be stabilising after the devastating outbreak of avian flu in 2022.

A team of researchers from the Scottish Seabird Centre, Edinburgh Napier University, the University of Edinburgh’s School of Geosciences, and the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology have been using cutting-edge technology to better understand the health of one of the world’s largest colonies of northern gannets on Bass Rock.

In a first for Bass Rock, a 2025 drone survey captured detailed images of the entire colony, enabling a manual count of approximately 52,459 nesting sites. This suggests that over 100,000 gannets may currently breed on the island each year. Although these findings indicate that numbers may have stabilised since the sharp declines seen after the 2022 avian flu outbreak, the population remains 30% below its previous size.

New research into how much carbon is absorbed by the Isle of Man's marine habitats has been published.

The Manx Blue Carbon Research Project set out to understand the size of the island's blue carbon habitat, assess the potential for carbon storage, identify any threats and look at monitoring and restoration options.

The research, led by the Department for Environment, Food and Agriculture (Defa) saw scientists map habitats across Manx waters between 2022 and 2025.

The "elusive woodland antics" of pine martens in the South West of England have been captured by trail cameras on Dartmoor and Exmoor.

It comes as experts say the animals are "doing well" since their recent reintroduction and have begun to produce young.

Pine martens had been missing from the region for more than 100 years after having been hunted and trapped to extinction.

Riparian woodland often provides little direct economic return for landowners but many environmental and societal benefits, including clean water, flood mitigation and cooler water temperatures. Restoring and expanding riparian woodland along our streams and rivers to deliver these increasingly needed benefits therefore requires funding support to incentivise land use change.

The Kennetsideshead Farm woodland creation project, delivered in partnership with the Tweed Forum and Borders Forest Trust, demonstrates how this can be achieved. The project is carefully designed to deliver a wide range of benefits and ecosystem services across the landscape, while supporting the farm’s goal of diversifying its core agricultural business.

Working with Forest Research, the project piloted the use of an innovative ‘Woodland Water Code’ (WWC) to quantify the water quality, flood and shading benefits provided, so that these can be properly valued and potentially support private investment to deliver more woodland planting where most needed.

Farmland birds that "define Britain's countryside" are on the brink of being lost forever, a wildlife charity has warned.

Experts at Wiltshire Wildlife Trust say species including lapwings, snipes, and grey partridges have seen declines of about 90% in some areas where their habitats have been destroyed or damaged.

The charity is now hoping to raise £20,000 to restore hedgerows and other habitats in Braydon Forest, which runs between Wiltshire and Gloucestershire.

A family of beavers have successfully been released into the Bedfordshire countryside for the first time in 400 years.

A male, a female and two kits were introduced to the Southill Estate, close to Biggleswade, from the end of February, in a project that was two years in the planning.

The Eurasian beavers are "recognised as ecosystem engineers" and their job is to restore the ecology and use their dam building skills to create drought resilience, said Restore, a nature restoration company that worked on the release.

Stunning new pictures have emerged of two orcas off the Cornish coast – an exceptionally rare encounter that the captain of a wildlife cruise described as a “real privilege”.

The orcas were spotted on Wednesday afternoon (April 1), with AK Wildlife Cruises Falmouth identifying them as the world‑famous John Coe and Aquarius – the last surviving members of the UK’s West Coast Community of orca.

The crew said they felt “unbelievably lucky” to encounter the pair, calling the moment “truly special” given the whales’ iconic status and the extreme rarity of sightings in English waters.

Bluebell season takes place in early spring and forests across the UK are being carpeted with the stunning lilac blooms. The gorgeous flowers only appear for a few weeks each year, prompting many of us to venture outdoors to admire them.

However, if you're planning a stroll this April, there are certain guidelines you must observe. In the UK, protective regulations exist to prevent the delicate flower from declining.

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 designates bluebells as ecologically important - and breaching the rules can result in substantial fines of up to £5,000 per bulb or even a six-month prison term in serious cases. So here's everything you need to know...

The National Trust’s wetlands project officer has described the effect of four Eurasian beavers on the ecosystem as astonishing, a year after they were reintroduced into the wild in England for the first time in 400 years.

Beavers were hunted to extinction in England in the 16th century and remained absent until a year ago, when a landmark project announced by the National Trust, Defra and Natural England released two pairs relocated from Scotland into a freshwater lake in the Purbeck Heaths nature reserve in Dorset. Since their release, the beavers have constructed a 35-metre dam, improving local habitats for plants, insects, amphibians, birds and bats. Trail cameras even captured the beavers playing with an otter, while a barn owl, a protected species in the UK, was also seen flying nearby.

The project allows for the release of 10 to 25 adult beavers, with the next release expected to take place this autumn.

When making Secret Garden, our main objective was to reveal the hidden lives of the animals living in our five featured gardens across Britain. But along the way, we picked up a few top tips that will help us all to encourage wildlife into our gardens.

Ecologists are asking islanders to help track small mammals through a new citizen science project called Garden Paws.

Organised by Nature Commission Guernsey, the project aims to gather more data on species that are difficult to monitor.

A recent State of Nature report found there were fewer small mammals in Guernsey and Herm than in the UK, but the reasons for this remain unclear.

The RSPB has urged the public to take simple steps to protect ground-nesting birds during the spring and summer breeding season, as increased recreational activity risks disturbing vulnerable species.

More than half of the UK's most threatened breeding birds nest on or near the ground, including Eurasian Curlew, Northern Lapwing, Eurasian Skylark and Little Tern. Many of these species are Red-listed due to long-term population declines driven by habitat loss, climate change and reduced food availability.

These birds breed across a wide range of habitats, from beaches and heathland to farmland and woodland. Even familiar garden species such as European Robin, Eurasian Wren and Dunnock often nest low down in hedges and shrubs, making them particularly susceptible to disturbance.

The Humber Forest has planted its millionth tree at a ceremony in West Park, in Goole. The event was attended by Goole councillors Anne Handley and Nick Coultish, as well as Lord-Lieutenant of the East Riding, Jim Dick, and Goole Town Mayor, James Coopers.

Mr Dick, the Crown’s representative in the county, attended to commemorate the planting of an oak tree in the park in 1933, by Prince George, Duke of Kent. Humber Forest works with farmers, landowners, businesses and communities, and provides grants to cover up to 100 per cent of funding for planting and associated costs, as well as for at least five years of establishment.

Larger sites may be eligible for 15 years of establishment and ecosystem service payments. These trees can play a vital role in creating habitats for wildlife, improving community spaces, reducing soil erosion and flooding, and improving air quality.

A Lincolnshire nature reserve will celebrate 50 years of protecting rare coastal birds through a series of events this month.

Since 1976, wardens and volunteers at Gibraltar Point National Nature Reserve, near Skegness, have protected some of the rarest coastal birds in the area.

Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust will be marking the milestone of the reserve's Shorebird Sanctuary with four events on 17 and 18 April.

Photographers have captured a rare sighting of the UK's largest bird of prey in a moment they say they will "never forget".

A white-tailed eagle was spotted at the Cley Marshes nature reserve in north Norfolk this week, soaring in the sky and scouring for prey.

The impressive birds can grow to have a wingspan of up to 2.4m (7.8ft) and they were hunted to extinction but in recent years they have been successfully reintroduced in southern England and Scotland.

From early birds to emerging butterflies: UK shows signs of earliest spring on record

Citizen science data reveals early flowering, nesting and insect activity as global heating accelerate seasonal change Patrick Barkham Sat 4 Apr 2026 07.00 CEST Prefer the Guardian on Google

Bluebells are flowering, swallows are returning and orange-tip butterflies are flying in what could become Britain’s earliest recorded spring.

Records for early spring occurrences are being smashed as 2026 looks to be the earliest this century for frogspawn laying, blackbirds nesting, brimstone butterflies emerging and hazel flowering, according to Nature’s Calendar, which has logged citizen science records of seasonal change since 2000.

This spring has had the earliest egg-laying in an 80-year study of great tits in Wytham Woods, Oxfordshire, with the 23 March sighting beating the previous record by three days. The birds’ average egg-laying has moved forward by 16 days since the 1960s, with these tits and other species needing to ensure their chicks are fed on caterpillars emerging with the new spring leaves.

Each spring, one of the most enchanting sounds drifting through woodlands, parks and gardens is the gentle, cascading song of the willow warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus), which sings its melodious song high from the tree canopy.

The willow warbler's appearance is similar to the chiffchaff: both have olive-coloured plumage. The willow warbler has greenish upperparts, pale yellow underparts, and an off‑white belly which gives it a soft, understated beauty. A pale eyebrow stripe, known as a supercilium, adds to its gentle expression. Its distinct song helps tell them apart, though; while the chiffchaff repeats its sharp ‘chiff‑chaff,’ the willow warbler delivers a sweet, descending warble that is often considered one of the loveliest sounds of spring.

A herd of bison is having a "great impact" on woodlands just a few years after being introduced in a UK-first to help manage habitat for wildlife, conservationists say.

The bison in Blean Woods, Kent, have also been inspiring people about more wildlife-rich habitat.

With new "bison bridges" opening up in the reserve, the animals will soon be roaming across 200 hectares (500 acres) of woodland, the team behind the scheme says.

Ministers have pledged £90 million to safeguard hundreds of England’s most threatened native wildlife from extinction.

This funding, which the Environment Department (Defra) calls the largest-ever investment in species protection, will support efforts to reintroduce or bolster populations of birds, beavers, beetles, snails, spiders, and seahorses across England.

Hundreds of local projects will receive a share of £60 million through Natural England’s species recovery programme over the next three years, Defra said.

Twenty years ago, on 4th April 2006, two Exmoor foals arrived at the Kielder forest in Northumberland to graze tough grass and encourage the growth of sedges and mosses loved by insects. Nicknamed Puddles and Prancer, their arrival marked the first of hundreds of Wildlife Trust projects – large and small – funded by Postcode Lottery players across Britain over the next 20 years.

Today, The Wildlife Trusts celebrate two decades of an extraordinary range of innovative nature recovery efforts, all achieved thanks to £31m raised by players of the Postcode Lottery. From beaver reintroduction trials, otter counts and inspirational education programmes to joyful community festivals – the funding has benefitted every corner of The Wildlife Trusts’ federation.