The hen harrier is one of our rarest birds of prey and just 11 years ago there were no successful nests in England. However, since Natural England issued its first licence for the Hen Harrier Brood Management Trial in 2018, one of the fundamental components of Defra’s Hen Harrier Action Plan, the number of hen harriers nesting in England has dramatically increased; thanks in no small part to the work of moorland managers. It is therefore disappointing that this year’s breeding figures are lower than those for the previous three years, with Natural England recording 34 breeding attempts (compared to 54 in 2023), of which 25 were successful (36 in 2023). Although the 80 chicks fledged this year was also lower than last year, it is important to keep these figures in perspective.

When the largest lake in the UK turns green, it's hard not to wonder about the effect on local wildlife.

Blue-green algae is known to emit toxins which can cause skin irritation in humans, or stomach upsets if a lot of affected water is ingested while swimming, for example.

And it is known to be potentially fatal for dogs.

But "surprisingly," says one scientist who's been studying the algae, very little is known about the effect of algae on wildlife.

The collapse in British butterfly populations is a “warning from nature” about the resilience of the UK’s ecosystems, says England’s nature chief, raising concerns about threats to national food security as the planet continues to heat.

Tony Juniper, the chair of Natural England, says new data showing a sharp fall in butterfly populations this summer was probably the consequence of habitat loss and the use of pesticides, making the insects less resilient to extreme weather fluctuations: the scorching heat and wetter weather driven by global heating.

Figures from Butterfly Conservation this week showed observed butterfly numbers had almost halved to 935,000 – the lowest ever total in the 14-year history of the UK count. Species including the common blue, the small tortoiseshell and Scotch argus recorded their lowest ever figures, according to the data.

When Europe’s heaviest land mammals were introduced into a woodland on the edge of Canterbury, it was hoped they would flourish and make space for other wildlife.

But the European bison have been so successful in West Blean and Thornden Woods that more space must be made for them – in the form of Britain’s first ever bison bridges.

Four bridges costing a total of £1m are being built in to allow introduced bison, which are classified as dangerous wild animals in UK law, to cross the maze of public footpaths in the ancient woods without interacting with people.

A £2m national art project aims to inspire people to connect with landscapes to improve their wellbeing.

Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were renamed "National Landscapes" last year.

The team behind National Landscapes has now launched Nature Calling - a programme which will see people co-create artworks inspired by 34 National Landscapes, including the Mendip Hills and Weston-super-Mare.

A guide has told of the "hugely exciting" moment one of his groups discovered a rare species of fish near Coventry.

Alex Jones, from the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, was taking members of the public around the River Sherbourne when somebody pointed out what he realised was a critically endangered European eel.

The find was made on 7 September, the first day of Coventry's River Festival.

Seventeen-week old cocker spaniel Goose is being trained as a wildlife detection dog by his owners, Ellesse Janda and Tony Nellis to give a helping ‘nose’ to the wildlife charity as it continues surveying for water voles across the region’s waterways.

Northumberland Wildlife Trust lead volunteer and freelance social science consultant, Ellesse recently spent a four month placement with Northumberland Wildlife Trust and Forestry England, conducting water vole surveys in Kielder Forest and Water, following the completion of the Restoring Ratty water vole reintroduction project that saw over 2,000 captively bred voles released into the North Tyne catchment area.

Ellesse quickly realised that surveying for water voles in Kielder wasn't easy with extremely changing habitats and quickly rising water levels washing away signs of water vole activity - which is where Goose comes in.

A marine life rescue charity said it has never before seen so many stranded dolphins and porpoises on beaches across Merseyside.

British Divers Marine Life Rescue "has never been busier" according to its staff, who provide medical care for beached animals until they can be safely released.

It is unclear whether the rise is linked to climate change affecting sea temperatures or simply due to people being more aware of how to report cases, the charity said.

Hundreds of millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide are being stored in the UK’s seabeds, according to a world-first report that sets out to quantify the role Britain’s coastal waters can play in the fight against climate change.

The study, known as the Blue Carbon Mapping Project, found the UK’s seabed habitats have the potential to capture up to 13 million tonnes of organic carbon every year, almost three times the amount sequestered by the UK’s forests.

But despite the role it plays as a huge carbon sink, the UK’s seabeds are not protected in the same way as other carbon sequestering habitats, such as forests and peatlands.

Labour appeared to be in disarray on Wednesday over ambitions to clean up the River Thames for swimming.

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, announced ambitions to prioritise an area of the river in Teddington, south-west London, to make it safe and clean for swimming as part of a new 10-year strategy to reduce pollution in the river and encourage people to spend time in and around it.

Supporting Khan as he made the announcement was the environment secretary, Steve Reed. But Reed just last week approved the next stage in the development of a controversial scheme to allow Thames Water to pump 75m litres a day of treated sewage into the river at the same spot in Teddington.

Great Northern is helping to enhance biodiversity on the railway by working with the Bee Friendly Trust to create 20 ‘homes for nature’ at six stations including in Cuffley and Hadley Wood.

The village stations now have two types of bird boxes, an iconic striped bug hotel for small animals and insects, and hibernacula – shelters filled with timber and wood to give small animals and insects a place to live in the winter months.

Since the 1970s UK species have declined around 19 per cent on average and nearly one in six species are now threatened with extinction.

AS World Rivers Day approaches, Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust is championing the importance of restoring rare chalk river habitats.

A celebration of the world’s waterways, the day highlights the many values of our rivers, strives to increase public awareness and encourages improved stewardship of them. This year’s event is on September 22.

There are only 260 chalk streams in the world, and Hertfordshire and Middlesex is home to 10% of them.

A nature reserve has seen numbers of a rare species of butterfly reach record highs.

One count recorded 1,714 silver-studded blue butterflies at Studland and Godlingston Heath in Dorset - the highest since monitoring began.

The positive results follow a change in the way the heathland is maintained, according to the National Trust.

Humber Forest has planted a quarter of a million tress in the last twelve months, taking their three year total to 400,000 trees planted across East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire.

Funded by Defra (the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs), Humber Forest is one of 15 community forests across the UK established around some of the country's largest towns and cities.

Community forests seek to provide a wealth of green space for people to enjoy whilst boosting the area's biodiversity. These trees can play a vital role in reducing soil erosion and flooding, improving air quality, creating habitats for wildlife, and improving community spaces.

The turtle, named Nazaré, washed up on a beach in Cumbria in February, showing no signs of movement and covered in algae.

The creature had a successful rehabilitation programme at various Sea Life facilities.

Nazaré was flown to the Azores and released back into the wild earlier this month.

The reptile was rescued from a beach on Walney Island, Barrow-in-Furness, on 4 February.

It was found severely cold-stunned, suffering from pneumonia, and covered with a thick build up of algae and seaweed upon its arrival at Sea Life Blackpool.

Nazaré's care involved gradually raising its body temperature, hydration injections, and closely monitoring condition around the clock.

The team created floats to make sure Nazaré did not drown, as well as using a toothbrush to clean the turtle's shell.

Some call them heaven hounds, as their distinctive squeals fill the skies at dusk.

For others, they herald summer taking wing as autumn closes in on the Norfolk coast.

Tens of thousands of geese spend the winter on the Wash as the colder months creep in.

The IUCN UK Peatland Programme (IUCN UK PP) publishes a new report today which reveals for the first time that 250,000 hectares (ha) of restoration has been undertaken across the UK’s peatlands since the process began 30 years ago. While this is an impressive achievement to be celebrated, it is a long way short of what is needed to meet the UK’s nature and climate commitments.

The scale of damage to the UK’s 3 million hectares of peatlands is vast. The IUCN UK PP’s peatland strategy highlighted that an estimated 80% of UK peatlands have been damaged by drainage, agricultural intensification and unsustainable practices. The current IUCN target to restore 2 million ha by 2040 would mean that two-thirds of UK peatlands could help nature recover and store carbon. However, current estimates show that this target is unlikely to be met.

The UK is known for its impressive areas of blanket bog – one type of peatland – including the recently designated UNESCO Flow Country World Heritage Site. It also has a vast network of raised bogs and fens across the UK. These habitats are vital for rare wildlife and to provide drinking water as well as climate and flood mitigation; they are also deeply entwined in the UK’s cultural identity.

A national “butterfly emergency” has been declared by Butterfly Conservation after the lowest Big Butterfly Count since records began.

An average of just seven butterflies per 15-minute count were recorded by participants in this summer’s butterfly count, the lowest in the survey’s 14-year history.

It was the worst year on record for once-ubiquitous species, including the common blue, small tortoiseshell, small white and green-veined white. Eight out of the 10 most-seen species have declined – in many cases dramatically – over the count’s history. Previous lowest-ever numbers of butterflies-per-count were logged in 2022, 2021 and 2020.

Severn Trent has agreed to pay £327,500 to restore a waterway after a sewage spill killed the “vast majority” of its aquatic life.

A blocked sewer polluted a 1.7km (1.05m) stretch of Dimore Brook in Quedgeley, Gloucestershire, in August 2021.

An investigation by the Environment Agency (EA) found the incident killed hundreds of sticklebacks, several eels and thousands of insects.

Farmers and landowners in Higher Tier agri-environment schemes are facing uncertainty as they lack a clear pathway into the newer Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes.

The NFU is calling on Defra to give farmers in existing Higher Tier schemes access to equal payments for options delivering the same outcomes in other ELM schemes, such as the Sustainable Farming Incentive and Countryside Stewardship (CS).

Many farmers with Higher Tier stewardship agreements ending this year – and many others on annual rollovers on historic payments – have been left unable to apply for a newer Higher Tier ELM scheme because it hasn’t been made available.

Plans have been unveiled to reintroduce White-tailed Eagle to Cumbria.

White-tailed Eagle was once found across Cumbria, with the last recorded breeding attempt near Haweswater in 1787. Now, the Cumbrian White-tailed Eagle Project has been exploring the possibility of bringing the species back to the county.

The raptor has been successfully reintroduced to Scotland and the Isle of Wight, as well as to Ireland. There are now breeding populations across Scotland and Ireland, while in 2023 a White-tailed Eagle chick was born in southern England for the first time in 243 years.

A Suffolk wildlife and conservation charity has called for "greater transparency" from Sizewell C in relation to its wildlife compensation schemes.

Earlier in September, developers of the new Sizewell C nuclear power station announced a new partnership with the nature restoration movement WildEast to promote the return of land to nature across the region.

In announcing the partnership, Sizewell C flagged up how it had pledged to return a large part of the land to nature during the construction of the new power station.