A petition with almost 55,000 signatures was handed into Google’s flagship London office today, calling on it to withdraw controversial data centre plans for an Essex Local Wildlife Site, but they refused to accept it.

Google’s proposed Thurrock Data Centre campus would destroy much of the 52-hectare Arena Essex Local Wildlife Site, which is home to hundreds of species of invertebrate, including the Brown-banded Carder Bee (Bombus humilis) and Dingy Skipper butterfly (Erynnis tages), Red Listed Nightingales (Luscinia megarhynchos) and Endangered Broad-leaved Cudweed (Filago pyramidata).

Nestled in a former quarry and wedged between the Mardyke Valley and Lakeside Retail Park, this unique wildlife haven has thrived almost unnoticed, alongside speedway at the Arena Essex Raceway until the track closed in 2018. Studies have revealed that the proposals would emit more carbon than an international airport, alongside increasing water demand in an area of exceptional drought stress, while offering few benefits for the local community.

Warming seas around the UK and the wider north-east Atlantic could destabilise marine food webs, weaken ocean health and jeopardise food security by 2050, according to a four-year study.

Scientists who projected the impact of climate breakdown on four key groups of marine life crucial to maintaining ocean ecosystems in the region said their results challenged assumptions that in middle latitudes, such as the UK, marine biodiversity was likely to increase across the board.

Instead, their projections highlight a predator-prey imbalance that could “fundamentally reshape marine ecosystems” in unforeseen ways, they said.

A rare fungus once thought extinct in Britain has been discovered at a wildlife park in Kent.

The crown-tipped coral fungus was spotted growing on a fallen log at Wildwood Trust near Canterbury by a keeper near the rabbit enclosure.

Also known as candelabra coral, the fungus went 116 years without a confirmed sighting before being rediscovered in Suffolk in 2012, heritage officer Steve Kirk said.

The Wildlife Trusts has welcomed the news that eight new regional water councils will be set up in England to give public and local leaders a direct say in how water companies deliver for their area.

The new regional water councils will bring local leaders, customers and businesses together to set the priorities for their region, helping shape billions of pounds of investment in water and flood infrastructure.

Decisions about the water system are currently taken nationally, despite communities facing very different challenges. The new councils will change that, giving communities and local leaders a stronger voice over priorities including sewage and water quality, flooding, drought and future water supplies. Mayors will also receive new powers through the strengthened Water Bill to hold water companies to account for their performance.

New research by Queen’s University Belfast has found that noise pollution is having increasingly significant impacts on the development, behaviour and mortality of species worldwide.

The paper, published today in Science, is an analysis of 214 experimental studies on 177 aquatic and terrestrial species across six continents.

It shows that noise pollution changes physiology, development, or behaviour in 80% of the species studied, reduces fitness and abundance, and disrupts predator-prey interactions.

Campaigners are calling on the UK government to protect the welfare of wild animals by cutting the maximum noise level of fireworks sold to the public from 120 to 90 decibels.

The Center for Wild Animal Welfare (CWAW) has said lowering the limit to 90dB – which is about one-eighth of the loudness of 120dB – would help to protect millions of wild animals from acute stress by reducing the area over which a firework disturbs surrounding wildlife.

This would help prevent incidents of harm, such as mass temporary displacement and fatal collisions among birds, that can occur during fireworks displays, it says.

The Woodland Trust is urging ministers to strengthen the UK’s biosecurity measures after the emerald ash borer, a devastating tree pest responsible for killing millions of ash trees in the US, was detected for the first time in the EU.

The Trust has warned that the emerald ash borer is one of the world’s most destructive tree pests, and that the human movement of wood products is one of the principal ways it is spread.

The warning comes as the Government negotiates a new Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement with the European Union, designed to reduce trade barriers on plants, plant products and food. Government guidance suggests routine phytosanitary certification and border checks on many plant products moving from the EU into Great Britain will no longer be required once the agreement comes into force.

Nine in 10 people believe National Parks can help support people’s mental health and wellbeing, while eight in 10 agree National Parks are taking action on climate and nature.

A new report from National Parks UK reveals strong public support for the wider role National Parks can play in people’s lives, alongside shared concerns about mental wellbeing, nature loss, access to nature and the impacts of climate change.

Wildlife across England has suffered a significant decline, but how much of London’s natural habitat and wildlife has been lost remains difficult to establish, with calls for better monitoring and more reliable figures to show what is happening to the capital’s biodiversity.

Government figures published in May 2026 show that the average abundance of monitored species in England fell by around 40% between 1970 and 2024. The indicator for priority species recorded an even greater decline, of around 80%.

However, these figures cover England as a whole and do not provide a separate measurement of wildlife loss across London.

Anglian Water has been accused of "not taking polluting seriously" after it registered 12 serious incidents in 2025 and was rated "requires improvement" by regulators for the fifth year in a row.

The company, which supplies water and sewerage services across the East of England, parts of the East Midlands and Lincolnshire, admitted it had "more to do", but said bathing waters in its area were their cleanest in a decade.

Scientists and campaigners said they were still seeing high levels of pollution in the region's waterways, from the River Great Ouse in Bedfordshire to the River Deben in Suffolk.

A new species, the Blyth’s Reed Warbler, has bred in the UK for the first time, according to the latest report (Rare Breeding Birds in the UK in 2024) from the Rare Breeding Birds Panel (RBBP), the independent body that monitors the country’s rarest breeding birds. A pair raised young at a site in Highland in 2024. The species typically breeds in Scandinavia and Russia, but its arrival as a UK breeding bird had been predicted: its breeding range has shifted west across Sweden and Norway in recent decades, and singing males have been reported in the UK since 2000. This is the first time, however, that a pair has been recorded. Blyth’s Reed Warbler is the fourth new confirmed breeding species that the RBBP has reported in the last ten years, following Iberian Chiffchaff (2015), Black-crowned Night Heron (2017) and Glossy Ibis (2022).

In addition, a new species features in an RBBP report for the first time; two male Red-breasted Flycatchers were reported holding territories in 2024, in woodland in North-east Scotland and Upper Forth, although neither succeeded in attracting a mate.

A scrutiny panel has heard Jersey is in a "biodiversity crisis", amid concerns the government is not focusing on the environment enough.

Willie Peggie, government Director of Natural Environment, said the Environment Department needed time and resources for a state of nature report.

Piers Sangan, who runs Sangan Island Conversation, said a biodiversity crisis included more invasive species, fewer native species, and a decline in the ecosystem. He said the government had responsibility to ensure the environment did not "fall by the wayside" because it was a "fundamental part of our island".

The UK government's ambition of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 could be undermined by its new deal on AI data centres, according to BBC research.

During Wednesday's Budget speech, Chancellor John Healey said data centres would be allowed to build onsite power generation while they wait for a grid connection.

BBC File on 4 Investigates has discovered that four planned "hyperscale" data centres - including three in the south of England - are already considering using gas-fired power to meet their electricity needs, creating more CO2 than the cities of Manchester, Liverpool and Southampton combined.

Cornwall Wildlife Trust is celebrating very encouraging results from its seagrass restoration work after more than 430 shoots were recorded growing across 50 distinct patches in the Fowey Estuary this summer

The findings mark a significant step forward for Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s efforts to restore this vital underwater habitat, which supports marine wildlife, stores carbon, and improves water quality.

The results follow months of uncertainty after seeds planted in the estuary last November initially showed little sign of germination. Just six seedlings had emerged by the end of April, raising concerns that the trial might have failed. However, continued monitoring revealed further growth, with more than 430 shoots eventually recorded.

Starling murmurations are described as some of the "most amazing spectacles" to witness and they happen just before the birds go down to roost - but the reason why they do it is still uncertain.

A decade on from a study into the behaviour, researchers at University of Gloucestershire are repeating the research and inviting the public to take part in a new, nationwide study.

Lead researcher Prof Anne Goodenough said they were interested in seeing what had "changed in the past decade, particularly because starlings are a declining species".

Once a thriving and common feature of our woodlands, the willow tit is now the UK's fastest declining resident bird.

According to Severn Trent Water, numbers have fallen by about 96% from 1967 to 2023, with only around 3,400 breeding pairs left across the whole country.

Approximately 10 of those are believed to nest in the grounds of Tittesworth Reservoir, near Leek in Staffordshire.

Kent Wildlife Trust has expressed deep disappointment following the Secretary of State’s decision to approve National Grid’s Sea Link electricity infrastructure project between Kent and Suffolk. The project involves a high-voltage subsea cable that would come ashore at Pegwell Bay, part of the internationally important Sandwich and Pegwell Bay National Nature Reserve.

The Trust, which owns and manages areas of the reserve, is concerned about the potential impacts on protected wildlife and sensitive coastal habitats, including disturbance to internationally important bird populations and damage to irreplaceable saltmarsh. It fears the project could add to the pressures already facing this important wildlife site and make the recovery of vulnerable habitats even more challenging.

These concerns are heightened by the legacy of the previous Nemo Link interconnector cable project, which left a lasting scar on the Bay’s saltmarsh following installation works. Subsequent monitoring indicated that the area has still not recovered, raising questions about whether the long-term ecological consequences of major infrastructure developments are being adequately understood, monitored and addressed.

A nest belonging to England's rarest ant species has been stolen, a conservation charity believes.

Devon Wildlife Trust said the narrow-headed ants' nest was taken from its Chudleigh Knighton Heath reserve in Devon - the last stronghold for the species in England.

It claimed the surrounding ground showed "clear signs of digging with a spade" and it has reported the matter to Devon and Cornwall Police, which is urging anyone with information to come forward.

A conservationist has welcomed new laws banning the sale of lead ammunition as she warns people are not aware of the scale of the problem affecting wildlife.

Sacha Dench, who lives in Chagford, Devon, is a member of the Lead Ammunition Collective, which campaigned to end the sale of the toxic substance earning the group the RSPB Medal - the charity's highest accolade.

Also known as "The Human Swan", she is best known for flying a paramotor 4,300 miles (7000km) from Arctic Russia to the UK tracking the migration of Bewick's swans.

Charity bosses said they needed to take a "deep breath" before deciding what to do with land which has been returned to them after more than 30 years.

The National Trust of Guernsey said it had secured land at Crève Coeur on the island's north coast.

A five-year lease started in September 1995 to allow the States of Guernsey to use fields owned by the trust as an emergency landfill, but despite this not being extended, talks to return the area to the charity came up against several issues.

An endangered damselfly has been spotted in wetlands created by an "ambitious" project that restored a stretch of a rare chalk river.

The scare blue-tailed damselfly, one of the world's earliest flying insect species, was recorded alongside the River Ash near Hertford.

The 4.3-mile (7km) stretch at the Easneye Estate was restored to its original course last year.

A rare species of beetle has been found in Pembrokeshire after being missing from Wales for 60 years.

The Short-Necked Oil Beetle are dependent on solitary bees for its lifecycle and need a particular habitat to survive, with thick vegetation for shelter and dense flower coverage both essential.

They were not reported in the UK for almost 60 years after 1948 as habitat loss brought the species to the brink of extinction.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/73233501

The area between Bromborough and Otterspool has today been revealed as the preferred development zone for the world’s largest tidal power scheme.

Also see https://l1local.co.uk/news/mersey-tidal-barrage-location-funding-2026/

For people around Otterspool, Bromborough and the wider estuary, the unanswered details include the actual shore connections, construction access, any electricity cables and the effect of altered water levels. The official announcement includes a proposed corridor map, but it should not be read as a final construction plan.

... The Mersey estuary is not an empty stretch of water. Its mudflats, saltmarshes and shorelines support feeding and wintering birds, fish and other wildlife. The Mersey Estuary and the Mersey Narrows and North Wirral Foreshore have internationally protected habitats. The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside has raised concerns that changing tidal patterns could alter the habitats on which birds and other species depend.

A licence for the historic reintroduction of beavers to the Loch Ness area has today (30 October) been granted to charities Trees for Life and Beaver Trust by Scottish government agency NatureScot – in the 500th year since beavers were last recorded at the world-famous loch.

The Ness Beaver Project will reintroduce at least 15 beaver family groups around Loch Ness over the next three years, with the first reintroductions potentially happening as early as next month.

Establishing a healthy population in the catchment through licensed releases will secure the species’ reintroduction to the Highlands and benefit communities, wildlife and biodiversity, say the two charities.

Farmer Alastair Leake is standing in a field of sprouting winter wheat, pointing at his experiment. One side was ploughed before planting, with green shoots breaking through neat rows of upturned soil. On the other, the crop was drilled directly into the earth, emerging through a messy carpet of “trash” – stems, stubble and crop residue from previous harvests.

“When we’re watching to see where the birds are landing to feed, none of them are going on to the ploughed side,” says Leake, the director of the Allerton Project farm, standing on the trashy side. “They’re all coming and feeding down here.