Beavers have been filmed in the Avalon Marshes.

The animals have been living in the River Bue for some time, but staff at the marshes said it was the first time they had been seen on the Somerset Wetlands National Nature Reserve.

Natural England has asked people to not try to find the beavers as they were a protected species and should not be disturbed.

A decade-long conservation project to restore the fortunes of pine martens across Britain has hit a major milestone.

A collaboration between Vincent Wildlife Trust (VWT) and Forestry and Land Scotland has seen pine martens from the latter's forests boost populations in Wales, Gloucestershire and Devon - with more than 100 animals successfully translocated.

Dr Jenny MacPherson, principal scientist at VWT, said pine martens were once on the brink of extinction because of habitat loss and historical persecution.

A water company is releasing sewage into a stream connected to Lake Windermere using a permit that has not been updated in more than 30 years.

The permit, which allows United Utilities to release waste into the national park site, is “unfit for purpose” and contributes to high levels of pollution and biodiversity decline in the area, according to campaigners.

The sewage being released has been treated, but campaigners say the “primitive” treatment methods at the site mean the wastewater is still harmful to the environment.

An Oxfordshire wildlife group has started a campaign to raise awareness of red kites and encourage people to stop feeding them.

Mike Acreman, trustee of Wild About Wallingford, said there had been "a change in the behaviour" of some of the birds which were now associating people with food.

He said there had been reports of kites sweeping closer to people and even affecting pets.

Mr Acreman said the campaign aimed to promote "how wonderful kites are" but also to "manage interactions with wildlife".

Campaigners have protested to try and stop what they say are harmful sediments being dumped into a protected marine conservation zone.

Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) and the Sussex Wildlife Trust oppose the renewal of a license allowing Brighton Marina to dispose of dredged sediment at a site in Rottingdean, sitting in the Beachy Head West Marine Conservation Zone.

SAS member Atlanta Cook told the BBC material from dredging fills nearby rock pools with a "black, thick, slimy, petrochemically smelling sludge", which she claimed harms the environment and people.

Scientists have identified a glyphosate-resistant weed on a farm in the UK for the first time, raising concerns about the controversial herbicide.

Scientists at the agricultural consultancy ADAS, said that, after reports from agronomists and screening of seed samples from a farm in Kent, they had confirmed glyphosate resistance in Italian ryegrass, an annual grass weed that particularly affects wheat fields in the UK. This is the first time glyphosate resistance in weeds has been detected in the UK.

Glyphosate is the world’s most intensively used herbicide. In the UK, it is used to prepare fields for sowing crops by clearing all vegetation from the land. It kills weeds by inhibiting EPSP synthase, an enzyme involved in plant growth, while not damaging crops that have been genetically modified to be glyphosate-tolerant.

A new project to protect birds of prey in parts of Sheffield has been launched.

Owlthorpe Fields Conservation Group wants to monitor and help boost the population of various raptor species in the S20 area - including buzzards, kestrels, and owls.

The project will run for three years, after which a report will be provided to the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and Sheffield City Council's Ecology Unit.

The European sturgeon, Acipenser sturio, is a fish that has been around since the time of the dinosaurs and looks it. Specimens are armour plated and big, up to six metres in length. Once abundant in British waters, sturgeon became extinct as a breeding species in the 1950s but there is now a concerted effort to reintroduce it by “rewilding” rivers.

Hopes are high because sturgeon are increasingly being accidentally caught in nets around British coasts as bycatch by fishers. This shows that and French and German attempts to breed the fish in captivity and release them into rivers is working.

A successful breeding season for a colony of one of the UK's rarest seabirds depleted by bird flu is giving conservationists "hope for the future".

Roseate terns on Coquet Island, off the Northumberland coast, saw a record number of 191 chicks hatched this year, with 92% going on to fledge.

The island hosts the only colony in the UK of the threatened species, which are ranked at the highest level of conservation concern.

But the RSPB said it was "too early" to say if it was a sign of recovery from the avian influenza of 2022 and 2023.

Two spinal cords, a dozen ribs and a hollowed-out head lie next to a peak called “rock of the eagle” in Gaelic. These are the remains of a pair of three-month-old lambs. It’s muggy, and maggots and foxes will make light work of the remaining skin and bone. In a few weeks, it’ll be as if it never happened.

Ruaridh MacKay, who has been farming here at Stronmagachan Farm in Inveraray for 25 years, picks up one of the spinal cords: sodden and slimy from successive fronts of rain, every morsel of flesh has been excavated. He was expecting to take these lambs to market next month.

All around are miles of sheep-grazed hills, like a giant lawn spun inside a tumble dryer. The valley is bowl-shaped and gets steeper the higher it rises, finishing in sheer rock. The sheep that live up here are bred for these conditions – both farmer and sheep have long lineages. Farming on these hills has changed little in 150 years.

Bee-killing pesticides have been found in 85% of tested rivers in England, an analysis of Government figures has found.

Green groups looked at Environment Agency data on neonicotinoid pesticides in river sites tested between 2023 to 2024.

They also found that the proportion of rivers affected appears to have increased from 79% during the testing period of 2020 to 2022.

We are into December and the solstice is not so far away, so it is time for our seasonal banner competition.

So please comment below with a link to any photos that you have taken or artwork that you have made that you would like to be considered for the banner. Let’s say a maximum of three items per person; photos that you have taken or art you have created and have the rights to; something suitable for the subject of the community: maybe a natural landscape, or wildlife, or volunteers working for the environment (as long as you have the permission of anyone identifiable in the photo) or something along those lines. And preferably, but not necessarily, “Winter” themed.

I’m not absolutely clear about the optimum dimensions etc for a banner, but the size and shape of the section that appears varies with the browser dimensions and appears differently again in the sidebar, so keep that in mind. Otherwise the larger the better.

I’ll leave this post stickied until midnight on Sat Dec 14th for submissions then put up a voting thread for the following week with all the submissions that we have by then and then decide the winner on the 20th. It’ll basically be on upvotes, but I reserve the right to disqualify any ‘Naturey McNatureface’ ones or others that I really don’t think are suitable. The winner will become the banner until the spring equinox and the next competition, and obviously we’ll make it clear in the sidebar who should be credited for that banner.

An award-winning photographer has captured a stunning image of an orca closing in on an otter in Lerwick harbour.

Ryan Leith shared the “unforgettable experience” on social media and with The Shetland Times.

It was taken yesterday (Friday) morning as the 64 pod of orcas pursued an otter from the Loofa Baa to the North Ness, where Mr Leith was stood watching at the time.

Hundreds of trees are set to be planted on Oxfordshire's streets this planting season.

The move comes as Oxfordshire County Council's Tree Service looks to bolster the county's urban tree population, with the aim of improving public safety, enhancing air quality, and providing better habitats for wildlife.

Over the last two years, more than 800 standard trees have been planted on highways across the county - a number which is set to be matched this planting season.

A charity which owns part of an ancient Derbyshire woodland has bought an extra 8.26 acres of land for the community to benefit from.

Grith Pioneers has owned 100 acres of Shining Cliff Wood in Ambergate since 1932 and successfully bid at auction for a section of farmland adjacent to the current site.

Michelle Kershaw-Wright, trustee of the charity, said they managed to raise £103,000 and bought the new land for £102,000.

A charity wants to create a "lifesaving" winter wetland area for wading birds that are in decline.

The Countryside Regeneration Trust (CRT) wants to raise £8,000 to create the space at Lark Rise Farm, near Barton, in Cambridgeshire.

Another wetland habitat will also be created at the CRT’s Bere Marsh Farm in Dorset.

Saplings from the felled Sycamore Gap tree are being given to charities, groups and individuals as "trees of hope".

A charity set up to remember murdered schoolgirl Holly Newton in Hexham, Northumberland, and The Rob Burrow Centre for Motor Neurone Disease in Leeds are among 49 recipients across the UK.

Each sapling represents a foot in height of the tree, which stood in a dip in Hadrian's Wall and was cut down in September 2023.

Red Squirrels Northern England (RSNE) has published the results of its annual red and grey squirrel survey, which once again confirms that red squirrels can still be found across Cumbria, Northumberland, north Yorkshire, Lancashire and Merseyside.

The monitoring programme is the only scientific evidence base that helps measure whether the collective red squirrel conservation effort is making a difference in the north of England.

Each year the programme aims to survey around 250 sites, this year (2024) 180 people got involved and, without their help, completion of the survey would simply not be possible.

Restoration work has begun to "bring Pevensey Levels back to life as one of the great biodiverse wetlands of the UK".

Sussex Wildlife Trust is working with National Highways on a £600,000 Network for Nature project which aims to "create an archipelago of wetland habitat".

This would provide "stepping stones" for species to move through the landscape, which stretches across 3,500 hectares (13.5 square miles) between Eastbourne, Hailsham and Bexhill, said head of nature reserves, Jamie Parsons.

Sniffer dogs are usually found looking for contraband at airports and train stations, but the UK government is now dispatching trained hounds to find forest-harming pests.

A dog has been used for the first time in the UK to successfully identify tree disease. Researchers from Forest Research used a trained spanador – a cocker spaniel labrador cross – to find the tree pathogen Phytophthora ramorum.

Six-year-old Ivor the dog achieved a 89% successful first-time detection rate of the pest. This is an important finding as the disease is a menace to UK forests; spread by rain, the fungal-like organism causes the death of a wide range of trees and shrubs and has led to thousands of hectares of felling around the UK.

Ancient woodland management techniques have been used to tackle climate change and increase biodiversity at an important Anglo-Saxon archaeological site.

Since introducing coppicing and thinning at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk the site has seen an increase in wildlife and wildflowers, including the endangered Nightingale songbird.

Sutton Hoo is thought to be the final resting place of King Raedwald, who ruled East Anglia in the 7th Century.

The trust said by also reusing the felled timber it was able to reduce its carbon footprint.

A blue mussel may not be the first thing that springs to mind when it comes to Northern Ireland's water quality heroes.

But for scientist Matt Service at the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), they are "little ecosystem water treatment plants on their own".

In Belfast Lough where the mussels are cultivated, regular sewage spills are threatening the environment, the economy and public health, according to a report by NI Water.

Officials say the lough is facing a crisis if investment in sewage infrastructure is not increased.

A new Tree Planting Taskforce has been launched today to oversee the planting of millions of trees across the UK (Thursday 28 November).

The Taskforce, chaired by the forestry ministers from the four nations, brought together representatives from key arm’s-length bodies and delivery partners from across the UK.

Top of the agenda at the meeting was how to drive forward the UK’s tree planting in order to meet our collective net zero targets, as part of the Government’s critical mission to make the UK a clean and green energy superpower. 

A petition calling for stronger laws to protect iconic trees has been handed to the government, the UK's largest woodland conservation charity has confirmed.

More than 100,000 signatures pledging support for the Woodland Trust's Living Legends campaign are in a box delivered to 10 Downing Street at noon on Monday 18 November. Trust campaigns manager Adele Benson said passing the 100,000 mark is a "significant milestone", particularly with National Tree Week beginning on Saturday 23 November.

"We're sending a powerful message to the government which shows the strength of feeling for protecting the UK's oldest and most special trees," she said.

Works have begun on a 2.5km (1.5 miles) stretch of river to restore its ecosystem back to its original state.

A revitalising programme has started on the River Ver, which is a rare chalk stream and flows through St Albans, Hertfordshire, which will develop its surrounding environments and create new wetlands for wildlife and biodiversity.

St Albans City and District Council has been working on the project in partnership with the Environment Agency and Affinity Water.