UK Nature and Environment

A rare dragonfly is no longer considered endangered after spreading its wings across England, but conservationists have said its wetland habitat is still at risk from climate breakdown.

The Norfolk Hawker, known for its bright green eyes and golden body, went extinct from the Cambridgeshire Fens in 1893 and became confined to east Norfolk and east Suffolk. It is thought this was caused by the draining of its preferred habitat of ponds and marshes for agriculture over the centuries. It has since been almost entirely restricted to the Norfolk Broads.

In recent years, however, the dragonfly has been found in Cambridgeshire, Kent and Herefordshire. The populations at these locations have become stable, and scientists have declared that due to its wider population spread, and the appearance of strongholds across parts of the country, it is no longer endangered.

The USPCA has said it is “deeply concerned” about the impact litter is having on wildlife across Northern Ireland as it revealed that rescue teams responded to over 1,000 wildlife rescues since April 2023, many caused by waste.

A spokesperson said that marine and fishing litter is of particular concern, affecting water birds like swans, herons, seagulls and many more on a regular basis.

Norfolk is the only county with representatives from all our native amphibian species, and early spring is a great time to see them says NWT reserves officer Robert Morgan.

It seems that every February a fools-spring deceives us into thinking winter is over.

But, as sure as night follows day, March brings us an Arctic blast, even snow on occasions.

However, despite the season’s vagary, it is such a special time, for who cannot find joy in its arrival however hesitant its faltering start.

The General Synod has backed a series of measures to promote biodiversity on Church of England land from churchyards as havens of wildlife and plants to the stewardship of agricultural and forestry land.

Members of the Synod welcomed progress already made by the Church Commissioners, the National Church Institutions, dioceses, parishes, cathedrals and schools to manage their land for climate and nature.

The Knepp estate in West Sussex is home to the first white stork born in the wild in Britain for over 600 years. It’s a place where endangered bats, turtle doves and nightingales are thriving, where “officially extinct” large tortoiseshell butterflies are breeding and where tens of thousands of people visit each year to experience “a story of hope” about the resilience of nature in the face of the global climate emergency.

There have been many exciting changes at Knepp since 2018, when Isabella Tree wrote Wilding, her award-winning book about rewilding an unprofitable 3,500-acre arable and dairy farm. Now she has written a captivating illustrated book, Wilding: How to Bring Wildlife Back – An Illustrated Guide, updating her readers about extraordinary developments at Knepp and offering practical advice about rewilding their own spaces, however small.

The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) is calling on all future MPs to prioritise nature in the upcoming general election.

The trust has highlighted bringing back lost wildlife, ending river pollution, creating a budget for wildlife-friendly farming, facilitating healthier communities, and addressing climate change as five priorities.

The charity has stressed the significance of these issues in a series of YouTube videos.

The clips show how the trust's efforts are combatting the climate and nature crisis.

It seemed like a good idea at the time: build metal bridges over busy roads and bats would confuse them with trees, it was argued. They would then try to soar over the pylons and, having been tricked into flying higher than normal, would avoid being struck by lorries and buses travelling on the road below. A widespread wildlife problem for the UK would be solved at a stroke.

It was a persuasive vision, and to realise it, a total of £2m was spent on building 15 bat bridges across Britain, from Cumbria to Cornwall. “However, there was one problem,” said Professor William Sutherland of the Conservation Science Group at Cambridge University. “The bridges didn’t work.”

Not entirely about the UK, but UK research, and mostly British case studies.

From watching Red Kites soar over the Dromara Hills, catching trout as you look down on the Walled City to watching red squirrels leap through the trees in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland is bursting with giant experiences to spark a lifelong love for nature in both the young and young at heart.

World Wildlife Day on Sunday, March 3, is the annual celebration of wild animals and plants and the unique contribution they make to people and the planet.

SCOTLAND has a rich history of understanding how deeply people, the land, nature and culture are intertwined. In Gaelic, this understanding is captured in a word: Dúthchas.

Dúthchas also speaks to respect and responsibility. Of people who can have a real say in their future, and who consider the interests of future generations.

But has our nation lost its way here? Perhaps. Today, Scotland is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. And it has one of the world’s most concentrated land ownership patterns, with some 400 people controlling half of its privately owned land.

These issues are entwined, and there is an urgency to address both.

A citizen science programme has revealed the decline of one of the country’s most significant chalk streams after claims by Environment Agency officials that it had not deteriorated. The SmartRivers programme run by the charity WildFish, which surveys freshwater invertebrates, reported “strong declines in relation to chemical pressure” on the River Avon in Wiltshire. It said its data indicated a decline in the condition of the river over the last five years.

The charity compiled a report on its findings after the conservation groups say they were told at a meeting by the Environment Agency in August that “the Avon has not deteriorated in water quality in the last five years”. David Holroyd, head of water quality for Wiltshire Fishery Association, said the numbers of invertebrates collected in spring and autumn samples from 2019 and 2023 at 11 sites on the upper Avon had shown a decline.

Havergate Island, located close to the village of Orford at the convergence point of the Butely River and the River Ore, is Suffolk's only island.

Just half a mile across at its widest point and two miles long, it is comprised of saltwater lagoons, marshland and vegetated shingle.

It has an interesting history having been used for grazing livestock, arable farming and gravel extraction over the years with a resident family living on the island until the late 1920s.

These days it is managed by the RSPB as a nature reserve which teems with rare and unusual wildlife making it an island of natural treasures.

Natural flood management involves implementing measures that protect, restore and replicate the natural functions of catchments, floodplains and coastlines to mitigate flooding and store water.

Defra claims that the £25m package is its largest focused on natural flood management to date.

The funding initiative received submissions from community groups, environmental charities and councils, which underwent review by the Environment Agency, in consultation with Defra and Natural England.

Scotland is a country blessed with the most extraordinary landscapes and natural environments - and was home to John Muir, one of the early pioneers of the national park movement - yet has only two national parks to its name.

These two parks, created in the early years of devolution, have proved themselves in terms of the great benefits they have brought to local communities by creating jobs, vibrant local economies, supporting visitor management and investment in facilities, and protecting and restoring the natural heritage of the area.

The next government will be in power for most of the time between now and 2030, the date by which key environmental targets need to be met to tackle climate change and reverse the decline in nature. The charity hopes that as many members of the public as possible across Cornwall will get behind their call to action by signing an open letter to keep Cornwall’s nature on the agenda.

“We need urgent action,” declares the open letter. “Nature needs action so it can thrive once more. We’re calling on Cornwall’s next MPs to listen, do the right thing and use their influence in Parliament to drive change.”

Among the letter’s key asks are bringing back lost wildlife, tackling water pollution, and putting nature at the heart of the community. Cornwall Wildlife Trust hopes to secure at least 6,000 signatures to the open letter to demonstrate to politicians how much local people care about these issues.

The Big Green Hike is a nationwide sponsored walk that anyone can take part in, no matter where they live.

Many of Britain's best-loved nature and environmental charities are joining voices to encourage us all to walk on 6-7th April 2024 to raise money for the green stuff.

You can pick the environmental cause you want to fundraise for. Each of the Big Green Hike partner organisations have unique charitable objectives, but they share the same overall goal: to protect and restore our natural environment.

There has been a "huge" loss of insects in streams because of sewage discharges, according to a conservation charity.

Wildfish surveyed five streams feeding into Windermere in Cumbria and found all saw a loss of wildlife, external downstream of waste water treatment plants.

The Save Windermere campaign said "everything up the food chain gets impacted" when insects start disappearing.

United Utilities, who run the treatment plants, said they operate "in line" with environmental permits but they are "committed to going further and doing more".

The Environment Agency said it has started reviewing permits for the lake to identify if there is any further action they can take.

East Suffolk Council have unanimously passed a motion to declare a biodiversity and ecological emergency.

The motion, which was proposed by Green councillor Rachel Smith-Lyte, was discussed by the council on Wednesday.

Ms Smith-Lyte said it was "a critical step in the right direction for our council and beyond".

But the East Suffolk Conservatives (ESC) said: "The motion is just words with no new policies or initiatives."

The council first declared a climate emergency in 2019, but Ms Smith-Lyte said: "We realised afterwards we had omitted to add the ecology and biodiversity emergency element, which is now rectified."

The UK government can never accept that nature or Mother Earth has rights, a British government official from the environment department has told the UN.

The dismissal of a concept that has already been recognised in UN declarations and is a fundamental belief of many Indigenous communities was described by critics as shameful, contradictory and undemocratic.

People around Scotland are doing more than ever to help save threatened bees, moths, and hoverflies, according to a new NatureScot report.

From creating wildflower meadows and green corridors, to carrying out bumblebee surveys and mowing less, local authorities, environmental bodies, scientists, communities, and individuals are taking action to help boost pollinator populations.

The Pollinator 2023 Progress Report finds that almost every local authority in the country is now carrying out a range of pollinator activities to support the aims of The Pollinator Strategy for Scotland. And the wealth of activities recorded over recent years shows that, from the Northern Isles to the Scottish Borders, there is growing commitment to pollinator-friendly practices.

The chair of the environment watchdog has ordered farmers to clean up their act on river pollution, telling them it is time to "take their medicine".

Alan Lovell, chair of the Environment Agency for England, told the National Farmers' Union (NFU) on Tuesday that pollution from agriculture and rural land is "roughly equal [to] that coming from the water industry".

Mr Lovell told the annual NFU conference: "Let's clear out these pollution incidents and do it better."

A new study shows that U.K. solar parks, if managed correctly, can provide vital resources to help stem the decline in the nation's bees and butterflies.

The new research, led by scientists at Lancaster University and in collaboration with the University of Reading, has been published in the journal Ecological Solutions and Evidence. It provides the first peer-reviewed field data of insect pollinators at solar parks in the U.K., covering 15 sites.

The scientists recorded about 1,400 pollinators across more than 30 species, including nearly 900 butterflies, more than 170 hoverflies, more than 160 bumble bees, as well as moths and honeybees.

An adjustment by the UK government to the biodiversity net gain (BNG) legislation, meaning local authorities need to justify increasing their minimum net biodiversity improvement level, undermines nature restoration efforts, a consultant has said.

The unexpected change weakens the ability of local authorities to deliver positive outcomes for biodiversity, said Samuel Sinclair, director of consultancy Biodiversify.

Local authorities have the potential to be a “powerful force for good” by representing nature in the planning system, but they do not have enough support from the government, he told Carbon Pulse.

Untreated sewage has been pumped directly into a rare chalk stream in the South Downs National Park resulting in the local rivers trust declaring the body of water “effectively dead”.

Southern Water has been dumping sewage into the River Lavant, which runs from the village of East Dean in West Sussex to Chichester, due to capacity issues within its sewage network.

The firm is deploying a technique called ‘over-pumping’, which is used when excess groundwater infiltrates cracks in the sewage system, risking wastewater backing up into peoples’ homes.

The skies over Stanwick Lakes are currently the stage for a natural phenomenon, leaving visitors and rangers feeling incredibly lucky if they witness one of these magical murmurations.

The nature reserve observed significant starling numbers and some murmurations in January and expects to see more this month and next.

Wildlife Trusts Wales and WWF Cymru are urging the public to take part in shaping the future of farming in Wales through the Welsh Government’s final consultation on the Sustainable Farming Scheme. This initiative, which will start in 2025, aims to reward farmers for tackling the nature and climate crises while adopting sustainable food production methods.

Wildlife Trusts Wales has launched an online e-action in partnership with WWF Cymru to help Welsh people share their thoughts on how land should be farmed in future, and ensuring their views are heard by the Welsh Government as part of this consultation.