UK Nature and Environment

RHS develops ‘robust lawn’ that works for people, pollinators and pets

Full of clovers and dandelions, with a hard-wearing rye grass, the approach is environmentally friendly and usable Helena Horton Environment reporter Tue 1 Apr 2025 06.00 BST

Is there a perfect formula for a hard-wearing flower lawn that is good for pollinators, dogs and people?

The immaculately mowed green has fallen out of favour in recent years owing to its lack of support for biodiversity. But there have also been complaints about the tall wildflower meadows that grow during “no mow May” and are less usable for humans and pets.

Now celebrity gardener Monty Don has gone into laboratory mode with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), designing a hardy lawn that can be occasionally mown and trampled by dogs for the Chelsea flower show, which will take place from 20-24 May.

A "record number" of egrets have been recorded at a West Yorkshire nature reserve, with one species successfully breeding for the first time in the site's history.

At Fairburn Ings, near Castleford, cattle egret bred for the first known time in Yorkshire last year, the RSPB said, fledging three young.

Lydia Tague, reserve manager, said the spread of these "once-rare visitors" marked a major shift in the region's birdlife.

Meet an Olympian among Britain’s 660 spider species: a palm-of-the-hand-sized arachnid that hunts in three dimensions and can even devour fish.

The fen raft spider (Dolomedes plantarius) is a magnificent ambush predator: harmless to humans but lethal if you’re a pond skater, tadpole or even adult dragonfly.

And, while it was almost driven to extinction in Britain like every other slightly scary species, this brilliantly ingenious hunter has made a remarkable comeback.

When rangers at Kinver Edge in Staffordshire discovered rare black oil beetles on a stretch of restored heathland, they knew there was only one way they could have arrived there: by hitching a ride on a solitary bee.

“Their life cycle is really cool, probably the most interesting of any British insect,” said Ewan Chapman, the countryside manager for Kinver Edge, as he set out into the heathland on a warm March morning to try to spot some.

These shiny black beetles, native to the UK, are increasingly vulnerable and completely reliant on a healthy bee population in order to survive.

The female beetles burrow underground where they lay thousands of eggs. These hatch into larvae, which climb up nearby flowers or grass stems and wait for a bee to arrive. The larvae hitch a ride on the bee, consuming pollen, before later re-emerging in a new location as adult beetles.

The benefits for bats were presumably not at the top of the government’s list of reasons for announcing the creation of the new western forest. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, regards rules that protect these nocturnal mammals as a nuisance. Nevertheless, the rare Bechstein’s bat, as well as the pine marten and various fungi, are expected to be among species that benefit from the multiyear project, to which central government has so far committed £7.5m.

Like England’s only existing national forest, in the Midlands, this one will be broken up across a wide area, featuring grassland, farmland, towns and villages as well as densely planted, closed-canopy woodland. John Everitt, who heads the National Forest organisation (which is both a charity and a government arm’s length body), describes this type of landscape as “forest in the medieval sense with a mosaic of habitats”.

Stretching from Gloucester in the north to Salisbury in the south and Weston-super-Mare in the west, the new project will span three counties and the city of Bristol. The aim is to combine the environmental benefits of tree planting with social and economic gains, such as new opportunities for tourism and leisure. Unlike in the Midlands, where the forest was established in a post-industrial landscape scarred by mining and clay pits, the western forest includes prime agricultural land. This means that while the Midlands is the model, this is in some ways a very different scheme. The hope is that it will demonstrate how forestry and agriculture can be combined – and counteract the view held in some rural communities that tree planting is anti-farming.

Burning vegetation on deep peat will be banned under government plans to protect nature and reduce carbon emissions.

Vegetation on peatland is often burned to create habitat for grouse, which like to feed on the fresh shoots of new plants that grow after the burn. This increases the number of birds available to be shot for sport.

But, in part as a result of burning, 80% of England’s peatlands are now degraded. These rare habitats store carbon when they are in good condition, ‘locking in’ an estimated 3.2 billion tonnes in the UK alone. But, when they dry out from burning or draining, they emit rather than store carbon. Burning the peat can also kill wildlife, such as adders, toads, and ground-nesting birds.

With the holy month of Ramadan having just passed, the Muslim festival of Eid ul-Fitr serves as a natural culmination of the environmental mindfulness developed during Ramadan. Throughout the month, the practices of fasting, simplicity and reflection encourage a heightened awareness of our consumption habits and their impact on the planet.

Islam places a strong emphasis on the balance of nature, urging humanity to act as stewards on the Earth rather than exploiters. This perspective is woven throughout the Qur’an, where the natural world is not only seen as a resource but also as a sign of Divine wisdom.

A wetland restoration project which reintroduced bends and curves to a stream is up for an award.

Howgill Beck at RSPB Geltsdale was straightened before the 18th Century but a recent scheme had it "re-wiggled", improving wetland habitats in the area.

Birds including snipe, curlew, oystercatcher, lapwing and redshank have been recorded at the site.

The project, which has taken three years, was chosen by the River Restoration Centre (RRC) as a finalist in the UK River Prize Awards.

The Woodland Trust is urging people to get outside and spot vital signs of spring to help monitor potentially “disastrous” effects of climate change on nature, before its campaign ends on Easter Monday.

The UK’s largest conservation charity is collecting records of public sightings of frogspawn and blackthorn blossom, as well as the singing of the song thrush, to track the health of the planet.

Seasonal weather changes can have a serious knock-on effect on nature and wildlife, impacting life cycles and the food chains.

A conservation group has encouraged people to get involved in a survey to help record meadows and the wildlife within them.

The survey, named the Big Devon Meadows Count, is aiming to record meadows of all sizes anywhere in the county.

Registration for the count, a partnership between Moor Meadows and Devon Biodiversity Records Centre (DBRC), is open from Monday until 30 May.

Here's the link.

A new breeding centre helping protect and celebrate the UK’s most threatened wildlife has opened at a Hampshire zoo.

On Tuesday, March 25, Marwell Zoo opened a new Native Species Zone, which features Hampshire’s first white-clawed crayfish conservation breeding centre.

Once abundant in Hampshire’s chalk streams, white-clawed crayfish have suffered a dramatic decline in the past 40 years primarily due to competition and predation from the signal crayfish, which also carries a deadly crayfish plague.

BEAVERS have been released at Broughton Sanctuary near Skipton as part of the estate's 'transformational' rewilding project.

The first pair of Britain's largest rodents to have a new home at Broughton were released into an woodland enclosure ahead of world rewilding day, March 20.

They join an ever-increasing number and range of animals and birds at the estate which also includes otters, dippers, five species of owls, Iron Age pigs and Riggit Galloway cattle.

One of the United Kingdom's rarest and most adorable mammals — the hazel dormouse — was captured on a trail camera foraging for food at Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire, a sign that conservation efforts are paying off.

According to the Wiltshire Times, the country's dormice population has plummeted by 52% in the last 15 years because of habitat loss, changes in land management practices, and more unpredictable weather.

But conservationists at Longleat have worked hard to preserve habitat for the dormice, ensuring woodlands can mature before thinning them out to keep forests healthy. Removing some of the trees on rotation allows more sunlight to reach the forest floor, promoting biodiversity and a better habitat for wildlife.

Migration is one of the wonders of the natural world. Here's your guide to what birds to expect when.

A three-year project to boost wildlife and tackle climate impacts has kicked off on land cared for by the National Trust.

The Garfield Weston Foundation has provided £5 million in funding to deliver landscape-scale nature conservation.

Work at Arlington Court in north Devon, Wallington in Northumberland and areas of the Peak District and Yorkshire Dales aims to restore habitats such as blanket bog, wetlands, wood pasture and rivers.

Fifteen years ago, a long-held dream of a large National Park stretching from Winchester to Eastbourne finally became a reality.

The 87-mile-long South Downs National Park was designated as a haven for nature with some of the rarest habitats in the world – reptile-rich heathlands, chalk grasslands brimming with blue butterflies, wildlife-rich wetlands and woodlands full of bird song.

But, like so much of Britain in the 20th century, nature had been marginalised in some parts, often just about surviving in isolated ‘island’ habitats, leaving some species in danger of local extinction.

The creation of the South Downs National Park has started to turn the tide on that biodiversity loss, with concerted efforts over the past 15 years to create bigger, better and more joined-up habitats where animals and plants can thrive.

As the National Park celebrates its 15th birthday on March 31, 15 biodiversity success stories are being shared.

Raw sewage was discharged into rivers and coastal waters in England for almost 4m hours last year, with waterways that have the highest environmental protections subjected to days of pollution.

Data released by the Environment Agency on Thursday revealed water companies discharged untreated effluent for 3.62m hours, a slight increase on last year.

The data showed that nothing had changed, Giles Bristow from Surfers against Sewage said. “The picture is just as bleak. Despite commitments to investment over the past five years, our water is no cleaner.”

Celebrated by William Wordsworth, Windermere has long epitomised the natural timeless beauty of the Lake District, with millions of tourists drawn to the shores that inspired the poet. But today England’s biggest lake is, some campaigners say, a shadow of its 19th century self: its waters blighted by algae and its wildlife threatened by pollution, in a symbol of all that is wrong with the privatised water industry.

This month the environment secretary, Steve Reed, vowed to break with the recent past, standing on its shores and promising that Labour would “clean up Windermere”. The lake is showing the impact of sewage pollution from United Utilities treatment plants and increased pressure from climate change-induced temperature rises.

Reed’s promise was welcomed as a historic moment by Matt Staniek, a campaigner who has almost singlehandedly brought the lake’s plight to national consciousness. But Staniek, who formed the group Save Windermere, added that it was just the beginning of the mission to save the lake.

Hundreds of hectares of peatland is being restored in a project which aims to prevent Glasgow's tap water turning brown during extreme rain.

Loch Katrine, in the heart of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, supplies water to 1.3 million homes in and around Scotland's largest city.

But the peat in the hills surrounding the loch has degraded, which allows soil and brown particles from plants to flow into the water.

The relationship between the only breeding pair of ospreys on England's south coast has been temporarily complicated by the arrival of a second female.

Male osprey 022 returned to Poole Harbour on Saturday, whilst female CJ7 was seen back at the nest on Tuesday.

But in-between the pair's arrivals, female 1H1 - who normally calls Rutland home in the spring and summer months - also landed at the nest.

Birds of Poole Harbour, the conservation charity leading the reintroduction scheme, said 1H1 spent a few days on the nest before CJ7 "quickly saw off the intruding female".

Local authorities will directly receive £10 million to support new, or to enhance existing, approaches to restoring biodiversity through the Nature Restoration Fund (NRF).

More than £55 million has been awarded via the NRF since its launch in 2021 for projects delivering habitat and species restoration, coastal and marine initiatives and control of invasive non-native species.

Acting Minister for Climate Action, Dr Alasdair Allan said:

“Biodiversity is the variety of life on Earth, and is essential for sustaining the ecosystems that provide us with food, fuel, health, wealth, and other vital services. We know there is an urgent need to act decisively to address the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change together.

They work as hard as bees to pollinate our plants, often look and sound like bees but have no sting – yet hoverflies remain the unsung heroes of our gardens.

Now, The Wildlife Trusts and the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) are calling on gardeners across the country to help save hoverflies, through this year’s Wild About Gardens campaign, by making room for these beneficial insects in our gardens this summer by building log piles, planting flowers and creating shallow ponds.

Hoverflies come in many shapes and sizes and are often mistaken for bees, wasps and hornets. Many of these insect workers, which are as critical for our food security as bees, are now endangered, the charities warn.

How well do you know your British wildlife geography? Test your knowledge by identifying the regions where these animals are most likely to be found in the UK.

Recent research indicates that Brits' knowledge of local wildlife is on the decline, with robins, dragonflies, and badgers among the species people struggle to identify, with 51 per cent uncertain about where to find different animals across the UK.

The study, commissioned by The Camping and Caravanning Club, found that a staggering 73 per cent of participants wouldn't feel confident identifying animal by their tracks or footprints.

Coastal habitats along the Greater Thames Estuary, the life source of England's capital and far beyond, will be restored as part of the $5 million project, providing vital spaces for wildlife and healthier environments for people.

Led by our team of conservationists, the new Transforming the Thames collaboration brings together conservationists, local communities, government bodies and landowners – including from RSPB, Essex and Kent Wildlife Trusts, The Environment Agency and Essex and Kent County Councils - with the combined goal of reviving the Greater Thames Estuary, supporting both the wildlife that calls it home and the 8 million people that will benefit from improved access to nature and better protection from the impacts of climate change.

The grant, awarded by the Endangered Landscape and Seascape Programme and worth almost £4 million, will enable the team to kick off the first four years of their pioneering mission to restore key habitats across the estuary, tackle the biggest threats destroying existing habitats, and empower others – from individuals to businesses - to scale up transformation across the region.

A GCSE in natural history has been given the go-ahead by the UK government, paving the way for children to “understand and protect the nature on their doorstep and beyond”.

The qualification, which is set to become one of the first new GCSEs to be introduced in over a decade, was confirmed in parliament last week (21 March), by education minister Catherine McKinnell. Nature lovers have been campaigning for it for more than a decade, but despite a curriculum being drawn up some time back, progress had slowed.

Environmentalist Mary Colwell spearheaded the drive, working on it since 2011. Speaking at a seminar in 2021, she said a GCSE in natural history would “reconnect our young people with the natural world around them. Not just because it’s fascinating, not just because it has benefits for mental health, but because we’ll need these young people to create a world we can all live in, a vibrant and healthy planet.”