UK Nature and Environment

Rapid action against an invasive bee-killing hornet has stopped its spread in the UK despite suitable climate and habitat for the insect, a study has found.

Research led by the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH) looked at how suitable European countries were for the yellow-legged or Asian hornet to become established, and how they might have spread without action.

The non-native Asian hornet, which arrived in France in a cargo of pottery from China about 20 years ago and has spread rapidly across the continent, can kill 50 bees a day and has devastated honeybee colonies in France and Italy, experts said.

Environmental campaigners including celebrity wildlife champion Chris Packham have urged the government to abandon its plans to build on the green belt

The Community Planning Alliance (CPA), which represents grassroots action groups across the UK, has published a report setting out an alternative vision of housebuilding.

It comes after prime minister Keir Starmer last week recommitted to Labour’s election manifesto pledge of building 1.5 million homes this parliament.

Later today the government will spell out its much-trailed reforms designed to achieve this aim. These include asking councils to earmark sites for housing within the so-called ‘grey belt’ – less useful or environmentally friendly sections of urban development buffers.

A pioneering project in Scotland is celebrating a 2,000 hectare milestone for the benefit of Corncrakes, a rare and elusive bird that is threatened across the UK. Helping to build a brighter future for the special bird, the Corncrake Calling project has been bringing together farmers and crofters, local communities and conservationists in an effort to reverse the species’ decline.

Led by RSPB Scotland and supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the four-year Corncrake Calling project has delivered essential conservation work to help Corncrakes and other wildlife, while bolstering the unique culture of rural Scottish communities.

Once widespread across the UK, Corncrake populations have fallen dramatically. As a red listed species, in Scotland they are now found only on some islands and parts of the north-west coast, while Rathlin Island is the last known breeding area for Corncrake in Northern Ireland. While changes in farming methods over time have meant that much of their UK-wide breeding habitat has been lost, farmers, crofters and landowners are now working alongside conservationists as part of the Corncrake Calling project to help make a difference for the species.

Nearly half of the nature-friendly enhancements promised by developers building new homes have failed to materialise, according to a study of almost 6,000 new houses.

Developers are failing to keep legally binding pledges to boost wildlife when building new homes, according to the survey by University of Sheffield academics for Wild Justice.

When researchers visited 42 completed housing estates in England to check if ecological enhancements including newly planted trees, bird boxes, ponds and hedgerows had been provided as stipulated by planning permissions, they found just 53% had been delivered.

Today, the UK Government has published a new assessment of the threats facing UK Food Security – see UK Food Security Report 2024 - Official statistics announcement - GOV.UK. The report states that:

“Long term decline in the UK’s natural capital is a pressing risk to UK food production,” and, “Climate change, nature loss and water insecurity pose significant risks to the ability of global food production to meet demand over the longer term.”

This means that the restoration of nature – including natural habitats, ecosystems, rivers, uplands, peatlands soils and much, much more – is critical to feed ourselves in the future.

Imagine you’re walking across rolling hills that stretch for miles, with warm sunshine and the chirping of birds all around.

This peaceful and serene scene is an increasingly rare one in the modern world.

Our natural soundscapes are falling silent as bird populations decline. Humans are interacting less with nature, in what is sometimes referred to as an “extinction of experience”. This has been linked to deteriorating public health and wellbeing.

Researchers have begun studying the environmental impacts of Star Wars location shooting in a Gloucestershire woodland.

Puzzlewood, in the Forest of Dean, was an important filming location for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, just over a decade ago.

The Open University's Environmental Impact of Filming project, external is asking for the experiences, both positive and negative, of those who lived and worked around the area at the time.

The project aims to help studios and filmmakers to adopt more eco-friendly production practices.

Grouse shooting has long been touted as a traditional English pastime, but behind the veneer of heritage lies a deeply troubling reality. Every year, tens of thousands of red grouse are shot across England's moorlands to satisfy a niche, profit-driven ‘sport’. This practice comes at a devastating cost to wildlife, ecosystems, and the broader environment. It’s time to expose the darker side of this industry and advocate for change.

The season ends today – 10 December – but each year, on the infamous “Glorious Twelfth” of August, the slaughter begins again as estates across England host events where thousands of grouse are shot. Data compiled by the League suggests more than 600,000 red grouse are killed annually. Grouse populations are artificially inflated by intensive moorland management practices, including the systematic eradication of natural predators like foxes, stoats, and birds of prey. This is achieved through cruel methods such as snaring and trapping, which indiscriminately kill both target and non-target species.

The traps used are shockingly brutal. Snares, for example, are thin wire loops designed to immobilise animals, leading to a slow and agonising death. Non-target species, including badgers, hares, and domestic pets, often fall victim to these devices. This industrial-scale persecution of wildlife has no place in modern society.

We could be feasting on delicious Christmas fare over the festive season at a time when food and shelter for our wildlife is scarce and a few gifts for our garden creatures could mean the difference between life and death.

“During the cold months, gardeners can significantly impact the survival of various species by offering food, water, and shelter,” says Helen Bostock, RHS senior wildlife specialist.

Making bird food cookies, shelters for insects and other small but vital gifts should make life easier for our garden visitors through the winter. Experts offer the following guides.

Many of England’s birds, butterflies, bats and protected areas have seen their fortunes decline in recent years, an official government assessment shows.

The annual “biodiversity indicators” monitoring the state of nature in England including habitats, species, land management and protected sites, paint a bleak picture in many areas.

Of 29 indicators assessed for the changes seen over the long term, 12 show an improvement, six have had little or no overall change and 11 measures show a deterioration.

Proposals for a new law which could see the bosses of major polluters jailed for up to 20 years has received enough support from MSPs to be introduced at Holyrood next year.

Monica Lennon's proposed Ecocide Prevention Bill has the backing of enough cross-party members to be brought forward and the Scottish government has indicated that it will not intervene to stop it.

This would clear the way for the bill to be formally introduced in the Scottish Parliament next year.

Our seas are under pressure like never before; decades of over exploitation, pollution and unchecked development have resulted in continued biodiversity loss and the degradation of marine habitats.

But there is a way to help bring our seas back to life!

Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) are a new type of marine designation designed to allow marine life to recover. By giving special areas the best possible protection, they’ll benefit nature, people and the climate, too.

Thanks to the campaigning of The Wildlife Trusts and over 17,000 of our amazing supporters, the first three HPMAs have now been designated in English waters.

The first of thousands of trees to be established in communities across central and southern Scotland through an innovative partnership between The Tree Council and SP Energy Networks have been planted during National Tree Week.

The partnership, announced earlier this year, kicked off with a volunteer planting day at Fernieside Recreation Ground in Edinburgh hosted by The Edinburgh & Lothians Greenspace Trust (ELGT), a charity dedicated to enhancing greenspaces across Edinburgh and the Lothians, for the benefit of people, wildlife, landscape, and heritage.

Sara Lom, The Tree Council CEO, said: “We are thrilled to partner with SP Energy Networks to do something truly wonderful for nature and for local communities.

The WWT, the charity for wetlands and wildlife, has announced that it has agreed the purchase of low-lying land on the Awre peninsula for a pioneering saltmarsh restoration project.

Plans to create a new saltmarsh nature reserve across the Severn from Slimbridge Wetland Centre is a step closer as the purchase of 148 hectares of farmland has been agreed. The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) has today (Tuesday, December 10) announced that it has agreed the purchase of low-lying land on the Awre peninsula for a pioneering saltmarsh restoration project.

As part of the organisation’s mission to restore wetlands and unlock their power, they plan to create a new saltmarsh nature reserve in the Forest of Dean, emulating the success of their flagship saltmarsh restoration site in Somerset, WWT Steart Marshes. As well as being a haven for wildlife and a nature reserve for the local community, it will act as a hub for new research studying the superpowers of saltmarshes to store carbon, boost biodiversity and improve flood resilience.

"Charismatic" water voles have returned to local waterways for the first time in 20 years.

The reintroduction, led by the West of England Nature Partnership (WENP), in collaboration with Bristol Zoological Society, has seen the mammals re-establish along the Severn Shoreline Levels and Moors, of North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

Their population was devastated by non-native American mink, which were brought to the UK for their fur.

A rare species of bird has been found breeding in Herefordshire for the first time in 140 years.

A pair of hawfinches were recorded in woodland by a local ornithologist.

Elsewhere, several pairs of tree sparrow were found nesting on a farm in north-west Herefordshire - the first breeding record in nine years.

Dozens of green campaigners are calling on the Government to support farmers and address the “broken” state of England’s agriculture sector.

The Wildlife Trusts and WWF are among numerous groups who have signed a letter to Environment Secretary Steve Reed raising the alarm about what they describe as unfair supply chains and funding for nature-friendly farming.

A thick clump of ivy provides a wealth of benefits for our wildlife, says Norfolk Wildlife Trust reserves officer, Robert Morgan.

Ivy, to me, is both sadly misunderstood and unfairly underrated.

Noted for its long climbing stems and thick encircling foliage, shiny and evergreen, it twists around trees and engulfs neglected buildings.

But it also binds hedgerows and woodlands, and when cross-stitched with brambles and honeysuckle, makes them wonderfully dense and verdant.

In late autumn, when little else is available for nectar feeding insects, ivy provides a bounty of yellow hued blossom.

It’s 6pm on a freezing evening in the south of England, and the remote, muddy track I am on is forbiddingly dark and quiet. Local farmers have ceased their ploughing for the day. The kingfishers that dart the nearby waters are in their nests. And there are no dog walkers out for a late stroll.

But there is a different, more furtive kind of activity about to take place. Soon, a dark Ford Transit pulls up and its driver – a man in his fifties dressed in thick coat and scarf – rolls down the window and greets me with a hesitant “evening”. He is not alone. In the back of his van, cocooned in a metal crate and somewhat grumpy from four hours of confinement, is the illicit cargo of a large beaver.

Transported that very same day from Cornwall, the industrious mammal is being released into this water catchment as part of a campaign known as “beaver bombing” – where the animals are covertly distributed throughout the country in a bid to boost the species’ numbers in the wild.

Original article

Wildlife experts in the Channel Islands say warmer temperatures are leading to fewer hedgehogs hibernating and more being infested with parasites.

The Jersey Hedgehog Preservation Group (JHPG) said milder winters have lead to the mammals' food sources remaining available, meaning hibernation is less necessary.

Alderney Wildlife Trust (AWT) said higher temperatures were likely to increase the number of parasites on hedgehogs, which cause the creatures to be underweight and so needing to forage through the winter months.

A man-made kingfisher bank has been built after a nesting area was washed away in flash floods.

Washington Wetland Centre (WWT) said it hoped to attract the birds back by creating a secure new nesting spot.

Last year, a kingfisher family was captured on video confirming for the first time they had been breeding on site, however their nest was destroyed in a flood shortly afterwards.

An ambitious nature partnership has united 67 farmers and landowners with the common goal of reconnecting vital habitats across north Norfolk's coastal landscape.

The "North Norfolk: Wilder, Wetter, Better for Nature" project is a pilot for the government's "landscape recovery" scheme - the top tier of the new environmental incentives being developed to replace EU subsidies.

Farmers and land managers gathered at Binham Village Hall, near Fakenham, for a progress report from key partners at the Norfolk Coast Partnership, Norfolk Rivers Trust and the Holkham Estate.

In her Budget statement, the Chancellor said the Government would do everything in its power to grow the UK economy. And the Prime Minister’s Plan for Change reasserted this on Thursday.

That should be good news for nature. In theory, at least. Because it’s no secret that economic prosperity is underpinned by a thriving natural world: clean water, healthy ecosystems, a stable climate. We can’t have one without the other.

But nature is in trouble. Just a few weeks before the Budget, there was another bleak report about the widespread depletion of wildlife species. It’s the latest in a long series of alarm bells about the state of nature – reaffirmed by nature minister Mary Creagh after the recent UN Biodiversity Conference when she said: “It’s never been more important to tackle the nature and climate crises.”

Wild-born European Wildcat kittens have been captured on camera trap in the Cairngorms.

The Saving Wildcats partnership, led by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, announced in August that at least two of the females bred in captivity and released into the Cairngorms NP had given birth in the wild.

Of the 16 or more that were born, one has now been seen on a remote camera trap.

Members of the public can dive into the past as our conservationists launch an interactive map bringing to life the history of Critically Endangered ‘dinosaur’ fish – as part of urgent work to protect the remaining few.

Launching today, the Sturgeon in the UK map allows users to step back in time and explore over 2,500 historical records of sturgeon in the UK in a bid to boost conservation efforts for the species.

Created by ZSL, which coordinates the UK Sturgeon Alliance, the map created in partnership with Natural England highlights historic hotspots for focusing modern conservation action, while also providing the public and policy makers the opportunity to explore over 400 years of sightings of this forgotten part of UK wildlife.