UK Nature and Environment

Britain’s historic meadows are living archives of our cultural, farming and natural heritage – every bit as significant as historic buildings or monuments. Yet these irreplaceable habitats are vanishing at an alarming rate, now covering just 0.8% of England’s land in tiny fragments, totaling an area of around half of Cornwall (406 square miles).

Today, on the eve of National Meadows Day (5 July), conservation charity Plantlife is urging the public to demand urgent action to safeguard what remains of irreplaceable meadows —before they are lost forever.

“No one would consider knocking down the Houses of Parliament and rebuilding it elsewhere,” said Nicola Hutchinson, Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Conservation, Plantlife. “Yet nature is being bulldozed by bricks and mortar in today’s political priorities, on the false promise of it being replaced in another location. You cannot recreate decades of ecological richness – these grasslands are irreplaceable – once they’re gone, they’re gone forever.”

Some farms in England could be taken entirely out of food production under plans to make more space for nature, the environment secretary has said.

Speaking at the Groundswell farming festival in Hertfordshire, Steve Reed said a revamp of post-Brexit farming subsidies and a new land use plan would be aimed at increasing food production in the most productive areas and decreasing or completely removing it in the least productive. In reality, this means many upland farmers may be incentivised to stop farming.

He said his land use framework “envisions taking some of the least productive land out of food production, but supporting the more productive land to increase production”.

Hazel dormice have been released into Leicestershire parkland after vets gave the miniature mammals a clean bill of health.

Since June, more than 20 dormice have been living in open cages in a secret location at Bradgate Park, near Newtown Linford.

On Wednesday, vets from London Zoo and Twycross Zoo assessed the health of the dormice before they were released into the wider park.

The Northern Forest, a partnership between the Woodland Trust, The Mersey Forest, Manchester City of Trees, the White Rose Forest, Humber Forest and the Community Forest Trust, has now established enough new trees to cover an area the size of 2,800 football pitches through tree planting and creating conditions for trees to reproduce on their own.

The new trees and woodlands have been established in towns, cities and rural locations across an area that stretches from the Mersey to the Humber, including in and around Liverpool, Chester, Preston, Manchester, Bradford, Leeds, Sheffield, York, Hull and Beverley.

During the 2024/25 planting season, over 2.2 million new trees were planted across the Northern Forest, the highest annual tree planting recorded since its launch. This includes over 4,100 standard trees in towns and cities, and new hedgerows on farms to benefit wildlife and the resilience of farming businesses.

Reports from the National Trust, who look after this vitally important breeding site for the terns at Long Nanny near Beadnell in Northumberland indicate that the number of occupied Arctic tern nests has dropped by 313 compared to last year (724 occupied nests in 2025 compared to 1,037 in 2024).

This news comes just one month after a high spring tide washed away occupied Arctic tern and little tern nests at Long Nanny, despite rangers' best efforts to protect them from extreme weather conditions. It also comes just 10 months after the Arctic tern species was added to the UK Birds of Conservation Concern (BoCC) Red List, reflecting the significant population declines driven by multiple factors including climate change, overfishing and avian influenza[1].

James Porteus, Lead Ranger for the National Trust at Long Nanny said: “After several difficult years due to storms washing out nests and then bird flu, we have been saddened by the drop in Arctic tern numbers returning to Long Nanny this year to breed. We don’t know the reason for the decline but suspect it will be due to factors such as climate change, food availability and of course avian influenza.

A decade-long nature-friendly farming project has helped to increase the diversity and abundance of wildlife across farmland and prompted the return of rare species such as the butterfly orchid and red-listed birds such as the nightingale.

The Jordans Farm Partnership between The Wildlife Trusts, Jordans Cereals and LEAF (Linking Environment And Farming), has seen 27 farms across England develop bespoke conservation plans to help improve wildlife habitat on their farm. This includes creating features like hedgerows, field margins and ponds, and improving habitat connectivity with neighbouring landowners.

Since the partnership began in 2015, over half the participating farmers say they have seen new or returning species, many of which are endangered and of conservation concern, including birds appearing on the UK’s Red List for Birds such as tree sparrow, nightingale and goshawk, and the rare plant meadow clary, which is only found at 26 sites across the UK. Other success stories include the return of breeding stone curlew in Hampshire, scarce emerald damselfly in Suffolk and brown hare in Leicestershire.

On an unusually hot May day in Aberdeenshire, Edwin Third stands on the bank of the River Muick, a tributary of the UK’s highest river, the Dee, talking us through the rising threats to one of Scotland’s most celebrated species, the Atlantic salmon. Against the hills of the Cairngorms national park, a herd of stags on the moorland bask in the sun.

It is a spectacular landscape, attracting hikers, mountain-bikers and salmon fishers, the latter contributing an estimated £15m to Aberdeenshire’s economy.

But according to Third, the river operations manager for the Dee District Salmon Fishery Board and River Dee Trust, the changing climate threatens the survival of spring salmon in the Dee’s Special Area of Conservation, a place where King Charles learned to fly-fish.

Farming methods that support nature improve both biodiversity and crop yields, but more extensive measures may require increased government subsidies to become as profitable as conventional intensive agriculture. That is the finding of the first comprehensive on‐farm trials of their kind in the UK, which were led by the UK Center for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) and Rothamsted Research.

The study is published in the Journal of Applied Ecology.

This four‐year study across 17 conventional, commercial farms in southern England not only trialed various agroecological methods but also—for the first time—the financial viability for businesses.

Devastating pictures have shown the catastrophic impact of wildfires in the Highlands.

Firefighters have been battling the inferno for three days after the alarm was first raised near Carrbridge and Dava shortly after 4pm on Saturday.

The fire quickly spread to Dallas, outside Forres in Moray, and it's understood that at the height of the incident the blaze reached around nine miles long.

A new haven for a rare mammal will be unveiled near Newton Stewart this weekend.

The Vincent Wildlife Trust has been working with Forestry and Land Scotland to create a pine marten haven at Kirroughtree Visitor Centre thanks to funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

The development, part of the charity’s Martens on the Move project, will give visitors the chance to learn about pine martens thanks to a new hide and information boards.

A new study published today shows that sowing a green manure seed mix in autumn can provide safe places for Corn Buntings to nest while improving soil condition on farms.

RSPB Scotland is now calling on the Scottish Government to include autumn-sown green manure in future agri-environment schemes as soon as possible.

Once widespread across the UK, Corn Buntings have suffered huge declines particularly in East Scotland where numbers plummeted by 83% between 1989 and 2007. This earnt them the unfortunate accolade of being one of Scotland’s fastest declining species. Work by farmers in Fife and Angus has dramatically improved the fortunes of this bird there. By growing wild bird seed mix, farmers have provided the three key things Corn Buntings need: seed for food in winter; insects to feed their chicks in spring; and, safe nesting sites.

This is the best time of year to see Britain’s largest insect, the stag beetle, Lucanus cervus, with its distinctive jaws that look like antlers, hence its common name.

The males, which reach up to 75mm long (3ins) look formidable but are completely harmless. At this time of year they fly at dusk looking for much smaller females. If you are very lucky you will see two males, jaws locked in combat, jousting for a female.

Sadly, they are an endangered species and have disappeared from some European countries, so the UK population is important. They live mostly in the south, particularly around London because of the warmer climate, but can also be found in northern England, albeit rarely. A stag beetle hunt is being held by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species to map as many of their habitats as possible.

Following the Government’s recent move to protect England’s nature-friendly farming budget in the Comprehensive Spending Review, The Wildlife Trusts argue that nature-friendly farming must move centre-stage as one of the most cost effective and efficient ways to reach nature recovery and climate targets across vast swathes of the country.

Nature-friendly farming benefits not just wildlife and farm businesses, but also works to reduce flooding risk, tackle climate change, clean up waterways and increase food security. The Wildlife Trusts' Vision for the Future of Farming in England front cover

The Wildlife Trusts maintain that the entire food system – including politicians, supermarkets, food producers and farmers – must think long term about their support for a nature-positive and climate-resilient farming sector.

Crayfish conservation is accelerating across Wales as organisations work together to protect the white-clawed crayfish, a native species at risk of disappearing from Welsh rivers.

Once thriving across Wales, the white-clawed crayfish is now endangered and faces extinction due to increasing pressures from invasive species like the North American signal crayfish, pollution, climate change and ongoing habitat loss.

To help combat their decline in Wales and boost remaining populations, conservationists are working to establish Ark sites, which are locations where new populations of white-clawed crayfish can safely be established.

Controversial water pollution measures will be evaluated by an independent group including farmers, environmental groups and agri-food representatives before going out for a second consultation, the environment minister has announced.

Andrew Muir said he was "determined" to chart a way forward on the long-delayed Nutrients Action Plan (NAP).

The NAP aims to reduce water pollution from agricultural sources and the latest plan is already overdue.

One of the UK's rarest mammals - a grey long-eared bat - has been discovered at a nature reserve in Devon.

The species, which had not been seen at Seaton Wetlands since 2013, was spotted at a guided bat walk event there earlier this month.

Grey long-eared bats are incredibly rare, according to Wild East Devon, which manages 10 nature reserves. Fewer than 1,000 of them are thought to remain across the UK, it said.

The head of the government’s wildlife regulator has said he remains enthusiastic about reintroducing lynx to Britain and would be “absolutely delighted” if it could be achieved during his two-year term.

But Tony Juniper, the chair of Natural England, said debates over the animal’s release were “still quite polarised” and more engagement was required to understand how communities would be affected.

The Lynx UK Trust has submitted a draft application for a trial return of lynx to England’s largest forest, Kielder, in Northumberland, using wild animals rescued from culls in Sweden.

Suspected arsonists have devastated part of a popular Teesside nature reserve – killing birds and scorching an area of marshland.

A large section of Coatham Marsh in Redcar, which is home to many species of flora, fauna and wildlife, including many nesting birds, was set alight at about 6pm last night, Thursday, June 26. The blaze, which took firefighters nearly two hours to extinguish, covered the area with thick smoke and caused the cancellation of train services due to pass nearby.

A large area of grassland and reedbed habitat – roughly around the size of two football pitches – has been badly damaged, with devastating impacts to wildlife. It’s suspected various ground-nesting birds, including reed buntings and reed warblers, will have perished in the flames.

An old wooden signpost from a national park is on display in the Natural History Museum, due to having 12 species of lichen living on it.

The fingerpost from Exmoor has been part of the 'Fixing Our Broken Planet' exhibition at the museum since April to act as an example of an item recovered from an area with clean air.

Organisers said the aim was to help educate people and "explore nature-based solutions that can help create a more sustainable world".

Ranger Charlotte Wray, who assisted in the recovery of the post, said it was "such a joy to help tell the story of Exmoor".

Following a bad year for butterflies in 2024, the charity Butterfly Conservation is stressing it’s more important than ever that people take part in this year’s Big Butterfly Count.

Last year the charity declared a nationwide butterfly emergency because of declining butterfly numbers, after participants in the annual survey spotted just seven butterflies on average per 15-minute count in 2024, a reduction of almost 50% on 2023’s average of 12, and the lowest in the history of the Big Butterfly Count.

It was also the worst summer in the count’s history for a number of popular species including small tortoiseshell and common blue.

A wildlife rescue charity rescued, rehabilitated and released six juvenile peregrine falcons.

Secret World Wildlife Rescue in Highbridge, Somerset, said it had seen an "unprecedented influx" of young falcons this year.

The charity said each rescue involved a unique set of challenges, from cliffs and construction sites to power stations and city rooftops.

A creeping "invasion" has been threatening to smother one of Wales's most popular lakes. Lagarosiphon major, also known as curly waterweed, is an invasive aquatic plant that can rapidly grow and spread - potentially dominating and "smothering" lakes.

It is from South Africa and is so bad that it was put on the EU's List of Invasive Alien Species in 2016. This means it's against the law to sell this plant or throw it away in nature.

A bird conservation charity has received lottery funding to develop an outdoor education programme to encourage children to connect with nature.

Manx BirdLife received £4,900 to expand its education programme for species monitoring in the Point of Ayre Nature Reserve, which is run by the charity.

The money would be used to buy equipment such as moth traps, bat detectors, butterfly nets and action cameras for schools and community groups to borrow for free.

A rare and elusive spider has been recorded for the first time in London, marking only the fourth confirmed sighting in Britain in the past three decades.

Enoplognatha caricis, a species of cobweb spider considered extremely rare and vulnerable to extinction in both Britain and Europe, was discovered at London Wetland Centre WWT in April 2025.

The mature female was found by regular visitor and spider enthusiast Shreyas Kuchibhotla while examining moss near a pond in the site's Wildside area.

Enoplognatha caricis typically inhabits wet, marshy environments and is listed as Vulnerable across Britain and Europe by the British Arachnological Society.

The Met Office should name storms after fossil fuel companies, campaigners have said, after the weather forecasting service opened a storm naming competition.

Climate campaigners have recommended the Met Office names its storms after various oil and gas corporations to remind the public of the link between burning fossil fuels and extreme weather.

They are hoping to spark a craze similar to “Boaty McBoatface”, when in 2016 the National Environment Research Council opened a competition to name a £200m polar research ship. Nationwide hilarity ensued when the public voted Boaty McBoatface as the top choice for the ship’s name. However, the name was not chosen by the government, who opted to name it the Sir David Attenborough instead.