UK Nature and Environment

Five beaver kits have been born in Cairngorms National Park for the second year in a row – after a 400-year hiatus.

The kits have been captured on camera at two separate sites in the park, in the Scottish Highlands, and hopes are high more may be born on other sites.

Beavers were first released into the park less than two years ago in a bid to establish a “healthy, sustainable” population.

I haven’t found an hour when I don’t love a bog. Recently, after a night of counting rare caterpillars in Borth in Mid Wales (they come out only after dark), walking back to the car under the glow of a flower moon, I wondered if 2am was my new favourite. I felt very safe, held by the bog’s softness, and everyone that was out at that hour seemed to have a sense of humour. I met a nightjar hopping around on the ground, pretending, I think, to be a frog.

But there is also something about the humidity of a languid afternoon on a bog, when everything slows and fat bumbles hum, that is surprisingly good. I have done freezing horizontal rain and thick, cold-to-your-bones fog and wind so howling that I couldn’t think. All of those were hard, but I did come away feeling truly alive.

I have travelled to the tip of Scotland and far beyond to visit bogs. In all the hours, days and weeks I have spent on them, I have learned that time behaves differently. It stretches out like the bog landscape, seeming to still the world beyond. There is something very special about that.

Osprey chicks have hatched in the East of England for the first time in more than 250 years, according to a wildlife trust.

The fish-eating birds of prey arrived at Ranworth Broad nature reserve near Wroxham in April and the first sighting of their chicks was on Friday.

The Norfolk Wildlife Trust described it as a "significant moment for wildlife conservation" in the county.

Senior visitor centre manager Teala Leeder said: "Getting my first glimpse of the chicks and confirming our greatest hope was just incredible."

The recent ecological collapse of the River Wye due to pollution from intensive agriculture has been well documented. But the slow-motion repetition of this ecocide on the neighbouring River Severn has largely unfolded out of sight.

For years, local authorities have been waving through industrial-scale livestock production units across the catchment of this iconic river. These toxic megafarms produce vast quantities of animal waste, which is spread on local land with minimal consideration for the cumulative environmental destruction it can cause.

This week, the high court called time on this practice. In a landmark ruling, the court quashed Shropshire council’s planning permission for a 230,000-bird intensive poultry unit near two protected wetland sites and a mile from the banks of the Severn. The court found the council had unlawfully failed to assess the cumulative impact of adding yet another waste-spewing chicken megafarm to an already bloated cluster of intensive poultry units (IPUs).

A Scots river has been found to have the second highest concentration of a toxic chemical thought to harm human fertility ever found in the world.

Joint research by York University and environmental charity Fidra has raised the alarm on levels of TFA (trifluoroacetic acid) in ­Glasgow’s River Kelvin.

The “forever chemical” takes more than 1000 years to break down in the environment and German government scientists recently pushed for the EU to classify it as toxic to ­reproduction amid growing fears.

Limits on the amount of greenhouse gases Scotland will emit over the coming decades have been announced as part of action to tackle climate change.

The Carbon Budgets propose five-year, statutory limits on emissions from 2026 to 2045. The proposed budgets are in line with the advice from the independent Climate Change Committee (CCC) and the Scottish Government’s own assessments.

Hundreds of turtle doves are being released this summer as conservationists race against the clock to save the species from extinction in England.

The cooing doves, which mate for life, are the fastest-declining bird species in the country. Just 2,000 pairs are left, a decline of 98% since the 1970s. This is because their habitats in scrubby areas have been destroyed and thousands are shot on their migratory route across Europe.

But their distinctive purr can now be heard on estates in Somerset, Exeter, Suffolk, Lincolnshire and Norfolk as an audacious plan to breed and release hundreds of birds gets off the ground.

The amount of water being sucked from England’s rivers has surged to record levels, with potentially disastrous consequences for people and wildlife, it can be revealed.

An investigation into licensing data by Watershed Investigations and the Guardian found that the volume of water taken from rivers and lakes for industrial or public consumption has jumped 76% in two decades: 11.6m cubic metres (410 cu ft) were abstracted in the five years to 2023, up from 6.6m in the early 2000s.

Abstraction – the removal of water from rivers, lakes, underground aquifers or tidal waters – is permitted for farming, industry or public supply. Anyone using more than 20 cubic metres a day needs a licence from the Environment Agency or Natural Resources Wales, setting limits on how much water they can take. Similar rules apply in Scotland.

A survey of ground nesting birds on around 3,000 hectares of moorland in north Northumberland has shown dramatic declines of iconic threatened species 10 years after predation management ceased as part of a controlled experiment spanning two decades.

A recently published scientific paper based on the study found golden plover dropped by 81%, snipe by 76%, red grouse by 71%, lapwing by 49%, curlew by 24%, while black grouse and grey partridge went locally extinct.

Ground-nesting birds are particularly susceptible to predators and their populations can recover when predation pressure is relieved during the breeding season. Experimental legal removal of predators between 2001 and 2008 on the same experimental plots demonstrated a three-fold improvement in breeding success amongst ground-nesting birds, with subsequent increases in their abundance.

Researchers have warned kayakers and paddleboarders may be unknowingly disturbing whales, dolphins and seals in Scottish waters.

Heriot-Watt University, with support from the Whale and Dolphin Conservation, has documented hundreds of interactions between vessels and marine mammals.

The study, external included more than 400 hours of land-based observations across five marine regions, including protected areas.

The Government will invest water company fines into local projects across the country to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas.

Over £100m in fines and penalties levied against water companies since October 2023, as well as future fines and penalties, will be reinvested into projects to clean up our waters which could include local programmes to address pollution and improve water quality.

When water companies breach their environmental permits – for example by releasing excessive pollution into a river – that is a criminal offence. The most serious cases, like illegal sewage spills, see water company fines issued and criminal prosecutions for water bosses.

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust is celebrating the return of one of the UK’s most cherished and threatened woodland mammals, the hazel dormouse, to Swanpond Copse Nature Reserve near Ryde.

This marks the first confirmed sighting of this iconic species since 2018.

During a recent dormouse survey, Trust ecologists were thrilled to discover a fresh dormouse nest – and inside, 2 sleepy dormice nestled together, with a third recorded later that day. With no confirmed dormice seen at the reserve for the past 6 years, this rediscovery is a major conservation milestone.

The Government has said it will not be extending the badger cull and retains its commitment to end the practice before the next election.

Culling is used to control the spread of bovine tuberculosis (bTB) in cattle by reducing badger populations.

However, critics argue that bTB often spreads cattle to cattle and that other methods of controlling the disease can be more effective.

An area of farmland in Co Fermanagh has been preserved as a nature reserve. The 90-acre area at Fedian has been described as brimming with wildflower meadows, bird-friendly hedgerows and ancient woodland.

It has now been purchased by nature conservation charity Ulster Wildlife as its newest nature reserve thanks to funding support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, The Wildlife Trusts, and gifts in wills from Ulster Wildlife supporters.

Fedian Nature Reserve, located close to Derrygonnelly is termed as a living example of traditional, pre-war farmland, previously owned by the Nixon family and sympathetically managed by local grazier George Ferguson.

Nightjars are nocturnal birds, that migrate to breed in the UK each summer from their wintering grounds in Central Africa, arriving in late April and May before leaving by August and September. 

Exceptionally well-camouflaged, Nightjars are notoriously difficult to see. Their grey-brown mottled plumage creates the illusion of bark, helping them blend into the ground where they nest. These unique-looking birds feed on the wing, flying with their mouths open to catch insects which they find with their excellent eyesight.

Work to restore the heathland habitat that Nightjars need is helping to turn around their fortunes. Lowland heathland supports a wide range of wildlife but is one of the UK’s most threatened homes for nature, with 80% of this habitat lost in the UK since the 1800s. 

A common crane chick has hatched for the first time in three years at a wetland centre.

It is just the second to hatch to its parents, who have been at WWT Washington Wetland Centre, near Sunderland, since 2008.

The adult pair were originally hatched in the Netherlands and moved to Washington in the early stages of the Great Crane Project, which has seen the bird successfully integrated to the UK.

The Great Stag Hunt, run by People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), has been running for over 25 years. Native stag beetles – with the males’ iconic antler-like jaws – have sadly become extinct in parts of in Britain and Europe, where they used to live. Data from the Great Stag Hunt, collected since 1998, is vital for conservationists to understand where stag beetles remain, where they’re no longer living and what the impact of climate change might be on populations.

Taking part is easy: people in all corners of England, Scotland and Wales are asked to simply look out for these impressive insects and record any sightings online. Whether you’re out on a walk, commuting, on the school run, walking your dog or heading to the pub – anyone can take part!

Stag beetles are often found in urban and suburban gardens and parks, as well as woodland edges and the wider countryside. They’re also often spotted basking on sunlit walls and warm tarmac surfaces, while their larvae (large white grubs) are found underground, among the roots of old tree stumps. Males are instantly recognisable with their antler-like jaws and are often seen flying on warm sunny evenings in search of females, which are slightly smaller and more conker-coloured.

More than half of people think they know what a “temperate rainforest” is, but far fewer realise the rare habitat is found on Britain’s shores, polling suggests.

Nature charity Plantlife is calling for greater protection of Britain’s hidden and largely vanished rainforests, including government funding, full legal protection and long-term support for forest managers, and point to polling that finds support for the habitat is strongly backed by the public.

The poll of more than 2,000 people by Opinion Matters for Plantlife found that 58% thought they understood what a temperate rainforest was.

Red squirrels are enjoying a nutty revival thanks to a stealthy forest assassin which is gobbling up their grey cousins.

Pine martens are stoat-like hunters which petrify the native bushy-tailed rodents but dozy greys are oblivious to their threat, a new study has found.

Numbers of native reds are soaring as they have lived alongside the predators for centuries and are wise to their wily ways. The cat-sized mammals are part of the weasel family and are critically endangered across the UK.

The UK could see a boom in endangered sharks, rays and native oysters as species move habitats to respond to rising ocean temperatures, according to scientists.

But some, including a clam that is the world's longest living animal, could struggle to adapt.

Researchers at the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science mapped for the first time how 19 threatened marine species will respond to climate change in UK seas.

The creator of a forest garden in Devon, the oldest of its kind in Europe, says it is giving insights into how wildlife adapts to climate change.

The self-seeding garden on Dartington Estate is managed by the Agroforestry Research Trust, external (ART) and contains both native and non-native plants.

Creator Martin Crawford said he had seen how the garden adapted to the changing climate over the last 30 years: "Some plants are doing much better than they did 30 years ago, things like Persimmons for example."

He said ART was in discussions with the Dartington Hall Trust (DHT) to secure the forest garden's future.

Insects are in trouble. Around the world, scientists are reporting catastrophic declines in their numbers, even in nature reserves that are largely protected from human touch. We are also beginning to see huge drops in the populations of other animals – such as birds – that depend on insects as food.

Many of the drivers of those declines are structural, and require strong action by governments to turn around. But there are clear, easy steps that anyone can take to support the insect world. For species under such pressure, any respite is important, and we can create refuges for insects in a world increasingly hostile to their survival. In creating better habitats for insects, you can also reap the benefits: thriving gardens, more songbirds, and a healthier web of life.

Here are 25 small, achievable, science-backed actions you can take today – at home, in the garden, or out in the city.

The swift (Apus apus) is an acrobatic aerial bird, a remarkable sprinter and endurance flyer that rarely touches the ground. When these sickle-winged birds do come down – after several years in perpetual flight, even sleeping midair – it is to nest in the eaves of roofs across Europe after spending winters in sub-Saharan Africa, migrating 7,000 miles (11,000km) every year. They are celebrated by nature lovers, artists and poets as they race through city skies on long summer evenings, filling the air with their screaming calls.

The fastest bird in level flight (top speed: 69mph/111kph), they feed on airborne insects. Swifts are in trouble because of steep declines in insects, but also because they are losing traditional nesting sites. Swifts once nested in caves and hollow trees but moved into buildings hundreds of years ago. Modern insulation, particularly in roofs, removes the crevices and cavities where they have nested for centuries.

Dangerous modern pesticides used in agriculture and pet flea treatment have been detected for the first time in English rivers, research has found.

Scientists have called for stricter regulation around high-risk farming pesticides and flea treatments for pets because of the deadly effects they have on fish and other aquatic life when they make their way into rivers.

The research, by the British Geological Survey, evaluated the pollution by such pesticides in the waters and sediments of two English rivers: the Tone in Somerset, which runs through Taunton; and the Wensum in Norfolk, which runs through Norwich.

Scotland's west coast harbour seal numbers have dropped significantly  for the first time in decades.

The population fell by 20% between 2018 and 2023, in a region long considered the last stronghold for the marine mammal in the UK.

Conservation experts said the findings - carried out by the University of St Andrews - should serve as "a real wake-up call".