UK Nature and Environment

Rugged peatlands above Saddleworth, ravaged by centuries of industrial pollution, intensive drainage and overgrazing, are now home to the first-ever nursery for moorland plants set up by the National Trust.

Essential native species like sphagnum moss are being cultivated and next month the public are invited to join two harvesting sessions, helping turn trays of home-grown cuttings into plug plants, ready to be planted out on the moor.

“Sphagnum moss is a wonder plant that can hold 20 times its own weight in water, and it’s vital to our moorland conservation work,” says Francesca Bray, one of the rangers who have worked with the Calderdale Sphagnum Project (funded by the National Lottery) to build the polytunnel nursery.

There are fears that “toxic sludge” being dumped close to the shoreline is smothering marine life.

Sussex Wildlife Trust, residents and a councillor want to put a stop to Brighton Marina disposing of dredged sediment in the Beachy Head West Marine Conservation Zone between the marina and Ovingdean.

Brighton Marina needs to dredge the entrance to the harbour to ensure boats can keep moving.

Wild Justice and Badger Trust are mounting a legal challenge against the decision of Natural England (NE) to issue licences for Badger culling, made after pressure from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) under the previous government.

NE has asked the Court to increase the normal adverse cost cap (what you pay if you lose the case) from £10,000 to £20,000 for Wild Justice and from £10,000 to £30,000 for Badger Trust. The Aarhus Convention (to which the UK is a party) exists to protect citizens’ access to information, access to decision-making and access to justice. Taking legal challenges supported by the public is clearly in the ‘access to justice’ category. The £10,000 normal Aarhus cap is a quid pro quo – if we, as claimants win, we can claim back far less than we could under a non-Aarhus case.

We believe we have a good chance of success, but nothing is certain and we see NE’s unusual and aggressive move as an attempt to scare off legal challenges. We believe NE will best avoid legal challenges by making sound and legal decisions – if they appear to stray from the straight and narrow then it is in the public interest for their actions to be challenged and for the courts to decide one way or another.

The modern hedgelayer’s role is no longer that of a fencer, but instead a practical conservationist creating vibrant, thorny arteries of hedgerow habitat, says Richard Negus.

It is impossible to say precisely when the first hedge in Britain was laid, yet it is beyond doubt that our hedgerows are the oldest in Europe. This truth came to light in the early 1980s, when archaeologist Francis Pryor and a team from Cambridge unearthed the traces of a hedged-in sheep fold and livestock market in the stark peatlands of Flag Fen near Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. A nondescript piece of blackened hedgerow brash was exposed, visibly clean cut and angled, indicative of trimming with, one supposes, a billhook.

When radiocarbon-dated, this barb helped to prove that some 4,500 years ago, people here were already well established in agricultural practices familiar to us today — mixed farming, draining land and managing hedgerows. It stands to reason, then, that if the hedge was integral to this proto-agricultural Bronze Age landscape, then so too were hedgelayers.

The true extent of oil pollution released into UK waters by the fossil fuel industry has been “significantly underestimated” and it is putting marine wildlife at risk, according to a report released today.

The conservation group Oceana said chronic oiling, defined as frequent, small scale releases, into the North Sea was much higher than estimated due to an “opaque” system of reporting oil discharges and spills.

Oil companies must report both accidental oil spills and intentional discharges of so-called produced water – a byproduct that can contain oil and other toxic chemicals. The companies are allowed to release a certain volume of produced water but breaches of permitted levels are reported separately so escape full scrutiny, according to Oceana’s report. This caused underreporting of the total amount of oil released into the sea, it claimed.

Cornwall Wildlife Trust said it was forced to cancel an annual wildlife survey for the first time in 13 years due to sewage in the sea.

Volunteers turned up to carry out a survey at Trevaunance Cove but the trust said it was "shocked" by the state of the water.

Matt Slater, marine conservation officer at Cornwall Wildlife Trust and organiser of the Shoresearch survey at the weekend, said: "The conditions were just not safe enough to run the event."

Chris Luffingham, acting Chief Executive of the League Against Cruel Sports, says the time for change is now, but asks if not now, then when?

“There’s a definite perception that Labour doesn’t get rural voters,” said Steve Reed in February this year, mere months before becoming the new environment secretary.

“We have incredible countryside. We have incredible green spaces. They need protecting,” he went on.

Preserving a wobbly bog, described as "a real gem in Wales' natural crown" is being made slightly more tricky by the presence of unexploded World War Two bombs.

Crymlyn bog on the outskirts of Swansea is the largest of Wales' last remaining quaking bogs - earning its name as the peatland habitat literally shakes under your feet.

But these bogs are under threat due to damage caused by drainage, pollution and neglect and are part of a £5m restoration project.

One mile off the Northumberland coast from the village of Amble lies an avian paradise.

Reserved exclusively for birds, Coquet Island is an internationally important habitat home to 40,000 breeding seabirds.

Among the population are many rare or endangered breeds such as Roseate Terns, Common Arctic Terns, Sandwich Terns, and Puffins.

A wildlife trust is thanking supporters after bringing in nearly double its donation target for a project to protect meadows.

Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust launched a bid to fundraise £10,000 to look after the county's remaining wildflower meadows in July.

Across the UK an estimated 97% of wildflower meadows have been lost since the 1930s.

The trust said £19,104 has been donated in total to fund its scheme.

Conservationists are celebrating after the first successful breeding of Kittiwake on recently erected structures off the Suffolk coast.

Three artificial towers have been constructed by the energy company Ørsted, two of which are off Lowestoft and the third is near Minsmere RSPB. They have been built to compensate for potential impacts from the Hornsea Three wind farm, which is situated some 120 km off the Norfolk coast.

Each structure is octagonal and can house up to 500 breeding pairs of Kittiwake. The roof pitch and overhang were specifically designed to ward off avian predators, while each individual nesting space has been fitted with a perspex panel that allows monitoring from inside the structure without disturbing the birds. Decoy Kittiwakes were added to try and attract the birds to the sites.

People across Scotland are being asked to report sightings of squirrels next week as part of a national scheme to protect the native red species.

The “Great Scottish Squirrel Survey” is a nationwide citizen science campaign organised by the Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels (SSRS) partnership. Now in its sixth year, organisers of the event - running this year from Monday September 30 to Sunday October 6 - say recorded sightings are “more important than ever” as they battle to halt red squirrel declines.

SSRS, a partnership project led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT), has been working since 2009 to protect red squirrels in Scotland, the UK’s last remaining stronghold for the native species with around 75 per cent of the population. Once widespread throughout the country, in recent decades red squirrel populations have fallen significantly.

Populations of basking sharks near Scotland have plummeted to their lowest on record, with just seven sightings, according to the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust. However, there were record high sightings for minke whales off Scotland’s west coast with more than 160 spotted in our waters.

Published by Scotland’s wildlife agency NatureScot, the charity's new report presents findings based on their marine research expeditions onboard its research vessel, Silurian, over the past three years. That's combined with sighting rates and numbers for minke whales and basking sharks from the 20 years the programme has been running.

The latest findings suggest changes in spot rates for minke whales and basking sharks, with experts seeing a potential link in these two marine species. Data shows when sighting rates for basking sharks are high, they are low for minke whales, and vice versa.

Rare spoonbill have bred for a second year running at NWT Hickling Broad and Marshes, providing hope of a future colony of these distinctive birds, says reserves officer Robert Morgan

A pioneering project involving Scottish Woodlands Ltd is helping to reduce the negative impacts of climate change on our waterways.

The partnership with Galloway Fisheries Trust (GFT) involves strategic tree planting and associated work across the catchment of the River Urr in south-west Scotland.

The project is part of GFT’s work to enhance the climate resilience of rivers throughout the region.

The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester & North Merseyside has received a share of £3.5million from Co-op and their charity, the Co-op Foundation, to continue a pioneering wetter farming trial in Greater Manchester.

Rindle Field in Chat Moss near Salford was once a waterlogged field containing an unprofitable crop of potatoes, now it is home to celery, lettuce and blueberries all grown as part of a climate friendly wetter farming trial. And now new funding of nearly £150,000 from the Carbon Innovation Fund – a Co-op and Co-op Foundation partnership - will see the trial continued into the future.

Wetter farming, also known as paludiculture, is the practice of restoring the naturally higher water table on fields which have been previously drained (often from lowland peatlands). Draining the water from naturally wet and boggy peatlands to convert them to traditional farmland causes the release of large amounts of carbon from the land, however by re-wetting these areas the carbon is locked back underground and these harmful emissions can be significantly reduced. Farmers can then grow crops which thrive in these wetter conditions, allowing the land to remain productive and profitable.

People living near a chemicals plant in Lancashire have been told to wash and peel vegetables from their gardens before eating them, while an investigation into potential contamination of soil in the area with a banned toxic chemical gets under way.

The chemical PFOA, one of the PFAS family of about 15,000 chemicals, does not break down in the environment and last year was categorised as a human carcinogen by the World Health Organization. It is also toxic to reproduction and has been linked to a range of health problems such as thyroid disease and increased cholesterol.

Last year the Guardian and Watershed Investigations revealed that the AGC Chemicals plant in Thornton Cleveleys, near Blackpool, was discharging hundreds of PFAS into the River Wyre, which flows into Morecambe Bay, including very high concentrations of the banned PFOA.

Plans to create a ‘floating ecosystem’ in the River Ouse have been approved with a requirement to keep it litter-free.

The plans approved by York Council are set to see the 16.45m by 2.34m pontoon-like structure installed by North Street Gardens.

St Nicks, the environmental charity behind the plans, stated native aquatic plants would help create a thriving habitat for wildlife and help improve water quality in the River Ouse.

It’s a big moment for nature-friendly farming. The UK Government is deciding right now where they can make cuts in what they’ve warned will be a painful budget in October. But any cut to nature-friendly farming funding now would be a false economy and a huge backwards step for nature and the long-term resilience of farming in the UK. That’s why we’re calling on you to sign a petition to call on UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves to invest more in nature-friendly farming – not less.

A scheme to create one of the biggest new woodlands in Europe at an iconic Scottish loch - and protect water supplies for generations to come - has taken a major step forward.

The 10-year Land Management Plan (LMP) for Scottish Water’s Loch Katrine estate, developed in partnership with long-term tenant Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS), has been approved by Scottish Forestry - and will see the lands around the loch boost the fight against the climate crisis by locking up more carbon and improving the resilience of the catchment to climate change.

The 8-miles long freshwater loch – which supplies water to 1.3 million people in the Greater Glasgow area and other parts of the Central Belt via infrastructure built largely by Victorian pioneers – is surrounded by 9,500 hectares of land which is occupied and managed by FLS and located in the heart of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park (LLTNP).

A new survey on a fire-ravaged site has shed light on the struggle for natural environments to recover from catastrophic events.

In 2018, a wildfire broke out across the heathlands, peatlands and woodlands at Smithills near Bolton in Lancashire. Such was the extent of the fire, it threatened to engulf nearby properties and caused huge damage to wildlife.

During weeks of burning, where emergency services worked day and night for 41 days to tackle the blaze, a third of the 1,700-acre site was destroyed, including plants and trees. Animals were dispersed, with the moorland resembling a charred landscape.

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) and the Bee Friendly Trust have completed more than twenty ‘homes for nature’ at six Great Northern stations in and around north London and Hertfordshire: Bayford, Cuffley, Grange Park, Hadley Wood, New Barnet and New Southgate.

Great Northern aims to contribute to enhancing biodiversity on the railway by making its stations more nature friendly.

It hopes that its work will help to preserve wildlife, including the one in six species in the UK which are in danger of extinction.

The Conservative government slashed the Environment Agency’s funding to tackle sewage pollution and protect the environment before leaving office, i can reveal.

The watchdog’s “environmental protection grant” funds a range of activities, including the enforcement of water companies’ raw sewage discharge permits, monitoring and incident management, as well as green finance, farm inspections, waste reform and chemical regulations.

Figures obtained by i through a Freedom of Information request reveal that the grant decreased from £152m in 2010-11 to £70m in 2018-19.

Two captive-bred Wildcats have died after being released into the Cairngorms NP.

The Saving Wildcats project said one of the females, called Midge, was knocked down on a road. It said the second, named Oats, died of starvation four weeks after her release.

The cats could be tracked by their GPS radio collars and were found by park rangers.

A wildlife trust has launched an urgent appeal to "save the River Derwent" in Derbyshire.

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust's (DWT) Derwent Survival Plan aims to raise £195,000 before winter to restore the river and "create thriving habitats for native species on the brink of extinction".

It said the money would fund projects like planting riverside trees to stabilise riverbanks and provide shade, adding reedbeds to slow water flow, and removing pollutants.