UK Nature and Environment

A “dismal” lack of tree planting in Wales is failing the country’s economic and environmental future, forestry experts have said.

Figures show 640 hectares of new woodland was created last year – just over 12% of the Welsh government’s target of 5,000 hectares annually.

The Confederation of Forest Industries (Confor) said that "Wales is going backwards" and its reliance on imported timber made it “very vulnerable".

It said the rapid planting of new forests was “absolutely crucial” for the country’s environmental targets.

A citizen science water quality project, which previously was funded by grants, will go ahead this summer after organisers said they would pay for it themselves.

The Freshwater Biological Association (FBA) has completed eight rounds of water quality surveys in Windermere, Cumbria, since 2022.

This year it failed to raise the funds it previously had from bodies such as the Environment Agency (EA), National Trust and Westmorland and Furness Council.

The National Trust said it was "unable to fully fund the survey", the council said its water budget for Windermere had already been allocated and the EA declined to comment.

A West Yorkshire moor stores carbon equivalent to the annual emissions released by a million cars, researchers have said.

Marsden Moor, a popular spot for tourists and walkers between Manchester and Leeds, is known for its blanket peat bogs stretching across the 2,300-hectare landscape.

To mark World Bog Day, a team from the University of Leeds geography school have released the results of a four-year study into the layers of peat across the entire estate.

IN 2023, private water companies in England more than doubled the amount of sewage they discharged into the country’s rivers and seas.

It amounted to around 3.6 million hours of sewage spills in total, up from 1.75 million hours in 2022.

However, as environmental campaigners have pointed out, sewage dumping is also an issue in Scotland.

Yet a key difference stands out when comparing the figures between the two countries.

While 100% of combined sewage pipes in England are monitored, in Scotland, that figure stands at around 5%.

The annual celebration of the sea, National Marine Week, runs from 27 July-11 August 2024.

This year's theme is Sea the Connection, which aims to celebrate the diverse ways in which people feel connected with the sea. As part of this, The Wildlife Trusts are encouraging people to share favourite seaside memories, adventures and places on an interactive map.

The event spans over a fortnight due to varying tidal conditions around the UK. There are celebrations and events taking part across the country, including the family-friendly SeaFest celebration in Cumbria and a Marine Mammal BioBlitz in west Wales. For a full list of the events taking place, visit wildlifetrusts.org/national-marine-week.

Dive into the ocean…pink?

What colours would you expect to see when dipping beneath the waves off the coast of Cornwall? Perhaps the calm blue of the waves, or the soft greens and browns of the seaweeds.

Few people would expect the rose pink of a maerl bed – the Barbieland of the underwater realm.

These slow growing, fragile beds of rare pink calcified seaweeds form the basis of marine food chains in the area, and as well as being breathtakingly beautiful, are hugely important for the local ecosystem.

A species thought lost from Spurn Point National Nature Reserve has flowered for the first time in 30 years.

Staff believe the reappearance of the bee orchid is due to a new conservation grazing regime.

Cows were controlled via GPS collar and allowed to eat only in specific areas, rather than roaming freely where they were naturally attracted to eating sweet flowers.

It helped to create the "right conditions" for a wide variety of wild flowers to grow on the reserve's Chalk Bank meadow, which Rosie Jaques, reserve and marine officer, said was an "amazing result".

The number of little tern fledglings at a seaside resort has hit record levels.

Durham Wildlife Trust warden Derek Wood said 140 of the birds had developed wing feathers large enough for flight at Seaton Carew in Hartlepool this year.

"The numbers follow an improving year-on-year trend," he said.

Earlier this month the birds set off on their annual three-month migratory journey to The Gambia in west Africa.

Last year the team recorded 125 fledglings at Seaton Carew, whereas in 2022 there were just 89.

A farmer has said rewilding her land is a key way to look after nature and "give life back to the soil".

Alex Stevenson owns Jordan's Farm in Wakes Colne near Colchester, Essex, and hoped that rewilding 25 acres land at her farm would help the ecosystem to thrive.

The process of rewilding aims to let nature take care of itself and repair damaged ecosystems naturally.

Watch dolphins surprise wildlife spotters Watch dolphins surprise wildlife spotters

Wildlife photographers returning from a day trip off the East Yorkshire coast were treated to this bonus appearance from a pod of dolphins.

Yorkshire Coast Nature had taken passengers out to watch gannets feeding when the dolphins unexpectedly provided the perfect end to their day.

Company director and tour guide Steve Race said: "This is why we love our job."

Bridlington is proving to be a popular destination for both whales and dolphins, with plenty spotted already this summer.

Backpack-wearing dogs are being enlisted to “act like wolves” to help rewild an urban nature reserve in the East Sussex town of Lewes.

Before wolves were persecuted to extinction in the UK in about 1760, they were known to roam large areas, typically covering 12 miles (20km) or more each night.

In doing so, wolves would inadvertently pick up wildflower and grass seeds in their fur, dispersing them many miles away and helping establish new colonies of plants, which is vital for biodiversity and for ecosystems to thrive.

The project by the Railway Land Wildlife Trust in Lewes, funded by Ouse Valley Climate Action, aims to recreate this ecological benefit by equipping local dogs with seed-filled backpacks to help reseed the landscape. The project is thought to be the first of its kind in the UK.

Woodland Trust Northern Ireland has welcomed a Private Members Bill submitted by Peter McReynolds MLA at Stormont.

This proposal for a Tree Protection Bill, submitted in July, aims to introduce dedicated legal protection for Northern Ireland’s oldest and most significant trees. As the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity, one of the Woodland Trust's core objectives is to protect these living legends.

The Bill seeks to strengthen the protection provided through Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs), create a new 'Heritage Tree' designation specifically to protect and support Northern Ireland’s oldest and most significant trees, and safeguard these heritage trees – along with ancient and long-established woodland – from permitted developments.

Sewage did not cause a surge in bacterial pollution which made Portobello beach unsafe for swimmers, according to the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa).

The agency issued a warning on 10 July, advising swimmers to avoid bathing at a section of the Edinburgh beach until further notice.

Further sampling on 11 July following the advisory notice showed water quality was "back to normal" according to Sepa, indicating a "short-lived event that had no lasting impact".

The agency said long term sampling of water from the site has shown the main sources of pollution there to be human, dog and gull waste.

After an almost 40-year campaign, a stunning but little-known UK landscape has been awarded world heritage status.

The Flow Country of Caithness and Sutherland in the far north of Scotland covers almost 2,000 sq km (469,500 acres) of one of the most intact and extensive blanket bog systems in the world.

Blanket bogs are wetland ecosystems created when peat, a soil made up of partially decayed matter, accumulates in waterlogged conditions.

Achieving world heritage status is a rare honour – particularly for a landscape. It is an internationally recognised designation awarded to places of outstanding cultural, historical, or scientific significance.

Hundreds of wildlife enthusiasts are expected to gather along UK coastlines over the next 10 days to count and record whales and dolphins.

The National Whale and Dolphin Watch, taking place from 26 July to 4 August, is hosted by the Sea Watch Foundation and aims to get volunteers to observe and record sightings of the UK’s most impressive marine mammals.

The UK is home to some of the most majestic marine wildlife such as bottlenose dolphins and fin whales. However, many of these species are vulnerable to threats such as water pollution and rising sea temperatures.

The data collected from experts and novices alike will contribute to scientific research that is monitoring trends, distributions and behaviours of the animals.

How many native British plants do you have in your garden? I don’t mean in a meadow, the long grasses or that “rewilded” area where you threw all those free seed bombs — but in your ornamental beds, vegetable patch or plant pots?

Gardens — and the countryside — are too often dominated by plants that have been introduced from around the globe. Native plants are often overlooked, despite their resilience and beauty, for louder, more exotic or cultivated varieties, while the nitrogen enrichment of soil through over-fertilisation and atmospheric pollution benefits many non-native species. Over half of native plants in the UK are in decline due to agricultural intensification, degradation of habitats and increased grazing.

Discussion of wild flowers — popular modern shorthand for indigenous flora — is often restricted to rewilding and land management. Which is a shame, as they can be incredibly accessible, practical plants to grow in gardens big or small, offering multiple benefits to humans and wildlife.

Original article

The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales (WTSWW) is set to start a major Atlantic rainforest restoration project at a Pembrokeshire site.

Thanks to backing from insurance company Aviva, WTSWW will transform Trellwyn Fach, near Fishguard, Llanychaer, into a rainforest landscape.

Rainforests on the west coast of the UK were destroyed over hundreds of years, with just fragments remaining, but now there is a plan to recreate the Pembrokeshire one.

Supplementary Cull figures released show almost 28,000 more badgers marked for slaughter, bringing the kill total to over 250,000.

New figures seen today through Freedom of Information requests shared with Badger Trust show that nearly 28,000 badgers have been marked for slaughter in licences issued under the controversial supplementary cull that started on 1 June 2024. On 16 May 2024, Natural England reauthorised and granted 17 existing Supplementary badger control licences and nine new ones.

Adding this figure to the expected kill figures for this autumn’s planned intensive badger cull means that 2024 will reach the horrific tally of a quarter of a million badgers slaughtered since the badger cull began in 2013.

Badger Trust has written to the newly appointed Minister for Nature, Mary Creagh CBE MP to protect nature and stop this cull immediately. Creagh is a Minister in Defra — the government department responsible for the cull.

While the humble Otter may seem nothing more than a cute member of marine life, research has now revealed how the adorable aquatic mammal plays a pivotal role in the Earth’s survival.

A new study by Ocean Science & Technology has analysed how much ‘oceanic blue carbon’ certain aquatic wildlife can store, showing how our planet could have looked had we driven otters to extinction decades ago.

Collectively along with seals, sharks and turtles, otters can help store 11.5 million tonnes of carbon per year, equivalent to a 401,000 square metre forest. Without otters’ contribution, researchers predict we would be seeing an even more drastic impact from climate change now.

Wildflowers planted by volunteers in Walsall are helping to attract rare bees to the area as part of a project to restore nature in the West Midlands.

The wildflower planting was part of the Purple Horizons Nature Recovery Project, a partnership that includes Natural England, Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust (BBCWT), Walsall Council and the University of Birmingham.

It aims to restore and connect areas of heathlands across 12,000 hectares on the fringes of the urban West Midlands to support the species which rely on it and is part of a national initiative to develop a Nature Recovery Network.

An insect conservation charity has said "something has gone radically wrong" for bugs and invertebrate species after a noticeable reduction in their numbers.

Buglife, an organisation based in Peterborough, said there had been a decrease in pollinators, which had been noticed by residents and could be seen through a reduced number of elderflower berries.

Buglife said it feared that invertebrates faced an extinction crisis, and without them humans and other life forms could not survive.

A nature emergency has been declared in Dorset following a vote by the new Liberal Democrat-led council.

But what impact will it have on Dorset residents and the county's landscape?

In short, it means the council commits to considering nature recovery in its decision-making.

Work to develop a nature recovery strategy, external, in partnership with neighbouring BCP Council, is also under way.

Regional Geoparks exist to celebrate extraordinary geological heritage, and it doesn't get much more extraordinary than Radnorshire.

Bounded by Builth Wells, Llandrindod Wells, and Llandegley, the Builth-Llandrindod Inlier is the remains of an ancient volcanic island that was active some 460 million years ago, and which has shaped the landscape, wildlife and even human history. Around that island, life thrived and was buried in mud, sand and volcanic ash, making it the home of numerous important fossil sites. This includes the incredible location known as Castle Bank, which made global headlines last year.

The Heart of Wales Geopark has been established as a charity with the purpose of helping locals and visitors understand this geology, the fossils, and its links between the rocks and other aspects of heritage. Based on experience elsewhere it is likely to encourage more visitors to the area and help support local businesses.

A game farm and its director have been fined after a dead Common Buzzard that had been poisoned by a banned pesticide was found on site.

Ashley Game Farm at Chulmeigh, Devon, admitted five charges including using banned pesticide carbofuran, and was fined £40,000 and ordered to pay £590 in costs at Exeter Magistrates' Court.

Furthermore, director Christopher Hodgson pleaded guilty to storing a pesticide without permission, and was fined £1,500 and ordered to pay £150 in costs.

The National Audit Office (NAO) has cautioned that while farmers have become more positive about their experience with the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme, significant concerns remain about the effectiveness of such schemes in driving environmental improvements or delivering value for money.

The NAO’s ‘The Farming and Countryside Programme’ report highlights that while farmers’ ratings of their experience with the SFI have improved in recent years, such schemes from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) have not been able to provide long-term certainty to farmers.

According to the report, in 2023, 48% of farmers rated their experience 8 out of 10 or better, a significant increase from 28% in 2022 and 15% during the SFI pilot phase. Additionally, 81% of farmers in 2023 rated their experience 6 out of 10 or better.