UK Nature and Environment

It’s late at night on the South Downs as a group of ardent wildlife spotters gather round a pair of glow-worms appearing to copulate.

While the insect is declining in many parts of the UK, the healthy population of glow-worms at the Sussex beauty spot is drawing in spectators.

Watched by a small crowd, the insects don’t seem to be put off by the lack of privacy.

Vast swathes of the British countryside are being sprayed in pesticides containing “forever chemicals” that pollute our air, soil and waterways, and pose a threat to public health.

An analysis by the environmental group Fidra, shared exclusively with i, found that pesticides containing potentially dangerous chemicals were sprayed on the equivalent of 10.7m hectares of arable farmland in 2022 – an area roughly the size of Iceland.

The pesticides contained PFAS, or per- and poly-fluorinated alkyl substances, a group of more than 10,000 industrial chemicals that studies have linked to health problems, including cancer, infertility and developmental issues.

Last, week the Scottish Parliament passed the Circular Economy Bill.

The Circular Economy Bill was introduced by the Scottish Government in June 2023. Now that it has passed, it means the country will be getting a new law to bring us another step closer to reducing beach litter in Scotland.

Our economy is still based on what is called a linear model where we take resources from the planet, make something, use it for a short time and then throw it away. When it is thrown away it is sometimes recycled and sometimes landfilled or incinerated. Unfortunately, some of it also leaks into our natural environment and impacts our incredible Scottish wildlife and habitats as well as the stunning coastline Scotland is world renowned for.

A pair of reed buntings has successfully bred in Jersey for the first time in almost 30 years.

The National Trust for Jersey said it was "very excited" about the first confirmed breeding in the island since 1997.

The trust said the species normally migrated to breeding grounds in eastern Europe and Scandinavia.

Beloved by Shakespeare and the Beatles, the blackbird and its sweet song have captured the imagination of Britons for centuries.

But now the songbird is facing decline, and the British public has been asked to contribute to a survey by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) to find out why.

Their numbers have plummeted in Greater London and southern England at rates not seen in the rest of the UK.

An RSPB warden has admitted he is "startled" by how rapidly wildlife has started colonising a reserve's newest piece of wetland.

It is a year since the charity began work transforming arable fields into a watery habitat as part of an expansion of its Lakenheath Fen reserve on the Suffolk/Norfolk border.

Site manager Dave Rogers said: "We've seen some immediate reaction from some species - and marsh harriers in particular."

The birds, which are of conservation concern, are breeding elsewhere on the reserve and have found the new habitat a rich source of prey.

The Jersey tiger, Euplagia quadripunctaria, is one of the more spectacular British moths. Rather than trying to blend in with its surroundings, its dramatic black and white wings, with additional orange flashes when flying, seem to be saying “eat me if you dare” and get a stomachache. Most potential predators appear to heed the warning.

Unlike some other moths, the caterpillars eat a variety of roadside weeds including nettles, and those hatched in September shelter through the winter on rough patches of ground with plenty of food plants.

The farthest north this species used to be seen was Jersey (as the name suggests) but global heating has transformed its fortunes.

Highlands and Islands Airports Limited staff have teamed up with conservation programme Species on the Edge to create safe nesting habitat for the rare Little Tern at Islay Airport.

Little Terns fly to Scotland in spring to breed, looking for beaches on the coast and islands where they can nest in colonies. Unfortunately, this chosen habitat of Little Terns is often prone to disturbance by humans, dogs, and flooding. Little Terns are very sensitive to disturbance and can abandon nests, eggs and chicks if disturbed.

The latest breeding seabird census (Seabirds Count: 2015-2021) shows that Little Tern have declined by 29% in the last 20 years in Scotland, with the Argyll and Bute region seeing a much larger decline of 46% in the same time period. Creating disturbance-free areas with suitable nesting material is one of the most important actions that can be taken to help protect Little Terns.

A species of bird has been born at a nature reserve in Lincolnshire for the first time in its history.

The Mediterranean gull chick was spotted by volunteers at Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust's Whisby Nature Park on 27 June.

The park said its the first time the species has hatched at the site, as nesting Mediterranean gulls have always failed at the incubation stage on prior occasions.

Striking images have been captured of a huge field of poppies stretching almost as far as the eye can see.

The field has been rewilded by the landowner in Great Massingham, Norfolk.

The soil was ploughed and harrowed before being left for nature to run its course, with the result being a huge sea of red poppies.

A forest plantation planned for a national scenic area is set for a court battle over claims it could cause “landscape-scale destruction”.

A 700-hectare conifer forest is being planted around a countryside walkway named after one of Scotland’s most celebrated writers: John Buchan, author of The Thirty Nine Steps.

The plantation, which will predominantly be non-native Sitka spruce, is already being put in the ground at Stobo Hope, near Peebles.

Everyone loves bees and butterflies, but now moths are coming into the spotlight (as long as they don’t fly around it).

The moth expert Charles Waters has seen a surprisingly rapid increase in interest in moths from the younger generation as, he believes, people become more aware of their beauty and diversity, as well as their importance as pollinators.

“Moths are more significant pollinators because there’s so many of them. In the UK, there are 59 butterfly species, but there are 2,500 moth species,” he said.

Two young ospreys from a nest in Lochaber have been taken into a translocation programme after their father’s plummeting fish catch began to raise concern.

Woodland Trust Scotland has been operating a live nest camera at Loch Arkaig Pine Forest in Lochaber since 2017, with support from players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

Louis was the first osprey to touch down and has been the star of the show ever since. His first mate Aila was with him until 2020 when the pair and their chicks became a huge online hit during Covid lockdown.

Aila did not return from migration in 2021 and Louis found a new mate, Dorcha and followed her to a new nest. This year they hatched three chicks two of which have survived and are now approaching six weeks old.

A charity seeking to restore and preserve the historical legacy of Boleskine House and its estate has seen the efforts to establish the largest wildflower meadow in the region bloom this summer.

Two years after securing funding for the initiative, The Boleskine House Foundation saw the five-acre meadow showing significant color in its first year of bloom.

The meadow at Boleskine – formerly owned by occultist Aleister Crowley and later Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page – is one of the charity’s biodiversity initiatives that aims to support an increase in bee populations.

Dorset Council, supported by Natural England, is pressing ahead with plans to buy a dairy farm for a rewilding project.

In a statement, the council said part of Middle Farm, in Higher Kingcombe, is being used as a dairy farm which is “not ideal” as it suffers from run-off and erosion as it is managed “intensively”.

With the support of Natural England, the council wants to buy the farm and change its use of land for woodland or rewilding.

One of the rarest species of butterfly in the UK has been spotted at a new location in Exmoor National Park.

A couple on holiday in the area discovered two heath fritillaries at Ashton Cleave.

Ashton Cleave is close to Hawkcombe Woods where the Exmoor National Park Authority (ENPA) has been carrying out a long-term project to help the species.

The rare butterfly, also traditionally known as the "woodman's follower", has been breeding successfully in Hawkcombe for a few years.

A range of actions to tackle the problems of Lough Neagh are set to be approved by Stormont's agriculture and environment minister, BBC News NI understands.

The Lough Neagh Report and Action Plan has been with the Northern Ireland Executive since mid-June, but ministers have not yet agreed to it.

Some elements of the plan are cross-cutting and require executive approval to be implemented.

The actions Agriculture and Environment Minister Andrew Muir is set to give the go-ahead for are those that fall within his department.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/14078952

Campaigners have warned that building England’s largest onshore wind farm on protected peatland would be “catastrophic for carbon storage, wildlife and flood risk”. Saudi-backed developer World Wide Renewable Energy Global Ltd wants to construct the farm on more than 2,300 hectares at Walshaw Moor, between Hebden Bridge and Haworth.

Consisting of up to 65 wind turbines, it would be capable of generating up to 302MW of energy.

The developer said last September that it would establish a £75m community benefit fund and also pledged to end grouse shooting if it was granted planning permission.

However, campaigners say it would impact endangered birds, like curlew, lapwing, skylark and merlin, and exacerbate already serious local flooding.

The huge development would need 22 miles of access roads and 160 tonnes of reinforced concrete for each of the gigantic turbines.

At 200m tall (655ft), the turbines would be 20m higher than London’s 41-storey Gherkin building.

Campaigners say turbine construction and the associated infrastructure will affect hydrology, causing peatlands to dry out to such an extent that they will become a net emitter of carbon rather than a carbon sink.

Although the term 'rewilding' is contentious, most agree that our countryside could be better managed for wildlife. Yet what should we actually be doing to improve it?

‘The idea that we can carry on what we’ve been doing for the past couple of centuries, which is the war against Nature, is over,’ declares Prof Sir Dieter Helm, professor of economic policy at the University of Oxford, who believes that the damage wreaked can be reversed if we all play a part in the rejuvenation of the natural world.

Taking issue with the term ‘wilding’, however, he states: ‘Going back to the wild, or just going wild, suggests that there’s a separation between us and Nature, but we’re a part of it and nothing in Nature is now non-human, and so I prefer the old-fashioned idea of conservation management.

A three foot fish “like a giant swimming head” has been spotted off the coast.

Ian Rudge was anchored and fishing about one mile south west of Shoreham Harbour on Saturday when he saw a fin above the water.

Sussex Wildlife Trust experts have confirmed Ian’s pictures are of a sunfish.

Habitat loss is regarded as the main reason for the dramatic decline in numbers of great crested newts across Scotland, and the wider UK, from the mid 20th Century onwards.

The iconic amphibians are now heavily protected with it being a criminal offence to harm them, their eggs, or their habitats.

Borders-based charity Bright Green Nature (BGN) carried out studies on sites near Selkirk in 2022, and established former wetlands in and around the Haining estate could be restored to provide perfect amphibian habitats.

Four nature recovery projects will begin over the summer in Dearne Valley in South Yorkshire, to complement a wider programme of investment at Yorkshire Water’s wastewater treatment sites to improve water quality in the river Dearne.

In partnership with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Yorkshire Water will invest in a range of habitats adjacent to wastewater treatment works in the area. Efforts will improve ponds for amphibians, dragonflies and wading birds and include the planting of trees to help woodland wildlife.

This includes the endangered Willow Tit, the UK’s most threatened resident bird. Since 1970, numbers have decreased by 94%, and they are now extinct in most of their former haunts in the south and south-east of England.

Whilst work at the treatment sites – namely Lundwood, Worsbrough, Wombwell, and Darton – is already underway, the restoration projects will formally begin in September this year. Throughout the summer, wildlife surveys will gather information on species already residing in these habitats.

Londoners are being asked to count all the bees, butterflies and moths they see during Monday as part of what is thought to be first annual city-wide pollinator count.

The project aims to gather more data on the health of all pollinators in the capital.

Pollinating London Together (PLT), a charity focused on making the city a better place for native pollinators, is behind the survey and called the current situation "unsustainable".

Naturalists, city workers and schoolchildren have been asked to take part in what the charity hopes will "become an annual highlight of the capital’s ecological calendar".

Bug hotels are increasing in number of stations across North Yorkshire thanks to a workshop that started back in April.

Undergraduates originally started the project as part of their ‘Year in Industry' working for Northern. The project is now run by the Bentham Community Rail Partnership.

The scheme has been designed to educate biodiversity to school children so that they are made aware about the importance of looking after local habitats and how to help them thrive.

Gargrave Primary School in North Yorkshire is the latest school to participate in the workshop, which also includes the building of bug hotels.