UK Nature and Environment

A new “cheap and easy” method could make swimming upstream easier for a critically endangered eel species when they arrive in the UK and help slow down population declines, scientists have found.

Each year, more than a billion European eels (Anguilla anguilla) travel 4,000 miles across the Atlantic to European shores.

But the creatures are still very young when they start navigating UK’s lakes and rivers, swimming against the flow of water to find feeding grounds – which requires significant energy and effort.

Human-made obstacles such as dams and weirs can make this even harder, sometimes by making rivers flow faster.

Every moment of every day, living organisms are constantly shedding their DNA into the air around them.

By using new technology to capture, filter and analyse these fragments, researchers hope to find out more about the UK’s wildlife.

Much of the world’s biodiversity is hidden from us – but what if we could find it at the touch of a button?

Though it may sound far-fetched, a new project might be able to do just that. Researchers from the Natural History Museum and the Earlham Institute have developed pioneering technology that can suck in and identify environmental DNA (eDNA) floating in the air.

Following initial tests, the team are now ready to try out their system on a larger scale. The devices will be set up in eight sites across Norfolk covering a range of habitats to see what species they can find.

Radnorshire Wildlife Trust has launched a rivers appeal, asking for help to raise 50k to support their work in protecting rivers for future generations.

Radnorshire is home to the Lugg (Llugwy). Marteg and Ithon are all tributaries of the River Wye (Afon Gwy). Flowing from mid-Wales to the Severn estuary in England, it's one of the UK’s longest watercourses and is impacted by everything that happens in its large catchment.

But Radnorshire Wildlife Trust are worried about the future of the rivers, saying they are in trouble. Current reports on Wales's rivers show that less than half of them meet Good Ecological Status, with algal blooms causing devastation to river ecosystems.

Conservationists have been using a helicopter to protect a remote Lake District beauty spot.

The National Trust wants to preserve and expand peat wetlands at Blea Tarn in Langdale, near Ambleside.

Tonnes of rocks and timber have been dropped to block water flowing into the tarn through existing natural ditches and extend the wetland.

Using the helicopter to carry the more than 60 one-tonne bags to the site meant a job that would have taken days was completed in under two hours, the National Trust said.

Laura Ruxton, the National Trust’s general manager for the south Lakes, said it was already a "fairly wet area" but by increasing wetland areas the trust hoped to encourage natural wildlife.

The Greens have become the second political party to back i’s blueprint to save Britain’s beleaguered rivers amid growing demands for the next Government to take meaningful action to tackle sewage leaks and pollution.

More than 20 leading environmental groups and campaigners have now backed the five-point plan to bring the UK’s waterways and seas back to health, as polls repeatedly show that the environment is one of the most important issues for voters in the general election.

The Green Party of England and Wales has now followed the Liberal Democrats in backing our manifesto, which seeks pledges to reverse the damage to our waterways, including immediate steps to improve river health, overhaul regulators, slash sewage spills and create more clean bathing places. Political parties in all four UK nations are being challenged by i to sign up to the Save Britain’s Rivers manifesto during the General Election campaign.

A cigarette butt is suspected to have caused a forest fire that is believed to have killed thousands of young trees.

Nests and charred wood have been found after flames ripped through thousands of trees in Harrow Hill in the Forest of Dean following a "short hot spell" in May.

Leoni Dawson, community ranger for Forestry England, said they were worried "this whole place is dead and gone".

It is thought no deer or boar were harmed due to a deer fence enclosing the area, but concerns remain for insects, reptiles, small mammals and bird nests.

Party leaders are being urged to reform the planning system to protect rivers and other natural habitats.

Thirty climate and nature groups have backed proposals to prioritise “natural infrastructure” and restoration alongside the acceleration of renewable energy developments in the next Parliament.

Wildlife and Countryside Link, which represents the groups, called for stronger defences for river catchments against intensive livestock pollution and the inclusion of swift bricks and bat boxes on land.

An innovative technology company is hoping to incentivise volunteers to help tackle the invasive species, Himalayan Balsam.

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust (GWT) is enlisting the help of Gloucester and Cheltenham residents to help them combat the non-native species along the River Chelt throughout June.

The team at GWT is teaming up with Crowdorsa, whose technology reach means they can offer a financial reward to volunteers.

Imported to the UK by Victorian botanists in 1839, the plant has no natural rivals and can quickly dominate ditches and river banks, wiping out indigenous species.

A new scheme aiming to reduce climate change and restore nature is taking root in the countryside.

It is known as ‘biodiversity net gain’ and requires developers to replace and increase the amount of plant species and habitats lost during a new development. If they cannot do this on site, they have to do it elsewhere.

It has led to farmers, investors and private companies sourcing land across the South West to sell as credits to developers.

But in a new report the National Audit Office has questioned whether this ‘novel policy’ is deliverable through the existing complex planning system.

The government insists they are working to bring buyers and sellers together to help meet demand. They add that this is about halting the decline in biodiversity and ensuring new developments works for both wildlife and people.

They are a mainstay of the Scottish countryside, delighting people as they flit from branch to branch.

However, plastic pollution could be killing off the next generation of blue tits.

Scientists have discovered that blue tits in Glasgow are using 50 times more man-made litter to make their nests than their country cousins on the shores of Loch Lomond.

Research has found that chicks are less likely to survive when their early days are spent among detritus such as netting and fibres from tennis balls.

Dangerous levels of the bacterium Escherichia coli have been found in half of the 27 new bathing sites unveiled by the Conservative Government in May.

Water Minister Robbie Moore said at the time that the new swimming spots would be “incredibly valuable” and provide “social, physical and positive health and wellbeing benefits” for people around the country.

But i analysis of Environment Agency sampling data shows all of the sites have tested positive for E.coli bacteria at some point in the past month.

A RARE dragonfly is spreading its wings at a north Cumbrian nature reserve.

An exciting conservation project to restore peat bogs by Cumbria Wildlife Trust has seen large numbers of the white-faced darter, a small, dark dragonfly with red or yellow markings and a distinctive white face recorded at Drumburgh Moss, on the Solway coast.

The insect is only found at a handful of areas in England.

The trust described the result as "fantastic" and said it was "really encouraging" with the numbers set to rise this season.

Roadside verges say a lot about the state of nature in Yorkshire. Take a closer look and you’ll find many that are overgrown and rank with grass, cow parsley, docks and not a lot else. Verges which are apparently bursting with life on closer inspection often have little variety.

That is because they are getting “a continuous rain of fertiliser”, which includes nitrates formed from car and truck exhaust gases, ammonia from places like intensive pig farms, says Professor Alastair Fitter, who contributed to this week’s ground-breaking State of Yorkshire’s Nature report, published by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.

Prof Fitter, a trustee both at Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and Yorkshire Naturalist’s Union, says the rate at which land is being fertilised for free is about the same as farmers would have used pre World War Two on their fields.

THE Pembrokeshire Coast has been named the best national park in the United Kingdom for spotting marine wildlife.

In addition to providing breathtaking coastal scenery, the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park was named the best national park for spotting animals out at sea, according to family footwear brand Charles Clinkard.

Just this year, a superpod of dolphins was spotted at sea off Strumble in February, and a month earlier a humpback whale made a rare appearance off the coast at Fishguard.

“You may not associate the UK with marine wildlife, but there are some spots of the country where you’re likely to get a glimpse of a sea animal or two,” a spokesperson for Charles Clinkard said.

Three new national parks would be created in England under the Liberal Democrats, the party has announced.

The election manifesto pledge would take the country's number of national parks up to 13.

The Chilterns in Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire - along with the Mendips, Cotswolds and Quantocks - have been named as possible locations for the parks.

The party said it would maintain the new and existing parks with an annual spending commitment of £50m.

The sea life around Wales' coasts has been mapped out with new data from a significant study examining whales, dolphins, porpoises and seabird species.

This study includes the most extensive collation of survey data and distribution maps for cetaceans and seabirds in Welsh seas.

The research offers the most comprehensive findings noted in the past three decades, according to marine scientists from Natural Resources Wales (NRW).

Experts from the Sea Watch Foundation and Bangor University analysed data from 12 cetacean and 28 seabird species.

‘Out of sight, out of mind’. It’s a phrase which keeps coming up when people talk about the vast, rich beds of kelp that once lay along the Sussex shoreline. By their very nature, they’re largely invisible, just offshore, beneath the waves. As Sussex Wildlife Trust’s Henri Brocklebank (pictured above) puts it: ​“Many people weren’t even aware that the kelp was there — even when, suddenly, it wasn’t.”

Invisible, perhaps, but incredibly valuable. When kelp washes up on the beaches, it’s a limp, brown splodge. At home on the seabed, it’s a different story: a rich, waving array of plants, sometimes described as a ​‘marine forest’ whose canopy is at the heart of one of the richest, most productive ecosystems in Britain, on or offshore. Kelp forests provide food and shelter for numerous fish, mammals and birds. A single plant can support a whole host of marine creatures.

Welsh Water's pollution incidents shot up last year, despite the company spending hundreds of millions of pounds to "improve services".

The company recorded 107 pollution incidents in 2023-24, up from 89 the year before.

Welsh Water has faced criticism in recent months over its performance on leaks and raw sewage spills.

Chairman Alastair Lyons said the company had "still more to do" but was making "good progress".

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) reduced the company's rating in June 2023, meaning it "requires improvement".

Welsh Water did not state how many of the 107 pollution incidents were serious.

A YORKSHIRE nature charity is celebrating after being granted funding to explore innovative ways to encourage rewilding across the region.

The Yorkshire Rewilding Network (YRN), which is run by a team of volunteers who connect, inspire and enable rewilding, has received £12,000 from Rewilding Britain’s Rewilding Innovation Fund.

Announcing the funding on World Environment Day, YRN committee member Sarah Mason said it will allow the charity to open up rewilding to a wider range of communities who are not large land owners.

Voters overwhelmingly back a call to fine water companies caught discharging sewage and block bosses from receiving bonuses, i can reveal.

Polling shows huge public support for a key policy central to i’s manifesto to save British waterways and crack down on water companies breaking the law.

Some 83 per cent of adults polled said they support blocking bonuses and imposing fines on water companies caught illegally discharging sewage.

Once derelict dew ponds across the South Downs National Park are now thriving thanks to more than £90,000 in donations.

Eight ponds across the park in Hampshire and Sussex have been restored and work will begin soon on two more near Emsworth.

A watering hole at Magdalen Hill Down in Winchester is one of those to have had a makeover thanks to a grant of £13,000 given to UK charity Butterfly Conservation.

The turnaround is part of the “Pounds for Ponds” initiative, a campaign calling for funding to restore about 100 dew ponds across the South Downs.

Labour announces new Countryside Protection Plan designed to protect nature and reverse the decline in British wildlife

Labour has today announced a sweeping new plan to protect and restore nature across the UK, arguing that "after 14 years of Tory chaos, nature is under threat".

Released ahead of the expected publication of the main Parties' manifestos next week, the new Countryside Protection Plan underscores how the Opposition is looking to expand the electoral battleground to take on the government in previously Tory-dominated rural seats.

Conservationists are trying to bolster the genetic variation and resilience of threatened hazel dormice as they release 10 of the tiny mammals in Bedfordshire.

The rare species have been reintroduced into woodland managed by Forestry England and supported by the Greensand Trust as part of efforts to help the endangered species come back from the brink of extinction.

The new dormice are being released to boost the genetic diversity of Bedfordshire’s only existing population, which has grown after the first species reintroduction in the area in 2001.

The Forestry Commission is to extend its measures to tackle a beetle pest across East Anglia.

The Ips typographus, or larger eight-toothed European spruce bark beetle, is a serious pest of spruce trees in Europe and has been spotted in the region.

Measures introduced in 2022 to the South East will now cover parts of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, as well as Lincolnshire, from 12 June.

Spokesperson Andrea Deol urged landowners and timber processors to "remain vigilant" because "we are now entering the next [beetle] flight season".