After months of campaigning by The Wildlife Trusts and other environmental organisations, the UK Government has tabled amendments to add nature safeguards to Part 3 of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill. Part 3 of the Bill introduces Environmental Delivery Plans (EDPs), to manage impacts in some places where development will affect protected sites and...
The Wildlife Trusts have launched a vision for the future of food and farming – Food & Farming in a Nature & Climate Crises – stressing that the time is now to get the farming transition back on track. Following the Government’s recent move to protect England’s nature-friendly farming budget in the Comprehensive Spending...
What’s the problem? By law, most new developments in England must leave nature in a better state than before, by improving or creating new habitats. This process is called Biodiversity Net Gain or BNG. Biodiversity Net Gain is about making sure developers avoid harm to important wildlife habitats, make up for unavoidable losses and...
Yesterday evening, a devastating fire occurred on Coatham Marsh Nature Reserve, leaving us shocked and deeply concerned. Unfortunately, this incident is not an isolated case, as we have witnessed an alarming increase in fires on nature reserves and other countryside sites within the Tees Valley region, following a worrying national trend. We have strong...
Birdwatcher Tom Hibbert explores the enigmatic world of the nightjar. If you venture out onto a heathland on a summer evening, you might be greeted by an unusual sound. It could almost be mechanical. A long, drawn-out reel, like the purring of a small engine. It runs on and on for minutes at a...
It’s not “nature or development”. It’s both. The Labour Party promised voters that they would protect and restore nature. But less than a year in, new planning changes are set to weaken environmental protections for developments, like housebuilding. This is bad for wildlife and for people. We have tried to work with Ministers to...
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill was announced as a ‘win-win’ for nature and development. But as it stands, it could dismantle vital nature safeguards without effective replacement, allowing developers to ‘pay cash to trash’ nature. The draft Bill could soon be passed – but there’s a chance to amend the wording now, while it’s...
Discover the brilliance of burying beetles with Dr Ellie Bladon, an evolutionary ecologist based in the Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge. I think my first introduction to the circle of life was from the Disney film, The Lion King. Animals are born, they grow, they breed and they die. But if...
The Wildlife Trusts have published a briefing, urging the Government to ‘fill in the blanks’ to avoid the Planning & Infrastructure Bill undermining vital nature protections. The Bill is currently passing through Parliament and as it does, there is ample opportunity for Ministers to deliver on a promise to collaborate with the nature sector...
Ever wondered what footballers and Batman have in common with hoverflies? Well, it’s all in the name. Both have lent their name to a species of hoverfly: one has stripes like a football kit, while another bears a symbol just like Batman.With around 270 species of hoverfly in the UK, you are likely to...
Improve your chances of seeing wildlife with fieldcraft tips from Matthew Capper, keen birdwatcher, photographer and head of communications at Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust. Observing nature everywhereWherever I go, I’m constantly on the lookout for wildlife. As I walk down a street, I notice the ticking call of a wren or repetitive notes of a...
The Wildlife Trusts congratulate the UK Government’s decision to open the door for licenced reintroductions of beavers into the wild and its acknowledgment of the free-living populations in several parts of England. Today the Government announced that applications to return beavers into river catchments in England will be accepted. This paves the way for...