New vision to get farming transition back on track

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...

Biodiversity Net Gain changes put nature at risk

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...

Things that go churr in the dark

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...

New government bill threatens nature

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...

Nature’s undertakers

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...

Footballers, batmen and heroes

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...

Beavers are coming home

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...