The UK Government’s Farming Minister, Mark Spencer, has approved ‘emergency’ authorisation for the use of the highly damaging neonicotinoid, Thiamethoxam, on sugar beet for the fourth year in a row. This pesticide has been banned in the UK since 2018 but has been approved for use on British sugar beet crops. This announcement comes...
Last week, the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) published its second annual report saying progress on around half the UK Government’s nature goals is either static or moving in the wrong direction. This is disappointing, particularly as UK Government has previously said they want to leave the environment in a better state for the...
Say YES to supporting nature-friendly farming. Say YES to a healthy environment. The UK Government has been asked by British Sugar to approve a banned, bee-harming neonicotinoid pesticide for use on sugar beet in 2024. Ask the UK Farming Minister, Mark Spencer, to say no to British Sugar – and say YES to happy bees, help for...
Time’s up! Minister urged to help sugar farmers go neonic-free and honour ban as deadline approaches to end reliance on bee-harming chemicals An application for the use of a banned, bee-harming neonicotinoid on sugar beet seed in 2024 has been submitted to the UK Government – despite an industry commitment to end reliance on...
Discover the bird that’s a favourite amongst birdwatchers, despite the fact that most rarely see one. It’s been a good year for Waxwings in the Tees Valley – have you seen any? Every winter, millions of birds travel to the UK to escape the harsher weather that sets in at their breeding grounds. Families...
12 Days Wild is our festive nature challenge, encouraging you to do one wild thing a day from the 25th December to the 5th January each year. In those quiet days between Christmas and New Year, winter wildlife is just waiting to be explored! Your wild acts could be little things to help nature – like recycling your Christmas tree or feeding the...
Ever wondered what regenerative farming is and how it compares to other farming approaches? Vicki Hird, The Wildlife Trusts’ new strategic lead on agriculture, looks at this farming buzzword and what it means. Regenerative farming as a phrase has been used since the 1980s, but it is only in the last 10 years that...
The Wildlife Trusts publish list of the UK’s Government’s broken promises to nature Next week’s King’s Speech must signal a better future for the UK’s struggling natural environment – otherwise, the UK Government’s key manifesto pledge “to make ours the first generation to leave the natural environment in a better state than we found...
Barn owls across the wider Tees Valley are making a comeback with the help of landowners, owl workers and local community support. Over five years of conservation effort to create critically needed breeding habitat for barn owls by the placement of specially designed nest boxes is clearly paying dividends. The project which is led...
The latest worrying statistics as shared in the recent State of Nature 2023 report cannot – and should not – be ignored by our politicians. The Wildlife Trusts head of public affairs, Elliot Chapman-Jones explains how this UK Government – and the next – will need to step up. Every three years the UK’s...
The Government wants to ditch laws that require housebuilders not to harm rivers. But we know these rules work – they enable houses to be built and rivers to be protected. Here’s how, writes Ali Morse. Rivers in crisis The Government’s proposed amendments to the Levelling Up Bill will provide a means of weakening...
(Picture by Terry Whittaker/2020VISION) As the Government announces its plans to weaken the rules that prevent pollution of some of our most important wildlife sites, Ali Morse explores the detrimental impact this will have on us and our natural world. In a ‘Brexit Bonus’ for housing developers, Rishi Sunak’s Government yesterday announced its plans...