GreyShuck

An ambitious vision for how the UK’s seabed can continue to support the accelerated delivery of nature recovery and the transition to clean energy has been set out by The Crown Estate, which manages the seabed around England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Amid increasing demand on the seabed from sectors critical to the UK economy, The Crown Estate has been working with stakeholders to develop initial plans for a ground-breaking Marine Delivery Routemap.

We are appalled to hear that the badger cull will once again go ahead in Derbyshire.

We understand the devastation that bovine tuberculosis (bTB) causes to affected farmers and the wider farming community, but we need to find the right mechanisms to control the disease. However, badgers are not the primary cause of the spread of bTB in cattle.

On 30th August, the Government launched its strategy to use a scientific approach to end the badger cull and accelerate the development of a cattle vaccine. Despite this encouraging news the Government’s strategy is not urgent enough. Thousands of badgers will be needlessly killed whilst the cull is allowed to continue until new measures are rolled out and take effect.

Did you know, that Autumn is one of the best times of year to scatter wildflower seeds? Co-founder of Seedball, Ana Attlee, tells us 5 reasons why you should make Autumn you’re gardening time of choice...

As Summer’s vivid colours begin to transition to the rich, warm tones of Autumn, there’s a wildflower gardening secret that often goes unnoticed: in the UK Autumn is the perfect time to scatter wildflower seed balls (and sow your collected seed from this year’s wildflowers).

In the UK, Autumn typically begins to make its presence felt from the end of August into September. This is when you’ll notice a gradual cooling of temperature, the days becoming shorter, and subtle changes in the environment, such as increased moisture in the air, a crispness and earthy scent. These signs indicate that the season is shifting, even as summer lingers on the calendar. While many of us think to Spring as the season for planting, nature herself does otherwise. British native wildflowers naturally release their seeds in Autumn, following a cycle that has evolved to match our climate over millennia. So this year why not embrace this natural rhythm and prepare your garden, balcony or window pots for a wildlife-friendly welcome next spring.

A country estate has been honoured for its work to make sure curlews don't become extinct in the UK.

Moorland Association member Bolton Castle Estate has won the Upland Curlew Award at the North of England Curlew Conservation Awards, organised by the National Parks and National Landscapes in the north of England for its work in protecting the species.

The awards are presented to farmers and landowners who have contributed to curlew conservation.

Butterfly Conservation has joined more than 100 retailers, compost manufacturers, nursery owners and other conservation charities signing a letter urging Keir Starmer and his cabinet to legislate to end peat sales for good.

It is the first time retailers, charities and the horticultural industry have joined forces to demand a change in legislation.

Coordinated by The Peat-Free Partnership – a coalition of horticultural organisations and environmental NGOs in the UK – the letter includes support from B&Q, the Co-op, major compost manufacturer Evergreen Garden Care and supplier Vitacress – and calls on the new Government to fulfil its legal commitments on climate change and biodiversity.

Dozens of water voles have been released into the wild in Cornwall to help improve a wetland.

The Duchy of Cornwall said it released 80 water voles in the River Fowey at Restormel.

The rodents, which are the fastest-declining mammal in England, were declared extinct in the region in the 1990s, the duchy said.

It said larger and deeper pools created along the River Fowey through a nature programme since 2022 had made an ideal habitat for water voles.

Restoring nature in the UK’s national parks is being held back because nearly 90% of their land remains in the hands of private owners, campaigners say.

The Campaign for National Parks (CNP) has called for the authorities overseeing the protected landscapes to be given more powers to buy up private land under what they call a ‘People’s Charter’ so they can do more to boost biodiversity.

New research estimates that just under 595,000 acres of 5.7m acres of land covered by Britain’s 15 national parks is in public ownership.

Farmers can now use Land App to assess hedgerow condition and satisfy new SFI scheme requirements, thanks to collaboration with People’s Trust for Endangered Species

Farmers and land managers across the UK can now use Land App to assess and record the condition of their hedgerows to satisfy the hedgerow assessment action (CHRW1) in the new SFI (Sustainable Farming Initiative) scheme, thanks to a new collaboration between wildlife conservation charity People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and cloud-based mapping platform Land App.

The SFI hedgerow assessment action is a new approach from the Government and is the first time farmers are paid (currently £5 per 100 metres per side per year) to undertake a hedgerow health-check of this kind. To do this, farmers based in England* can now use the Healthy Hedgerows survey on Land App and Land App Mobile, which is based on PTES’ original survey recommended by Defra as the go-to tool for recording SFI hedgerow actions.

A group of volunteers will honour one of the nation's most beloved nature poets with a project to reclaim habitats and open up corridors of land.

The nature 19th Century poet John Clare grew up in Helpston, Cambridgeshire, which at the time was part of Northamptonshire, and wrote about the loss of the scenery he loved as a child.

The John Clare Countryside Project, led by the Langdyke Countryside Trust, will connect Peterborough to Stamford in Lincolnshire, through green corridors of farmland.

Ambitious plans to make farming ‘net zero’ by 2040 - 10 years ahead of the UK’s legally-binding national target – may not be achieved, the National Farmers' Union (NFU) has told the BBC.

Reaching net zero means no longer adding to the total amount of greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere. The NFU said a lack of investment in climate-friendly farming measures by the previous government had made doing that by 2040 “tricky” but insisted that the deadline would not be dropped.

Meanwhile, the Soil Association warned that UK agriculture would not be able to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions “without radical changes".

The English Channel has become a hotspot for a species of porpoise, a charity has said.

It was feared overfishing had stopped the Channel from sustaining harbour porpoises.

But conservationists from charity ORCA say they are thrilled that animals including whales and dolphins are being spotted in the Channel after decades of many species being scarce in the area.

Planting flowers in urban green spaces across Cornwall "significantly boosted numbers" of pollinating insects, new research has showed.

The University of Exeter said it partnered with Cornwall Council and civil engineering firm Cormac to plant flowers, trees and shrubbery across 78 hectares in 15 Cornish towns.

They were planted in places including parks, small green spaces, road verges and closed churchyards.

Scientists at the university said the wildflowers led to a "two-fold increase" in flower visits by certain pollinators, particularly solitary bees and solitary wasps.