UK Nature and Environment

IT’S been some years since the minke whale washed up on a Shetland beach. The distressed mammal had been caught up in plastic at sea and came ashore at Scalloway Harbour. Pete Bevington remembers that day well.

He’s at his home in the village of Hillswick with his dog, Sedna, a Great Dane named after an Inuit sea goddess, and after brewing tea, he continues with his story and explains the perils of ghost fishing.

“The whale died on the beach in a big pile of rubbish,” he says, grimly, adding that he has a photograph of the creature.

Conservationists working to save vital ecosystems in the Scottish Highlands say they are facing a multitude of long-term challenges such as depopulation and guaranteed sources of funding.

A growing number of local projects – from regenerative farm clusters to saving Scotland’s rainforests – are responding to the country’s nature crisis after centuries of human-driven deforestation and habitat depletion.

But fears are growing that the country will fail to meet its 2030 conservation targets, with campaigners saying the Scottish Government has cut nature spending by tens of millions of pounds over the last decade.

More than £500,000 is set to be spent on restoring wildlife across Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

The Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT) has been awarded £512,182 for the Reconnecting Bernwood, Otmoor, and the Ray project.

This initiative, in partnership with 11 organisations, aims to ensure long-term landscape and species recovery in the region.

Manx Wildlife Trust (MWT) has announced the purchase of 43 acres of moorland and blanket bog extending the MWT Dalby Mountain Nature Reserve thanks to funding from Island based asset management firm, Resilience. The land purchase represents a 62% expansion of the existing 69-acre nature reserve, which MWT originally acquired in 1995. In total, the newly expanded reserve (MWT’s only upland reserve) is now over 112ac, overtaking MWT Creg y Cowin Nature Reserve to become MWT’s second largest reserve on the Island after MWT Glion Darragh Nature Reserve.

The new land is of exceptional ecological importance and landscape character, forming an excellent example of blanket bog. It is recognised as being of international significance for nature conservation as both a Candidate Ramsar Site (for its blanket bog habitat) and also as part of the Isle of Man Hills “Important Bird Area” for Hen Harrier. It is also Registered Heathland and adjacent to the Glen Rushen Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI). MWT will be seeking its designation as both an ASSI and as a fully confirmed Ramsar Wetland.

Work has started to bring back a lost temperate rainforest to a Lake District fell.

Cumbria Wildlife Trust officially bought more than 3,000 acres of Skiddaw Forest near Keswick, including its 931m (3,054ft) summit, after a successful fundraising campaign.

Peat surveys from Cambridge University scientists have already taken place to identify which plants and trees used to grow on one of England's highest mountains.

The UK is home to more than 100m mature ash trees, and every spring tells the same grim story: leaves emerge, wither and drop within weeks, as ash dieback disease tightens its grip.

Millions stand dead in woodlands and hedgerows across the British Isles, with an estimated 2bn seedlings and saplings at risk. Many experts have long feared the future of this cherished, ecologically important native tree hangs in the balance.

But the latest scientific evidence tells a different story. Research suggests many of Britain’s ash trees might be more resilient than initially believed – and emerging solutions could help protect them.

Bee-killing pesticides are to be banned by the UK government, as ministers set out plans to outlaw the use of neonicotinoids.

However, the highly toxic neonicotinoid Cruiser SB could be allowed for use next year, as ministers are considering applications from the National Farmers’ Union and British Sugar.

This powerful pesticide poisons bees by destroying their nervous systems. Prof Dave Goulson, a bee expert at the University of Sussex, has said that one teaspoon of the chemical is enough to kill 1.25 billion honeybees. Even at non-fatal doses it can cause cognitive problems that make it hard for bees to forage for nectar, and the chemicals can stay in the soil for years.

Conservationists are calling for people to use cuttings from one of UK's rarest native timber trees to help save the species.

Cuttings of the black poplar have been cultivated at Bere Marsh Farm, near Shillingstone, Dorset.

The farm, which is owned by the Countryside Regeneration Trust (CRT), said there were only about 7,000 black poplar trees in the country.

Jenny Ashdown, from the trust, said saplings were "ready to be shared with those eager to help".

• GPS tags fitted to track movements and habitat of Jack Snipe wading birds
• One of 10 tagged birds at wetland sites in the Midlands has just been recaptured
• Data will help landscape scale conservation and other species

After 10 birds were fitted with Global Positioning System (GPS) archival tags in south Staffordshire earlier this year, a tagged Jack Snipe has just been recaptured.

The tags Natural England have used are accurate to 10 metres to record the location of the bird at set times. While Jack Snipe have been previously tagged in the UK, the tags used were not so accurate.

A butterfly that went extinct in England more than 40 years ago has been successfully reintroduced to the woodlands where it last lived.

Butterfly Conservation has brought the Chequered Skipper back to Rockingham Forest in Northamptonshire using a donor population in Belgium.

The project started in 2018 and Butterfly Conservation has now declared the first five years a success.

The news comes after the charity declared a Butterfly Emergency in the UK in September following the worst-ever results of its annual Big Butterfly Count. Butterfly Conservation says this successful reintroduction shows one of the ways humans can start to undo years of damage to the natural environment.

Work on a project to restore wetland habitat, open up 55km of river for fish and introduce natural flood management measures at Billingham Beck has completed.

Delivered in partnership between the Environment Agency, Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, Tees Rivers Trust and National Highways, the project aimed to restore ecological connectivity between the beck and its floodplain after decades of modification.

As well as the removal of a historical weir to enhance fish passage and migration, the first phase of the project created scrapes, or dips in the ground that can fill with water.

The Lowland Raised Bog Recovery Programme will restore a signature site and develop plans for up to seven new ‘shovel-ready’ restoration sites, covering approximately 750 ha whilst creating six green jobs across Northern Ireland.

Funded in partnership by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) the Lowland Raised Bog Recovery Programme is part of RSPB NI’s ambitious peatland programme. The project will create a pipeline of fully costed restoration projects to attract further investment, whilst also demonstrating with landowners, communities, and contractors about how these projects can be done and the benefits of this restoration work.

Peatlands, including lowland raised bogs, blanket bogs and fen, cover about 12% of Northern Ireland’s land, and are crucial in combating the nature and climate emergency. The percentage cover of peatland on the island of Ireland is only exceeded by three countries; Finland, Canada and Indonesia, and as such, our peatlands are important on a local, national and global level.

Seeds of a rare UK wildflower have been planted out in Yorkshire after being collected from a "small but significant" cluster clinging to a cliff edge.

Spiked speedwell, a small, purple wildflower, was collected from the promontory, situated high up on the Ingleborough massif, as part of the Wild Ingleborough programme.

The programme has since successfully grown and planted out 75 wild spiked speedwell plants, nurtured from the seeds, in a bid to save the wildflower.

During 2024, 11,039 sightings of whales, dolphins, porpoises, and other marine life were reported to the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (HWDT) by members of the public, or citizen scientists. Over 65,000 animals have been sighted in Scottish waters, from 17 different species.

The data was collected during research expeditions run by the Trust and by people reporting what they’ve spotted through their community sightings network, Whale Track.

HWDT is a marine conservation charity which harnesses the power of citizen science to gather data. For thirty years people have been driving the Trust’s conservation efforts forward by getting involved with their citizen science initiatives. Over that time, a massive amount of data has been gathered which is used to better understand and protect species in Scotland’s seas.

Campaigners have reacted with fury to a deal for water companies which they claim will continue “profit for pollution” of rivers and seas.

Regulator Ofwat has announced household bills in England and Wales will rise by an average £31 a year over the next five years, before inflation, as firms are given the go-ahead for £104 billion upgrade of the water sector which it said would deliver improvements for customers and environment.

But environmentalists warned the bill hikes would not solve the sewage crisis or guarantee cleaner water.

The investment package includes £12 billion on 2,884 projects to reduce sewage spills from storm overflows by 45% on 2021 levels, such as greater storage and green schemes.

An old millpond in Pembrokeshire has been restored to improve water quality and boost biodiversity.

The restoration of Wallis Pond, created in 1836 as part of the tributary of the Western Cleddau River, was made possible by funding from Nestlé Waters UK.

The pond, once a key water supply for a mill, had become heavily silted, affecting its ability to retain water and restricting the diversity of habitats in and around the area.

A whale died after it became stranded along a stretch of the Lincolnshire coastline.

Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue (CWR) received a report that the pilot whale was stranded near Stallingborough and Immingham on Wednesday.

After volunteers were dispatched to the scene, the British Divers Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) were called for extra support, but the whale sadly died.

BDMLR said it was "glad the whale didn't suffer for long in such awful conditions".

A webcam in landlocked Leicestershire has captured footage of a Little Auk being eaten by a Peregrine Falcon.

The alcid was seen in the clutches of the falcon at Leicester Cathedral at 3.10 pm on Monday 9 December, after a weekend that saw Storm Darragh batter Britain and Ireland with strong winds that produced a marked movement of Little Auks along the east coast.

Little Auk is a great rarity anywhere inland and the last record in Leicestershire was as long ago as 2007, according to the Leicester and Rutland Ornithological Society (LROS), who described the species as a 'rare vagrant to the county'. Prior to the 2007 bird, the previous occurrence was a decade previously in 1997.

Twenty black grouse have successfully been translocated from their stronghold in the North Pennines to the North York Moors by researchers from the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) to help expand their range.

Ten hens and ten cocks were caught at night during November and early December, and immediately transported to the release site two hours’ drive away. This site had been specially selected for the birds as it provides the required mix of habitats for them.

The team used thermal binoculars, lamps and hand-held nets to capture the birds and 15 of them were fitted with radio transmitters to allow us to follow their settlement patterns, survival and lekking behaviour. The translocation was carried out under a licence from Natural England.

Innovation, research and a mammoth volunteering effort by people helped conservationists learn more about wildlife in UK seas, reveals The Wildlife Trusts’ 2024 marine review, published today.

Seaside volunteers clocked over 46,000 thousand hours surveying shorelines and recording wildlife. Discoveries include climate-indicator sea slugs and seaweeds, plus sightings of conger eels and humpback whales.

Groundbreaking research, pioneering nature recovery projects and a complete network of snorkel trails around Scotland also feature in the annual marine round-up.

A species of seabird hit by a devastating avian flu outbreak is making a "painfully slow recovery" at Shetland's national nature reserves.

NatureScot reported a slight increase in the number of great skua at Hermaness and Noss national nature reserves (NNRs), but said it could take "years, if not decades" to get back to pre-virus levels.

The full census of the species, for which Shetland is a global stronghold, was carried out as part of a probe into how populations are faring following the H5N1 influenza strain outbreak of 2022.

A conservation charity is making a final appeal for donations to fund its plan to plant a new forest.

Avon Needs Trees bought the 420-acre Wick Farm between Bristol and Bath in May and is preparing to plant 100,000 trees to transform it into Lower Chew Forest.

A crowdfunding campaign to pay for saplings and equipment broke its initial goal of £50,000, prompting the charity to raise it to £80,000.

It now has just over 24 hours to raise the final £12,000 needed to meet its new target.

• This marks the 75th anniversary of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act, which created our National Parks and National Landscapes

• This move comes amid the Government’s push to promote access to nature, as part of the wider Plan for Change

New powers are to be granted to the country’s iconic National Parks and National Landscapes to boost nature’s recovery and access to the outdoors.

New legislation and guidance will give National Parks and National Landscapes a clear mandate to widen the public’s access to nature through strengthened purposes and make changes to improve their governance that will allow for greater innovation and collaboration to prepare them for the future.

The changes announced today will see more trees planted, more peat restored and more habitat created, supporting Protected Landscapes to play a leading role in meeting Net Zero, Environment Act targets and the commitment to protect 30% of land for nature by 2030 as part of our Plan for Change.

The Eden Project National Wildflower Centre (NWC) and volunteers who are known as the Wildflower Warriors – have been collecting seed by hand in a bid to bring colour and life to a major new link road being built in Cornwall.

The NWC is part of the Eden Project and has been coordinating the huge task of gathering, cleaning, sowing, growing and harvesting sufficient wildflower seed to plant the route of nearly four miles.

Construction of the link road between the A30 and St Austell is in the final phase. Seed sowing along approximately 45 acres of banks and verges began this autumn and will create a corridor of what organisers say is “vitally important” wildflower, woodland and heathland habitats. There will be new routes for cycling, walking and horse-riding on five and a half miles of newly built paths.

A "landmark" agreement will see green issues take centre stage in the planning of Gloucestershire's road networks.

National Highways and Natural England have signed a memorandum of understanding on the £460m A417 Missing Link project.

The Gloucestershire Way Crossing, a 37m (121ft) bridge over the A417, will be funded by a £402m investment into environmental schemes which "maximise biodiversity and ensure conservation".